EmuElec 4.5 - PC Engine CD ROM do not like ZIP archives

General
1

Seems EmuElec does not really likes ZIP packed games. I have create directories for each game, to put all needed files into this folder. When copying all files (unpacked) into a game folder, all works fine.

When i just put a ZIP acrhive containing all the game files (no folder inside the ZIP), the emulator starts but fails, because it seems, he cant find files.

I fixed this for me, by just unpacking ZIP files and copying the game files into seperate folders. (for each game) Maybe a bug?

Edit:
The files inside the ZIP files are looking like this:

“GameName (USA).ccd”
“GameName (USA).img”
“GameName (USA).sub”

or

“GameName (USA).bin”
“GameName (USA).cue”

2

CDROM in zip (or rar, or any compression format) is not a good idea. The emulator has to unzip the whole CDROM image to a directory (or store it in RAM), then the game can be played. A CDROM image usually takes 400 to 600 MB. You should not think it would work smoothly just like PCE ROM files. PCE ROM files are small, roughly 2MB or 4MB. Unzip a PCE ROM from ZIP archive takes at most 5 seconds. The two situations are not comparable.
There is certain compression format dedicated specifically for CDROM, such as CZO or CSO, which can be played without unpack the whole CDROM image. It depends on if the emulator support the format. IIRC, PPSSPP supports CSO format. Besides, there is restriction on the track number of the CDROM. Multi-track CDROM image is not supported.
So, it’s definitely not bug.

1 Like
3

You can turn them into CHD,it works fine.

1 Like
4

@edouard:
Thanks a lot for this great info. Unfortunately I was not aware of this beforehand. I found a tool (Win32 with UI) that has good compression - but I have to add each file individually.

Can you recommend a good tool, in addition to have a very good compression and supporting processing batch (multiple files at once)? Thanks

5

@ edouard
At this point I would like to thank you again for the brilliant tip regarding the use of CHD files!

It works perfect - and also saves a lot of space on the drive.
Thank you very much!

6

Make a batch file,save it as “ISO to CHD.bat” and fill it with:

for /r %%i in (*.iso, *.nrg) do chdman createcd -i “%%i” -o “%%~ni.chd”

Make a batch file,save it as “CUE or GDI to CHD.bat” and fill it with:

for /r %%i in (*.cue, *.gdi) do chdman createcd -i “%%i” -o “%%~ni.chd”

put these two files with chdman.exe and your iso or cue/bin files in the same folder.then run it.

No need for the UI.

Only the CDI files won’t work.