I wanted to say thank you to Brent and the staff that made it possible to talk to him about my bad experiences with Ubisoft.

As most of you know I mentioned a UBI tech that swore over the phone to me. She is no longer with the company, so no one has to worry about this kind of treatment again.

I still have mixed emotions about Starforce howerver.

After talking to Brent for I'm sure was well over an hr last night....I decided to reinstall the SHIII game on a newly reformatted computer to give it one last try.
Since I still haven't received my replacement copy UBI sent, I used a friends. I couldnt wait. LOL and since my co worker didn't want the game anylonger as he said it was to buggy I have his for the moment.

Anyway.....I also loaded and burnt (or tried to burn) my wifes and my 25th wedding anniversary pics that my daughter had surprised us with a party....Well TO my surprise........My Plextor 40/12/40a drive took 4 min to burn instead of 2.

Then the problems came. (for the record this drive has the latest firmware flashed)

After the burn I got this error:
Plextor error seek.synch,atip or mechanical positioning error- medium error 03/02/00

After I burned the pics I tried to view them they werent there! The drive couldnt even read the disc.....Tried it in the dvd rom drive and it seemed they were all there.

Tried a few more discs (retail discs, games,microsft office etc) but the drive was not able to read them.

I tried rebooting the computer...
Heres what happened....

The Plextor light kept on blinking.....9 blinks then a pause then 9 more.etc etc.Windows could not load until I opened the tray on the plextor....then after getting into windows I tryed to close the tray...It wouldnt close.
I slowly forced it closed with the finger....
After doing this...It looks as if its trying to read...but nothing is in the drive....I get a pause every so often of a disc icon by the mouse cursor. And I cant open anything on the desktop, without it taking 2 minutes.

Shut the system down and started up again and its still doing the same thing.
I called Plextor...We use Plextor alot in our business too. Their tech told me the same thing my tech told me.

It seems that the drive has failed or it cant read the media. Well da it can't read any media! I have to think that this could be Starforce related only because of the posts on the forum. Im going to have to reformat the 2nd time now. OMG this isn't what I was hoping for.



I was having Atapi time out errors on this Plextor after installing SHIII you can verify that in my past posts. But I never did try to burn with the drive until late last night when all of this occured after the burn.

So I and my staff are baffled! At the moment I feel that Starforce is the problem.

I want all of you who have had drives die to please post!

Thanks again however to UBI and the staff for apologizing about the past problems. You guys do care and I thank you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Soulcommander,

Your Plextor drive seems to be faulty. Test it in another computer.

I did test it when I was getting the timeout errors and they werent happening on the other computer. I haven't had a chance to test it yet now with this new issue, since now it wont even read a cd anymore. Again its funny how this started after installing SHIII. I would like to think its just a coincedence but with the past issues from others I just don't think it could be.

did the problems with the drive start when u upgraded the flash firmware?
if you are absolutely certain that starforce is the issue, then i'd suggest you post in teddy bar's starforce related thread, he's a member of simhq and might help to get the message across.

here's a link to his thread http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/857101043/m/7641071523

Right I know about his thread....UBI is calling me later this afternoon...Brent that is...

I just stated that the firmware was the latest so no one would think of posting for me to do that. But actually the firmware flash was done over 6 months ago....and the drive was functioning perfectly..I must of burned about 8 cdrs since then. What I first noticed (I put this is Teddys thread) was the event viewer of Xp was indicating a timeout error with the drive after I installed SHIII....I first noticed a problem after installation of SHIII but didnt correlate it with the game as I had no clue what Starforce was or was even installed. So the problem went on and on...I didnt do a burn until last night... I dont burn much with the drive maybe 30 burns so far all with no problem. This happened afte the install of SHIII. Beleive me I know it sounds crazy! But I just got a PVT email from someone else with almost the exact same issue. I didnt believe the posts here about the CDRW drives and actually in one of my posts I even said that ....But now its happened to me.
So anyone with a cdrw drive please try to burn a cdr and see if you notice anything happen!

Thanks...

i had the same problem after installing sh3
it destroyed my cd-drive
after disconnecting the cd-drive
the game works fine

it's a starforce problem

in the manual(page 4) it says:
"NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives"

it's a known problem to ubi and starforce that the copyprotection ****** peoples computers

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GT182,

i just remembered my last burn did not work with me backing up mt computer?

i'll have to give it a go and see again

If it the case that this game kills my DVDRW then im wanting my money back, its already lost customers as two of my friends liked the look of it but they dont want there new computers messed up.

quote:

Originally posted by ulfwulf:
i had the same problem after installing sh3
it destroyed my cd-drive
after disconnecting the cd-drive
the game works fine

it's a starforce problem

in the manual(page 4) it says:
"NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives"

it's a known problem to ubi and starforce that the copyprotection ****** peoples computers

Guys Please if you can explain exactly what occured and if you were able to fix the issue. I am working on getting info to Ubisoft and Im going to take the cdrw drive out and try it in another computer...
Be specific. when you post as much as possible.
Tell me the drive manufacturer too. I want to know details of what occured. All this info will go to Starforce so be specific!

I know it could be just talk but if i'm thinking of not installing the game as i did a fresh os install a few weeks back then i have a problem with it.

the thing only cost me â£17.99 my DVDRW which i use to back all the family pics on and my music cost me near â£50 and it's new i got it for this game as well as i did not have a DVD player.

Ubisoft better hope its not the case I for one will think twice about any game with Starforce and If my drive fails UBIsoft will never get any of my custom again.

Has it been confirmed that SF writes to the firmware of the device? Wouldn't that require the driver to know how to flash every DVD-drive on the market?

I very much doubt there is a risk of permanent damage to the drives.

My thoughts exactly about the firmware...how could it do that??? Heres an update. The drive will not function in a computer free of SF Or SHIII...So the cdrw died either by a fluke or because of the SHIII and SF....I am at a loss...Since Plextor no longer has the great tech support based out of Colorado and is now in Ohio and they aren't very good at what they do...I have contacted Plextor head quarters and someone will be calling me Thursday. I want them to possibly take a look at thsi writer and let me know what has occured.
I use Plextor and have never had an issue like this. I just checked and I have only burned 30 cdr's and 1 cdrw with this drive and to have it die like this doesn't make sence to me. Of course its out of the warrantee period too which is not a nice thing.

Everyone who has had any issues with their cdrw or combo drives PLEASE I beg you to post on here. And give details! The more we know the better we can try to figure this all out. UBI is aware of this as I have been in contact with them now. So if you have had issues nows the time to let me know!

Thank you very much! I appreciate all the help...I really do!

SC...

As I have pointed out in two other extensive threads on this forum: This is not a joke or a fluke. I have a dvd/cd combo drive that from all appearances had its cd functions reduced to toast from this. I had to install a second cd-drive to get these capabilities back.

I've already sent data to Ubisoft at SoulCommandr's request in an attempt at some resolution. There are a lot more people out there than have come forward with this, and I can tell you that if some of you have combo drives and if you run a check the functionality of its full capabilities this very day, a significant number of you are going to get sobered up real fast.

I use "RecordNow!", bundled software that came with my pc when i bought it a year ago. I don't remember exactly what the error message was, it was always after finishing recording, and then the burned CD/DVD couldn't be read, Windows explorer kept on trying to read, and no way to eject disc, so i finally had to reboot. As i said on another thread in this forum, i formatted my drive and got rid of these problems. The combo (HP 300n) works fine again. At this point i'm not sure if SF writes to firmware.
Just for curiosity i installed SH3 again, (previously i backed up my system) burned a CD and guess what: unreadable CD! Now if that is not clear enough, Ubi, SF, what more do you want? It's not about the cost of some DVDs and CDs, at least my system didn't suffer (apparently) any physical damage, it's the fact of intrusion that worries me. Either it blows up your system or not, it's illegal. Point.

I just noticed my cdrw drive doesn't burn amymore, this could have happened any time after installing a starforce-protected game(doom3) SH3 works, in my read only dvd drive, but my cdrw drive doesn't burn(but will read). Is it broken or could starforce have caused this? I was going to replace it but now am not sure. I would appreciate any help anyone could give me.

Soulcommander what did that lady tech at UBI call you?????? ahahahah stop being a puss people curse at each other all day! im guessing your not from NY.... Im sure you will love it here!!! P.s just think that poor lady lost her job because of you!!!! maybe you were anoying the **** out of her? and she got mad??? lol any bro sounds like your CDROM drive is Messed up!

Update....

Been getting many letters with good info about drive failures. With error messages and such too. I will be submitting these to Ubisoft soon. So if you haven't wrote me or pm me do so soon. You can also see this thread here:
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=38558
And pm me there.

I have reformatted now 3 times and have tryed everything I could think of to get the game to not crash and reboot.
My cdrw drive has been sent to Plextor in Fletcher Ohio. I also have been in contact with the head engineer at Plextor.

Again if any of you have detailed info of a drive failure or problem after installing SH3 be sure to get your letter to me by June 30th.

Thanks again to all who have submitted thus far.


SC

Yep happened to me too!

My drive was a Sony DRU-720A

Tried updating my firmware. No luck. The drive is dead. I'm apparently out $110 due to starforce.

The drive no longer recognizes when a disk is inserted. Very disappointed! Had to pull the drive and have been using an iOmega Super Drive, hopefully it won't toast this one too!

before you guys go out and spend a small fortune for nothing, do what I did. When starforce makes toast of your cd combo:

1. uninstall sh3.
2. run the starforce removal utility (free on web)
3. Do a repair overwrite of win xp.
If you don't, starforce fecal matter remains buried somewhere in the registry, and regardless of the use of the removal utility, you will not get that drive to work again -ever.

If you end up having to reload SP1 and SP2,
you have my sympathies.

When you are finished your combo drive will again be fully functional -until you load sh3 again.

P.S. I actually went out and bought a stand alone DVD-rom to replace the combo. Thats the only thing starforce wont eat for lunch.

I'm beginning to get the impression this game is more trouble than it's worth!

The game is fine, it's the copy protection that is causing all the serious issues.

Starforce does not rewrite the drive firmware, but adds an operating system hardware driver that can interfere severely with some DVD drives in some hardware setups, including 3 of my PC's.
It also appears in a limited number of anecdotal cases to cause actual hardware failures with some peoples drives.

I have confirmed that the firmware of the drives I have tested is unaffected by the simple means of a flash bios tool, which verifies the checksum of the firmware.

If I had known about the Starforce drivers prior to purchase of SH3 I certainly wouldn't have bought it, and I have since had to remove SH3 since my gaming platform also houses the DVD writer I use a lot.
I cannot agree with the use of Starforce as a copy protection system due to the destructive way it affects the operating systems in common use and at the very least any product employing Starforce should contain a smoking type PC health warning. Many PC users unlike myself are not able to safely remove drivers especially ones like Starforce.