Newbie guide to ARccOS Protection with DVD Decrypter

Much appreciated Jaguar. Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Just letting you know that I added a link to a guide for Legend of Zorro. It is more advanced, but shows how to remove corruption and how to edit the DVD. What I did was changed the structure so that the main menu comes up first. I also removed all references to warnings and preivews and then deleted them from the DVD.

The link is on the first post of the thread.

 

http://www.afterdawn.com/general/adprices.cfm

 

Just come across stealth arrrrrrr, so read the guide. One thing I can not work out is how did you know
"For this movie the protected cell is cell 12. However, this will not matter because we will skip all but the last cell of chapter 1."

Sorry if this is a numnuts question of the year
Eoj

 

This is not a dumb question because you do have to know something in order to know you can skip all but the last cell of the first chapter.

Knowing which cell is corrupted can be found by reading one of my posts here:

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2/255980

It is the last post of the page. It gets technical, but as I said, that is only if you want to know which cell(s) is(are) unrippable.

The skipping all but the last cell comes from me knowing that ARccOS is implemented after the DVD is authored. This means it is put on a 100% complete DVD. There is a chance of a movie being prepared for ARccOS by authoring some blank cells into chapter 1, but that still doesn't matter because regardless the movie is untouched.

This means that the cells that make up a movie will be played in sequence and uninterrupted. There will not be blank cells in between cells with video. This only leaves the first and last chapter of the movie to be corrupted.

Now, the same can be taken into consideration when looking at the first and last chapters. Since Chapter 1 is the first chapter and there will be something played after it, this means that the corruption can only be found before the last cell of the chapter.

There is a chance that more than one cell can be real, but you can spot this easily. Just look at the cell lengths. Also, once you find the first tiny cell, you know that there will be no more video before this cell. You can safely uncheck this cell and all the cells before this.

Now, when I wrote this guide, I wrote it while backing up Stealth. I knew that it was only the last cell that was good, because the last cell had video and the cell before this was a tiny cell. Knowing which cell cannot be ripped will not matter (it was included only for information), because you will never rip it. This is why you can rip this movie with DVD Decrypter versions 3.1.0.0 through 3.5.4.0. You never encounter the ARccOS cells so there is no need for the program to support it.

 

-JaguarGod or anyone else who can help.
Hi. I have starting getting the "invalid DVD navigation structure" error using DVD Shrink recently. So I'm happy to find your guide after searching the net a lot. Well, I got all the software that is needed. My problem is right off the bat and this is a real Newbie question (though I'm reasonably competent on the computer). when I open IfoEdit I don't know how to start analyzing the DVD. Do you choose test1 under Tools? Most other selections are blank and when I do this I see my DVD drive letter but it seems the only thing to click there is "Load" but that doesn't work. How do I start this process?
Thank you.

 

First, did you rip the movie in IFO Mode? Make sure you do not rip any of the corrupted cells in chapter 1. Usually this will only leave the last cell of chapter 1.

After you finishe ripping, create a folder somewhere convenient where you will save the IFOEdit fixed movie. I like to put this in the movie folder, for example: c:\Stealth\NewFolder or c:\stealth\VIDEO_TS\NewFolder.

After that, when you launch IFOEdit, open the IFO of the main movie. For example, if the main movie is in VTS_04, you will open VTS_04_0.IFO. Then, you can simply click on the "VobExtras" button. It is on the bottom of the program screen to the left of "disc image" and just below "Menu Extras". Clicking on this button will open the VobExtras menu. You do not have to strip anything, so you can uncheck "strip VobIDs". Just set the destination and click "Strip it". IFOEdit will then begin processing the movie and save into the new folder that you previously created.

When it is finished, drag and drop the contents of the new folder over the VIDEO_TS folder. This will overwrite the old movie with the fixed one. Then DVD Shrink will not have a problem opening the DVD. However, if you need to compress the movie, either run a Deep analysis or use FixVTS to remap the CellIDs.

You should also download the Zorro guide that I posted on page 1 of this thread. Just ignore the "Editing" section because that is more advanced.

 

Thank you for the reply. I hadn't ripped the DVD in IFO mode, I don't think the newbie guide said to do that. So I've got that done now. A couple of questions(I'm ripping "The Squid and the Whale"): In IFO mode (IfoEdit v0.96), do you just uncheck all but the last cell of chapter 1 under PGC 1 of VTS_01 and then Decrypt it? That seemed to work. If I just want the main movie without the menus and extras can I skip ripping in File mode as you walked through? Well, I can't understand how you find the bogus VTS file. When I look at the ripped VTS_01_0 IFO file in ifoEdit it doesn't look like it does in your guide (I don't see the Title Play Map Or any VMG entries), going by your guide I guess you're determining that the VTS file not found should be excluded and is bogus, is that right?
Well, I went on to Strip Streams in VOB Extras. I don't see any DTS here as I see in your screenshot. Strip Stream finished successfully but it said in the middle that it couldn't find the Video_TS file. I opened the folder with DVD Shrink(ver 3.1.4) and it failed saying it couldn't open the Video_TS.IFO file, couldn't find it even though I see one there after I used Strip Stream. So I'm stuck again. Do you have any suggestions please?

 

This means that you do not have VIDEO_TS.IFO in the folder. Rip this to the folder or find the original on your hard drive.

Also, if you want a DVD without any menus and such, you should use Re-author mode. This is the only way to avoid the extra steps. Also, IFOEdit is capable of doing this by using the "create new IFOs" option. However, DVD Shrink more user friendly and exports to .ISO if you want it to.

The bogus VTS references in the guide were "just in case". DVDD v3.5.4.0 has no problems with this and that step can be completely skipped. Here is the link to the Zorro Guide just in case you did not download this:

http://rapidshare.de/files/13888439/Legend_of_Zorro.pdf.html

Remeber, skip (ignore) the editing section though because this is more advanced.

Since this guide uses DVDD v3.5.4.0, there is no mention of bogus VTS.

As for just selecting the last cell of chapter 1, this is only the trend. In older DVDs, you would most likely select more than 1 cell like in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

 

I haven't had a chance to try ripping the video_TS.IFO file because I don't have that disk now. I'm backing up a lot of DVDs though and I'm sure I'll run into it again soon. It was the 2nd time in 2 weeks. So I'm hoping that I did everything right to rip the main movie successfully shy of just missing the video_VTS.IFO file (?).
I am wondering what does leaving all but the last cell of the first chapter leave out when you are ripping a DVD? Of course I think I'm trying to avoid the copy protection but will I be left missing any of the movie? And is that the way to avoid ARccOS everytime?
Thank you.

 

You pretty much nailed it in your question. The ARccOS so far, at least in the case of movies, is always found in the first chapter of the movie. After the movie is made, Sony adds cells to chapter 1. This means, that by not ripping these cells, you end up with what the movie would have looked like if not for ARccOS.

These extra added cells are either blank or contain some segment of random video, but it has nothing to do with the movie. Also, I read somewhere that Sony has stopped adding ARccOS to DVDs... If this is the case, then the guides written will definately not have to be updated because the shceme will not be improved upon.

This also means that the all, but the last cell of chapter 1 rule will apply to every ARccOS corrupted DVD that was made about the time of Lords of Dogtown/Bewitched and after. For older DVDs, the ARccOS is easier to spot as it lies in a different VobID. However, make sure you look at the cell times. There is still a small chance that there will be more than one cell, meaning the last two cells might be good. I have not seen every ARccOS movie.

 

Thank you JaguarGod!

 

Hi. I was using DVD shrink 3.1 without any problems until I ran into the ARccOS issue which I think with help from this forum I see how I should be able to overcome. But!, I went and downloaded DVDShrink 3.2 and since then I couldn't seem to rip older movies either with it failing during the beginning (0%-25%) of the burning, ruining many DVD+R disks. I read that sometimes the firmware on for the DVD writer drive needs to be updated in this case. I did that but the driver seemed to be the same vintage (2001) as the one that was already installed. Well, I went back to DVD Shrink 3.1 and the problem seems to have Clearly gone away. Any reason you can think that 3.2 wouldn't work?
Thank you

 

I am very interested in trying the method for ripping the protected movies however I am confused about the first step in the example guide for newbies. It says "The protected cell is cell 12. However, this will not matter because we will skip all but the last cell of chapter 1". First, how would I know it is cell 12. It does not say how they figured that out. Also, would I then automatically assume on all movies like Memoirs of a Geisha that I would skip all but the last cell of chapter 1. I guess I just want to know how I know with each movie what to skip. It just tells you cell 12 is protected for that movie and then starts with how to do it. I hope I explained this and someone can help as I would very much like to back up my Memoirs of a Geisha. Thank you.

 

Determining which cell(s) has the corruption is only for info. It has no affect in the ripping method in any way. By "The protected cell is cell 12" I meant that cell 12 was unrippable. However, since you are already skipping over this cell, you will never encounter a read error because of the corrupted cell.

Here is a fix for the Full-screen version of Geisha if you are interested:

http://www.files.bz/files/4515/Geisha_Fix.zip

This will correct many problems with the DVD, however, I chose to remove all extras, previews, etc... The ReadME included in the zip has all the info and instructions.

For the newer movies like Memoirs of a Geisha, Fun with Dick and Jane, etc... I noticed that Sony is applying the ARccOS slightly differently. You can still follow the guide and have a perfect backup, but you can remove the FixVTS step and save som etime. Here is how:

Sony now applies the corruption in VobID 1 of the main movie. If you look at Memoirs of a Geisha, this is the first 60 cells. When ripping the movie, rather than skipping the first 61 cells, you can simply skip the first 60.

Now, in IFOEdit, use the Strip Vob IDs function and strip vob ID 1. This will remove the corruption and remap the Cell IDs at the same time. Now you can import to DVD Shrink or whatever.

So, if the corruption is in the same VOB ID as the main movie, you will want to skip all cells in chapter 1 except for the one(s) that actually contain video. You will have to remap the cell IDs with FixVTS.

If the corruption is in a different VOB ID, you can either follow the above method, or save time by skipping only the Vob ID with the corruption. If you do the time saving approach, you do not need to remap the Cell IDs since they are already correct and IFOEdit will remap the Vob IDs automatically.

The only thing is, when you play the backup, the time display will be incorrect on the DVD player. This does not affect performance/playback though. It can be fixed, but I will not get into that and is only a cosmetic fix.

 

Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate your time and your knowlege with this. I know that you expend a lot of your time helping others with this and wanted you to know I do appreciate it. Thankfully with Memoirs of a Geisha I own the movie and can take my time with this as a learning experience. I'll give it a shot. You have a nice day and thank you again.

 

The guide is writen well, but there is an easier way to do it. You will need almost the same programs.

-DVD decrypter
-RipIt4Me
-FixVTS
-DVD Shrink
-Nero (obviously for DVD Shrink to work)

ALL ARE FREE!

All you have to do is fire up RipIt4Me, tell it where you want the DVD files to go, and tell it where the FixVTS.exe file is. RipIt4Me automates the entire process. It does it all for you. The only thing you have to do is put in a blank DVD-R disc when it completes! Yes it takes off any protections, for backup purposes only of course

 

This guide (the original version) was written before ripit4me was created. However, I am pretty sure the results are almost identical between the two.

Based on the software requirements for ripit4me, it actually seems like DVD Decrypter + FixVTS will be enough for this guide. I wonder, if you process the result of the rip with FixVTS if it will automatically correct the IFOs and remap the Cells?? I wrote this guide before FixVTS was needed for an ARccOS DVD. Also, at the time there were a few other free options, but this guide does not require any software to be up to date as you can see from DVD Decrypter being from 2002.

With the programs you listed, I like ImgBurn more than Nero and it works with DVD Shrink. I added a section to one of the guides I wrote, but you have to rename "DVDDecrypter.exe" to "DVDDecrypterReal.exe".

Then install ImgBurn.

Next, make a copy of "ImgBurn.exe" and take it to your DVD Decrypter folder. Now, rename it to "DVDDecrypter.exe". Now, the "Set target to ISO image and Burn with DVD Decrypter" option will launch ImgBurn, so you will have the latest version of DVD Decrypter's burning engine!!

This would change your list to:

-DVD Decrypter
-RipIt4Me
-FixVTS
-DVD Shrink
-[bold]ImgBurn[/bold]

and then even the burning software is free!!

 

I can't thank you enough for posting this excellent guide to using IFOEdit to defeat ARccOS copy protection. I worked on Monster House for two full days, trying at least 4 other schemes (PGCEdit, Rip4Me, AnyDVD + DVDDecrypter, etc)before finally stumbling onto this site and reading your guide. And I must say, it worked like a charm! The only problem that I had was that in the final rip, at the end of all the credits when you would expect the Main Menu to be called, my rip simply stops. Using DVDReMake Pro I tried multiple different edits of the Post Commands related to the final cell of the last chapter but could never get the rip to loop back to the Main Menu. But that is only a minor problem so once again, thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be using this method a lot more in the future.

 

I have a question for you. I'm new to this and I tried to rip one of the movies, Monster house and got to about 99% and then got an error. How do you know which files in the chapter's are bogus? I noticed that chapter one had a lot of files but so did the last two chapters so I tried removing these and it didn't work. How do you get this to work and how can I tell which ones are bogus. Sorry, probably a dumb question that has been worn out.