garyb

It was never advertised as such. They said it was 24-bit stereo.

Also do NOT let the autorun run when you insert the cd since it installs the DRM making it impossible to rip.

garyb

This disc uses MediaMax copy-protection.

http://features.engadget.com/entry/3239236478279892/

Basically, don't agree to the EUL and hold shift when you insert the cd to disable autorun.

Michael Sheridan

OK, If youre an IDIOT like myself , is there a way to get rid of the Mediamax driver???

Now I can hold SHIFT and the EUL doesnt come up, but when i go to play it in WMP or iTunes, its has that garbled skip to it. (and ripping it to my iPod is gone....)

Pardon my ignorance, but when did buying a CD become so hard?? This sucks. I should be able to do what I want with the CD i just bought, within the guidelines of personal use.

Josh H

Do a google search, I know with the copy proection on the Velvet Revolver disc I was able to find isntructions to disable the program from running.

If there's not anything up for this program, there will be soon I'm sure.

Spaceknight

not sure if uninstalling will help.
I didn't hit shift (didn't read this thread until now) but I hit cancel on the "install driver" screen and then opened up windows media player. The tracks skipped.
So either a) something is screwy with Media Player that it knows you have a CD of this type. (which wouldn't surprise me.) or b) it installed SOMETHING on my system prior to the license screen. (which also wouldn't surprise me.)

But anyways, I'm on a quest now to "fix" my system since this has alerted me to the fact that it's extra software and not something about the CD itself. I'll let you know if I figure out which files are involved.

mkdevo

just an idea, but maybe doing a System Restore from a point before you put the disc in?

Spaceknight

This is definitely Use At Your Own Risk... here's what I found, knowing that the machine I'm doing this on has no other licensing issues on it. (it's my gaming machine, I don't use ITunes or anything there, I just use the CD Player as a jukebox.)

I found 4 suspicious files created yesterday.
two DLLs in the Windows\system32 directory, SCCD3X01.DLL and SCCD3X02.DLL
two files in the Windows\prefetch directory, beginning with the names launchcd.exe- and mshta.exe-

I also found the following folder: c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM
That is a hidden folder. It has 10 hidden files, which I won't bother listing.


My suspicion is that the DLLs are for the player the CD used. the .pf files are for running the CD. (one for the installer, one for the player.) the rights files are actually held in the DRM folder. However, I have no idea how the folder works, it's possible you can't delete just the rights to this disc without losing other rights, or even functionality from media player.

I think I'll find my copy of Norton Ghost and play with this on a backup later. But perhaps you can tell me if you have any of those same files.

garyb

Start with a Windows 2000/XP system with empty CD drives.

Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Start Menu.
Double-click on the System control panel icon.
Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
Configure Device Manager by clicking "Show hidden devices" and "Devices by connection," both from the View menu.


Next, follow these additional steps to disable MediaMax:

Select the SbcpHid driver from the Device Manager list and click "Properties" from the Action Menu.
Click the Driver tab and click the Stop button to disable the driver.
Set the Startup Type to "Disabled" using the dropdown list.

Josh H

Thanks for the tips. I'm almost tempted to let it run and disable it so I don't have to remember to hold shift everytime I put it in.

Anyway, I got my pre-ordered dual disc today, pretty fast considering I didn't pay for the expensive guaranteed on or before release day shipping.

Only listened to about half of it. It's definitely a very different direction for them, but I liked what I heard.

Rogue588

I am far from being anything near technologically competent, however I had no problem whatsoever ripping this disc to mp3..

I use MusicMatch to rip. Started it up, opened the Recorder, put the disc in, kept hitting the Stop button [based on what i've read here, just in case MMJ started playing the disc] and when it finished scanning the disc, it showed the 14 tracks and I selected 'em all to burn and hit the red record button..

garyb

rogue did you get the dd or the cd? the dd doesn't have copy protection

Spaceknight

now THAT is good justification for paying the extra $2 for dd.

Josh H

Awesome, I got the DD as well, and it was only $1 more on the pre-order.

I had no problems ripping it or the bonus cd.

Toad

Yeah, how is anyone having a problem ripping the disc?

The autorun brings up a program from which you can copy the tracks. I had no problem ripping, transferring, or playing it on my DJ.

(However the program does note an odd non-conformance issue with IPods).

I put the disc in my computer, let it run, and have had no problems. Anything it installed on my computer doesn't bug me.

Toad

Also, aren't we venturing into bad territory discussing how to evade the CD copyright protection that comes with the CD? Just something to think about if you're considering breaking federal copyright law...

Josh H

If it's like the Velvet Revolver copy protection, the files the program lets you copy over are window media files and lower quality that most of us rip in. I can't check as I got the DD which doesn't have the copy protection on it.

I don't think we're talking about breaking copyright as people just want to get buy it to get a decent mp3 or AC3 file off a CD they own legally to put on their computers and mp3 players.

garyb

People are having problems because the autorun locks you from ripping it to anything other than DRM. While your player supports these, others, like the ipod, do not. Some also prefer to rip to lossess for playback on their computer.

...and I don't see holding down the shift key is breaking any rules. However the company who made the protection did try to sue the person who initially "discovered" this loophole.

Giles

oh I can't wait to hear all the angry/annoyed comments about the upcoming Coldplay album, it's maddening that you can't rip any of the songs from off the last album (or any of the UK singles from said album).

garyb

musictoday (company owned by dmb's manager and sells dmb merchandise, including the pre-orders) has been getting a ton of calls about the dd compatability and copy-protection.

Giles

well that doesn't surprise me.

garyb

The bonus discs are usually declared trade-friendly by the Warehouse (fan club).

I should be getting my disc soon. It has 5 lives tracks and 3 b-sides from the album. It's better than the album, IMO. Once it's clear the disc is ok to trade I will offer to b&p it here.

Tom Banjo

LOL It almost doesn't need it. None of my computers will read a DD.

Rogue588

ah. I picked up the DD. Didn't even concern myself with the "CD" version. It's only 2 extra dollars. However, when I bought my copy at BB last night, I paid $14.99 for it [since it was towards the end of the night, didn't have time to go elsewhere]. So, today, when I went down to CompUSA to pick up Life Aquatic and bring back my other copy to Costco, I stopped back at BB to PM CC's $11.99. I wasn't in that much of a rush, but the clerk was. She was nice, just rushed. Anyways, she asked to help me and I told her I was there to PM the DD version of Dave's disc and showed her the CC ad. Instead of PM'ing the $11.99 price, she PM'd the $9.99 price.

In addition to what Josh said, isn't it "legal" to rip a copy for our own personal use?

garyb

I also PM'd BB to the CC ad and could have gotten away with the 9.99 price if I wanted to.

Tommy_Harn

Thanks.