«

[The Fifth Horseman]

PROTEGER.COM contains another executable wrapped in it - EVMOVE.COM, which is associated with the Everlock copy protection scheme.

Found this: http://www.searchlores.org/protec/everlock.htm

[UnconformistSheep]

As I mentioned in the other thread, the mario-time-machine disk #5 is probably borked (just look at the size of the image file), but maybe not the where-is-mario disk #5. I could try using a different programme to create the img disk to see if we get better results... (I created them using dd system command from Linux.)

But indeed, there are these two files: EV31.SYS and EV32.SYS in disk #5 of both games. The size of the files is identical between games, but the data differs.

It still seem like the protection mechanism is at fault here. Just try to do a proteger a: c:, and you'll get an error: Current Available Install Count = 0. (disk #5)

Re-reading the Warning text, and looking at the output of the proteger command, it seems clear the copy protection mechanism is more sophisticated than shuffling a couple of files around.

More than a counter, I bet those two files encode information about the computer, like the floppy-disk Label, hard-disk Label and etc, otherwise it would be too trivial for the ordinary computer user to piracy the game, by either cloning the original floppy-disk, or by cloning the hard-disk installation.

Interestingly, the "proteger" command is a PROTEGER.COM file. COM executables are known to be easily disassembled (though I have no experience myself), so maybe someone could have a look.

By the way, I renamed the image files to disk*.img to make them easier to mount, and placed the all thing in this zip files: http://www.alunos.dcc.fc.up.pt/~c060...ario-games.zip

[UnconformistSheep]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

PROTEGER.COM contains another executable wrapped in it - EVMOVE.COM, which is associated with the Everlock copy protection scheme.

Again, I did get errors while copying both disk #5, so the page you referenced makes a lot of sense. I couldn't tell what to do (if anything I could do) to crack the protection system.

If anyone would like to accompany me in the process, I will follow your commands. ;-) I have a computer here with a floppy driver, and I recently managed to install Windows 7 on it, so I can try whatever you guys want. (If there is a hacker around, I can also buy you this cheap $1.00 ebay copy, which is probably also "protected".) Anyhow, it probably makes more sense to just buy the game from ebay (if still in its unprotected state): interestingly, there are CD-ROM versions of the "Mario is Missing" game in ebay too.

[The Fifth Horseman]

What program did you dump the floppy image with? WinImage, RaWrite (2?), something else ?

[UnconformistSheep]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

What program did you dump the floppy image with? WinImage, RaWrite (2?), something else ?

I created that raw imgdisk using 'dd' in Linux. It's a basic system tool. It did error'd while copying part of disk #5.

Anyhow, it's pretty clear no matter how the image disk is created, this will be one hard mother f----- to break. ;-) I might just buy the games from ebay, but pretty sad I can't play them in Portuguese (maybe I can copy over the data from the Portuguese floppies or something :-/). We wouldn't be able to post these games in Abandonia either way, right? Mindscape is still an active publisher...

EDIT: Anyway, I will indulge you guys in creating the image disks in other ways. I just installed Windows 7 in my computer with the floppy driver, so feel free to suggest other ways to create the image disk. I would just appreciate if you could tell me exactly what steps to follow (I'm short of time ATM). Or can just ship my floppies to anyone who has any experience in these things -- either that, or I will just order for you one copy from ebay.

By the way, here are scans of the the boxes if you guys are curious about it (click for a bigger size):

Onde está o Mario? / Mario is Missing!



Mario e a Máquina do Tempo / Mario's Time Machine

[The Fifth Horseman]

WinImage and RaWrite2 are the ones I'd suggest.
Some people have alsoe recommended "Floppy Disk Analyser" for dumping images of copy-protected floppies.

[UnconformistSheep]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

WinImage and RaWrite2 are the ones I'd suggest.
Some people have alsoe recommended "Floppy Disk Analyser" for dumping images of copy-protected floppies.

Okay, will give it a try next week after exams. I doubt it will help much though. :-(

By the way, I gave a quick try to the SNES version of the game. I was surprised because I remembered the graphics being quite a lot superior, and the gameplay/controls more intuitive. Did some googling, and it seems I am right: the PC version is one notch superior from the SNES. Uff, I thought I was going Alzheimer. ;-) There is also a story introduction to the PC version of "Mario Is Missing!" where Mario is seen going to Bowser's Castle because Bowser promises him candy. (I think Bowser is disguised, but can't remember: it was something stupid like that either way.) I think there is also some joke about Mario eating a spoiled mushroom, and Luigi reprehending him for eating every mushroom he sees. (Maybe this is before Mario leaves home? Or maybe this one was the introduction to the "Time Machine" one? The details are all foggy. ;-))

[UnconformistSheep]

Here are image disks for Mario's Time Machine (pt) using WinImage: floppy disk images.

As you can see, just looking at the file size, there is something wrong with disk #5.