How to setup CD-ROM2 system

3 Step Process.
  • Making a CD image from optical disc drive on the Personal Computer
  • Writing CD images to the Memory Card
  • Switching CD images on the PC Engine

Making a CD image

Required items

  • HE System CD-ROM2 discs
  • PC with a CD-ROM drive.
  • CD Manipulator - Disc imaging software

Steps

  1. Download CD Manipulator (external link), run CdManipulator.exe
  2. Insert CD into the disc drive.
  3. Select "Read from CD to image file"
  4. Configure the following options. If this isn't done, CD Manipulator might create unusable images.
    • UNcheck "Analyze Pregap"
    • UNcheck "Analyze Sub Code (Get Accurately TOC)
    • Check "ignore Read Errors"
UperGrafx uses .cdm .img and .sub files. The writing function is not used for the purpose of creating images.

Writing CD images to the Memory Card

See the instructions here → CD image transfer software

Switching CD images on the PC Engine

Required items

  • A PC Engine console 
  • Designated System Cards for use with the CD games (We do not support Arcade Card Duo. However we will support Arcade Card DUO as definitive functions. We support Games Express CD Card as partial)
  • A memory card with CD images installed.
  • An UperGrafx, which functions as a CD-ROM2 system.

Steps

  1. Insert and connect the required items. Turn on the power.
  2. Press the run button, on the "PRESS RUN BUTTON" screen (#1).
  3. System Card runs the Audio CD player on the first read disc.
  4. The Audio CD player shows an audio CD which has the same amount of tracks as the number of installed CD images.
  5. Play the audio tracks. Each audio track is 5 minutes long.
  6. Choose the same track number as the CD image required. (If you want to switch to image #10, play track #10)
  7. Press SELECT + RUN buttons when the audio player plays a target track number.
  8. PCE shows the "PRESS RUN BUTTON" screen again. Press the RUN button again.
  9. UperGrafx switches the target CD image.

Force Audio CD mode

  • When a target disc is selected while paused (not playing). The target disc image is loaded as a pure audio disc. 
  • UperGrafx plays no audio for data tracks. Some audio tracks say "DO NOT PLAY DATA TRACKS on an AUDIO CD player". This is not a problem for the UperGrafx.

Supplementary note

  • When you reset the PCE by pressing SELECT+RUN buttons on the target disc image, Operation Sequence back to #1.
  • Press turn on again, some CD-ROM2 software does not accept the SELECT + RUN button combination.

CD Image FAQ

Q1, Can I use .ccd image files that I've made with Clone CD?

A1. There's no guarantee that they will work correctly, but there is a way to make .cdm files from .ccd files:

  1. Open the xxxx.ccd file with a text editor (such as Notepad)
  2. Change the first line from "[CloneCD]" to "[CDManipulator]"
  3. Change the second line from Version=3 to Version=2 (versions 3 or higher might not work)
  4. Save the file as XXXX.cdm

Q2. Is there a way to use .cue files?

A2. There's no guarantee that they will work, but there is a way to convert them via virtual CD software.

Load the .cue file with virtual CD drive software, select CDManipulator as the virtual drive, and then generate the CD image. It creates .ccd .sub and .img files, .cue files lack most of the disc management data, so the virtual drive completes the missing data via guesswork. So I am not sure if the missing data completed in this way is the same as that of the original game disc.

Q3. I am unable to create a disc image with 99 tracks.

A3. This is a bug with CDManipulator.

In order to correct this bug, someone created an alternate version of the software which is available here:

Q4. My particular optical drive is unable generate the correct data. Other CD image software can't create the correct files.

A4. Please use a different drive.

I have received reports that the audio tracks in some games have issues, even when the game data itself runs fine. The drive sends the exact same data to the software, regardless of which software you are using. So in these cases there is no other choice but to use a different drive.
The CD-ROM2 discs have no actual file system, since they were designed to archaic specifications. When the physical discs were being produced, there were many errors present that fell within the error tolerance threshold. Some drives attempt to "correct" these errors, and then send those corrections to the PC, but this can cause issues when playing the image files on the PCE since the data has been altered. These errors on the original discs are unrelated to deterioration or damage. Someone has reported that BD/DVD/CD combo drives might not generate compatible image files. I know this may be troublesome, but please try to use DVD/CD combo drives and use USB-ATAPI adapters. I have used second-hand DVD drives with USB-ATAPI adapters to make compatible disc image files.
Comments