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Topic: Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3 (Read 9680 times) previous topic - next topic
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Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Hi

I'm new to this forum, so please excuse me if I seem a bit uninformed.

I just started converting my commercial CDs to MP3 using EAC and LAME to play via USB on my new car deck.  Everything is going generally well- I've copied about 15 CDs successfully, both before and after trying Hotel California.

My problem came when I put the Eagles Hotel California into the CD/DVD drive.  EAC started to copy it to MP3, but it was really slow- ~0.2x.  I figured something was wrong, so I cancelled the rip and tried to start again.  This time, EAC gave me an error message (sorry, but I don't remember what it said).  So I figured I would try ripping it with WMP, but WMP gave me a message, something about the CD drive changing to analog rather than digital.  I should say that both EAC and WMP listed all the album info correctly, including song titles and eventual size in MB after ripping.  I've now tried to simply play the CD in 3 different computers.  None would play it.  (Actually, one of the versions of WMP on one of the older computers would not initially play the CD, but would play all but the first track when clicked on the files directly in the library.)  Roxio won't copy it.  Funny thing is that it plays just fine in my car CD and my home CD players.  I've tried wiping it, I've tried cleaning it.  It hardly has any scratches on it (I can barely see one scratch when I hold it up to a bright light in just the right orientation).

After another try, EAC appeared to be ripping it very slowly again.  After several hours, it said "Audio Extraction Complete".  But the "Peak Level" for all the tracks was 0.0% (Track quality 100.0%).  And when I clicked on the files to play them, WMP showed the pretty light show with a progress bar at the bottom, but no sound came out.

Any ideas as to what's going on?  How can I rip it?  This is one of my all time favorite CDs and I would love to get it into my car.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #1 –
Someone may tell you a trick how to rip that CD, which is probably copy-protected. Another way is to simply connect one of your home players with your sound-cards line input, and re-record it into  the computer. You will may lose a bit of quality, but unless you do something (like set levels) wrong or your sound card is a very bad one, the loss will be unnoticeable.
Ceterum censeo, there should be an "%is_stop_after_current%".

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #2 –
Thanks for the suggestion.  I thought that's what I might have to do.

Does "copy-protected" mean it won't even play on a computer CD drive?  Does this seem a little unusual?  Or is this fairly common?  Any reason other than "copy-protected" that this might happen?  Is it possible that something on the CD got damaged?

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #3 –
Try ripping a different cd/dvd drive.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #4 –
Which version of Hotel California is this? I don't seem to remember seeing any Copy Protection on it.

And try ripping in Burst Mode.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #5 –
How old is that CD tigerucla?  Eagles Hotel California doesn't really sound recent enough to be a copy protected CD so it might just be a case of damaged media or just plain poor media.

You mentioned not many scratches and that's good, but scratches on the bottom surface don't always do that much harm anyway. There's something much worse and that is scratches (or pin holes) on the top surface. To test for this stand directly beneath a light and hold the CD between your eye and the light, with the silver side facing toward the light and your eye just a few inches away from the printed side, as though you were trying to look straight through the CD to see the light. Now move your eyes focus all around the (printed) surface looking carefully for any little pin-points of light comming through. (BTW it helps if you hold the CD so that it fully "eclipses" the light source).

Why this type of damage is so bad is that it means all the data at that "pin point" is completely destroyed. So though scratches on the bottom side are certainly not a good thing, they don't destroy data, they just scatter some of the laser light and make it a bit harder to read. But if you get these "pin holes" on the top surface then it's much worse, it doesn't just obscure it completely removes the data.

BTW. Perhaps coincidence but just a few months ago I was trying to rip a very old copy of "Eagles - On the Border" and some tracks I just couldn't get a good rip, ripping errors and horrible obvious audible artifacts every time. I tried cleaning the disc and nothing helped and then I held it up to the light and yup I found a whole bunch of those dreaded little pinholes of light streaming through. At that point I knew the situation was lost.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #6 –
Well, I won't say how to rip it, but I think it's important to say that most likely your CD may have installed crapware in your PC, maybe even a rootkit. It's always good to disable autorun in your computers. Most or all CDs will play even if copy-protected if you don't install the software, but unfortunately, with autorun/autoplay enabled, it will be installed without your permission. Hmm it rings a bell... yeah, just like an effin trojan!
 

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #7 –
Thanks to everyone for all the useful suggestions and info.  I'm sorry this has turned into a discussion of legality.  I was under the impression that it is OK to make a copy for personal use.

Uart- the CD I have has a copyright date of 1976, and that is probably about when I bought it.  I looked for pinholes and didn't see any.  Good info, though.

Twostar- I've already tried ripping in 3 different drives (on 3 different computers).

I think I agree that this CD is probably not recent enough for copy protection, but I really don't know much about it.

Boiled Beans- how do I rip in Burst Mode?

Thanks again for everyone's help.  If nothing else, the fact that no one has come up with a simple explanation keeps me from feeling stupid!



Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #8 –
Well if you think the CD was produced around 1976 and bought roughly then I fear some slippage of time/dimensions and such. Its a wonder the CD doesn't fizzle and go boom or something 

Being serious, we can take as read its much too old for copy protection so its likely its 'faulty' in some way. If ripping in burst mode doesn't work I'd try and rip it with another program like dbpoweramp which rips securely and failing that just try any ripper and listen to hear any problems.

What luck, no bypassing of protections involved so we can all sleep easer in our beds.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #9 –
I would certainly try a different drive, if you can. I have an early Sony DVD-ROM that's a dream for ripping CD's. Nothing stops it, and it's fast. I'll be sad the day it finally dies. All of my other optical drives have had troubles with various CD's, and the Sony just reads them.

Laws vary. In Canada I can make a copy for myself. I can also lend a CD to a friend, and they can make a copy. But I can't burn a copy and pass it to a friend. Go figure.
That's so plausible, I can't believe it.

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #10 –
Quote from: quackalist on
Well if you think the CD was produced around 1976 and bought roughly then I fear some slippage of time/dimensions and such. Its a wonder the CD doesn't fizzle and go boom or something 

Being serious, we can take as read its much too old for copy protection so its likely its 'faulty' in some way. If ripping in burst mode doesn't work I'd try and rip it with another program like dbpoweramp which rips securely and failing that just try any ripper and listen to hear any problems.

What luck, no bypassing of protections involved so we can all sleep easer in our beds.


Not possible. CDs first showed up in '83 and I have 10 of the 11 titles available on 4-2-83. The Eagles were not part of the group.  BTW the old CDs work with no problems.

I _did_ have problems getting the Eagles greatest hits to rip on a CD writer. The DVD drive ripped it successfully. I never did get a complete rip of Seals and Crofts greatest hits. The first couple of seconds of track 1 just wouldnt happen. I did an analog copy of the first few seconds, matched it up within a fraction of a dB and within one sample. Sounds fine.

G²

Commercial CD will not play on computer and cannot rip MP3

Reply #11 –
I'm closing this topic until TOS #9-related issues have been addressed.  As it currently stands, talking about circumventing copy-protection of anything and through any means is forbidden in this forum.

Those that wish to discuss this policy can do so here.  I cannot guarantee that this topic will re-open, nor can I guarantee that there will be any changes to the TOS.  Policy-related issues are the sole responsibility of those on the Administration team of which I am not a member.