N2002, secure Rom..oh sh*t!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can see it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a replacement for that! BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'll be a lot of pieces in there.... -- Colin ICQ 25485061 FFRL Triv: http://www.chbr18476.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ FFRL: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fastfood/ffrl/index.html

Colin Harris wrote:

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> > Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can see > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > replacement for that! > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'll be > a lot of pieces in there....

Opening up the CD-Rom is a breeze once you've taken it out of your case, usually 4 screws in the bottom, and there's layers of print boards and stuff until you get to the mechanism itself.....but your CD-Rom is most likely hosed This happens every so often, has been covered in various IT publications, but seems to be happening more often than it used to be, can't remember the specifics, but it seems to happen more with CD's from some game companies that others, and the one we've seen most over here is "Sims" from EA But with relatively few incidents, less than 10 or here so far this year, that may be very skewed, but it has happened to at least 4 Sims CD's so far, and 2 or 3 other EA titles Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy "The Pits" http://www.theuspits.com/ "A man is only as old as the woman he feels" --Groucho Marx--

Just when you think you've heard it all..... :-) I would suspect the CD didn't explode, but rather the drive ate it. First thing I'd do is get a new CD drive. I sure wouldn't trust that one again. Not sure what Sierra's replacement policy is in this case, and if you ask them you'll never hear from them, so it sounds like a purchase of a new game CD as well :-( "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:VFpL8.1641$[email hidden]... > Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched upto > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROManyway, > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside myCDRom > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I cansee > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > replacement for that! > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'llbe

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> a lot of pieces in there.... > > -- > > > Colin > ICQ 25485061 > FFRL Triv: http://www.chbr18476.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ > FFRL: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fastfood/ffrl/index.html > > >

Well, I can't see that the patch would have caused this. Probably would have happended to someone else. Addtionally, I have never heard of a long delay to get past the Secur-rom. Mine takes like 3 secs. (However, EA games take a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time). Sounds a lingering problem with the CDROM. My suggestion is to leave the unti as it is and physically remove it from the computer case and THEN try to open it and remove any pieces. The drive itself is probably shot, but no sense in ruining the whole computer. Lawman "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<VFpL8.1641$[email hidden]>...

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> Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can see > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > replacement for that! > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'll be > a lot of pieces in there....

"Lawman_02766" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> Well, I can't see that the patch would have caused this. Probably > would have happended to someone else. > > Addtionally, I have never heard of a long delay to get past the > Secur-rom. Mine takes like 3 secs. (However, EA games take a > LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time). Sounds a lingering problem with the CDROM. > Lawman >

You're probably right about the first bit, it was just a coincidence, but as for the secure Rom thing, it's been much mentioned in here about it. Your CDRom obviously seems to be 'compatible' with it, for lack of a better word, but some of us have mentioned (even in N4 days) that it takes forever to load up. Anyway, my CDRom seems to be working again, but I'm now minus a N2002 CD....(morality question, possibly rhetorical: is it ok to get a warez version to replace an original that's still installed and broken through no fault of my own? Probably not...)

Colin Harris wrote: > > Anyway, my CDRom seems to be working again, but I'm now minus a N2002 > CD....(morality question, possibly rhetorical: is it ok to get a warez > version to replace an original that's still installed and broken through no > fault of my own? Probably not...) No need to buy a new copy if you have time to wait, most companies replace broken CD's without question as long as you pay postage, this is a service we've done for our customers many times since our shop is located very close the main games distributor in Norway Furthermore I don't think a warez'ed copy would work online .....? Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy http://www.theuspits.com "A man is only as old as the woman he feels........" --Groucho Marx--

Taken directly from the readme.txt file... NOTE: To replace your CD(s) please send only the damaged CD and a copy of your dated receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10.00 handling fee along with the CD(s). For Documentation replacement, please include a $5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of either your disk or CD. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards. -- Biz "Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and,......things with molecular structures,....and the....." - Ash Colin Harris <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:l4uL8.2130$[email hidden]... > > "Lawman_02766" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > Well, I can't see that the patch would have caused this. Probably > > would have happended to someone else. > > > > Addtionally, I have never heard of a long delay to get past the > > Secur-rom. Mine takes like 3 secs. (However, EA games take a > > LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time). Sounds a lingering problem with the CDROM. > > Lawman > > > You're probably right about the first bit, it was just a coincidence, but as > for the secure Rom thing, it's been much mentioned in here about it. Your > CDRom obviously seems to be 'compatible' with it, for lack of a better word, > but some of us have mentioned (even in N4 days) that it takes forever to > load up. > > Anyway, my CDRom seems to be working again, but I'm now minus a N2002 > CD....(morality question, possibly rhetorical: is it ok to get a warez > version to replace an original that's still installed and broken through no > fault of my own? Probably not...) > >

This is a somewhat common problem with 50x and above CD ROM drives. What speed is yours? 50x seems to be the wall when it comes to the quality of today's CD pressings. -Larry "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:VFpL8.1641$[email hidden]... > Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched upto > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROManyway, > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside myCDRom > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I cansee > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > replacement for that! > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'llbe

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> a lot of pieces in there.... > > -- > > > Colin > ICQ 25485061 > FFRL Triv: http://www.chbr18476.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ > FFRL: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fastfood/ffrl/index.html > > >

"Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:6PuL8.3780$[email hidden]...

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> This is a somewhat common problem with 50x and above CD ROM drives. What > speed is yours? > > 50x seems to be the wall when it comes to the quality of today's CD > pressings. > > -Larry

48x - so, as Goy says, this is well known? First I've heard of it....

[email hidden] (Lawman_02766) wrote in news:[email hidden]:

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> Well, I can't see that the patch would have caused this. Probably > would have happended to someone else. > > Addtionally, I have never heard of a long delay to get past the > Secur-rom. Mine takes like 3 secs. (However, EA games take a > LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time). Sounds a lingering problem with the CDROM. > My suggestion is to leave the unti as it is and physically remove it > from the computer case and THEN try to open it and remove any pieces. > The drive itself is probably shot, but no sense in ruining the whole > computer. > > Lawman

Most likely the CD itself was a shoddy pressing, not being balanced well enough (like a car wheel without the little lead weights on it) This has at least two consequences: 1: the CD takes much, much longer to read, due to the poor spinning, and may be "explained" (possibly incorrectly) as the copy protection, rather than a physical fault. 2: the CD, being used daily, along with possibly other, badly pressed, and unbalanced CDs, will wear out the bearings/little funky bits of plastic in the CD drive hub, eventually causing the drive to fail, the CD to fatigue due to friction/stress, and therefore explode in the drive. Summary: Sierra's Nascar Racing 2002 Season CD was badly pressed, and was the direct cause of a sudden and violent failure of the CDRom drive. Now, who wants to call the lawyers in? Seriously, badly pressed CDs are a pet peeve of mine. If anyone ever gets a CD which hums badly in the drive, or takes "ages" to be recognised, don't blame the copy protection immediately, rather return the goods to the place of purchase and demand a replacement. If the replacement also exhibits the same behaviour, then it's time to either- get a new CDrom drive, as other bad CDs have buggered it, demand your money back as the software doesn't work on your PC, or find a no-cd crack while it's still legal to do so. cheers John

Nope!! You wont have any problem, Just send in your 10 bucks, or proof of (reciept) and the bits you can get out of the CDROM... Mine was malicioulsy destroyed.. (see my "CD replacement policy" question Thread a while back) and I sent in the $10 (cause I couldnt find proof of purchase) and I already have A new one in my hands, as it showed up monday! ... which reminds me, I forgot to follow up on that thread -PlowBoy (Sting32) "Bob G" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> Just when you think you've heard it all..... :-) > > I would suspect the CD didn't explode, but rather the drive ate it. First > thing I'd do is get a new CD drive. I sure wouldn't trust that one again. > > Not sure what Sierra's replacement policy is in this case, and if you ask > them you'll never hear from them, so it sounds like a purchase of a new

game

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> CD as well :-( > > > "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in > message news:VFpL8.1641$[email hidden]... > > Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up > to > > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it

since),

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> > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM > anyway, > > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my > CDRom > > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can > see > > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > > replacement for that! > > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive?

There'll

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> be > > a lot of pieces in there.... > > > > -- > > > > > > Colin > > ICQ 25485061 > > FFRL Triv: http://www.chbr18476.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ > > FFRL: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fastfood/ffrl/index.html > > > > > > > >

"JM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Most likely the CD itself was a shoddy pressing, not being balanced well > enough (like a car wheel without the little lead weights on it) This hasat

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> least two consequences: > > 1: the CD takes much, much longer to read, due to the poor spinning, and > may be "explained" (possibly incorrectly) as the copy protection, rather > than a physical fault. > > 2: the CD, being used daily, along with possibly other, badly pressed, and > unbalanced CDs, will wear out the bearings/little funky bits of plastic in > the CD drive hub, eventually causing the drive to fail, the CD to

fatigue

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> due to friction/stress, and therefore explode in the drive. > > Summary: Sierra's Nascar Racing 2002 Season CD was badly pressed, and was > the direct cause of a sudden and violent failure of the CDRom drive. > > Now, who wants to call the lawyers in? > > Seriously, badly pressed CDs are a pet peeve of mine. If anyone ever gets > a CD which hums badly in the drive, or takes "ages" to be recognised,

don't > blame the copy protection immediately, rather return the goods to theplace > of purchase and demand a replacement. If the replacement also exhibitsthe > same behaviour, then it's time to either- get a new CDrom drive, as other > bad CDs have buggered it, demand your money back as the software doesn't > work on your PC, or find a no-cd crack while it's still legal to do so. > > cheers > John Nice answer - being as it used to do the same thing (apart from the exploding, of course) in N4, too (but not other games) I guess it's that previous CDs have buggered it up. Man, you should have heard the explosion - I thought I was back in Compton.....

In article <6PuL8.3780$[email hidden]>, "Larry" <[email hidden]> writes: >This is a somewhat common problem with 50x and above CD ROM drives. What >speed is yours? > >50x seems to be the wall when it comes to the quality of today's CD >pressings. Damn...I have a 52x. N2002 doesn't always run the first time - neither does D2. Occasionally, the thing sounds like it's a jet engine revving for takeoff. It gets a bit unnerving... :-( Eldred -- Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett Thanks to those of you who made a donation for breast cancer research. The walkathon is over, but donations are still being accepted. Details on my webpage. Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

writes: Damn...I have a 52x. N2002 doesn't always run the first time - neither does D2. Occasionally, the thing sounds like it's a jet engine revving for takeoff. It gets a bit unnerving... :-( Eldred -- Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett Thanks to those of you who made a donation for *** cancer research. The walkathon is over, but donations are still being accepted. Details on my webpage. Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

On Wed, 05 Jun 2002 14:57:57 GMT, "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to >the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), >the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, >took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom >drive! Is this what some people call CD-crack? :) Sorry about your problem, you could download a nocd-patch and be able to race offline until you can get a replacement CD from Sierra. Cheers, /Martin

"Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> writes:

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> Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to > the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), > the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, > took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom > drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can see > it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a > replacement for that! > BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'll be > a lot of pieces in there....

Sounds like it's right in the bin with the CD-rom drive. :( Next time, do what I do and get Daemon Tools and a cd ripping program (like CloneCD). Download the image to the harddisk and let Daemon Tool emulate the cd-rom. I have never had a single problem starting N4 or N2002 after that. And it saves the drive :) -- Olav Malmin remove .spam when replying

On Wed, 05 Jun 2002 17:48:29 +0200, Goy Larsen <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> > >Colin Harris wrote: >> >> Uh, I have no idea how any of this is related, but....well, I patched up to >> the 1.1.0.2 patch yesterday, and today (the first time I've run it since), >> the CD, which always used to take 10 mins to get past the secure ROM anyway, >> took a little longer, and then finally, literally, EXPLODED inside my CDRom >> drive! I can't open the drive beyond an inch or two, and from what I can see >> it's in about a thousand pieces in there...hmm, wonder how I'll get a >> replacement for that! >> BTW, is it easily possible to unscrew and fix the CD Rom drive? There'll be >> a lot of pieces in there.... > >Opening up the CD-Rom is a breeze once you've taken it out of your case, >usually 4 screws in the bottom, and there's layers of print boards and >stuff until you get to the mechanism itself.....but your CD-Rom is most >likely hosed > >This happens every so often, has been covered in various IT >publications, but seems to be happening more often than it used to be, >can't remember the specifics, but it seems to happen more with CD's from >some game companies that others, and the one we've seen most over here >is "Sims" from EA > >But with relatively few incidents, less than 10 or here so far this >year, that may be very skewed, but it has happened to at least 4 Sims >CD's so far, and 2 or 3 other EA titles

You call that "relatively few".

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> > >Beers and cheers >(uncle) Goy > >"The Pits" http://www.theuspits.com/ > >"A man is only as old as the woman he feels" >--Groucho Marx--

Brian Oster Remove NOSPAM from my email to reply.

Brian Oster wrote: > > You call that "relatively few". Too few to have an informed opinion as to whether EA's uses a CD manufacturer that has more problems with this than most, yes Do I think the number in itself is too high, yes Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy "The Pits" http://www.theuspits.com/ "A man is only as old as the woman he feels" --Groucho Marx--

In article <[email hidden]>, Olav Malmin <[email hidden]> writes: >Next time, do what I do and get Daemon Tools and a cd ripping program >(like CloneCD). Download the image to the harddisk and let Daemon Tool >emulate the cd-rom. I have never had a single problem starting N4 or >N2002 after that. And it saves the drive :) I may start doing that with the games that really seem to wind up the drive... Eldred -- Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett Thanks to those of you who made a donation for breast cancer research. The walkathon is over, but donations are still being accepted. Details on my webpage. Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

"Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in

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> > Nice answer - being as it used to do the same thing (apart from the > exploding, of course) in N4, too (but not other games) I guess it's > that previous CDs have buggered it up. > Man, you should have heard the explosion - I thought I was back in > Compton..... >

I'd be getting flashbacks to when I was in 'Nam. Chelt'nam. :D It could be the copy protection too. Either way it's bad because it all adds up to unreasonable wear and tear on your cd drive. Just steer clear of any Celine Dion CDs in the sales to be sure :) cheers John

"JM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in > > > Man, you should have heard the explosion - I thought I was back in > > Compton..... > > > > I'd be getting flashbacks to when I was in 'Nam. > > Chelt'nam.

Well, I *meant* Compton Dando......

If you do a search on Google for Exploding CD's, fragmenting CD's, etc... you'll find a lot about this. Sony even patched the ROM in one of it's 50x drives to slow it down because of this exact problem. The problem isn't the drives, it's the CD's. They are not manufacturered to a close enough tolerance to handle the amazingly high rotational rates it takes to get 50x out of a drive. -Larry "Colin Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:M1vL8.2254$[email hidden]... > > "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:6PuL8.3780$[email hidden]... > > This is a somewhat common problem with 50x and above CD ROM drives.What

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> > speed is yours? > > > > 50x seems to be the wall when it comes to the quality of today's CD > > pressings. > > > > -Larry > > 48x - so, as Goy says, this is well known? First I've heard of it.... > >

In article <l4uL8.2130$[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says... >Anyway, my CDRom seems to be working again, but I'm now minus a N2002 >CD....(morality question, possibly rhetorical: is it ok to get a warez >version to replace an original that's still installed and broken through no >fault of my own? Probably not...) Moral? Beyond a doubt. Of course you'll not be able to play online until you can get a new original from Sierra, but that's life. And this time, make sure to make a backup copy of the original. -Tim