Skip to content

CD Based Games

Jump to bottom
nickybmon edited this page Mar 31, 2026 · 3 revisions

CD-Based Games

CD-based games require more setup than cartridge ROMs. Follow this guide carefully.

Affected systems: PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Sega CD / Mega-CD, TurboGrafx-CD / PC Engine CD, Sega Dreamcast

Before You Start

  • Do not import compressed archives (.zip, .rar, .7z) — extract them first with The Unarchiver.
  • Check your BIOS files — most CD systems require BIOS files. See BIOS Files before importing.
  • Import the descriptor file (.cue, .ccd, or .m3u), not the .bin or .iso directly. OpenEmu will pull in all associated files automatically.

Supported Formats

PlayStation, Sega Saturn, TurboGrafx-CD, PC Engine CD (via Mednafen):

  • CUE + BIN (single or multiple .bin tracks — Redump-style)
  • CUE + IMG, CUE + ISO
  • CUE + WAV/OGG/FLAC audio tracks (MP3 is not supported)
  • CloneCD: CCD + IMG + SUB

Sega CD / Mega-CD (via Genesis Plus GX):

  • CUE + BIN, CUE + IMG, CUE + ISO
  • CUE + WAV/OGG audio (MP3 is not supported)

Sega Dreamcast (via Flycast):

  • .gdi + associated track files
  • .cdi

Importing a Single-Disc Game

  1. Make sure all files (.cue, .bin, .img, etc.) are in the same folder.
  2. Drag the .cue or .ccd file onto the OpenEmu library window.
  3. OpenEmu imports the descriptor and all associated tracks automatically.

Multi-Disc Games (M3U)

Games with multiple discs need an .m3u playlist file.

Step-by-step:

  1. Put all discs' files in the same folder.
  2. Create a plain text file with a .m3u extension (e.g. Final Fantasy VII (USA).m3u).
  3. List the CUE filename for each disc, one per line: 
    Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 1).cue
Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 2).cue
Final Fantasy VII (USA) (Disc 3).cue
    For CloneCD rips, list .ccd filenames instead of .cue.
  4. Save as plain text (in TextEdit: Format → Make Plain Text).
  5. Import the .m3u file into OpenEmu — the CUE files will be pulled in automatically.

Note: The .m3u and all CUE/BIN files must be in the same folder. Do not pre-import the individual CUE files first.

Swapping discs in-game: When the game asks you to swap discs, use the disc icon in the HUD bar at the bottom of the game window to select the next disc.

Sega CD / Mega-CD note: Multi-disc M3U is not supported for Mega-CD.

CUE Sheet Basics

A CUE sheet (.cue) is a plain text file that describes the disc layout. It must be saved as plain text — no Word formatting, no "smart quotes" or "smart dashes."

What to check if your CUE won't import:

  • The filename in the CUE must match the actual .bin/.img/.iso file name exactly, including case and extension.
    • Correct: FILE "Castlevania.bin" BINARY
    • Wrong: FILE "Castlevania" BINARY (missing extension)
    • Wrong: FILE "C:\Games\Castlevania.bin" BINARY (hardcoded path — only the filename should appear)
  • If using CloneCD (.ccd), you must also have matching .img and .sub files.

Common Issues

My CUE or CCD won't import

Check the CUE contents: open it in TextEdit (plain text mode) and verify the filename matches your .bin/.img exactly, including capitalization and extension. See the CUE sheet tips above.

No music — only sound effects

You have a bad dump or the CUE is missing CDDA track information. Get a complete dump (Redump sets on Archive.org are reliable).

I only have a single .BIN or .ISO file

This is an incomplete dump — it's missing the CUE sheet that describes the disc. The safest fix is to find a proper CUE+BIN dump. Creating your own CUE from scratch without knowing the disc layout usually leads to more problems.

I have a .CHD file (from Archive.org)

CHD is a compressed disc format. Convert it to CUE+BIN using chdman:

# Install via Homebrew
brew install rom-tools

# Convert a single CHD
chdman extractcd -i "game.chd" -o "game.cue" -ob "game.bin"

I have an .ECM file

ECM is a compressed data track. Install ecm and decode it:

brew install ecm
unecm "track.bin.ecm" "track.bin"

I have .APE audio tracks

APE audio tracks need conversion to WAV. Use X Lossless Decoder (XLD): go to XLD → Preferences, set Output format to PCM (little endian), then open the .ape file. Rename the output to match the audio track filename in your CUE sheet.

I have a .MDF and .MDS file

Convert to CUE+BIN using mdf2iso:

brew install mdf2iso
mdf2iso --cue game.mdf

I have a .SBI file (PlayStation LibCrypt protection)

Some PAL PlayStation games used LibCrypt copy protection. If your game is one of them, you need the matching .sbi subchannel file.

  1. Download .sbi files from redump.org.
  2. The .sbi filename must match the CUE base name exactly, including case:
    • Ape Escape (Europe).cue → Ape Escape (Europe).sbi
  3. Drag and drop the .sbi onto your library to import it alongside the game.

For multi-disc LibCrypt games (Final Fantasy VIII, IX, Parasite Eve II, etc.), import a .sbi for each disc.

Clone this wiki locally