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Troubleshooting

Claus Valca edited this page Aug 18, 2026 · 1 revision

🔧 Troubleshooting


"Tool not found" error

OpenROM can't find chdman, maxcso, ecm, or extract-xiso.

Fix:

  • Make sure the assets/ folder is in the same directory as OpenROM
  • If running from source, make sure you cloned the full repo including assets
  • On macOS, install via brew as fallback:
  brew install rom-tools maxcso

Conversion failed mid-way

Check the log file first — it has the exact error from the tool.

Common causes:

  • Not enough disk space — CHD conversion needs temporary space equal to the original file size
  • Corrupted source file — try a different copy of the ROM
  • Missing CUE file — OpenROM auto-generates it for BIN files, but GDI files need all tracks present

CUE file missing

If you have a BIN without a CUE, OpenROM auto-generates one.

If it still fails, your BIN might be a multi-track game — you need all the .bin tracks + the .cue file together.


macOS: "App can't be opened"

Gatekeeper is blocking OpenROM because it's not signed by Apple.

Fix:

xattr -cr /Applications/OpenROM

Then try opening again.


Linux: AppImage does nothing on double-click

You need to make it executable first:

chmod +x OpenROM_Linux_x86_64.AppImage
./OpenROM_Linux_x86_64.AppImage

Or if it still doesn't work:

sudo apt install libfuse2

Windows: "Windows protected your PC"

Click More infoRun anyway.

This is just SmartScreen — OpenROM isn't signed because we're indie, not because it's unsafe.

Clone this wiki locally