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User & Technical Manual — XGDTool (v1.4.0)

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1. Overview

XGDTool (High-Performance Fork by Ashnar2602, based on the original utility by WiredOpposite) is a unified, high-performance disc image converter, verifier, and extraction suite for Original Xbox and Xbox 360 games.

XGDTool is provided in three official targets:

• XGDTool-GUI (Windows): Full-featured desktop application with Drag & Drop queue manager, Dark Mode, diagnostic verification, and Windows Explorer integration.
• XGDTool-CLI (Windows): Lean standalone executable for command-line scripting, batch processing, and automation.
• XGDTool-Android (Android 8.0+): Native mobile application featuring a Material 3 Dark UI, Zero-Copy direct storage access, foreground conversion service, and multilingual localization.

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2. Windows Graphical User Interface (XGDTool-GUI)

2.1 Drag & Drop Queue Management

1. Launch XGDTool-GUI.exe.
2. Drag and drop any .iso, .xiso, .cso, .cci, .zar, or game folder into the application window.
3. You can also click Add Files... or Add Folder... to browse files manually.
4. The queue displays input paths, detected file sizes, and status for each item.

2.2 Output Format Selection

Choose your target conversion format using the format radio buttons:

• XISO: Standard scrubbed Xbox / Xbox 360 disc image, compatible with disc burning and emulators.
• GoD (Games on Demand): Xbox 360 container packages (00007000) for direct USB/HDD playback on RGH/JTAG consoles.
• ZAR (ZArchive): Multi-threaded Zstandard compressed archive, ideal for Xenia Canary and emulators.
• CSO: Fast LZ4 block-compressed disc image.
• CCI: LZ4 chunk-compressed disc image for Original Xbox emulators.
• Extract Folder: Direct filesystem extraction of game contents into loose files and folders.

2.3 Diagnostic Image Verification (Verify Image)

• Click the Verify Image button to perform a non-destructive integrity scan on the selected queue item.
• Inspects disc geometry (XGD2 / XGD3, layer break), AVL filesystem structure, Title ID, Title Name, Media ID, and calculates streaming CRC32, MD5, and SHA-1 checksums on the fly.

2.4 Conversion Options & Preferences

• Smart Rename ([<TitleID>] <GameName>): Automatically renames the generated output files or folders to match standard Xbox naming conventions.
• Generate .dvd File: Automatically creates a companion .dvd file pre-configured with the exact layerbreak (e.g. 1913760 for XGD2, 2133520 for XGD3) for burning with ImgBurn.
• Full Scrubbing: Erases all unused padding and junk sectors directly in memory buffers.
• Calculate Checksums: Generates CRC32, MD5, and hardware-accelerated SHA-1 hashes during creation.
• Compression Level: Configures Zstandard compression level (Levels 1 to 6) for ZAR archives.
• Worker Threads: Set the number of CPU threads used for parallel compression.
• Auto-open Output Folder: Opens the destination folder in Windows Explorer upon job completion.
• Audio Notification: Plays a confirmation chime when queue processing finishes.
• Windows Explorer Context Menu: Click Register Context Menu to integrate XGDTool directly into right-click options for disc images.

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3. Windows Command-Line Interface (XGDTool-CLI)

3.1 Syntax

XGDTool-CLI.exe [OPTIONS] <input_path> [output_path]

3.2 Command-Line Options

Option	Argument	Description
--xiso	None	Convert input to Xbox / Xbox 360 ISO / XISO format
--god	None	Convert input to Games on Demand (GoD) format
--zar	None	Convert input to ZArchive (Zstandard) format
--cso	None	Convert input to CSO (LZ4) format
--cci	None	Convert input to CCI (LZ4) format
--extract	None	Extract disc filesystem into loose folders
--verify	None	Non-destructive diagnostic integrity scan and header verification
--smart-rename	None	Automatically rename output using [<TitleID>] <GameName> convention
--threads	<N>	Number of worker threads for parallel compression (default: CPU cores)
--level	<1-6>	Zstd compression level for ZAR archives (default: 2)
--dvd	None	Generate companion .dvd file with layerbreak
--full-scrub	None	Zero out all padding and unused disc sectors
--checksum	None	Calculate CRC32, MD5, and SHA-1 checksums during creation
--register-shell	None	Register right-click Windows Explorer context menu for disc images
--unregister-shell	None	Unregister Windows Explorer context menu
-h, --help	None	Display usage information and exit

3.3 Command-Line Examples

1. Verify a disc image without converting:

   XGDTool-CLI.exe --verify "D:\Games\Halo_Reach.iso"

2. Convert an ISO to Games on Demand (GoD) for Xbox 360 RGH:

   XGDTool-CLI.exe --god "D:\Games\Halo_Reach.iso" "E:\Content\0000000000000000"

3. Convert ISO to ZAR archive with Smart Renaming:

   XGDTool-CLI.exe --zar --level 3 --smart-rename "D:\Games\Gears_of_War.iso" "D:\Emulators\Xenia"

4. Batch convert all disc images in a directory to CSO:

   XGDTool-CLI.exe --cso --threads 8 "D:\ISO_Collection" "D:\CSO_Output"

5. Register Explorer right-click integration:

   XGDTool-CLI.exe --register-shell

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4. Android Application (XGDTool-Android)

4.1 Features

• Zero-Copy Direct Storage Engine: Operates directly on internal storage (/storage/emulated/0) and external MicroSD cards via MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, eliminating 15–20 GB of duplicate cache writes.
• Vectorized ARMv8 CRC32: Hardware-accelerated assembly intrinsics (__crc32d) delivering 15–20 GB/s on mobile ARM64 devices.
• Foreground Service: Conversions run reliably in a foreground service with live notification progress.
• Keep Screen On: Toggle to keep display awake during long conversion passes.
• Online/Offline Title Lookup: Automatically retrieves game names from Title IDs with timeout protection.

4.2 Quick Start on Android

1. Open XGDTool on your phone or tablet.
2. Tap Sorgente (Source) and pick your disc image or directory.
3. Tap Destinazione (Destination) and pick your target folder.
4. Select your target format (ZAR, GOD, CCI, CSO).
5. Tap Converti (Convert).

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5. Formats & Emulators Compatibility

Format	Extension	Recommended Emulator / Hardware	Notes
ISO / XISO	.iso	Original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xemu, Xenia	Uncompressed standard disc image
GoD	00007000	Xbox 360 RGH/JTAG, Aurora, FreestyleDash	Direct hard drive launch
ZAR	.zar	Xenia Canary, Cemu	Ultra-compact Zstd archive (~2 GB/s decompression)
CSO	.cso	Xbox Emulators, Xemu	Fast LZ4 block compression
CCI	.cci	Original Xbox Emulators	Optimized LZ4 chunk allocation
Extract	Folder	Aurora, FreestyleDash, Original Xbox Dashboard	Loose extracted assets

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6. Troubleshooting & FAQ

• CRC verification overhead: 0.0 seconds. Streaming calculation occurs in RAM on the fly while sectors are written to disk.
• Image verification fails: Ensure the disc dump is not corrupted and contains valid Xbox filesystem structures (AVL or XISO header).
• Explorer context menu not appearing: Run XGDTool-CLI.exe --register-shell once from PowerShell or click Register Context Menu in GUI Settings.