Brandon Fuller

Dude, thanks a million for the advice. I followed your instructions and it totally worked. I too, put in the CD, not knowing what would happen, and thought I'd never get this great album on my iPod. I appreciate you taking the time to share your solution. Take care,

Jason

I had the same problem but i thought if i conformed and downloaded thier "licsense" that I would be able to put the tracks on my nomad jukebox and my ipaq. I will never buy a CD again--BMG is now my enemy and I will never give them any of my business. I was so pissed I wanted to burn 30 copies of the disk and leave them out for free in grand central. I cant wait to get home and try out your fix. Thanks

Hey -

Just wanted to say THANKS for this on-line advice. You're the first google hit on "velvet revolver" +copy +protection +garbled.

I'm ripping ungarbled versions right now.

Matt (aka Bill_Wick's_Friend)

Oh man you are a lifesaver. I am so pissed about this album. If you read their literature it states that their album will not work with Apples technology because they support and unsecured mp3 format or some garbage like that. I was worried I'd have this crappy software on my pc. Can't wait to get home and try to remove this crap. I will let you know that after downloading that stupid license and downloading the WMA files off the CD so I can listen to it on my PC I was able to burn the WMA back onto CD and create an audio CD with Windows Media Player. Ohh and the CD doesn't skip folks. So much for copy protection. More like annoyance. Why BMG uses this crap is beyod me... Thanks again.

Where in Device Manager do you find this .sys file? I'm having the same issues with VR.

Thanks for the post.

Click on the more research link above for detailed instructions.

Ok you will need to right click on my computer and go to properties. Choose the Hardware tab at the top and the first option is device manager. When you bring up Device Manager go to the View Menu and choose show hidden devices. Once you do that you will see a non plu and play drivers group. In there you will find the SbcpHid device.
I use Windows XP Pro might be slightly different options on other operating systems but overall this is what you want to get to. Good Luck. It does work. Just ripped the CD myself using CDEX.

I also want to add my thanks for this information. I'm not opposed to some sort of copy protection, but if I own the disc I should be allowed to put the songs in my ipod. This is great advice and worked great!

Great advice! Works perfectly! I was pissed about the copy protection feature. I paid for the music. If I want a copy to throw in my car and keep the original safe in the house, I shouldn't have to defeat a "protection" scheme. Not much protection. More of a joke than anything. Thanks for the information. I'll pass it along to everyone I know.

Hi Brandon and thanks, I tried to burn off a copy last night and WHAM! anyway You know what happened LOL!!!.. ok so now I will do your fix tonight..just one question Brandon, once I remove the driver, can I then burn a good copy? Thanks again Brandon, Lee in Detroit

Yes.

Hi again Brandon, well I got rid of the driver and held down the shift key while the factory cd was starting and avoided all that garbage on the front end of the VR cd so I burned a copy, it burnt fine, but still skips? is there another step I must do to get rid of the skipping? Thanks for the help.

Brandon, does the driver need to stay on the list but be stopped, not removed for this to work?

I removed it. You can probably just stop it and get the same effect but I am not sure.

Great! I just got a perfect copy of the VR Contraband cd! Thanks so much for your advice.

I have tried all of this... I deleted the driver from the system32\drivers folder. I checked device manager and did not see the driver running. I insterted the CD and held down the shift key. Open iTunes, clicked import AND THE SKIPPING REMAINS!!! What the hell am I doing wrong?!?!

Make sure you choose "show hidden devices" in the device manager. Make sure you reboot after you uninstall from the device manager.

I read that this company has a new technology that they are releasing next year that can't be bypassed with the shift key trick. Looking forward to debunking that one too!

The reboot worked THANK GOD!! This has been the most frustrating 2+ hours of my life. I hate music industry companies... dickless old men trying to figure out how to save every penny and sacrificing the fans.

Keep up the good work!

Brandon,

Thanks! I'm ripping the cd right now. George's comments from 11/7 were a great deal of help also.

Dude!

Like this site shreds! I mean,like,the advise that you all gave was like magnifico. I was having the same dilemma that everyone here was having and after getting the 411 from you guys,I saw the light. Now, that is a kick in the b#lls to the RIAA. Like I was trying to play a CD that I bought legally and they loaded it with spyware. How so unAmerican! Thanks guys. You Rock!

hey, sorry i'm not very computer savy, but where is the device manager? lol

Thanks a lot! It worked for me!

Okay. Pete, Dude. All you gotta' do is go to the START button on the lower left of your screen. Open it up and go to My Computer. Right-click on My Computer. At the top of the next window that pops up, click on Hardware. then click on the middle box where it says Device Manager. A long list will pop up but go to the top grey bar and click on View. In the box that pops up select Show Hidden Devices. Now a similar window pops up. Look down the list and find Non-Plug And Play Drivers and click on the little plus sign next to it. A bunch of devices pop up. Just go down that list and find driver SbcpHid, right click on it, and choose Uninstall. And you're done! Now you can play your CD and it will sound most excellently! I hope that I was of some help to you. Peace!

Who do you contact for hiding hiddden drivers on your computer. I am so mad. I wasted 9 CD's thinking I had done something wrong. I like to make a copy for my car and put up my origional copy of Velvet Revolver.Thanks for Googla and all who posted such great info. Next time I won't buy any CD with this hidden technology...

I still can't get this to work on my computer. I have uninstalled the hidden driver, restarted my computer, and now my cd ripping program doesn't recognize there is a cd in there. When I check, it only gives me WMA files. I'm using creative media source which came with my mp3 player...is there another program I should be using? That won't cost me more money to own?

Try using CDEX. Probably the best free MP3 ripping software out there.

here is the link

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

The reason the Shift key works is that it disables autorun. You can find an app to do this permanently at http://flashenabled.com/noauto.reg

Also you can just go change this registry key:
click start
run
type regedit and push run or enter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>
SYSTEM>
CurrentControlSet>
Services>
Cdrom>
double click "autorun" and change the '1' to '0'

is it possible for this spyware sh*t to get on my ipods system folder, and then gargle the song there?

You are awesome. I've waited for months to get this baby on my iPod and now I can. Thanks a lot.

I don't own this album, I don't (know if I) like Velvet Revolver, but I sure don't now want to have any dealings with them, their record company or their publishers.

Unless they sell this "CD" with a thumping big (say 1/4" high letters) sticker on the front that reads "Warning, although this item may look like a CD, it is not. Playing this disc on a Windows-compatible computer will install additional driver software to your system folder. because we're terrified of people ripping off our profits" then I want absolutely nothing to do with them.

Does anyone know what other "CD"s have this wonderful "enabling" technology? We need to starts a rogue's gallery of non-standard CDs

hey thanks for the info on the VR disc. I deleted the file from my drivers folder and it stopped it. I later uninstalled the device too... thanks a million for the 411... it so rocks that you posted it on Amazon... all I ever wanted was to be able to make a copy for everyday use so I could protect my original disc... By now it has some little scratches but at least it won't get any worse... Thanks a Million!!!

G

Hey Brandon - I tried everything you suggested (uninstalled the driver, deleted the driver and re-booted) but when I play the VR cd in iTunes, its still garbled and "skips". I need this album on my iPod, any other suggestions?

Nope. Go back through the steps. You missed something. Lots of people have removed it successfully.

Hey are you playing the same tracks you ripped when the driver was installed on your PC? If yes then it will still sound garbled. You need to ripp the CD again now that the software is removed.

Hey - Well, I finally got it to work - But after doing a few steps that have not been mentioned before. Read below as it took some time for me to figure this out...

I imported the songs into my iTunes library and when played in iTunes (or in my iPod) they were garbled. I disabled the driver and it still wasn't working but after a cold reboot, the songs played fine in iTunes. So I imported the songs again and then synched my iPod. When I played the songs in my iPod, they were still garbled.

Here's why:

When I synched my iPod, it looks to see what songs are new. So it did not recognize that the VR songs were newly imported, so it did not import the newer version. So here's what I did:

Deleted the songs from my iTunes library. Synched the iPod and made sure that all VR songs were deleted from my iPod. Then I re-imported the songs from the VR CD and then synched up the iPod and now the songs play fine.

Thanks again for your help...

Thank you SO MUCH, Brandon. I've been wanting to put this on my mp3 player, as well as just be able to listen with WinAmp! I couldn't stand the 'default player let's-open-this-in-a-new-window' crap. THANK YOU.

Just wanted to say thanks for the posting. VR is the last physical CD I'll ever buy! Pay per track sites, music file playing devices, and FM modulators all the way, baby!

This is why I am not buying ANY CDs from the RIAA. If I CD comes out on ANY label that's a member of the RIAA, and I truly need it, I wait patiently for it to show up at a used record store, and I buy it. That way I'm both supporting the indie music places, not giving the RIAA another cent which they can use to exploit artists and oppress the consumar, and I still end up with my lovely platter of audio goodness.

Now, if a band is not under the RIAA's umbrella, I'll buy their CD new, but again, only at the indie record store. I'm willing to pay a few more bucks to keep the guys who provide me with used CDs in business. If they go under, then I'm going to have to turn to the net to get used discs.

If you want to refrain from giving the RIAA another cent, I highly recommend running any future purchases through the RIAA Rader - http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/search.asp

The only way we're going to get these corporate thugs from locking down our music with Orwellian copyright protection (and putting out more of that pop fluff crap) is by speaking with our wallets and telling them to stick their DRM where the sun don't shine. Only it's going to take a lot more people than just me to do it.

Thanks for the tip. It almost makes me not like velvet revolver anymore. who knows if they know what a pain in the ass their cd is to ipod owners.

I am surprised they even tried to sue the grad student, he didn't publish anything other than skip auto-run. I mean hell, Microsoft has that as a published feature anyway as keyboard shortcuts. I keep mine off for that very reason, and that is the reason there is not an Auto-Run option in OS X, there are to many things that someone could do to your computer without you giving permission with something like that. If you want it, you have to run it anyway. I was going to buy the album....screw that, I will just listen to the radio, that is some dumb crap anyway...oh we don't like Apple so we won't play on it. I hate to break it to them, try all they want, if you can hear it you can copy it...period.

I have the new dual cd. It did not install sbcphid. Sometimes it will play, but when I try to rip it, music match locks up. After that it skips when I play it. Any ideas. Are they using something different.

WHEN I PUT HEARTS'"ALIVE IN SEATTLE" into window's media player 10, IT WILL NOT PLAY, BURN OR RIP? CAN ANYONE HELP?

CARMEN

Thanks alot for the info, very helpful. Now if only I had an iPod...

Oh, to the people that say this makes them hate VR, don't blame the band, blame the publisher. It's their fault.

Once again, thanks for the info.

Thanks for the info man. That was great.

This all boils down to a common problewm with Windows. People have to have "Administrative" persmissions on th system in order to use it for every day use.

That is to say, if we were not "Administrators" on our systems while we use it to just play/rip CDs, the auto-play would not have been able to install a driver without our knowledge.

I suggest to most people that they make themselves a "standard" user on their Windows XP systems, and only use "Administrator" when they need to install software or change the system.

Microsoft will address this issue much more in their new version of Windows coming ut next year called Windows Vista.

Wow, thank you soo much. Just though I'd let you know just how geat it is that some one still does this kind of stff, like helping out w/ simple stupid problems. Thanks again, it worked like a charm.

Hey dude! Man thank you for helping out. I was thinking of curling up in a ball if the damn CD didn't work on iTunes for my iPod. Thanks again

Thanks very much for posting the "fix" to this problem. F@#% BMG and any other record label that tries this crap.

Since this seems to have become a forum for people that support and demand the fair use of the intellectual property they've purchased, I wanted to let everybody know about the HYMN (hear your music anywhere) project at http://www.hymn-project.org/. This software will let you unlock files that have been purchased on iTunes, so that you can convert them to MP3's, etc. (which is essential for me since I own a Sony player and not an iPod). It's not a complete solution for DRM garbage because Apple doesn't sell music files in a lossless format, but for music at 128kbps quality, this provides freedom.

Thank you Brandon. It is great that there is someone like yourself that can help those of us who spend $15+ on a CD only to be disappointed that it can't be tranferred to an Ipod. I agree with many of the entries already posted that BMG thinks their sneaky ways are great, however in the long run they must remember who are the customers! As long as it is digital, there will be heroes like yourself to help those of us "non-techys" be able to enjoy what we legally purchased. Needless to say, BMG can kiss my &#(@! Thanks again Brandon...you have a fan in SLC!

Thanks for the info! Also, just thought I'd mention that the new Foo Fighters disc (In Your Honor) uses the same "protection".

I bought Our Lady Peace, Healthy In Paranoid Times about a month ago, it has the same copy protection. I disabled autorun, and now when I put in my sisters dave matthews band, stand up cd in it will rip, so i know i have it worked out as far as future cds i buy, but it still leaves me with the Our Lady Peace cd that i really want on my iPod but since i already put it in my computer before I knew about any of this copy protection stuff and how to get around it, i cant rip the music off of it. I tried finding sbcphid and i know that it is not there, so i dont know if since it is a newer cd if it is different from the rest or what, but if you had any advice as to what i could do to find whats still on my computer, i'd really appreciate it.

THANK YOU!!!

dude when someone first told me about this i was like "why do i care? i don't use itunes or ipods" but then i thought about it and realized that despite the fact that i don't use it, it's still a pretty serious deal.

how do they justify doing something like that? they should be sued for forcing that driver onto people's computers, it's bulls**t.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU FOR SOLVING THIS PROBLEM OF MINE!! THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!!!! I ALMOST CRIED OUT OF HAPPINESS WHEN I HEARD A NON-JUMBLED FOO FIGHTER CD OF MINE PLAY IN MY ITUNES LIBRARY! AGAIN, THANKS!

you are an idiot, this was put there to help stop all the piracy thats goin on on the internet. I myself am I musician and I hate how some 12-year old bastard will buy one of my CDs, go home and burn a load of CDs for his friends! it is literally taking money out of my pocket! I hope you get sued asswipe

haha you actually deleted my post, your such a wanker

and now its back, hmm I wonder why...

the reason VR doesnt want you to be able to rip their CDs is because they dont want pirated versions floating around the internet, it lowers motivation to make and release new music (they are trying to make a living and whats the point if people keep stealing their music?). sure the method isnt all that great, but wouldnt you want to try to protect your music? especially after pouring your heart and soul into it?

I didn't delete your comment. I never delete any comments. Say what you want. 3 comments from you are still there.

I just want my music on my iPod and so does everyone else. Unless you do what I said above, you can't use this CD on your iPod. Lame.

Brandon, hope you can help. I also have the VR cd and cannot rip it. Have looked for the sbcphid driver and it is not there, so don't think it's been installed. I've tried ripping this cd with Easy CD-DA Extractor, Isobuster and AudioGrabber and none of these will rip the cd, they also can read the cd, but the tracks show up as data rather than audio files. Windows Media Player and iTunes don't even recognise that the cd is in the drive. any suggestions, as I'm tearing my hair out !!