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Author Topic: CD's will not rip [Sony root kit problem?]  (Read 10043 times)

benn600

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CD's will not rip [Sony root kit problem?]
« on: October 09, 2008, 08:08:24 pm »

I have never experienced this before but I now have a stack of 3 CDs that just plain will not rip.  Yes, I know what happens when they're scratched.  These are different.  One, when put in the drive, just quickly spins the drive down.  It shows Enhanced CD in My Computer but MC doesn't see anything.  Another keeps the drive spinning for a minute or two until it stops.  Another does something like this.

These are the first I've ran into such a problem with and they are all newly purchased very recently (but not necessarily released recently).  I can list them if interested but I think it's a general problem.
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John Gateley

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Re: Will Not Rip
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2008, 09:46:54 pm »

Some CD's are copy-protected. It's usually pretty easy to disable, something like holding down the control key when they are inserted, or turning off auto-run, or something like that. List them here, see if anyone else has similar problems with the same titles.

j

benn600

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Re: Will Not Rip
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2008, 10:15:14 am »

I already tried holding shift down.  I had auto run disabled on my computer for the longest time but iTunes always tries to enable it and I may have allowed it to.  The titles I'm having trouble ripping are:
Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times
The Cure - self-titled
Ying Yang Twins - United State of Atlanta
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Alex B

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Re: Will Not Rip
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2008, 11:45:35 am »

"Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times"

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_in_Paranoid_Times
Quote
... Extended Copy Protection

In November 2005, it was revealed that Sony was distributing albums with Extended Copy Protection, a controversial feature that automatically installed rootkit software on any Microsoft Windows machine upon insertion of the disc. In addition to preventing the CDs contents from being copied, it was also revealed that the software reported the users' listening habits back to Sony and also exposed the computer to malicious attacks that exploited insecure features of the rootkit software. Though Sony refused to release a list of the affected CDs, the Electronic Frontier Foundation identified Healthy in Paranoid Times as one of the discs with the invasive software. As part of its settlement of the class action lawsuit filed against it, Sony allowed customers to return copies of Healthy in Paranoid Times for new copies plus a cash payment. This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.  ...

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Copy_Protection
Quote
... The version of this software used in Sony CDs is the one marketed as "XCP-Aurora". The first time a user attempts to play such a CD on a Windows system, a program will be installed even before a dialog box prompts the user to accept a license agreement.[1] The EULA did not mention that it installed hidden software. The software will then remain resident in the user's system, intercepting all accesses of the CD drive to prevent any media player or ripper software other than the one included with XCP-Aurora from accessing the music tracks of the Sony CD. No obvious way to uninstall the program is provided. Attempting to remove the software by deleting the associated files manually will render the CD drive inoperable due to registry settings that the program has altered.

The included player software will play the songs and allow only a limited degree of other actions such as burning the music onto a certain number of other CDs or loading it onto certain DRM-protected devices such as a few portable music players. The popular iPod, sold by Sony competitor Apple Computer, does not support their DRM format and they could not use Apple's FairPlay.

XCP conceals itself from the user by installing a patch to the Windows operating system. This patch stops ordinary system tools from displaying processes, registry entries, or files whose names begin with $sys$. Other XCP components include "Plug and Play Device Manager", which continuously monitors all other programs being run on the computer.  ...

So you may have some nice new software installed...  (I don't know if the installed rootkit can affect all CD playback attempts. Have you tried to rip any other discs on the same PC recently?)
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marko

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Re: Will Not Rip
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2008, 01:04:36 am »

:)

benn600

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Re: Will Not Rip
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2008, 12:16:52 am »

Well truth be known when this came out I remember hearing ALL about it.  I read and heard more about this than I can believe and I have a relative in the music industry who updated me even more on the issue.  Unfortunately like I said, I had autorun disabled for the longest time but I suspect it is enabled again.

Either way, all the household computers are due for a reformat very soon now so I won't worry about it.  Thanks for the info.
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Frobozz

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Re: CD's will not rip [Sony root kit problem?]
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2008, 12:04:23 am »

You can check for unwanted/old/bad CD filter drivers.  Filter drivers sit before and after (above and below) the CD driver.  The filter drivers get to see (filter) all data as it goes to and from the CD driver.  Some copy protection schemes use a filter driver.  The filter driver is able to see all data that passes through the CD and block access if it is content they want to protect.  Other times there are old filter drivers that just no longer work correctly which end up plugging up the works.

There is a utility called busTRACE Filter Driver Load Order that will list all of the CD filter drivers being loaded.  Look at the drivers being loaded.  You can google to find out what some of them are.  Others you can right-click on the driver file and look at the properties.

You can manually edit the registry to stop a filter driver from loading.  MSKB 314060 explains how to edit the registry to remove filter drivers.  Then reinstall applications that have filter drivers that you want to work.  iTunes makes use of a filter driver named GEARAspiWDM.  That driver is so iTunes can burn CDs.
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Andrew Kevin

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Re: CD's will not rip [Sony root kit problem?]
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2010, 03:39:48 am »

Chance? You have tried ripping a number of times with each drive?

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