Can securom be removed on old DVD games? and how?

[Joon-T]

Hi all.

A few years (decades) ago I bought a couple Tomb Raider titles (aka Legend, Anniversary and Underworld), which I'd like to play again on a new (Linux) machine. Only trouble is that machine doesn't have a DVD drive. So I (naively) believed I could just make an iso image, mount and play it... until SecuROM *cough* "reminded" *cough* me of its presence. I had completely forgotten about that pest so I'd like to know whether that protection crap can be removed at all.

I guess the answer is yes, as per an article I happened to find there: https://lostfilearchives.github.io/08/28/Dissection/. However I don't really understand anything. Yet I'm an experienced developer, just not familiar at all with unlocking a software. BTW if someone accepts to walk me through the procedure by explaining the different steps (e.g. what we need to look for, why, I suppose) that would be really great. Even more so if I can undergo this procedure on my own, be it to understand thoroughly how it works (and be used to it).

From what I understand so far, SecuROM hides the initial executable by encrypting it, only to unlock it in memory after checking for programmed "defects" on the original media, is that correct? That detection is said to use precise timing to detect the original media.

Aside of that, the protection is also said to implement techniques to defeat the use of a debugger. I'd like to understand how that is possible and works — not that I want to implement that, on the contrary, I despise DRM in general and being able to understand how they work is part of the way to getting rid of these annoyances.

So my goal is to somehow, for each of these three titles, extract the unprotected executable, which happens to be the main game executable and save it for later, be it to also burn my own iso image, adjusted with the unprotected version of it. (How) is that possible?

Thanks a lot in advance for any guiding line, hint, info, help of which any is appreciated.

[Joon-T]

Note: I am perfectly aware "fixing" or working around technical measure to "protect" digital content is illegal is some countries. I'm only asking so far for assistance in understanding how SecuROM v7 works, based on the link I shared.