[The Best Method for Importing Roms - Retrofrogg Method; A Guide]

I use this method with Rom Vault for rename correctly my collections.

The problem is with CD. If you use a rom manager your games will be in zip format.

I created this script to solve this problem. It mounts zip file and start your game using the emulator. 

My method is faster that extract .zip file when you want to play.

[Mount compressed cd images and play]

Mount compressed cd images and play

View File

---

This script was born to resolve this issues:

• you want to save disk space
• you are a rom/iso collector that uses dat file to check your collection with rom manager tool. Actually you cannot find any DAT that support CHD files, so to save disk space you are forced to compress all your isos or cue/bin images in .zip or .7z format
• you want to play with compressed iso, bin/cue games without extract files

This script supports 3 different tools that can mount compressed files:

1. WinArchiver => recommended tool with the best performance. It supports .zip, .7z and rar format. It is a commercial software with a trial period.
2. Prismo File Mount => good tool, totally free, it supports only .zip files. Bad performance with large compressed file, so I don't recommended it for PS2, PS3, PS4 and Wii emulation
3. Daemon Tools => really bad performance, it is free with lite version. It supports only .zip files.

Futhermore the script supports these emulators:
1) Retroarch with all cores
Command line structure:
ZipMountAndRun nameOfCoreOfRetroarchWithoutExtension zipfileWithExtension

Real example for Dreamcast emulation:
ZipMountAndRun flycast_libretro "4 Wheel Thunder (Europe) (En,Fr).zip"

2) PCSX2 in standalone mode
Command line structure:
ZipMountAndRun pcsx2 zipfileWithExtension

Real example for PS2 emulation:
ZipMountAndRun pcsx2 "Ace Combat - Squadron Leader (Europe, Australia) (En,Fr,De,Es,It).zip"

3) Dolphin in standalone mode
Command line structure:
ZipMountAndRun dolphin zipfileWithExtension

Real example for Gamecube emulation:
ZipMountAndRun dolphin "Casper - Spirit Dimensions (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It).zip"

4) Mednafen in standalone mode
Command line structure:
ZipMountAndRun mednafen zipfileWithExtension

Real example for Saturn emulation:
ZipMountAndRun mednafen "2Tax Gold (Japan).zip"

How install the tool for mounting

1. Search setup on google
2. Download and install the tool
3. Create a virtual drive and remember the letter that you should set in my script

How to install my script in Launchbox
1) Copy the downloaded file in Launchbox Emulators folder assuring that my script was saved inside own folder:
LaunchBox root folder -> Emulators -> ZipMountAndRun -> ZipMountAndRun.cmd
See the image below

2) Set variables in my script for setting the tool for mounting files and its directory and the directories of emulators.
Please open my script with a text editor and fill " Variables to set" section
Variable name => Descrition
mountTool => define the tool used for mounting. Value accepted are winarchiver, pfm, daemon
daemonPath => path of Daemon Tools Lite, if you install it in default folder it is not necessary to change it
winarchiverPath => path of WinArchiver, if you install it in default folder it is not necessary to change it
letterForMounting => it is the letter used from virtual drive. This letter must be equals to virtual drive letter that you have created in previous phase.
retroArchPath => retroarch path. if your retroarch folder is called "RetroArch" in your Emulators folder don't change the setting.
pcsx2Path => PCSX2 path. if you have saved the PCSX2 emulator in RetroArch system folder then don't change the setting. If you have PCSX2 installed in the folder 
LaunchBox root\Emulators\PCSX2 then you can change this variable to "..\PCSX2" (without quotes)
dolphinPath => path for dolphin standalone emulator. if your dolphing folder is called "Dolphin" in your Emulators folder don't change the setting.
mednafenPath => path for Mednafen standalone emulator. if your Mednafen folder is called "Mednafen" in your Emulators folder don't change the setting.

All the paths that you can set can be absolute or relative. By default the paths of emulators in my script use relative paths.

3) Add ZipMountAndRun like emulators in Launchbox
Click on Tools -> Manage -> Emulators
Click Add button
Insert "ZipMountAndRun" in emulator name textfield
Select ZipMountAndRun in Emulators\ZipMountAndRun folder
Copy other settings in image below

4) Edit linked platform for ZipMountAndRun emulator
Click on Tools -> Manage -> Emulators
Select ZipMountAndRun and click on Edit button
Select linked platform on the left bar
Fill rows like image below including your preferred platforms

 

I hope you can apprecciate my sharing and enjoy your games!!

---

• Submitter
  Anthes
• Submitted
  09/01/2022
• Category
  Third-party Apps and Plugins

 

[Dat files for CHD roms]

Thx for your answer, but on pleasuredome I can find only DAT for MAME CHDs.

What I am looking for are DATs for consoles/platforms that use CDs/DVDs, Redump project has these DATs, but only in cue/bin format.

I am looking for the same DATs of redump but in CHD format.

I hope I were clear.

 

 

[Dat files for CHD roms]

I use different rom managers to clean and check my roms collections, but I cannot find DATs in CHD format.

For checking the bin/cue format of CDs there is the famous ReDump project, that provides different DATs for consoles/platforms that support CDs/DVDs, but they don't provide DATs that includes CHD files.

 

Someone can help me?