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Bulk Convert cue/gdi/iso files to CHD View File Bulk Convert cue, gdi or iso ROMs to chd This plugin expands the capabilities of the existing Bulk Convert .cue to .chd plugin by adding the options to also convert gdi and iso formats to CHD. (For cue/bin files, the process is the exact same between the 2 plugins.) Using MAME’s chdman.exe (“Compressed Hunks of Data (CHD) Manager”, included with MAME), this plugin will convert CD based game files to a single .chd file in your selected Platform. Why convert? • You end up with just a single file per game • A CHD file is, well… compressed. Resulting in less storage space requirements • Most, if not all emulators now support .chd format • chdman applies lossless compression so there should no noticeable difference in load time. Requirements This plugin file chdman.exe (included with MAME) ROM sets that are in a .cue, .gdi or .iso format What happens after converting? After successfully creating a CHD Image, the games application path in LaunchBox will be redirected to the new .chd file. Also, after the files have been converted you have the option to • Leave the old files in place (default) • Move the old files to a separate [backup] folder • Delete the old files Installing the plugin 1. Download the plugin 2. Unblock “BulkConvert2CHD (v1.00).zip” by right clicking the file and checking “Unblock” and clicking “OK”. 3. Open the zip file and copy the contents (1 folder containing 1 file) into /LaunchBox/Plugins/ ../LaunchBox/Plugins/BulkConvert2CHD/BulkConvert2CHD.dll Using the plugin 1. Start LaunchBox 2. Select Tools, Bulk Convert To CHD 3. Select a Platform 4. Select the file format you’re converting from 5. Click Convert 6. (Optional) Check Delete old files when complete  This will permanently delete the old files after successfully converting them to .chd. Check Move old files when complete  This will move the old files after successfully converting them to .chd to the folder you specify. Troubleshooting: If you are getting errors while attempting to convert the files, make sure you are using chdman.exe that comes with the latest release of MAME. If you use multiple versions of MAME in LaunchBox, copy chdman,exe from your latest MAME release folder into the ../LaunchBox/Plugins/BulkConvert2CHD/ folder Special thanks to @faeran for the idea of the original Bulk Convert cue to chd. Without that, I probably never would have made this. As always, all comments and suggestions are welcome. Submitter JoeViking245 Submitted 09/01/2022 Category Third-party Apps and Plugins  

Launchbox is great for running Dos games with CD audio. With a bit of tinkering with creating a proper config file and automatically mounting an bin file through the launch settings menu, it works surprisingly well if you do it correctly. Strangely enough, I've had better luck playing CD music with a bin file automatically mounted through Launchbox, than doing it manually or using other DOS frontend software. The problem is that while there is a way to automatically mount bin or cue files with DOS games with CD audio included, the same option is sadly not available for Windows based games. I know classic WIndows games are much harder to run on modern computers, but some do in fact work with a bit of fiddling around. The classic 3D Ultra games and the old Racing Madness titles are a good example of games that can run on modern PCs, but tend to use CD audio for high quality music, or music in general. My issue is that I've pretty much never been able to get CD audio to work with bin or cue files in Windows games for reasons I don't know. I own the original CDs in my collection, but converting them to bin and cue files, and then mounting them to install on my machine, the CD music never plays and I'm stuck with the generic compressed music or none in the case of 3D Ultra RC Racers. I guess I could just put in the CD, but I just like the convenience of playing a game by simply booting it up without hassle. And yes, I have tried to convert bin and cue to iso using PowerISO (That's the software I use for making disk image files.), but I never managed to work out how to do it properly, as it always results in an error. And even if it works, it still doesn't resolve the music problem. I've even tried making image files in other iso based software with the same results, and even searching for answers on google has given me no help whatsoever, as it seems like I'm the only person with this problem and I don't even know what it is I'm doing wrong. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I would really appreciate the option to automatically mount image files for Windows games in Launchbox, as it has worked for me with DOS games and I would hope to see it work for Windows games too.

So, I'm slowly bringing back more and more older PC games to my library, and although I am accustomed to mounting iso/cue files for older games, in this case Star Trek Armada, I've grown a bit spoiled by launchbox's ability to do pretty much everything automatically, leaving me to just double click and let everything run. With Star Trek Armada, it doesn't break the game at all, it just doesn't load any cinematics. I found this post, discussing DAEMON Tools Lite and Sega Saturn emulation, but I can't seem to get the suggested fix to work for me. I just wanted to know if there was an easy way to have Launchbox automatically mount the image via DAEMON Tools Pro, and then have Launchbox launch the installed game afterwards. It's certainly not a deal breaker if this isn't possible, I just think it would be convenient if this was something that could be done.

Quick check. I've forgotten as I'm already ripping, but does Imgburn accurately rip bin/cue files? I'm on disc 2 of FFVIII and just had this thought in the back of my mind that somewhere I'd read that the cue sheet was mis-timed and something like cdrwin was recommended. I might not be recollecting correctly, though. Should I expect the output to be ok in others' experience?