Bulk Convert cue/gdi/iso files to CHD 1.0.0

@DubaiShark I tried responding to your review but was having difficulty.  So I'm responding here.

Thanks for the review, compliment and feedback!

If your existing game files are in their own separate subfolders and you wish to move them, you should check the box Move Parent Folder and Files.  This will create the subfolders within your Destination Folder, the same name as the one they are in.  The plugin looks at each game separately and doesn't compare their folder structure to determine if the box should be checked or not.

If I misunderstood the issue, please let me know.

Really  I didn't see this option in the first time I use it 😅 thanks ❤ so the option was there all the way and I miss it 

Hi 

Made one convert from .cue and it has 3 .bin files to CHD The conversion was successful but the transfer didn't work as I got an error message as the pic below It was for the Dreamcast game

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by DubaiShark

10 minutes ago, DubaiShark said:

Made one convert from .cue and it has 3 .bin files to CHD The conversion was successful but the transfer didn't work as I got an error message as the pic below It was for the Dreamcast game

Glad the conversions worked for you.  

Was the destination folder on a LAN drive or local drive/folder?  Were (are) the games .cue and .bin files is the same folder?

Did only one of the two games that got converted not get moved?  Or did neither of the sets of .cue/.bin files get moved?  Can you share the .cue file for the game that couldn't get moved (or just one if the if both didn't get moved)?   

Hi

Yes, both the .cue and .bin files, and yes each game has its own folders and both of them move to the new folder that I chose in the local driver like the games on E: and I was going to move them to L:

Expendable (USA) (En,Fr,De,Es,It).cue

Edited September 3, 2023 by DubaiShark

I have attached it same thing happens if you convert the GDI to chd The files will remain in the same file after converting them so I have to move or delete them manually

 

Regards

12 hours ago, DubaiShark said:

both of them move to the new folder that I chose in the local driver like the games on E: and I was going to move them to L:

I'm a little confused.  Are you saying that if you choose a Destination folder on your E: drive (for example E:\myBackupfolder\Sega Dreamcast\), the files will get moved as you'd expect.  But if you choose a Destination folder on your L: drive (for example L:\myBackupfolder\Sega Dreamcast\), none of the files get moved?

Hi my games are located in E: drive and as I don't have space to move them in the same drive I have chosen another Local drive which is L: drive and none of the files get moved

Edited September 3, 2023 by DubaiShark

20 hours ago, DubaiShark said:

Hi my games are located in E: drive and as I don't have space to move them in the same drive I have chosen another Local drive which is L: drive and none of the files get moved

I'm at a loss here as it worked during my tests and have not had reports of this issue from other users. 

Is the L: drive a physical hard drive in your computer or an external drive connected to a USB port?  Or something else?

What is the full path to your .cue file and the full path to where you want them moved to, on the L: drive?  Make sure there are no odd characters in either path.

It's possible that your computer is not allowing this plugin to access your L: drive.  If that's the case, you could have the plugin move the files to a temp folder on your E: drive and then manually move the whole temp folder to the L: drive.   Another option is to copy your ROMs from E: drive to L, then have the plugin Delete instead of Move.  If it (the plugin) can't delete the files after converting, then your PC is not allowing that [either].

Okay if that will make a difference then yes the E: drive is a USB3 external drive to use wherever I go and the L: is an internal drive - so this will make any difference? as it's not a network drive

Thanks for your patience on this and sorry for the inconvenience.

 

2 hours ago, DubaiShark said:

Okay if that will make a difference then yes the E: drive is a USB3 external drive to use wherever I go and the L: is an internal drive - so this will make any difference? as it's not a network drive

It shouldn't make a difference.  But I don't know enough about Write permissions to give a definitive answer.  Which I believe is what the issue might actually be.  You may have write permissions, but the app/plugin may not.  Again, just a guess.

I think at this point (without digging into how permissions work or don't work), it may be easier to go with Plan "B".  (Or is it plan "C"? ).....

Copy the ROMs (.cue, .bin etc.) from your E: drive to the L: drive, then run the plugin and have it Delete them [from the E: drive after successful conversion] instead of Moving them.

 

I just did the plan C which is to convert them in the same drive which is E: drive and then delete them after that 😅

How will this handle games that have ISO CUE and some WAV files in the same folder?  (these are Amiga CD32 games)

9 minutes ago, cleverest said:

How will this handle games that have ISO CUE and some WAV files in the same folder?  (these are Amiga CD32 games)

It only looks at the [single] file that the games application path (ROM path) is pointing to. 

The plugin does not per se, auto detect your existing file formats.  As deduced by step 4 (above)  "Select the file format you’re converting from".

If you select iso to chd, it will scan the selected platform ONLY for games that have a .iso file extension.  Same with .cue and .gdi.  And then convert them.  Respectively.

 

As I said in the other post, I don't know .wav is.  And I don't emulate that system.  However, a quick search indicates those (.wav) are used in conjunction with the .cue file. Which is what you would have imported into LaunchBox and what the plugin will look for.

The question I think you need to find the answer to (if you haven't already) is, does the emulator(s) you'll be using support .chd files?

Yes, the Amiga Retroarch core (puae) does support CHD files...that is how my CHD games which do work in Retroarch for Amiga CD32 work currently (the ones in that format).

My concern is that if I convert the ISO's I have to CHD, it won't also integrate the audio (WAV) files from the games that have... 😕

I guess I need someone to chime in who has done such conversions and what it takes...something like powerISO to maybe integrate the ISO with the WAVS, etc..?  No idea...

Thanks for the response.

27 minutes ago, cleverest said:

Yes, the Amiga Retroarch core (puae) does support CHD files...that is how my CHD games which do work in Retroarch for Amiga CD32 work currently (the ones in that format).

Perfect!

 

28 minutes ago, cleverest said:

My concern is that if I convert the ISO's I have to CHD, it won't also integrate the audio (WAV) files from the games that have...

When you launch a game from LaunchBox that has the varying file types in them, which is the file the ROM path points to?  And (just as important), doe that game then run correctly?

Can you also share a screenshot of a game [folder] that 'have ISO CUE and some WAV files in the same folder'?  And then what is the contents of the [single, because there should only be one] .cue file?  (you can open it with any text editor)

 

The contents should list which files are needed to make up the game.  That's what chdman parses to create the chd file.  You can try it manually if you'd prefer.

"path/to/chdman.exe" createcd -i "your file.cue" -o "yourNewGame.chd"

If you don't have a lot of games to convert, it may be easier to simply do it manually.  Just don't delete any of the cue/iso/wav files until you've tested the chd.

 

 

36 minutes ago, cleverest said:

I guess I need someone to chime in who has done such conversions and what it takes...something like powerISO to maybe integrate the ISO with the WAVS, etc..? 

That would be a topic for another/new thread.

I just converted Alfred Chicken, it works fine, went from 209mb iso and wav files to 119mb CHD.

1 hour ago, Rlad said:

I just converted Alfred Chicken, it works fine, went from 209mb iso and wav files to 119mb CHD.

That's what we like to hear and see! 😎

That is great news. I'll try it. To answer the folder/CUE content question, this is one example:

There is no way this is preserving the WAV files. Look at the file difference between this CHD vs. the game with WAVS

I tried it, it PLAYS, but it's silent except for SFX....

@Rlad how did you convert Alfred Chicken, and are you sure yours is using the original WAV files?

Edited November 19 by cleverest

*UPDATE: Thankfully it seems that Retroarch plays the .CUE if I use the original game folder/files instead of worrying about converting it...

Although it would be nice to convert and use them as CHD to save some space, if that were still possible...from what I see so far though it does NOT preserve the WAV files in the process of conversion.

8 hours ago, cleverest said:

To answer the folder/CUE content question, this is one example:

Note in the .cue file, it gives reference to all the other flies in that folder.  The .iso file and the 2 .wav files.  This confirms for me that you need to send to chdman the .cue file.  It will look in that (.cue) file and process all the files listed.

 

7 hours ago, cleverest said:

There is no way this is preserving the WAV files. Look at the file difference between this CHD vs. the game with WAVS
I tried it, it PLAYS, but it's silent except for SFX....

My guess is that your batch file converted the iso file ONLY.  The giveaway is it says "ISO to CHD.bat".  The line in the batch file probably starts with something like    for /r %%i in (*.iso)    which tells you, it's ONLY looking for the .iso file.  The iso doesn't know to look for the wave files.

Whereas if you found a batch file that was maybe called "CUE to CHD.bat", it would have *.cue instead of *.iso in there.  Processing the .cue file (hence all the files it references) would make the resulting .chd a lot larger than 4,360 KB. 

 

7 hours ago, cleverest said:

Although it would be nice to convert and use them as CHD to save some space, if that were still possible...from what I see so far though it does NOT preserve the WAV files in the process of conversion.

It is possible.  Look for a file called "CUE toCHD.bat".

Another option is to use this plugin and select the option cue to chd.

@cleverestI didn't do any converting, I just used 'cue to chd' in this program. Booted game and music is there. As I said 119mb, Alfred Chicken is 1mb without music. As what Joe said looks like you've converted the iso not the cue.

Yup, that was it! WORKS. Thanks guys! My final working batch command is:

for /r %%i in (*.cue) do chdman createcd -i "%%i" -o "%%~ni.chd"

1 hour ago, cleverest said:

Yup, that was it! WORKS. Thanks guys! My final working batch command is:

for /r %%i in (*.cue) do chdman createcd -i "%%i" -o "%%~ni.chd"

Interesting that it works.  Because that's exactly how the plugin does it (but in code-lingo. Not batch file lingo). 

Glad you got it sorted.