That is one powerful plugin. More than a 60% reduction in size. I can imagine saving a lot of space with PSX. Excellent video as usual. Thank you CHDman.
As someone who didnt have MAME installed there should have been a portion explaining how to set up the full rom set, as I couldn’t get past that. You don’t have to fully install MAME to do this (not sure if it was mandatory at the time). You can just get the Chdman exe file from MAME and place it in the same plug-ins folder as the DLL file. I found this out by searching the internet as I was not able to install MAME since I couldn’t figure out how to install the MAME full rom set to get past the initial setup. That said, this converter was pretty bad IMO…it got stuck trying to converter the second PS1 game in my folder and couldn’t move any further. So I just transferred the files to my steam deck and was able to convert the PS1 games to Chd pretty easily with emu deck.
i just spent 2 weeks converting all my ROMs from cue/bin and ISO's to chd and my SSD went from 12gb of free space to 200gb, i wish i knew about this a lot sooner, oh well it was totally worth it though.
I converted my entire CD based collection a couple years ago to CHD and saved TERRABYTES of data. There is no reason NOT to use CHD as your primary format. You are only hurting yourself if you don't do this.
@@AngeloNigro yes I use that core for ps1 working great, you can also use 7zip, like alternative, only difference is you need to select option to auto extract files when you start game in box, when you close game if you use 7zip game will be auto deleted from temp file.hope you understand my eng is not so good😂
This is a very interesting tool. Does it work with pal protected games, like Final Fantasy VIII and IX or Spyro 2 and 3? And if it does how does it include the .lsd/.sbi files?
Although the games will not work anymore after the conversion... because Launchbox is still pointing at the cue files instead of the new CHD files right? So you need to remove the imported games and re-import the CHD files?
Hurray for JoeViking245!!! I'll save a lot fo space! I have to check which emulator use CHD. All Retroarch cores that uses bin/cue support CHD ?There is some "side effect" using CHD?
The only side effect is a simpler experience that takes up less data. There is no downside what-so-ever to using CHD and I encourage everyone to use it as their primary format. The only use-case where I could imagine not using CHD is if you also burn discs regularly for real consoles - that being said there are simple scripts which will uncompress the CHD if you really need to access the .bin/.cue or .iso that it came from. (which is what I do every so often when I burn a disc for real hardware)
Yup, chdman is a requirement and comes with MAME. So an easy way to make sure you have it within LaunchBox is to use the MAME Arcade Full Set Importer. Also worth to note that newer versions of MAME come with newer versions of chdman, which provides better support for more systems.
@Unbroken Software - I'm used to using an .m3u with the .chd files listed in (thinking games like Final Fantasy VII)... I wasn't aware the chd format could support multiple disc images in one file. Do emulator disc controls work with that?
ah, I see what you mean. CD games with multiple discs. You would still have 1 chd per disc, so you would still need to use .m3u to combine multiple discs.
Hi, thanks for the tutorial, I have a question, would it work with bin/cue files with the particular case where there are several bin files for a single cue, or for bin with multiple tracks pointed in the cue? Thanks
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Thank you for your response. So far the plugin gave me an error trying to convert the Saturn game Nights Into Dreams, I don't know why (the game works correctly in bin/cue format). For the others it worked without problem.
If you have MAME already downloaded and configured in LaunchBox, you don't need to do anything but download and use the plugin. You could also just download the latest chdman file from MAME and place it in the plugin's folder. I'd ask over on the plugin's page for more info on how to do either.
Which is the best format? Well guys, for long time i have all my games in bin/cue (games of PS1, Saturn, Sega CD, TurboGrafx CD, Neo Geo CD and some PS2) and i've wonder what format is the best for this platforms. I also combined all games that have multitracks with CDmage. Is there any problem with this games to convert to CHD files or I need all tracks separated? The games can have any audio problems? By the way, I use retroarch for all platforms.
There's not really a best format, you just need a format that your emulator has compatibility for. If your emulators do have compatibility for CHD, then the benefits are: single file per game, smaller file size without the need to archive them.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Well, I use retroarch and I've wonder if it can have any audio problem with the games. Sonic R for Saturn has music problems if i use a chd or if I combine all tracks in a single .bin What can I do? Can it happen with other games?
Is there an easy way to filter my game collection down to just bin/cue games? I realize I'll need to confirm emulator compatibility with chd before using this but having a filtered list to "select all" for use with this plugin would be ideal.
Don't believe there's an easy way to do this in LaunchBox. However, knowing that bin/cue is mainly for CD based platforms, I would just go through your file system and check those platforms to see what file format they are in.
All the games that I've play with CHD format using retroarch has audio or music problems. Music doesn't play or audio tracks has a few seconds of delay. How can I fix this?
Sounds like you may want to research the core you are using and how good the compatibility is. Also worth noting is that older versions of chdman may not have the best compatibility and can cause issues. It's always recommended to use the newest version of chdman for a conversion.
If you have a really old set, it's actually easier to find a recent full set and just replace your files. If you initially used the MAME Arcade Full Set Importer to get your games into LaunchBox initially, you should be able to re-run that importer with your new version of MAME (and its full set rom files). It should only add the difference.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC I've been wondering the answer to this for aaaages. Was so worried about losing my Star Ratings when I update. Thanks for the answer and everything else you guys do.
Does this work also for standalone emu like duckstation? I like duckstation in standalone version outside retroarch so it would be awesome but not sure if it will work.
You don't, as long as you have a MAME listed under Manage > Emulators, it will work. However, do know that CHDMAN does get updated with each version of MAME, so make sure you are at least using a relatively new copy or else the CHD files created could be outdated.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Yes, I have MAME. Followed the tutorial and i'm stuck. I get a TGCD game in bin and cue, import it, use the convertor and then when I click on the game again it says the rom file doesn't exist and won't load the game.
It unfortunately won't. The chd file format needs to be compatible with the emulator/program you are looking to run it from. Please make sure you check any program's documentation to see if it's compatible with the CHD format.
That is one powerful plugin. More than a 60% reduction in size. I can imagine saving a lot of space with PSX. Excellent video as usual. Thank you CHDman.
Be careful and check the emulator accepts CHD before doing anything, I was about to do this and I believe PCSX rearmed does not accept CHD
@@AngeloNigro Yeah, I was thinking about that as well. MAME is the only emulator, that I aware of, that works perfectly with CHD's.
@@crazykong1967 The SegaCD and saturn one also accepts CHD I don't know if duckstation does it too, but I don't like duckstation I prefer pcsx rearmed
As someone who didnt have MAME installed there should have been a portion explaining how to set up the full rom set, as I couldn’t get past that.
You don’t have to fully install MAME to do this (not sure if it was mandatory at the time). You can just get the Chdman exe file from MAME and place it in the same plug-ins folder as the DLL file.
I found this out by searching the internet as I was not able to install MAME since I couldn’t figure out how to install the MAME full rom set to get past the initial setup.
That said, this converter was pretty bad IMO…it got stuck trying to converter the second PS1 game in my folder and couldn’t move any further. So I just transferred the files to my steam deck and was able to convert the PS1 games to Chd pretty easily with emu deck.
ohhhhhh my god I ran into so many problems trying to follow the video this is way easier.
i just spent 2 weeks converting all my ROMs from cue/bin and ISO's to chd and my SSD went from 12gb of free space to 200gb, i wish i knew about this a lot sooner, oh well it was totally worth it though.
Awesome work. I hope to see RVZ added too. Maybe cso v2 or pbp added as well. Great plug-in!!
I switched to rvz for dolphin a while back & haven't looked back
Thanks bro, im kinda drunk and I still got them converted! Effective tutorial
I converted my entire CD based collection a couple years ago to CHD and saved TERRABYTES of data. There is no reason NOT to use CHD as your primary format. You are only hurting yourself if you don't do this.
I use 7zip, saving much more than chd, true you need to wait little more game to extract and load, saving about 50 to 100 mb compered to chd
@@OldSchoolGamer731 But does every emulator sees chd? I use PCSrearmed for PSX and the documention on libretro does not state support for it
@@AngeloNigro it is working on retroarch
@@OldSchoolGamer731 what? does chd work with the medanefen_psx_hw core? If that is so that is fantastic news
@@AngeloNigro yes I use that core for ps1 working great, you can also use 7zip, like alternative, only difference is you need to select option to auto extract files when you start game in box, when you close game if you use 7zip game will be auto deleted from temp file.hope you understand my eng is not so good😂
Great video 👍!! Mate could you make a video on how to fix games aren’t playing on mame?? Would be greatful.. cheers
Ohhhh this sounds really convenient
that extension is amazing but signing up for the account to get the download took about 5 minutes. more security than a bank just for a free download
This is a very interesting tool. Does it work with pal protected games, like Final Fantasy VIII and IX or Spyro 2 and 3? And if it does how does it include the .lsd/.sbi files?
Never heard of those file types. Can always try it out and let us know. Always back up first though.
Although the games will not work anymore after the conversion... because Launchbox is still pointing at the cue files instead of the new CHD files right? So you need to remove the imported games and re-import the CHD files?
The plugin will also do that for you automatically
Hurray for JoeViking245!!! I'll save a lot fo space! I have to check which emulator use CHD. All Retroarch cores that uses bin/cue support CHD ?There is some "side effect" using CHD?
Definitely make sure the emulator/core you want to use supports the CHD format. Most do, best to check their documentation.
The only side effect is a simpler experience that takes up less data. There is no downside what-so-ever to using CHD and I encourage everyone to use it as their primary format.
The only use-case where I could imagine not using CHD is if you also burn discs regularly for real consoles - that being said there are simple scripts which will uncompress the CHD if you really need to access the .bin/.cue or .iso that it came from. (which is what I do every so often when I burn a disc for real hardware)
@@retropulse03 thank you very much ^_^
Im confused as to why he installed mame first before converting turbo cd games to .chd’s?
my guess is so the plugin knows where to find chdman
Yup, chdman is a requirement and comes with MAME. So an easy way to make sure you have it within LaunchBox is to use the MAME Arcade Full Set Importer. Also worth to note that newer versions of MAME come with newer versions of chdman, which provides better support for more systems.
covert to chd not showing trying to covert saturn cues
cool!!!!
Thanks!!! I really wanted to do this. Now I Have one question. How this works with multiple CD games?
It will combine them into one CHD file, simplifying your files.
@Unbroken Software - I'm used to using an .m3u with the .chd files listed in (thinking games like Final Fantasy VII)... I wasn't aware the chd format could support multiple disc images in one file. Do emulator disc controls work with that?
ah, I see what you mean. CD games with multiple discs. You would still have 1 chd per disc, so you would still need to use .m3u to combine multiple discs.
Hi, thanks for the tutorial, I have a question, would it work with bin/cue files with the particular case where there are several bin files for a single cue, or for bin with multiple tracks pointed in the cue? Thanks
Yes it will
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Thank you for your response. So far the plugin gave me an error trying to convert the Saturn game Nights Into Dreams, I don't know why (the game works correctly in bin/cue format). For the others it worked without problem.
Question. Some of my game are specifically for an older version o MAME. with that still work?
hello your application is wonderful but I can't uninstall it, could you explain to me how to do it please
So, is there a way to manually download and configure chdman so that I don't need to download a 1TB file... to save space?
If you have MAME already downloaded and configured in LaunchBox, you don't need to do anything but download and use the plugin. You could also just download the latest chdman file from MAME and place it in the plugin's folder. I'd ask over on the plugin's page for more info on how to do either.
I keep getting a error that my name games are not in the folder. I though was suppose to get files for me... am I missing something?
This also confuses me. Ever figure it out?
Awesome
Which is the best format?
Well guys, for long time i have all my games in bin/cue (games of PS1, Saturn, Sega CD, TurboGrafx CD, Neo Geo CD and some PS2) and i've wonder what format is the best for this platforms.
I also combined all games that have multitracks with CDmage. Is there any problem with this games to convert to CHD files or I need all tracks separated? The games can have any audio problems? By the way, I use retroarch for all platforms.
There's not really a best format, you just need a format that your emulator has compatibility for. If your emulators do have compatibility for CHD, then the benefits are: single file per game, smaller file size without the need to archive them.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Well, I use retroarch and I've wonder if it can have any audio problem with the games. Sonic R for Saturn has music problems if i use a chd or if I combine all tracks in a single .bin
What can I do? Can it happen with other games?
Is there an easy way to filter my game collection down to just bin/cue games? I realize I'll need to confirm emulator compatibility with chd before using this but having a filtered list to "select all" for use with this plugin would be ideal.
Don't believe there's an easy way to do this in LaunchBox. However, knowing that bin/cue is mainly for CD based platforms, I would just go through your file system and check those platforms to see what file format they are in.
All the games that I've play with CHD format using retroarch has audio or music problems. Music doesn't play or audio tracks has a few seconds of delay. How can I fix this?
Sounds like you may want to research the core you are using and how good the compatibility is. Also worth noting is that older versions of chdman may not have the best compatibility and can cause issues. It's always recommended to use the newest version of chdman for a conversion.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Well, when I use the tracks unified with CDmage the games have other issues with the audio. I use the Yabause core
Can you please make a video on how to update an older full Mame set to the latest Mame set? Thank you.
If you have a really old set, it's actually easier to find a recent full set and just replace your files. If you initially used the MAME Arcade Full Set Importer to get your games into LaunchBox initially, you should be able to re-run that importer with your new version of MAME (and its full set rom files). It should only add the difference.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC I've been wondering the answer to this for aaaages. Was so worried about losing my Star Ratings when I update. Thanks for the answer and everything else you guys do.
Pretty nice, sadly some emulators don't work with CHDs.
Once it has converted your files, does it also update Launchbox with the new filenames? This wasn't explicitly shown.
Yes it does.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC thank you :) typical I did all mine manually a couple of months ago mind haha
Are there any LaunchBox Plugin to trim down GameCube ISO file by removing all unwanted garbage to save a lot of space?
I don't believe there is, but may not be as useful, since Dolphin has this built into their program.
Does this work also for standalone emu like duckstation? I like duckstation in standalone version outside retroarch so it would be awesome but not sure if it will work.
Any emulator/core will need to support the CHD file format. The majority of them do, but please check the emulator's documentation.
i used this with some ps2 and retroarch but retroarch doesn't seem to emulate ps2 very well yet but yeah chdman can really be a space saver
The good news is that PCSX2 does support CHD files.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC oh OK , good to know because this is an awesome compression software
If I have MAME installed already do I need to install again or just get the plug in/?
You don't, as long as you have a MAME listed under Manage > Emulators, it will work. However, do know that CHDMAN does get updated with each version of MAME, so make sure you are at least using a relatively new copy or else the CHD files created could be outdated.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC Yes, I have MAME. Followed the tutorial and i'm stuck. I get a TGCD game in bin and cue, import it, use the convertor and then when I click on the game again it says the rom file doesn't exist and won't load the game.
Definitely make sure the file does exist, and that LaunchBox has linked the file correctly.
Can this work with Windows games as well?
It unfortunately won't. The chd file format needs to be compatible with the emulator/program you are looking to run it from. Please make sure you check any program's documentation to see if it's compatible with the CHD format.
Can anyone confirm .CHD files work with retroachivements ?
Personally tested a few games, and they did work. I do believe that they rely on file hashing, so it would have to be on file for it to work.
wow nice plugin...many kudos to the viking. anyone attempted with a massive set? my old ps1 set is all bin/cue...
PS1 should be just fine in this format. In saying that, don't forget to check your emulator/core file type compatibility before attempting.
@@UnbrokenSoftwareLLC for sure. I'm using duckstation, I'm pretty sure it does.
Is there an advantage to using this (program and format) vs WinBin2Iso? (CHD vs ISO)
Goodness where does one find the latest mame games? Archive is of no help, unless I'm doing something wrong
it dont work for me at all
Best use the support link in the description for help with this tool.