====== Multi Stage Decoder Nearly Complete ======

//12 March 2002//

The new multi-stage decoder works excellently with [[:glossary:custom disk format|disk formats]] such as the one used by Bobo where the [[:glossary:copy protection|protection]] consists of missing data [[:glossary:block|blocks]]. It also works very well with some really broken disks that we have come across.

For Bobo, the previous decoder tried it's best to assign the missing blocks - and it actually succeeded. ;) Unfortunately that meant good blocks were assigned for missing ones and in turn this caused the remaining blocks to be bad - of course - since they were already mapped. This protection could have been decoded by a game/protection specific descriptor with the old [[:glossary:cta|analyser]]. However it was decided that we would hate to write a new descriptor for each similar protection, just different missing blocks...! The new decoder just doesn't care - it automatically detects stuff like this without any new descriptors. Some special routines are still missing though (mostly save related), but generally it works already.