xREL.v3

Dark_Souls_XGD3_0800_NTSC-XBOX360-RRoD

+-RELEASE.DETAiLS

ReleaseDate... 2011-10-04          Source Media....... XGD3 DVD9
Filename...... rrod-das.rxx        Source Region...... NTSC/U
RarCount...... 86x100MB            Playable Regions... NTSC/U, NTSC/J
Format........ ISO                 Verified........... Yes
http://marketplace.xbox.com/games

+-RELEASE.iNFORMATION

The unexpected surprise hit and GameSpot's Best of 2009 - Game of the
Year Winner Demon's Souls now has its spiritual successor in Dark
Souls. This once-in-a-generation game will take you through an
experience so challenging, so punishing and yet so intensely
gratifying that it will leave you anguished for wanting more. Set in
a rich, dark fantasy world, experience tense dungeon crawling,
fearsome enemy encounters and groundbreaking online features for a
truly unforgettable gaming experience. Dark Souls breaks down
barriers with a seamless world design filled with the most
unexpected of surprises. The unerring foundation of challenge and
reward will engulf you and offer an unparalleled sense of
achievement.

+-RELEASE.NOTES

Playable Regions: NTSC/U, NTSC/J

SplitVid, SSv2, AP2.5, and verified with abgx360!

This ISO is fully compatible with the new LT+ v2.0 for Phats and
Slims, burnable to a regular DVD+R DL disc, includes full & correct
AP2.5 data, and is verified in the abgx360 database. Please refer to
the status table on http://c4evaspeaks.com for a breakdown of which
drives support LT+ v2.0.

XGD3 BACKUPS OVERVIEW

To end the confusion once and for all, *yes*, original XGD3 discs
have a higher linear/track density and therefore a higher physical
capacity than XGD2 and regular DVD+R DL media. As a result, XGD3 ISO
backups are larger as well.
For XGD3 backup support, c4eva has introduced in LT+ v2.0 the LT-MAX
feature, which allows for XGD3 backups to use the maximum possible
layerbreak for regular DVD+R DL media, and therefore all of the
available space (8,547,991,552 bytes) of a regular DVD+R DL disc.
Since there is still not enough space on a regular DVD+R DL disc to
hold the entire XGD3 game partition, not to mention the Layer 1
Video partition, this is not at all recommended as being "safe" for
Xbox LIVE.
XGD3 backups will still boot and play fine on LT+ v2.0 as long as the
last approximately 1.7% of the game partition does not contain any of
the actual game assets, which it usually won't because the end of the
game partition is near the inner edge of the disc, and developers
will try to keep their game data near the outer edge (middle of the
game partition) to maximize read performance.
Another necessary condition to booting and playing XGD3 backups on
regular DVD+R DL media is that the kernel or game code itself must
not perform any CIV (Content Integrity Verification) checks on any
part of this last approximately 1.7% of the game partition (or at
least it must not take any action after CIV failures). Even if there
are no actual game assets in this area, there is still pseudo-random
padding data which can be checked through CIV, and such checks can
even be added later to the game code through title updates, or to the
kernel through system updates.
Just like XGD2, XGD3 backups still require the correct dashboard
version-specific AP2.5 replay data. As they've done previously, MS
has the ability to change the DAE.bin by way of a system update,
meaning you may need to re-patch/re-burn at some point. The abgx360
application and database will be updated accordingly to support XGD3.

BEST PRACTICES AND SETTINGS

The P2P XGD3 ISO rips that were floating around before this point are
for ODDEs and are not compatible as-is with LT+ v2.0. Their PFI, DMI
and SS sectors are in the wrong PSN (Physical Sector Number)
locations and they are missing the critical AP2.5 replay sector and
SS replay table. If you intend to play XGD3 backups on a firmware-
flashed 360, it's up to you to make sure you're using proper ISOs
made with 0800 v3.0, and to double-check by running them through
abgx360 before burning.
Keep in mind that this is the first of several potential disc-based
backup solutions for XGD3. As such, it's recommened that all
subsequent releases maintain the full ISO size and associated
layerbreak (2133520) in the .dvd, which will help to ensure that they
will be forward-compatible should any media manufacturers step up
with new larger-capacity discs (which will be necessary in order to
make XGD3 backups as safe as possible on Xbox LIVE).
The actual layerbreak for XGD3 ISOs is 2133520. However, when burning
XGD3 ISOs to regular DVD+R DL, ImgBurn will automatically reposition/
limit the layerbreak to 2086912 in accordance with the disc's maximum
Layer 0 data zone capacity (2,086,912 [LBA: 0 - 2086911]). The LT-MAX
feature in LT+ v2.0 will compensate for this and allow you to play
XGD3 backups with this wrong layerbreak, and therefore wrong game
partition data PSN locations.
In the case of growisofs as instructed below, in order to avoid
errors when burning XGD3 to regular DVD+R DL, you may choose to first
truncate the ISO to 8,547,991,552 bytes, and burn using a reduced
associated layerbreak of 2086912. This should give you exactly the
same end result as if you followed the instructions below for ImgBurn
on Windows.

RRoD - Right when you least expect it!