.BIN / .CUE / .ISO Frequently asked questions. READ1ST

hello, i wanted to ask your help on this:

i hava d/led a corrupted bin file.
the thing is... i can't afford to d/l it all again due to my d/l limits.

here's what it says when i do the coruption check on fireburner 2.1.7:

-M1 EDC error detected in sector offset 236428
[...]lots of errors bettween these[...]
-M1 ECC_Q error detected in sector offset 236613

it shows up these errros at aproximately 70%

so my ideia was that if i could cut of the last 30%~32% of the file, i could resume the d/l from a good source, sparing me about 500 or so (very valuable) MB

i know this isn't specifically a bin/cue issue, but could you tell me if it is possible to do this?

 

CDMage can check the image telling you which file, in the image, is corrupted. If you can get a good copy of that file only, it can repair the image.

So try it (the link of CDMage is on 1st page of this thread).

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quote '..my dl limit...'
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You alreday checked that your service provider (please do not post here which is it) doesn't let you repeat a free download of the same file, did you?

 

oh i forgot to tell, the afected file was a big huge cab! (400MB)

meanwhile i think i may have solve it like i said: i found a "file splitter" and cut off the part with the bad sectors, now i'm resuming the download from that point and i supose it will be ok. just by the way, can I do the crc check on the file at the same time it is being downloaded?

well, all i can is thx a lot, you guys have got a very helpful forum (at least this thread )

ps - i had never heard of such a thing as free redownload, but anyway i don't suppose it will apply for illegal software :>

 

I folled the directions above and whenever i try to get rid of the .exe using command prompt it either says that the system could not find the path specafied or C:\my filename\ is not recognized as an internal or external command.

could someone please simplify how to do this

 

now when ever i try to rename it it says the program is to big to fit in memory and i have 20 GB free on my HD

 

What about right-clicking on it from Windows Explorer? (assuming you didn't invert the two mouse buttons on Mouse section of Windows Control Panel)

The command prompt might create some problem, you see...

 

Ok I have burnt an ISO to cd at 40x (not my max speed) with umm TrackAtOnce(if that changes anything)

Anyway, the CD burns nicely and I did check the bin/2352 and got an integer.

Anyway again, when I try to run the CD my drive reads abit then the cd window doesnt respond, is this a burning error or cd drive error? Or an ISO error?

 

I played around with the various formats supported by "Alcohol 120%", and have some facts to share.

The "standard .ISO" it produces is simply 2048 bytes per sector. I presume this is what you'd get from dd'ing the Mode1 disc.

The .bin, .img, and .mdf files are all exactly the same thing, but different names. They are 2352 bytes per sector, presumably a "raw read" data dump.

The differences in the above three are in the meta-data. .bin uses a companion .cue, which is already explained in this thread. It looks minimal.

The .img goes with a .ccd, for Clone CD. This is also a text file but much longer. I don't know much about it, but I think it's listing =all= the values from the disc's meta-data. That makes it a superset of .cue format, holding more info for possibly "funny" discs.

Alcohol's native format is .mds/.mdf, and it contains binary data rather than readable text. It's more than half the size of the .ccd, and the .ccd uses 8 to 12 bytes on the average for each field expressed in text format. So I conjecture that the .mds holds several times more information than the .ccd. What's in it really? I don't know. Presumably it's useful for something such as copy protection schemes.

Alcohol also creates a .sub file for subchannel data (96 bytes per sector) regardless of which file format is selected. I don't know whether that implies that they all use the same file name extension for subchannel, or that nobody else does subchannels.

The subchannel info I examined is mostly 0 and the rest is rather dull. It compressed with gzip by a factor of more than 12.

None of the files are compressed. They =can= be compressed using general tools; sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, depending on the data stored on the disc.

Too bad Alcohol doesn't have an "all of the above" and create .mds, .cue, and .ccd all at the same time with a shared .bin. THeir size is insignificant compared to the image, and I would not have to worry about which I liked best!

I hope this helps, and perhaps can be added to the FAQ, or consolidated with other file type information.

--John

 

Yes, I agree. This is even more true for CD-XA (data+audio, like some PSX/PS2 titles): without the info written on the descriptor (.CUE, .CCD, .MDF) it's difficult to locate the many tracks and you're forced to install many diferent applications.
But I think this is exactly what software developers want... :-(

Ah, I wrote more info on images on your post here:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/22344

 

First of all, kudos to those who post information here. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see people actually trying to help one another. I can tell a lot of personal time is spent on it - cheers.

I downloaded a .BIN.EXE tonight, and couldn't figure out what to do with it. Based on the posts here, I ran the integer test, did the CUE file, dumped the .EXE, dusted off CDRWIN and away I went. Perfect! Thanks for the assist!

I have one lingering question. Why the .EXE appended to the .BIN in the first place? I can understand self-extracting archives, but that obviously isn't the case here. Is it to spoof some program that doesn't like to pass BIN files or something?? Or is it just to mess with people? Anyone have a clue? I'm very curious.

Anyway, thanks again and keep up the great work.

 

The .EXE extension is appended to mask the .BIN/.ISO extension. I cannot be more precise because talking about this issue implies giving info about some pirate sites/servers, violating forum rules

 

To aldaco12/
I opend the .bin file with ISOBuster and checked the properties on that file and it said it was mod 2/form 1.
so I think it is a Playstation game I.ve downloaded.
THX for all your help....

 

Yes this is a good clue, even if sometimes I cannot understand how Isobuster is capable of detecting modes.

An even better clue is looking for typical PSX media files, such as .STR (movies), .TIM (images), .XA (audio) and so on. If you find some of those, you're sure the CD is not a PC CD!

 

First let me say thanks for your assistance and for all the info here.

Second : My LG burner doesn't seem to work with Nero. When I first purchased it about a year ago the first software I tried was Nero. I did everything I could find for over a month and couldn't get the software to recognise the hardware. I searched & posted on BBS, checked software reviews, read performance tests from assorted sources, and more. My last resort was to consult with the manufacturer of the burner to be told that this model was specifically made to work with the Roxio Easy CD Creator software that was bundled with it. (I turned down the software when purchasing to save $$ knowing that just about everything is available on-line for free.)
Determined (and stubborn) I tried out other software options. For another month I was unable to get the hardware recognized as a burner and to work.
With only a couple of days before my sister's wedding, and needing to burn a very special song, that took more than a year to find, to CD for the reception I finally had to DL and install EZ CD. Voila ! First try and I have a perfectly fine CD. (BTW The song was a HUGE success)
I am still primarily using EZ CD for most things (As I am now rather familiar with the interfacing software) and as I hadn't made any "coasters" I am somewhat happy. (Granted all I did was music CD's and data backups.)
Having said that, I have had my interest piqued by Alcohol 120%.
My early history of computing (way back when MSDOS v1.0 was still new) still tends to lead me to desire a more versataille / less restricted software option, even if it takes a serious bit of learning to master it. (And yes, I hate Windows soooo much but there just isn't a suitable alternative quite yet. Untill video editting software and all games are recognized by other platforms...)

What kind of compatability issue between Alcohol & my burner might cause the problem of not being readable by default software/drivers ?
If the image is there and readable using ISObuster, wouldn't that seem to indicate that the process is just about right ?
I think I might try a couple of other configurations. Good thing writable CD's are so cheap now isn't it. (Still stubborn and proud of it !)
How about if I extract the files to a HD from the .bin using ISObuster, then burn them as regular files ? (Does the extraction process eliminate the extra bits from the rip leaving only the usable data allowing for a re-encoding during the burn ? Or does it have to be a virtual image on the HD ? Isn't that what the .bin is really ?)

Third : "no RAW write for CDRWin."--Are you saying it doesn't have it or not to use it on a CDRWin ripped file ? If CDRWin doesn't have it, then this software wouldn't be useful for burning any protected files because as you said "- all protections need RAW DAO selected;"

I better stop now or you might be overloaded with questions.

If all else fails I guess a look at CDRwin would be in order.
(But I am using all this as an exercise in learning all about the processes and whatnot. Very interesting stuff.)

 

In general you can burn data files or audio files with any crappy software and the result is almost always fair. Data have error correction and audio is 'filtered' by your hear so you will not notice errors.

If you burn .BIN as you woul burn any other file (that is, not 'compiling' them) it makes no difference.

When you compile images (Nero's Burn Image, for instance, ore CDRWin's 'Load Cuesheet') you 'shrink' them (the famous "747 MB image fitting into a 74 min 650 MB disk" issue) so you 'lose' info (the Error correction) so if your software and burner aren't perfeclty tuned you burn coasters.

I do not know why Alcohol does not work... my only suggetion is to make tests with CD-RW (no CD wasted) until you 'fine tune' the software for your uses.

For instance, i NEVER use RAW DAO. This because
1) my burner does not support it (even if it supports RAW SAO, which is similar)
2) I have found that for almost all my backup purposes (PSX mainly) RAW write is not needed
3) if you write RAW you do not recalculate ECC/EDC (because you write them from your previous image) so the chance of burning coasters is encreased

For this reasons, my proposal was to make some burning tests. The problem could lie on Alcohol, on RAW write, on the MODE (once I wrote a MODE2 data disk. Windows Explorer couldn't see data but Isobuster did, for example).
(More, your GAME.FLT seems a crack, so the protection should have been removed and no RAW write is needed)

Keep in mind that most of the knowledge owned by this forum's people is based on direct experience ...

Last quote:
'Does the extraction process eliminate the extra bits from the rip leaving only the usable data allowing for a re-encoding during the burn ? Or does it have to be a virtual image on the HD ? Isn't that what the .bin is really?"
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Answer:
If you extract RAW you extract everything (2352 bytes each sector). If you extract DATA you extract only the 2048 data bytes and the remaining bytes will be recalculated during burning. Isobuster has all extractions features (look in Isobuster's help file). This is true either for the whole CD and for each single file you extract from an image.

 

If you never write RAW, what's the point of reading raw? Doesn't that just waste 15% of the file size?

 

Good point. But RAW is the standard:
1) RAW is universal. 2352 bytes (same for MODE1 and MODE2), 'cooked' depends upon mode (MODE1 and Mode2Form1 --> 2048, MODE2Form2-->2324).
2) If you need to patch an image, the standard is RAW/2352.
3) If you rip a mixed mode CD (DATA+AUDIO, very common for PSX) the standard .ISO format does not support an unique image (you end up with a MODE2/2048 "Track01.ISO" file plus N AUDIO/2352 "Track0n.wav" files (n=2,3...))
4) Many burners now support RAW/DAO.

more than that, by extracting the ECC/EDC codes IF THE IMAGE IS CORRUPTED YOU CAN RECOVER SOME INFORMATION DURING THE BURNING PROCESS, (or using CDMage on the image) BECAUSE THE BURNER WILL TRY TO REPAIR DATA USING THE ERROR CORRECTION CODES THAT WERE EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL CD

These are the main reasons for which I prefere to extract always RAW rather than changing standard depending on the CD I'm ripping.

After all, standardization is more useful than a small 15% space saving, isn't it?

 

Thanks for the comments aldaco12.
As for the quote concerning the extraction process.
My question was directed more towrds the software of ISObuster. I was actually wondering if after using ISObuster to view the contents of the .bin file, then using the "extract" feature of the software to place the contents of the .bin onto the hard drive, would the files be complete ? (Namely, were the ISObuster extracted files in a usable state ? Or put another way, would the ISObuster software reinstate the files, thereby removing the extra ECC & other disc handling bits of info while it did the extraction ?)
And to answer my own question, it would seem not. While the individual files seem to be valid ico, bmp, etc. files, if you try to open theextracted versions on the HD using apropriate programs they all return `unusable' error messages. So the files would seem to be broken into assorted pieces that are unusable due to their having been fragmented throughout different sectors of he CD. While the ISObuster extracted names of the files are valid, the actual data associated with it has been truncated by the ripping process reading individual sectors. (So if the actual file was written across two or more different sectors, the rip would take apart the data for the sake of keeping the sectors intact, and the ISObuster extract can't determine just what bits go together. Sort of like cutting up a pie and then trying to guess what it looked like by seeing only one piece. Each piece by itself wouldn't give any indication of what the whole thing looked like unless it was all meticulously put back together. Then you could take it apart again in a different way.)

I still haven't tried out the burning with the other options yet.(BTW - I don't have any CD-RW discs to try it on.I will have to commit burn once discs.)
I never would have thought about the ECC info as being useful for recovering the data during burning. For reading the info from CD, sure. But to write it ? It does make sense though. The burner has to read it to know what to write.

As far as the GAME.FLT file being a crack, the instructions that came with the file indicated that the included crack was to be used after the install of the game. And some other postings on this site indicated that some other users have the same file and have had problems too. The suggested fix is to use the Safedisc 2 method. And then the postings on those threads stop, so I would think they got it working and are too busy playing to come back and post again. But we'll see.

And I think true standardization would definitely be worth 15% more space.

 

No you're wrong about Isobuster. It can perform either DATA or RAW extraction depending on your needs.
If you extract the DATA, Isobuster extracts files that can be open and read! To do this you need to right-click the choosen file ( or directory ) and then use the first 'extract' option (the bold one ).

Maybe you extracted them RAW (their size is then a multiple of 2352). This way you extract all sectors and the resulting file cannot be open. This command is only useful in image building and merging ('image engineering').

Try extracting some .TXT or .WAV files first. Meybe the problem is that .ICO files are non-standard...

And when you burn with Alcohol make sure your burner is capable burning RAW DAO (or, at least, RAW SAO)! Read this new post to know more about that..
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/23587