Conversion
Tools → Conversion converts and compresses the disc images in your library. Compress games to save space, convert them to the format your loader or emulator expects, or unpack them back to a plain ISO or BIN/CUE.
Every conversion runs on the server, in a queue, with the tools that ship inside the web image. Nothing needs installing.
Formats
| Format | What it is | Made from | Unpacks to | Consoles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHD | Compressed, lossless disc image, widely supported by emulators | BIN/CUE, IMG, ISO | BIN/CUE or ISO | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 |
| CSO | Compressed ISO | ISO | ISO | PlayStation 2 |
| ZSO | Compressed ISO that is faster to read, at a slightly larger size | ISO | ISO | PlayStation 2 |
| ECM | Disc image with the error-correction data stripped, losslessly | BIN/CUE, IMG, ISO | BIN | PlayStation |
| VCD | POPStarter's format for running PlayStation games on a PlayStation 2 | BIN/CUE | BIN/CUE | PlayStation |
| RVZ | Dolphin's compressed, lossless format | ISO, GCM, WIA, WBFS, CISO, GCZ | ISO | GameCube, Wii |
| WBFS | Scrubbed Wii image for USB Loader GX and WiiFlow | ISO, WIA, RVZ, CISO, GCZ | ISO | Wii |
Conversions are offered per console, for the formats that console's loaders and emulators read. What a file can become depends on both its console and its file type: the page only offers conversions that apply. For CHD, CD-based and DVD-based games are handled separately, so a PlayStation 2 DVD game becomes a DVD CHD and unpacks back to ISO.
More consoles get conversions as their loaders and formats are added.
Converting games
- Open Tools → Conversion and pick a console.
- Pick one game or file to see what it can become, or select several to convert them all at once. Search and the file type filter narrow the list.
- Choose the output format. Only formats the selected files can be turned into are offered.
- Set the options, then Add to queue. Each file is queued as a conversion of its own, with the same options.
Options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Compression | Trade size for speed where the format allows it. CHD offers best (lzma, zlib, flac) or fast (zlib). CSO and ZSO offer default, fast or smallest. |
| Verify checksum | Checks the output with the tool's own verifier before it goes into your library. Offered for CHD, RVZ, WBFS and ISO from nodtool. |
| Keep source | Leaves the original files where they are. Off, they are deleted, but only after the output is written and verified. |
| Advanced options | The tools' own settings, such as CHD hunk size, CSO block size, the RVZ zstd level or POPStarter's PAL to NTSC patch. The defaults suit most games. |
The queue
The queue shows every conversion with its status and progress: queued, running, verifying, done, failed or cancelled. You can cancel a running conversion, retry a failed one, open its log to see the tool's output, and clear finished ones from the list.
Conversions are safe to interrupt:
- The tool writes into a staging folder, never straight into your library. A failed or cancelled conversion leaves nothing behind.
- The finished file is moved into the console's folder without overwriting anything already there.
- With Keep source off, the originals are removed only once the new file is in place.
- Multi-disc games get a fresh
.m3uplaylist, and the console is scanned so the new files show up straight away. - If retroBITE restarts mid-conversion, the interrupted conversion is marked failed and its half-written output removed. Retry it from the queue.
Bundled tools
These tools ship inside the web image at pinned versions:
| Tool | Used for |
|---|---|
| chdman | CUE/BIN, IMG and ISO to CHD, and back |
| maxcso | ISO to CSO and ZSO, and back |
| ecm / unecm | Disc images to ECM, and ECM back to BIN |
| cue2pops / pops2cue | BIN/CUE to POPStarter VCD, and VCD back to BIN/CUE |
| nodtool | GameCube and Wii images to RVZ, WBFS and ISO |
The Tools panel on the Conversion page shows the version of each tool and whether it was found. A missing tool turns off only the formats that need it. To use a different build, set its path in .env. See Configuration for the paths, how many conversions run at once and how long one may take.
Large libraries
One conversion runs at a time by default, because a second one on the same disk mostly slows both down. On fast storage, raise CONVERSION_CONCURRENCY and QUEUE_WORKERS_CONVERSION together.