Disc Read Error (clockwork knight)

[The Elite MYT]

Pretty sure this is just an error with the disc rather than the Saturn, but the disc only has light scratches so not sure.

When I boot up the game, I am met with this error. Regardless of whether the AR is plugged in.

Any way to repair the disc? Preferably using household (or easily obtainable stuff)?

It seems to load something as the screen fills with white dots and the font looks like something the game may have, so pretty sure it isn't a default disc read screen for the Saturn.

[lilly]

Could be disk rot;

To check be in a dimly lit room, and have a light source like a flashlight, hold the disk up to the light source label side up and search the disk for little white pinholes .
Saturn games i find are most susceptible to this type of disk damage of any other console I've had.

[The Elite MYT]

I´ll check when I get back home. The funny thing is that it tells me to press any button (which sends me back to the saturn menu), but there it will play the music from the cd just fine.

Is there any way of repairing it? I read earlier about using toothpaste, which I applied to one scratch that actually seemed like it broke, rather than scuffed, the surface. Didn´t make any difference.

The eBay seller refunded the item as the game doesnt work and the box was literally falling to pieces (it was supposed to be in good condition), but since they didn´t want it returned I thought I might have a pop at trying to get it to work.

Thanks!

[lilly]

If it's disk rot then that means the actual metal that contains the code for the game is gone, forever.

Maybe you'll get lucky (or unlucky depending on how you view it), and it'll just be that your saturns laser is weaker than normal, and the game will play just fine in another saturn

[lanhilb89]

Dec 15, 2016 16:17:57 GMT lilly said:

If it's disk rot then that means the actual metal that contains the code for the game is gone, forever.

Maybe you'll get lucky (or unlucky depending on how you view it), and it'll just be that your saturns laser is weaker than normal, and the game will play just fine in another saturn

Heard of this never seen it in action. What causes this? Also are there signs of when a disc is (rotting) is there a way to stop it?

[lilly]

Dec 15, 2016 17:09:08 GMT lanhilb89 said:

Dec 15, 2016 16:17:57 GMT lilly said:

If it's disk rot then that means the actual metal that contains the code for the game is gone, forever.

Maybe you'll get lucky (or unlucky depending on how you view it), and it'll just be that your saturns laser is weaker than normal, and the game will play just fine in another saturn

Disk rot is caused by 1 of two things.

1. (the most common..!) the disk wasn't responsibly kept: Those warning labels at the beginning of manuals about not leaving your disk in sunlight, or laying them down? Yes ! those arent just corporate liability mumbo jumbo !
The label side of the disk is extremely thin on early CD roms, if exposed to radiation from the sun, scratches, or excessive heat the thin metal will start to be eaten away by this radiation, all the way down to the aluminum foil that has the game data on it.

Best way to prevent this? Keep your disks away from sun light, keep them vertically positioned, and never store them in an area that has the possibility of exposing the disks to heat above 100F for too long.

2. Manufacturing errors: This is more rare, and usually causes CD bronzing but sometimes white pinholes as well.
While pressing the plastic disk to the aluminum air could be caught between the layers, leading to oxidation of the metal, resulting in damage to the metal that houses the code.

There is no cure to disk rot, as the data has been eaten away forever.
The best way to prevent it is to store your disks correctly, never letting them see the light of day longer than they need to.


Although most CD roms have built in ways of combating loss of data, one of them is register skipping which skips parts of the data that cannot be read instead of freezing up (if this is on the security ring, however this skip is disabled)
There is also very compressed bits and pieces of the data near the ring of the disk, sometimes if the data lost is small enough the disk can read these compressed files and fill in the missing data; this causes longer loading times as the system decompresses the data.

Disk rot is deadly, and more games have them then you would expect. It's hard to spot the rot unless you know how to look for it, but it's very important to know how to check for rot, specifically if you're buying an expensive game.

[lanhilb89]

I do store mine vertically or side by side not stacked and I keep them in a cabinet since it has no glass it's enclosed, that should help them right?

[lilly]

Dec 15, 2016 22:50:16 GMT lanhilb89 said:

I do store mine vertically or side by side not stacked and I keep them in a cabinet since it has no glass it's enclosed, that should help them right?

That's how you're suppose to store your disks, you're doing it right, don't worry !

[The Elite MYT]

Well I checked the disc and saw no signs of disc rot, but still can't get it to work.

I've taken it to a computer shop for them to sort out so hopefully they can get it working.

[linkt101]

You can do one of two things

1.Use a warm mildly wet cloth and use outwardly sweeping motions to clean the disc.
2. The nuclear option of taking it to a local game store and paying them to resurface the disc.

[The Elite MYT]

Tried the first, didn't work. So I did the second.

Although I have to wait until next week to get it back.