Xenosaga + Swap Magic

[o_O]

Hi.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out with splitting a DVD9 into separate layers and burning it onto two DVD5 discs.

More specifically, an NTSC copy of Xenosaga is on it's way from the States at this moment, along with a copy of Swap Magic 3.6 and a flip top lid for my PS2. () I know that Swap Magic can't handle dual layer DVDs, and I also know that splitting the two layers of a DVD9 disc into two DVD5s can be done. The question is just how to do that. I'm pretty sure I'll need a patch, which I can't find.

I know that the TOC for Swap Magic 3.6 is 4.35GB and the size of the Xenosaga disc image 7.99GB, so one idea I had would be to rip the two layers into two 4GB images, then split them so that they overlap a little:
<pre>
(assume 1GB is 1000MB and "-" represents 250MB)
Total disc length:
|--------------------------------|
8GB
Two ISO lengths after ripping from DVD9:
|----------------| |----------------|
4GB 4GB
Two ISOs, each overlapping one another:
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
4.25GB 4.25GB
</pre>

Edit: Actually, it seems ridiculous that they would order data from start to finish, rather than in sectors. xD
Disregard that diagram please.

Will this work? Do they use a different means of storage, aside from a 'start to finish' ordering of data? I have no experience splitting ISOs or dealing with components of images, so any help is appreciated. Cheers.

[edczxcvbnm]

www.videohelp.com

That is where I would look but because this isn't a video disc and is a game disc I don't know how well what you want to do would work. What if the maps were on one disc but the battle stuff was on the other? That would suck!

[Dreddz]

Had the same problem, gave up...

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

Had the same problem, gave up...

i thought this was ur thread:rolleyes2

[Dreddz]

Nein, Mine is a little further down.

[o_O]

Wow, I didn't even see your thread, Dreddz. I found some stuff that could be helpful though.

<a href="http://www.ps2nfo.com/forums/register.php?a=act&u=79309&i=49567719">PPF patch, requires you to register at ps2nfo.com.</a>
<a href="http://www.swapmagicfix.com/XenosagaEpisode1DerWillezurMacht.zip">Instructions on downsampling and rebuilding a DVD image, no registration required; works for all PS2 models.</a>
<a href="http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/210515">Some guy called black_Ice posted a nice tutorial on rebuilding images.</a>

It seems like rebuilding the disc image is the way to go, though it looks like patching it will work.

[edczxcvbnm]

If there are video files on the disc you could always us DVD shrink on them and make them about 1/3rd the size and fit the whole game onto one disc. That is another thought I just had.

[o_O]

Yeah, I read something like that on the AfterDawn boards. I don't think that it would shrink the game by half though - If I was to put the game on a DVD5, I'd need the image to be reduced from 8GB to 4.35GB.

Applying that patch, and re-burning to DVD9 should allow it to work with Swap Magic, though I'm going to have a go at rebuilding too, since that seems to be a useful skill.

Failing that, I'm just going to chip my PS2.

EDIT: Found this: <a href="http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/286290">Xenosaga rebuild tutorial</a>.

EDIT 2: Got it working. No patches, no DVD9s, just that guide in my last edit, and a bit of experimentation and a lot of DVDs.