.mdf -> .iso bypassing copyprotection.

[Tzah]

Alright, so I've been looking around and I can't seem to find a thread on just this topic,
so I'll give it a try and forgive me if I've overlooked something.

I'm fairly new to Ubuntu, just started using it a month ago.
I'm completely in love, and I've no idea why I ever used Windows for anything but gaming.
Well, I've encountered a problem here though.
I decided to replay the good old Arcanum and downloaded it in .mdf.
As I'm new to Ubuntu and have always used Daemon Tools on Windows I didn't know it was a problem, but apparently they can't be mounted, or they can but the content can't be shown, etc.
I hate asking for help without trying our good friend Google, but I've been on this impossible quest since yesterday and I want it solved now.
I've tried several things now but I can't get it to work.
I'm not in the sudo list since my man (it's his laptop) thought I'm too much of a nub to be allowed to mess around with things, which is understandable, so I have to use his account every time I need to make a 'major' change to anything.
This makes it just that more complicated.

Anyway. I tried converting the .mdf to .iso which was possible, but the installation gave me this 'Installation ended prematurely because of an error', now I suspect it's due to the copy protection which Acetone and most others don't bypass, not on these DVD's anyway.

Now what you've probably already guessed, is that I need help with this.
I could of course just download .iso's but why not take up the challenge, it's the only way to learn.
I don't know what kind of info would be needed for this, but I'd really like some help here.

I need help to either convert and bypass the copy protection, or simply help on how to make .mdf's work.

Fanks in advance.

[andrea000]

I think mdf2iso will convert it to a .iso file
on bypassing copyprotection i don't know if it
will do that or not.I looked into using it but
never did for some reason i don't remember why
now but check this post out.
If your just looking to mount it have a look here

[Tzah]

I think mdf2iso will convert it to a .iso file
on bypassing copyprotection i don't know if it
will do that or not.I looked into using it but
never did for some reason i don't remember why
now but check this post out.
If your just looking to mount it have a look here

Thanks a bunch but I did all that already.
I tried Mdf2Iso but it doesn't bypass copy protection it seems,
unless the install problem is of a complete different nature of course,
but I don't think so since I tried it on another pc before taking it here.
I know how to mount it, that's no problem,
it's just it plain not wanting .mdf files..

I am however going to try Hamil's guide though I don't think it has anything to do with my problem.

[Tzah]

^I did try your link to Hamils guide, didn't change anything.

[oni5115]

Thanks a bunch but I did all that already.
I tried Mdf2Iso but it doesn't bypass copy protection it seems,
unless the install problem is of a complete different nature of course,
but I don't think so since I tried it on another pc before taking it here.
I know how to mount it, that's no problem,
it's just it plain not wanting .mdf files..

I am however going to try Hamil's guide though I don't think it has anything to do with my problem.

With Arcanum it definitely has a serious install problem - I even had issues on Windows! It uses 2 CD's, not any DvD's, but still it has issues reading 3 of the arcanum*.dat files and one other file. What I had to do was just copy/paste all the data files from the CD roms into the games install directory.

Anyways, after you copy those files it should work ok. Might need to use the -doublebuffer or -no3d commands to make it run better. According to WineHQ, it still crashes randomly every hour or two, or something along those lines. I've just played it in Windows 7 for the time being, and have not really tried it in Linux.

Also, if you're totally new to the game I'd suggest you check out terra-arcanum since they have some really awesome stuff for the game. Un-official Arcanum Patch (UAP), High Resolution Patch, etc. etc.

http://www.terra-arcanum.com/downloads/

The patches fix a lot of bugs that were even in the official 1.0.7.4 version of the game. Definitely worth downloading at least the UAP so you don't end up with a broken save mid-game.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Tzah]

With Arcanum it definitely has a serious install problem - I even had issues on Windows! It uses 2 CD's, not any DvD's, but still it has issues reading 3 of the arcanum*.dat files and one other file. What I had to do was just copy/paste all the data files from the CD roms into the games install directory.

Anyways, after you copy those files it should work ok. Might need to use the -doublebuffer or -no3d commands to make it run better. According to WineHQ, it still crashes randomly every hour or two, or something along those lines. I've just played it in Windows 7 for the time being, and have not really tried it in Linux.

Also, if you're totally new to the game I'd suggest you check out terra-arcanum since they have some really awesome stuff for the game. Un-official Arcanum Patch (UAP), High Resolution Patch, etc. etc.

Funny, I thought that might be the problem and was just gonna move the data files when I decided to check this thread first.
I'm gonna do thatnow and report back.
I've also only played it on W7u the past year, but had no problem there.

-As for the rest, I wrote I'm 'replaying' Arcanum, that indicates it's t least the second time I play it. But thanks either way, Terra Arcanum patches are definitely a necessity.

Thanks for your answer!

[Tzah]

No.. Difference.. Ah. It's never gonna work. This is bull, I'll buy a new copy.

Thanks for trying.