Shenmue 2 issues.

[Xiaopang]

Any advice for how I should go about using it?

it should come with a manual.

I was really curious about why the disk would sometimes load & sometimes not. As I mentioned before, it seems that when the DC has been running for 2+ mins

i know this problem. i sometimes experience it when ripping badly scratched video-dvds. holding them under cold water seems to help in some rare cases. might also be just a coincidence.

it has issues. Why would slowing down/speeding up the GDROM drive not make any difference?

oh it might very well make a difference. so you think about recalibrating the laser? if all other discs work without problems, then it's really just that disc and i
wouldn't mess with the laser. after all, to my knowledge modifying that poti changes the intensity of the laser and not the drive speed.

About the freezer: I read it in some files someone sent to me a few years ago. When my VC++ 6 disk got messed up, I shoved it in the freezer as suggested and the drive read the disk fine. I guess the idea is either temporarily filling the gaps with ice or... something to do with expanding/contracting. Dunno. ;D

i see, that makes sense in a crazy way, but due to the contracting i would fear to rather damage the disc even more.

[wolfpack]

maybe use Game Doctor?
that may help, it works though it makes the disc extremely blurry until you buff it with the fuzz cloth that comes with it

[Smeedom]

Well...

CD cleaning kit arrived today. Good news is that I can now support claims that cleaning kits produce results. The bad news is that... the results were misplaced.

Rather than going all-out on a rare DC game with a CD cleaner that may not work, I got out 2 of my PS1 games that haven't worked for centuries & one game that has always worked.

First test was FFIX which has a disc 1 that refused to even load. I put the cleaning fluid on the pad, did some turning and... the disc worked perfectly.

Test 2 was Formula 1 which has always worked, but is severely scratched (strangely). I wanted to use this so see if the polish technique would make a game worse. The polish pad left circular scratch-like marks all over the disk, but the game worked as good as before (if not better) afterwards.

#3 was Fear Effect. Same situation as FFIX - never worked, but now does after a quick clean.

So... with these positive results, I decided to put the cleaning kit to the use it was purchased for. I tried the normal cleaning with the fluid on Shenmue 2... and it didn't work. I tried the polishing and that didn't work. I think it's fair to say that the disc is beyond hope.

Thanks again for all the support & such. I'll probably hang around these forums and post progress/results on some of the DC mods I have in mind. ;p

Anyone have any after thoughts, etc?

[quzar]

If there is any spot on the disc where you can see clear through, that is unrecoverable damage, and odds are it will never work. Any scratch that you can feel easily due to it's depth, is generally so deep that it will never work.

Barring those two things, cleaning products tend to work, with the most important thing being to make sure to actually clean the disc with alcohol or water prior to using the cleaning kit on it.

One last insane thing that I've heard is to heat the disc up (most definetly not in a microwave) possibly with a very small open flame. This of course would only be reccomendable on a disc in which conventional methods have failed, and the problem area is noticible.

[Smeedom]

Funny you should say that. The guy I bought it from has said that I can boil the disc in water for 30 seconds and see if that fixes anything before I send it back to him. Will probably give it a try tomorrow.

(I love all the crazed yet sometimes effective methods of fixing things.)

[beetroot bertie]

This might not help you but I've repaired non-readable CDs with Brasso and Cream Car Polish.

I apply a dab of Brasso to a clean cloth wrapped around a finger and work it in around the scratch in small circular movements. I've had to repeat this several times in some instances but do a test after each one. Anyway, I work it in for a while, not pressing too hard, then wipe it off with a dry cloth or dry area of the same cloth. It usually leaves very light scratches since it's abrasive, but after a while smooths out the problematic scratch.

I then give the whole disc a work over with cream car polish (Simoniz Autopride Cream Polish in my case). I put about about 5 pea sized blobs around the disc and again work around it in small circular motions until it's all covered. I then carry on working around the disc until it's all dried up. I wipe the dry residue away with a soft cloth and it comes up very shiny.

There are sometimes some extremely light scratches left behind, but it tends to work a treat. Bigger scratches or pin dot type holes have usually required Brasso first.

As Quzar mentioned if you hold it up to light and can see light through a scratch, then the top side of the disc has been damaged and it's probably stuffed.

[robatfreedomhouse]

I have almost the same problem!

At first it only happened at one point, but after waiting round for a while it got past that stage.

But 2 days later, after carrying out the books, just as I finished it happened again (which was very annoying as I am trying really hard to get all the books out by 12!).

Only disc 2

By the way my discs are IMMACULATE

[JKKDARK]

I have almost the same problem!

At first it only happened at one point, but after waiting round for a while it got past that stage.

But 2 days later, after carrying out the books, just as I finished it happened again (which was very annoying as I am trying really hard to get all the books out by 12!).

Only disc 2

By the way my discs are IMMACULATE

Don't use backup, paly with the GD.