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Redumper Submission Updates!

Posted by sadikyo at July 31 2023, 21:21:54

UPDATE 12/07/2023: IBM-PC CD-ROMs (in addition to DVD-ROMs) are currently now SUPPORTED for use with redumper, using redumper build 271 or later. 

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Exciting news! The Redump mod team has decided to allow for new dumps made with Redumper for certain supported systems! The same rules apply to Redumper as they do with DIC: 2x dumps for new discs for all systems to ensure accuracy.

Please see http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title=Redumper_status for more details about what systems are currently supported and in what way.

As with DIC, we highly recommend that dumpers use MPF when working with redumper as this greatly simplifies the information gathering and submission process. The latest build of MPF can be found at https://github.com/SabreTools/MPF.  For those who are unable to use MPF or find it difficult to do so (e.g. due to compatibility with certain Linux builds), standalone binaries for redumper can be found at https://github.com/superg/redumper. Please follow the guide at http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title= … umper_CLI) if working with redumper as a standalone tool.

Working with Redumper logs is still a bit new to us, so we appreciate your patience as we get more used to them.  Thanks!!

Redump Milestone - 100,000 discs!

Posted by sadikyo at February 7 2023, 14:14:44

As many of you have probably noticed, we recently reached a major milestone here at Redump, now having over 100,000 discs in our database!

While our goal is not necessarily just 'quantity,' I still think it is worth mentioning and recognizing the amazing work this community has done over the years, in achieving this amazing milestone.

It's impossible to determine the sheer number of volunteer hours and dollars that have gone into this project, but know that they are all appreciated immensely.  The amazing work you are doing, is making a difference.  We have preserved an astounding amount of content, and documented helpful information that the community at large can enjoy for many years to come.

As a member of the redump mod team, I want to express my sincere thanks to all of you who are doing so much for this project.  Whether it is dumping discs, researching releases, updating the wiki, contributing to others, and much more - every bit helps and makes a difference.

I know that we face many challenges in this work, and there is always more to be done, but we should be proud of the work we have done.

As a reminder, it was less than 5 years ago, that we reached the milestone of 50,000 discs in our database.  That means that we have averaged over 10,000 new disc entries per year, every year for the last 5 years.  Despite the challenges we face, we are still making great progress.  In addition to new entries, we are also adding thousands of verifications to existing entries, and updating/correcting information all the time. 

Thank you.  Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this project, and continues to do so.

Updated guidance for audio CD submissions

Posted by sadikyo at January 28 2023, 20:54:49

As many of you will already know, for some time now our own superg has been developing a new dumping tool by the name of "redumper." This is designed to be a portable, byte-perfect CD dumper which supports a range of advanced functionality while being simple to pick up and use for new users.

Over the course of the past year, while testing redumper, we have identified a range of cases where it solves many long-standing problems with the way certain technical aspects of Audio CD as a format are represented and preserved, and we believe it represents a major step forward for the project.

On that basis, following lengthy discussion among staff, we have decided that as of 01 March 2023 00:00 UTC, redumper will become the only eligible dumping tool for submitting Audio CDs to the Redump project. We have provided a grace period for submission of DIC dumps as we are aware that many dumpers will already be partway through their workflow and in some cases may no longer have access to the physical item, but note that after the above date no DIC dumps of Audio CDs will be accepted.

We appreciate that this represents a major change, and it is not a decision that has been made lightly. We are doing this because we genuinely believe that redumper represents the way forward when it comes to proper preservation of Audio CDs.

**Please note that for the moment this change relates only to Audio CDs - all other formats including Enhanced CDs may continue to use existing dumping methods**

FAQ
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Where do I download redumper?
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The latest stable build of redumper can always be found at https://github.com/superg/redumper/releases/latest

How do I use redumper?
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For the moment, redumper is command-line only but very simple to use. The most basic command to start off with is:

redumper cd --verbose --retries=20 --image-path=<output_directory> --image-name=<image_filename_prefix>

Some additional values you may want to provide:
--drive=X - point redumper to a specific drive, otherwise it will automatically find and use the first drive with a disc present
--speed=X - specify a dumping speed, otherwise redumper will default to the fastest speed the drive is capable of


A full guide to advanced use of redumper can be found at https://github.com/superg/redumper/blob/main/README.md and at http://wiki.redump.org/index.php?title=Redumper

Any questions you have about redumper can also be asked in the VGPC Discord (https://discord.gg/AHTfxQV), which has a dedicated redumper channel.


What do I need to submit a redumper dump?
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As with DIC, you will need to provide the relevant log files so that moderators can check your dump is good. In the case of redumper this consists only of the .log file for most dumps, although occasionally moderators may ask for you to provide other files to check complex cases. As the .log file is relatively small, the contents can either be pasted directly into the "Comments" section of the New Disc form or provided in a separate code block as part of a forum submission. If you do upload the log file to an external filehoster, there is no need to compress it.

Why are we making this change?
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The present method of dumping Audio CDs using DIC in some cases leads to imperfect results, including:
* Failure to capture data in the lead-in and lead-out
* Occasional imperfect track splits
* Audio CDs with different write offsets being treated as (Alt) releases
redumper correctly solves these issues in a way which allows extra data to be captured in all situations. For some discs, one true disc write offset can be detected. For the discs where there is data in lead-in/lead-out, such data will be moved out only if it fits into the usual range (e.g. the data spillover is a result if disc write offset). Lastly, if nothing else could be done, the disc will be dumped with offset 0 and lead-in and/or lead-out data will be stored as separate tracks.

redumper can also generate a Universal Hash which can be used to correctly match Audio CDs with different write offsets.

A full technical explanation and discussion can be found at http://forum.redump.org/topic/45004/audio-offset/

Does this mean all my old dumps are considered bad?
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No, many redumper dumps accurately match those made using DIC and, while redumper does provide some additional information such as unique hash, we are not considering all Audio CD dumps previously done with DIC to be bad.

However, given that there is a small but significant minority of discs which are affected, we would welcome those who have already contributed Audio CD dumps redumping their discs with redumper - the additional information generated can be posted as fixes on the Redump forum.

What about verifications made prior to this change?
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Any Audio CD verifications made using DIC prior to the date of this announcement will be processed as usual, and we expect that the vast majority of them will be accepted. There may be a few rare cases where a more accurate redumper dump has been made since the verification was submitted (meaning that the DIC hashes are now known to be incorrect). In these cases we will ask dumpers to submit new logs using redumper.

Does this affect Enhanced CDs?
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No, Enhanced CDs offset is detected using a data track and these are not affected by the new dumping method

Should I use redumper for all CDs with audio tracks?
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No, for the moment the main use case for redumper for Redump purposes is to correctly dump Audio CDs. In time we expect to expand support to other systems, and if you would like to do a redumper dump in addition to a DIC one, that will be helpful in catching any edge cases where one tool may be doing something incorrect and help both developers to improve their tools.

The moderation team may from time to time ask dumpers to retry a dump with redumper if we have reason to suspect that there are issues with a DIC dump.

Do I still have to use plextor / compatible drives as listed in the wiki?
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YES, for now!  While we hope to expand compatible hardware for use in all disc types eventually, for now, this announcement and the acceptance of redumper dumps, does not change in any way the rules for required hardware for dumping CD-ROMs.

Fixes and Additions

Posted by sadikyo at September 6 2022, 18:43:00

Hello everyone! 

We appreciate all of your efforts, including fixes and additions that you have contributed to our database.  However, we've been receiving a large number of fix requests via PMs, Discord chats, and other methods, outside of the forums.  Unfortunately, documentation for these fixes is now sorely lacking and staff workload increases trying to keep track of everything. 

Staff has discussed this issue and we've decided that from now on, all fixes and additions to existing entries need to be posted on the forums in the "Fixes and additions" section for documentation purposes.  In addition, any posted fixes may not be addressed for a few days, in case other people want to express any concerns or disagreements with the proposed changes.  This will ensure transparency and documentation for all corrections to the database.

If you have any questions about this process, feel free to ask any member of staff.  Thank you!

New Account Registrations

Posted by sadikyo at May 24 2022, 14:29:11

Hello everyone!  If you are interested in joining our efforts and creating a redump account, we'd love your help! 

An important update:  Unfortunately, at this time we are having issues with Microsoft and Google accounts (hotmail, gmail, etc), so if you can please use a different e-mail provider with your account registration, that will avoid some issues we are having right now with getting new accounts setup.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your patience with us!

Please review the post here about setting up an account: http://forum.redump.org/topic/12228/wan … ead-first/

Thank you for your interest in redump!

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