Disc Rot?

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Mykaizer
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Disc Rot?

Post by Mykaizer »

So I have a copy of Hyper Duel here and I received it in near mint condition but I've noticed over the years these white "spots/specks" appearing.(Notice the 2 spots about 1/2 inch from inner circle due north). Now I don't know if they were already on the disc because you need to look at it from a certain angle to notice it. The game runs perfectly fine. I do store it in a plastic case and the overall room temperature stays the same: around 23~ degrees celsius.

edit: there seems to be a white "film" around the edges as well

You be the judge:

https://i.imgur.com/RHoVSUw.jpg
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Konsolkongen
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by Konsolkongen »

If you hold the disc up to a sharp light do you see any holes in the metal layer where these circles are? Even if there are very tiny holes there's not necessarily need for concern as they could have been there since manufacturing. Same with the circles. Take a note of it and check back in a year to see if it has worsened in any way.

Personally I have never had a disc stopped working, same with all of my friends and some of them have stupidly large collections :)

In my opinion disc rot is extremely exaggerated, and it seems like it's often used as an excuse by idiots who do not know how to properly handle their shit, thus not wanting to take responsibility for ruining it themselves.
Often this is spouted by YouTubers as absolute fact, and the very next moment you see them slamming their forehead on the eject button on their Dreamcast and ripping the discs out by their teeth. No shit your discs aren't working any more... :/
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trap15
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by trap15 »

I've bought an old soundtrack CD in the past that was definitely rotted, you could see the internal disc layer was warped and it obviously did not load in any drives I owned. It's definitely a thing that exists and is happening, but not remotely on the level that it happens with floppy disks.
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drauch
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by drauch »

I've probably got something like 8,000 discs in my home, most of those DVDs, and I've only got a couple. A few were from neglect--CDs in my car in intense heat, but I can't recall any others that I didn't buy like that. I know folks have more Saturn games do it when we're talking about games, but I still don't think it's very widespread. But I also don't have a big Saturn library, so I can't say much on those other than seeing those more frequently than something like PC-Engine or PC. Some early HD-DVDs disc rotted on their own, from shit manufacturing. My friend with a big collection who takes good care and doesn't have a hot house by any means has been unlucky with a few, including an XBOX-360 game. Yeah, it's real, but like Myketosis said, if you take care of your stuff I really don't think it's cause for extreme concern. It might happen, but I think it's still an uncommon occurrence. Like trap said, floppies are the real concern. I'm much more worried about anything magnetic.
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PC Engine Fan X!
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

I've got a super mint 360 disc of DDP-DFK BL with no scratches on it, yet it won't boot up on my JPN region 360 slim console. It'll say "disc error, please insert disc" upon initial boot up. It used to work without any issues until one day, it wouldn't boot up properly anymore. Is there a way to get it working again or should I get another new copy instead?

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drauch
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by drauch »

BIL wrote: "Small sack, LOTS OF CUM" - Nikola Tesla
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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:I've got a super mint 360 disc of DDP-DFK BL with no scratches on it, yet it won't boot up on my JPN region 360 slim console. It'll say "disc error, please insert disc" upon initial boot up.
Hopefully it's not a defective disc. I remember ages ago I bought a brand new copy of Silent Hill 3 from the store and it was giving me a disc read message. Swapped it out for another copy at the store, worked fine with no issues. I had tested my other games before returning it at the storre for a working copy, and since nothing else I owned at the time had that issue that I tested, so I assumed it was a defective disc from the manufacturer.

It's a long shot, but I assume you don't have anyone else local with a JPN 360 you can test to see if it's a disc issue? :(
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Mykaizer
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by Mykaizer »

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drauch
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Re: Disc Rot?

Post by drauch »

This stuff is so hard to diagnose. I just want to reiterate I'm no expert. That looks like something is forming there, but sometimes discs will also have discoloration, which is not the same thing and harmless to my knowledge. If you can only see it at a specific angle, and may have even missed it in the past, I'd almost put money on the latter that it's discoloration. Someone else can weigh in their opinion on this if I'm off. Regardless, this stuff is pretty much inevitable in some cases due to manufacturing, so as long as you're taking care of your stuff and it's not stored in some super hot room with sun shining in on the discs or really humid (obviously not; this looks like it's in great shape), I wouldn't worry and just hope for the best.
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