I put my Lords of Thunder TG 16 CD into my computer to rip the tracks and it didn't show up in itunes. I eject it and it comes out spinning...with the back scratched to hell. Which was odd, since I've ripped it with Nero before without any problems.

The CD still works, thankfully, but that probably wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't ejected it earlier.

Anyone else have similar issues or could this have been a one-time fluke? Not that I'm feeding my computer another Duo CD anytime soon...

I've repeatedly tried burning a copy of Dracula X and it never shows up on my comp -- yet the audio works fine on my portable CD player. I think something must be off that causes the redbook parts to not show up.

-Joshua

My copy doesn't work with WMP or Itunes either but CDex reads it perfectly. I still can't get the the ending track though because I think the data track after it prevents me from ripping it >_<.

Weird...

I know some newer audio rippers will balk at TG-16/PCE discs due to their peculiar, data>audio>data structure.

However, I used to use CDR Win, which is a stone age, Win 95/98, program (it's actually what became Nero, I think) because it would let me skip the data tracks.  I used this program to rip my TG-16 to wav format years ago.  I would then use a text based (way slow to do, but it let me encode at 320kbs) mp3 encoder, called Plugger, that worked by typing up command lines in Notepad, then saving and running it as at .bat file.  Worked nice, but it required the DOS based encoding screen to be on top of your desktop as it ran, or else it would grind to a halt, not to mention clog up your system resources.

More to the point, I'm now using Audiograbber (excellent freeware, ripper+encoder as long as you drop the LAME codec into it; it can encode up to 320kbs VBR this way too) and I just ripped Flash Hiders to mp3 format yesterday.

I manually told it to skip the first data track (track 2) but forgot about the last data track (some cds have it, others don't) and I nearly got my ears blown out because it encoded that last data track as well.

All I can say is, OUCH! 

Oh, the other reason I switched to Audiograbber was because it ignores those annoying copy protection files that Avec cds so love to use.  CDR Win won't ignore those for some reason, and it also won't rip cds that have CD+EX files, or any other extra programs on them (like the Windows goodies on the first Pso cd, or the patch files on the Deus EX ost).  I'm toying with Total Audio Converter right now (I needed some APE files converted to mp3) but I'm not happy that it won't do (at least how I can figure out) 320kbs in VBR, but it will do 320kbs at constant bitrate. 

Yeah, I'm a slore for archival-quality mp3. 

Ooops, I forgot to mention I'm unsure of how to encode for Itunes.  Isn't that mp4?  Can't you just rip to wav first, then encode the files?  Or does Itunes make you use its software to rip and encode the files?  It still sounds odd that trying to do that would cause damage to your cd.  Then again, i have two friends who got burned and/or shafted by Apple and their Ipods, so I bought a San Disc Sansa player. 

Sooo ... nobody uses EAC anymore these days or what ? =/

I use EAC, it's kind of a pain because you can only save album with it, so to work around it you have to burn it and then re-rip it.  I've been meaning to check Turbo Rip as it I hear it's better.

I use EAC exclusively, and I used it to rip the CDDA (it's not redbook if there's a data track on the disc ) tracks from Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari with no problems.

I noticed that software specifics ripping software like EAC can safely read TG-CDs, since it can tell the difference between data and audio tracks.  It treats it like a data CD, even if it has audio on it.  Consumer software like iTunes seems to try to read discs based on a CD audio disc pattern, so it gets hung up on hybrid discs like TG-CDs, even if it has audio tracks on it.

Try putting a North American copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PS1 and see if it has the same problems.  There is one audio track on it.

Actually it treats it like a mixed mode disc, which it is.

Ah, so that is what it is called.  Thanks.

Yeah, I use EAC and TurboRip. Most other players/rippers can't handle dah powah.