Tages Protection

Printable View

11-22-2003, 01:14 AM
Mad Cat

Tages Protection is a new type of CD protection being used on recent games, applications etc.
It is supposedly impossible to make 1:1 copies of Tages protected discs.
Apparently, Tages has been out for quite a long time. XIII is the most recent name I know of that uses Tages protection though.

Quote:

Originally posted by Tages Developer on 1:1 Copies+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Tages Developer on 1:1 Copies)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>"1:1 copy": TAGES™ is the Mark A protection

The information in the "secure area" can be read by any CD/DVD reader, but cannot be copied by any CD/DVD writer, no matter what burner/firmware, medium support (CD-R) and burning software are used.

It is a fact now and FOREVER, it is not just an opinion: we garantee full immunity with 1:1 copy, since CD-Rs do not have our structural modifications, and a burner cannot do it!

You can decide today to buy the TAGES™ Copy Protection System for a product that will be sold within the next 6 months and can be assured that no 1:1 copy is possible on your products.
[/b]

<!--QuoteBegin-Tages Developer on Cracked CDs

The CD Freaks forum has interesting information about the Tages copy protection scheme.

It seems that the CDs are manufactured in such a way that sectors on the CD are numbered the same, but contain different information. You can imagine that if you have a row of boxes, and you are looking in them one by one, and you start at number one, go to number two etc. you will once get to a box numbered e.g 20. In this box you will find e.g a X. but if you start at number hundered and go to nintynine, ninetyeight etc., and there is another box with 20 on it at e.g the place of 80 and in this box is e.g an Y you have checked two boxes with the same name, but with different content. This is how it should work and the thread also states a possible solution.[/quote]

Information on how Tages works, here: SirDavidGuy's CD Protection Site [Tages Page]

This is a link to a page about Tages. It is dated April 2001. This shows the apparent age and effectiveness of this protection technique.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: The tages games can be cracked, only it means a custom executable has to be made. Lets hope that isn't too hard to do for the releasers.

I'll keep you guys updated the more I learn.
11-22-2003, 01:15 AM
james_bond_rulez

bound to be cracked someday... <_<
11-22-2003, 01:18 AM
muchspl2

unless you physical make your own cds, I doubt it will be any time soon
11-22-2003, 01:25 AM
Mad Cat

It will get cracked sometime, think of all the other devs that say their CD protection is un-copyable etc...
11-22-2003, 03:06 AM
Switeck

Quote:

Originally posted by Mad Cat@21 November 2003 - 20:25
It will get cracked sometime, think of all the other devs that say their CD protection is un-copyable etc...

Don't count on it -- the CD burner makers are working hand-in-hand with copyprotection sheme makers often now, or rather vice-versa.

This copyprotection is more or less intentional sabotage at the lowest hardware level -- even a homegrown firmware patch may not be able to reach the hardwired components that this copyprotection works against.

However, there is always hacks and workarounds (remotely) possible -- such as no-CD cheats or total rewrites of the game/app EXE that latches into the copyprotection. Bad data in and of itself is something that only influences programs typically in BAD ways unless the program is specifically programed to handle those conditions. Although I have used ridiculous datachanges to see how a game works.

Found out that in X-Wing game if I set the speed double-byte to anything higher than 255 that the game crashes (goes to plaid a fraction of a second before the crash.) So I ended up having to settle for a X-Wing whose top speed was only 341. :P
11-22-2003, 05:05 AM
ninjamonkey

couldnt you still rip it?
11-22-2003, 06:22 AM
Switeck

Quote:

Originally posted by ninjamonkey@22 November 2003 - 00:05
couldnt you still rip it?

You'll end up only burning a coaster.

However, the very best CD emulator programs *MIGHT* be able to work with this copyprotection.

So the emulated ISO may work even though the ISO cannot be burned normally back to a CD.

In short, a 1-to-1 bitwise copy is currently impossible and remains so, possibly/probably indefinitely.

However, that will not prevent workarounds from appearing.
11-22-2003, 06:31 AM
toddiscool

Quote:

Originally posted by james_bond_rulez@21 November 2003 - 20:15
bound to be cracked someday... <_<

Well I was getting worried about it, because of the way everyone was talking but XIII has been cracked, got nuked, so its not perfect yet but this is one of the first times that we are seeing this protection. It appears to be just replacing the files that tell it to check for the CD again. However I am guessing since the crack was just a few sound files.
11-22-2003, 09:46 AM
Mad Cat

Hopefully, that doesn't mean they will have to go replacing every single sound file in the game.

If you look at that SirDavidGuys site above, it tells you how the protection works. If I understand correctly the sectors on a CD are all called the same thing, maybe these sound files are the ones that are called the same thing or something?
If this doesn't make sense, then fine. I just woke up and I'm probably spewing rubbish.