Cracked disk repair possible??

[Dano2k0]

Hi guys,

Ok i'm wondering if someone here can help me, i have quite an important disk that i need to repair. It has been damaged during transit and cracked pretty much in to two.

Now on the slight plus side, the disk remains whole as the backing i think is still holding this together, so hopefully the data isn't damaged, and its simply the plastic layer.

Is there any possible way to fix this properly? any companies that do disk repair that are capable of fixing this? or any DIY attempts i may be able to try?

Thanks for your replies :)

[alphagamer]

The actual data is burned into the plastic layer, the backing is just the reflective dye, holds no data.

...

How the hell did that happen? It is really hard to break a disc in two.
...

But back on topic: If the disc is REALLY important get some pros to recover the data, can be expensive though.

[Dano2k0]

I always thought the data was held in or close to the reflective backing and was 'pitted' in? Was pretty sure it was something like that, i know you can skim loads off the plastic surface of the disk and it will still be fine. I thought also the reason when you burned a disk and it changed colour was due to the backing.

The disk in question is actually an Xbox disk, an Xbox during transit slid and snapped it in half, gutted :(

Its pretty important, though a copy i don't think would be of use, i needed the disk to work again, although i doubt it will be possible to send it off somewhere for repair. I would have been happy to pay a reasonable price for it repairing if it was even possible..

Thanks for the reply though.

[alphagamer]

The only chance you have to recover the data would be a copy, sadly. If you glue the disc together, be advised that it spins with up to 500 rpm, huge centrifugal forces at work here. The disc will crash your drive, if you are unlucky.

[Dano2k0]

Hmm,

Been thinking long and hard about my options here and ive thought of something that MIGHT get me a chance at somewhat fixing it, though it would never be quite the same again..

I was thinking about carefully glueing the disk together with a spot of either plastic glue or super glue, being as carefull as possible to try and keep the disk perfectly lined up.

Then i was thinking i'd need to add some good strength, now the issue i'm thinking about will be thickness as some drives may not like a double thickness disk, i was simply thinking about using a clear end cover off a pack of burnable disks, and glueing this on to the top of my disk?

Now the issue is quite simple, it would be double the thickness that it should be. I don't know if this will become an issue, i suspect it may.

The options are then, wet sand this disk down so its thinner, polish it back up etc and then glue it ontop.

I was also thinking of lacqureing the under side of the current broken disk to ensure particals can't get into the cracks on the disk, it may also help 'merge' the disk back together.

Its quite possible none of these ideas will work, but some thoughts if come up with so far in the attempt to rescue this disk..

[rso]

I really, really don't think that's gonna work, since you'd need to properly align the parts of data track... Unless I misunderstood and it's actually only kinda half-cracked. Well, good luck anyways.

You might wanna grab an old drive to use though - the slower the better, to reduce the stress on the disc! - to not damage your "good" drive should the disk get torn apart.

[alphagamer]

A glued disc will burst into pieces.

[randyrandall]

Whatever you do, don't glue it and then shove it back into a drive. It will explode/shatter/fuck something up.
I would have sggested googling dedicated data recovery services. Very very expensive but they may be able to help. If its an xbox game, however, it's going to be cheaper to just buy the game again. Lesson learned- don't leave any disc in any drive whilst moving the unit!

[Dano2k0]

Guys,

The disk isn't in two seperate pieces, the backing kept it together and aligned properly, it was still as one piece, just cracked. The data layer is cracked worse, as on one side of the disk it has a 'spliter' of disk cracked.

I have glued very carefully the edges of the disk upto the point where the data is.

I have then got a black / clear half thickness disk and bonded this to the top of my disk. Although it doesn't look very pretty, it serves its purpose.

Now, i have ran the disk up 4 times so far, the disk remains whole, however the Xbox won't read the disk, i'm begining to think this probably won't ever work again, but i'm still thinking of ideas to attempt to get it to read again.

I'm thinking of lacquring the data side of the disk to help 'blend' those cracks in, the data tracks must be very much in line, the disk seems fine in this respect, other than the fact you can see the cracks.

However, the silver backing had somewhat lifted on the back, it no longer looks nice and smooth so to speak, i have seen this on damaged media in the past. I imagine this could also cause read issues.

I'm unsure if the cracks would cause read issues, or rather the silver backing.

Other than lacquring the data side of the disk, to help fill the minor crack lines, wet sand, buff back up, i'm running out of ideas what to try.

Oh and randyranall, the disk wasn't in the Xbox during transit, i wish it was as it would have been safe :(

The Game disk in question, is a special one, its an Xbox beta live! disk, this works in conjunction with the Beta Live! kit i have, the kit won't play any other retail games etc, only these beta live disks and this is the only one i had available.

What can i say, gutted.

[hl718]

1) The data is in the foil layer, not the plastic.

2) If the foil layer is damaged, AT ALL, your data is lost. The only hope at that point is professional data recovery services and even then it is questionable.

-hl718

[alphagamer]

1) The data is in the foil layer, not the plastic.
-hl718

Oh, I thought the polycarbonate was molded and then covered with aluminum. I stand corrected.

[randyrandall]

"However, the silver backing had somewhat lifted on the back, it no longer looks nice and smooth so to speak, i have seen this on damaged media in the past. I imagine this could also cause read issues."

It's fucked, stick it in the bin. To echo hl718 (http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/member.php?u=603)'s sound post, the data is on the reflective part. The plastic is just a piece of flat plastic. If you scratch with a blade through that shiny layer, look through the bottom- you can see the data surface being scratched away leaving just transparent plastic.

[sayin999]

cd data is on the label itself. Dvd in the dead center. If that reflective layer in the center is broken in any way its a coaster for sure.

[mooseblaster]

Noting how much 'advice' is being given out, I'm actually quite surprised no-one has asked this question.

Dano: Is the disc a pressed disc (aka: a mass-produced, silver disc), or a CD-R (aka: a one-off disc, dyed on the bottom)? What it is may affect your luck.

A pressed disc has the data pressed into the plastic (it is moulded). As such, the chances of being able to recover the data will be higher than a CD-R (although still rather unlikely).

A CD-R has the data on the reflective surface, due to storing the data via the dye (when heated by a laser, the dye changes colour, thus allowing data storage). The chances of recovery, especially as you've mentioned that the whole reflective surface has 'rippled', is far lower.

Either way, however, a simple botch job to recover the information on a pressed disc is unlikely to produce any positive results. This is due to the way the edges of the polycarbonate breaks and that there will be at least 2 bad bytes in every revolution of the disc. Such recovery will take several days, and is unlikely to be possible on a high-speed consumer drive with consumer software. The only viable solution is to take the disc to a qualified data recovery specialist, but you should be aware that due to the delicate and complicated nature of recovery it is likely to set you back over $1000 to recover.

PS: Anyone who answered 'a pressed disc has the data pressed onto the metallic layer' without even having the common sense to check Wikipedia first obviously fails to an epic degree. :P

[alecjahn]

I thought I posted something about data being in the poly on professional discs... but maybe I decided everyone knew this and thus we were talking about a 'burned' disc.

[alphagamer]

(...)though a copy i don't think would be of use, i needed the disk to work again(...)


I thought I posted something about data being in the poly on professional discs... but maybe I decided everyone knew this and thus we were talking about a 'burned' disc.

This is why I thought we were talking pressed discs.

[APE]

If this is the Live beta disk that was issued with ReVolt and something else on it its replaceable and not really worth the trouble. An XBox dvd-rom is extremely picky about what it will read, particularly if it is a Thompson drive over a Samsung. Try a kreon drive in a PC as they're far less picky. I myself have a modded Samsung for XBox and 360 ripping purposes and seems to work with disks as long as they aren't scratched beyond recognition. Haven't seen a cracked disk to try yet though.

[smf]

A pressed disc has the data pressed into the plastic (it is moulded). As such, the chances of being able to recover the data will be higher than a CD-R (although still rather unlikely).


The data is pressed into the aluminium, then encased in plastic. I'm not convinced you'd be able to recover data from the plastic.

Pressed CD's are more robust though. Cheap cd-r's especially have almost no protection on the top side. Writing on them with a (non cd) pen is enough to destroy them.

[mooseblaster]

The data is pressed into the aluminium, then encased in plastic. I'm not convinced you'd be able to recover data from the plastic.

http://eil.com/explore/guide/cd_making.asp (CD distribution company)
http://azuradisc.com/library.cfm?mode=howcd (CD mastering & repair company)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZKD2aYLTWw#t=02m21s (clip from Discovery's How It's Made, showing the process)

or even:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc#Physical_details

Metal mould presses out polycarbonate disc. Polycarbonate disc then coated with metal. It took me all of two minutes to gather 4 independent sources (including a Discovery clip) proving you incorrect. The only reason it took me that long is that several people quoted directly from Wikipedia. Honestly, we have the internet - if you're going to try and p0wn someone, at least have the sense to check that you're right first.

Even common sense dictates that from a manufacturing standpoint, trying to coat a ultrathin sheet of pressed aluminium (in some cases, even slightly see-through) with plastic when you could simply press the data into plastic and coat it with aluminium to make it reflective seems absurd.

[randyrandall]

Either way, its cocked.

[mooseblaster]

Either way, its cocked.

I would say less 'cocked', more 'uneconomical if there's more than 1 copy in the world'.

HOWEVER, a quick check has revealed that the costs might be not quite as prohibitive as I first thought. GeekSnerds (based in the UK) will restore data from a cracked disc for £99 (about $140). The trouble is that I believe, like most companies, they deal in recovering and restoring just the files from damaged media. The combination of the disc being formatted in XDVDFS and the fact that an exact clone of the disc is required (not just some files restored to a disc) may make attempts with commercial data recovery companies futile. But hey, you can always ask.

[smf]

Even common sense dictates that from a manufacturing standpoint, trying to coat a ultrathin sheet of pressed aluminium (in some cases, even slightly see-through) with plastic when you could simply press the plastic instead seems beyond absurd.

You're telling me that cd's aren't made from transparent aluminium?

[alecjahn]

Mercury alloy, actually.

[mooseblaster]

Pressed with the tears of unicorns, as well. That's why they have that rainbow shimmer.

[retro]

Don't even try. As said, there is a very high chance of the disc exploding and causing damage to your drive... maybe even yourself if you're unlucky.

As stated, the plastic is just something rigid. HOWEVER, the laser has to be able to read through it. As we know, if the plastic gets scratched, the laser won't read the data. A crack is like a scratch, only worse - it goes all the way through. Putting aside the high risk of the disc exploding, you won't be able to glue it so that the laser will read through the crack. Your only chance would be to remove the data layer and stick it on another disc, which is practically impossible.

[_SD_]

I'd like to point out that plastic cement works by melting the plastic together to bond it. Drop some on a bit of polystyrene and it'll melt through it. Using that really isn't going to help the damaged disc in any way.

[MottZilla]

It would probably help explain your situation better if you had a picture of the disc that is damaged. It sounds like some bad damage and it is true that spinning it at high speeds in modern DVD drives can probably cause the disc to come apart (it doesn't explode).

Really I'd hope that you had the package insured so you could claim it.

[alecjahn]

Pressed with the tears of unicorns, as well. That's why they have that rainbow shimmer.

Which explains why they're so damn delicious. Especially GD-ROMs.

[retro]

it is true that spinning it at high speeds in modern DVD drives can probably cause the disc to come apart (it doesn't explode).

Umm, wrong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0QT4Y1Y3ug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWI9MM1Zlfo

[MottZilla]

It didn't explode. Atleast not in the way the word generally means. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion

It failed and shattered. That would be like saying when you throw a brick through glass saying the glass exploded.

[mooseblaster]

It didn't explode. Atleast not in the way the word generally means. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion

It failed and shattered. That would be like saying when you throw a brick through glass saying the glass exploded.

And the pedantic police make yet another house arrest. :P Either way, the result is not good for your drive!