Question How to verify that CDs/DVDs/Blu-rays are 100% readable ?

[knowledge2121]

I have been collecting some retro games for original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox one.

Some of the discs have some minor scratches. I want to make sure they are all in a working condition and 100% readable. What's the best way to do this ? Should I install the games to the console's HDD to see if it copies 100% ? Are there other ways ? on Windows 10 ?

If I figure out that a certain disc is unreadable, should I use this to fix them ?

 

[hotaru.hino]

You could use something like ImgBurn to make an image of the disc. If nothing goes wrong, then it's reasonable to assume that the contents of the disc were copied successfully.

If you want to take it a step further, you can run a hashing function like MD5 (instructions) or SHA-1 and check the value against the game cataloged in http://www.redump.org. So for example, if you had 007: Agent Under Fire, if the MD5 of the disc image you created is beec6d22aa3599c1f0582532a7fadd30, then it's a good copy.

 

[knowledge2121]

imgBurn has a Verify DISC option, does that work too ?

There are also other apps like VSO Inspector, CDReader and DVDisaster.

Which app should I use to test the discs with ?

 

[hotaru.hino]

imgBurn has a Verify DISC option, does that work too ?

There are also other apps like VSO Inspector, CDReader and DVDisaster.

Which app should I use to test the discs with ?

I presume what that does is reads the data on the disc and verifies that it triggers none of the error correction data. This data helps prevent some amount of physical damage, but there's only so much it can do.

Doing an MD5 or SHA-1 verifies that the data that was copied was exactly what was dumped from the catalog site.

I'd just make an image, run an MD5 hash on it, and verify it with the Redump database. If you get the same value, then the disc was imaged correctly.

 

[knowledge2121]

That is a lot of work...we are talking a lot of discs.... what's the next best way to check them that is also faster ?

I have a DVD drive that came with my old Dell laptop. It is rated 5v 1.3A. I want to use that for testing the discs.

Can I use this adapter with it ? does it have sufficient power ?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

That is a lot of work...we are talking a lot of discs.... what's the next best way to check them that is also faster ?.....

How do you expect to verify the data on the disk if you don't first read it? There are no shortcuts.

 

[hotaru.hino]

That is a lot of work...we are talking a lot of discs.... what's the next best way to check them that is also faster ?

And if preservation is your goal here, you have to be meticulous about this. The fastest way I'd argue is simply make a disc image of it and see if any errors came up during the imaging process. But whether or not it's a "perfect" copy of a disc is up for debate.

I have a DVD drive that came with my old Dell laptop. It is rated 5v 1.3A. I want to use that for testing the discs.

Can I use this adapter with it ? does it have sufficient power ?

It may, since optical drives only need a lot of power if they're writing a disc.

 

[knowledge2121]

Is there a way to find the MD5 of a disc without creating an iso file ?

 

[hotaru.hino]

Is there a way to find the MD5 of a disc without creating an iso file ?

That would still require reading the entire disc, and if you're going to do that, you may as well just make an ISO file.

There's no magic way of knowing if a disc is bad or not without reading the entire contents of the disc, assuming there's no clearly obvious signs that it's damaged beyond recovery.

 

[knowledge2121]

I am just worried that the .iso files will cause SSD/HDD wear and tear...but now I realize that I got some old HDDs lying around...Could use them with my USB adapter and then create the isos on them.

I have asked in other places and people advise to use the MPF disc-dumping app ... since the isos created at redump.org are dumped with MPF. what do you think ?

Also, Just to confirm, the following method guarantees that my discs are 100% healthy/readable:

(1) Create the discs images using MPF.
(2) Compare the MD5Sums of the disc images against the md5sums of the same titles at redump.org.

If the md5sums match, Can you confirm that my discs are 100% ok and there is nothing wrong with them ? (I have OCD)

 

[hotaru.hino]

I am just worried that the .iso files will cause SSD/HDD wear and tear...but now I realize that I got some old HDDs lying around...Could use them with my USB adapter and then create the isos on them.

Unless you're planning to rip the entire PS2 and Xbox 360 library 1000 times over, you're not going to cause any significant wear on the drives.

I have asked in other places and people advise to use the MPF disc-dumping app ... since the isos created at redump.org are dumped with MPF. what do you think ?

I've used ImgBurn, but if it helps you sleep better at night, sure, use what they use.

Also, Just to confirm, the following method guarantees that my discs are 100% healthy/readable:

(1) Create the discs images using MPF.
(2) Compare the MD5Sums of the disc images against the md5sums of the same titles at redump.org.

If the md5sums match, Can you confirm that my discs are 100% ok and there is nothing wrong with them ? (I have OCD)

The only thing this proves is the data that was written to the disc was retrieved. It does not necessarily mean the disc itself is 100% fine.

 

[knowledge2121]

The only thing this proves is the data that was written to the disc was retrieved. It does not necessarily mean the disc itself is 100% fine.

if it had bad scratches, then it couldn't be perfectly retrieved ?
if the data is perfectly retrieved , it means it is 100% readable ? the disc does not have any bad scratches ?

what else could be wrong with the disc when you say "It does not necessarily mean the disc itself is 100% fine." ?

 

[USAFRet]

I want to make sure they are all in a working condition and 100% readable.

Make multiple copies, on different media types.

A single copy of anything may as well not exist at all.

 

[hotaru.hino]

if it had bad scratches, then it couldn't be perfectly retrieved ?
if the data is perfectly retrieved , it means it is 100% readable ? the disc does not have any bad scratches ?

what else could be wrong with the disc when you say "It does not necessarily mean the disc itself is 100% fine." ?

You shouldn't equate "I can get the data off the physical media" with the health of the physical media itself.

Optical discs have error correction code in them to attempt to recover any potential issues from scratches. Also the optical drive may go around the area several times and either the hardware can figure out the data after a few attempts to read it or the software can make a best guess depending on the raw data the optical drive picked up.

So even if you can make a disc image with an MD5 that matches with what people agree is the gold standard image, it doesn't mean the disc itself is 100% healthy. It could have enough damage that it may not be read, depending the quality of the optical drive or how willing the drive or software is with retrying to read the data.

Case in point: I had a PlayStation that had trouble reading some games, but it was more or less fine when I played said game on a PS2.

 

[knowledge2121]

Alright , According to this link, It is not even possible to dump the games using an ordinary drive...