.BIN / .CUE / .ISO Frequently asked questions. READ1ST

I do not know. I think that Nero sucks, but Toki was using Nero and I wanted to answer him.

My brother usually makes his backups with Nero and he had little problems with the protecton scheme (except with games heavily protected as Breath Of Fire IV, Saga Frontier 2 and so on).

About other software: I noticed that CloneCD images (.img extension) files are compatible with CDRWin images. I mean, if you burn a CUE/IMG set with CDRwin it works. So I assume that the .IMG part coincides byte-by-byte with the .BIN file created by CDRWin and that (maybe) the protection scheme information is contained in the subchannel data (.sub) file cerated by CloneCD.
Do you think this could be a correct guess?

 

Biznap, * ALWAYS * peek inside an image file before buring it. Use ISOBUSTER and check it. Do not waste CDs.

Also, as I posted above, there is a very simple way to know if a file is an 'image':

***** DIVIDE THE FILE SIZE BY 2352 ****

If you obtain an integer number (that is, a number without decimal point), such as 294300 for instance, you then know that the file is an image of a CD-ROM whose size was 294300 sectors (read the posts above and the links I posted to know what sectors are). If not, the file might be a corrupted image (and here it comes ISOBuster) or something else.

 

Hello

Hmm afetr reading all the posts here (I mean it took me like half an hour) I 've noticed that I have two kind of .cue files.

I download from easynews a lot (news server) so this .cue is from a file I downlaoded there:

FILE "dlm-rsn1.bin" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

since this is a 2 CD program I downloaded the second CD, which was in iso format. Just to give it atry at what you guys have been saying I converted this file to bin and to my surprise it coverted altogether with a .cue file (which it didnt had, I guess maybe cuz it was an iso not a bin, anyway.....) the .cue file for that is:

FILE "D:\GENERAL (sin clasificar)\Reason cd2\cd2\rsn2.bin" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Now, the 2 images are almost in the same path (thats in the D drive). Why does one contains the whole path and the other doesnt, and still it burned ok (the second one, I havent trued the first one).

Thanks for your answers

--> awesome job you guys do here; is there anyway to donate without paypal (cuz paypal is not available in my country, grrrrrrrr)

 

if i use a black cdr what is the difference between a real playstation game and a backup? is there some thing exta burnt into the cd?

 

I'm answering to both Rodius and Toki.

1) To Rodius:
the ISO format includes both information that are found on CUE and BIN files (that is: ISO = CUE+BIN). I assume that the ISO you converted was written:

FILE "D:\GENERAL (sin clasificar)\Reason cd2\cd2\rsn2.bin" BINARY
....

because the utility program you used to convert ISO into BIN/CUE knows in which directory you put the files into.

The first .cue is more 'standard', I mean, if you do not include the full Path on the FILE flag, then the CUE

FILE "dlm-rsn1.bin" BINARY
...

will work if and only if the CUE and the BIN file dlm-rsn1.bin are in the same directory. I assume you have put all files toghether so even the first one will work.

2) To TOKI:
Original PSX CD have bad blocks burned into them. Bad blocks are sectors that cannot be either read or written (except with CD 'printers' used by Sony manufacturers). A burned backup has replaced (if backup utilities are properly configurated) the bad sectors with zeros. For this reason your PSX Console must be modified in order to play backups.

And there is no much difference between black, silver, blue or gold CDs. I have heard that PSX CD-reader reads best black and blue CDs and worst gold CDs. But there is no difference in data, only in the capability of the laser to read the info from the CD layer.

 

aldaco, when u said divide the file size by 2352, did u mean the file size in Kilobytes? Or was it the file size in sectors. Cause i tries to dive all my bin files that i have and they all gave me non-integer number, ranging from about 250-350. So i figured something went wrong. If u meant divide the file size IN SECTORS by 2352, then how can i find out my many sectors my file has? Do i just take the kilobytes and multiply them by 1024 (getting the file size in bytes) and then divide by 2352? If u could fill me in, i'm not sure if thats right, thanks
Also, did u mean a flat integer, as in no decimal places what-so-ever, or would something like 29578.00000000005697912891 Still work
Thanks

 

The size is in BYTES. Please note: you NEED to know the EXACT size in BYTES. Should you multiply the size in kb by 1024 you would get problems (since the size in kb is truncated).

For instance, the image of Dino Crisis PSX (.bin format)has a size of 417,990,384 bytes.
If you divde thts number by 2352 you have EXACTLY 117717 (=sectors). This means that on the Physical PSX CD (a 74 min CD made of 333000 sectors) only sectors from 0 to 177716 were occupied, the remaining were blank.

Please note that a not completely full sector on the physical CD is always extracted as 2352 bytes. The blank spaces in the physical CD will be replaced by zeros in the image.

So, since BIN size = CDsectors*2352, the result of (BIN size)/2352 is always a flat integer. No way it could be different!

Got it?

 

i kinda get it. I think all i need to do is multiply my 700,899 mb bin file by 1024, to get the bytes, and then divide by 2352. But tell me, do sectors only apply to PSX CD's? or will they also apply to a computer CD's?

 

No, you need to open Windows Explorer, right-click the file and choose 'properties'. You will see that file size (e.g. 408,194 kb) will be shown as "398 Mb (417,990,384 bytes)".
You'll notice that "417,990,384 bytes" is the EXACT size and "408,194 kb" is the size in kb ROUNDED to an integer (so multiplying by 1024 would give you a wrong result).


And, what I told applies to all CDs. All raw images size are = 2352 * N , where N=number of sector extracted from the Physical CD (either PC, PSX, VCD).

The only difference is:
- when you burn a PSX or VCD image you burn MODE2 data (MODE2 data means that the 2352 bytes of each sector are made of 16 bytes for header + 2336 bytes for data);
- when you burn PC images you burn MODE1 data (2352 bytes = 16 bytes header + 2048 bytes data + 286 bytes of error correction codes).

How does your burner knows you are burning a PC CD or a PSX CD? An ISO image has all information included, a .BIN needs to know this from the .CUE file! (as I posted above, .CUE fixes that in the command that is written in their second line, that can be either MODE2/2352 or MODE1/2352).

In Nero you have to set an option in the burning options screen.

 

Hi everyone!
I've read all the threads (page 1 to 4)
I have a .bin.exe file
So, if i got it right:
1. Rename the file to only .bin file.
2. Create the .cue file with notepad:
FILE "IMAGE.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

ok now... lets say i have a pc game. I know its mode1. I know i have to provide the file name. What i dont know is, do i need to put the ---> "" <--- before and after the file name?
3. Once this is done, i open nero, choose to burn the cd image, in the rollup menu, i choose all formats... What i need to know is do i only choose the .cue file (and yes the bin and cue file are on the same directory, folder)and click on burn?

Thats all i guess i need to know.
I'm also writting this so people dont have to read all the 4 pages of this thread again and again if they are going to use nero.

You guys can add anything I'm missing.

Thanks you guys!
Matts

 

What you posted is almost 100% correct (let's say 99.99%). Just to be more precise:
a) yes, you have to use "" to specify the file name (so, in your example, IMAGE.BIN should be the name of the .BIN file);
b) .BIN and .CUE must be in the same dir;
c) Nero is capable to load the .CUE files only from version 5.5.9.5 (or 5.5.5.9?) and above.

I also would suggest the admin to build a 'short' version of the readme1st thread. It is becomung huge..

 

I DLed a game in .bin.exe format. I am a little confused about the .exe after the .bin file extension. What does it mean? Also i have a .cue file as well as the .bin.exe file, but when i burn them all i get is a copy of them on a cd. I put them in the same directory and have tried burning the .cue to the disc. It looks like it will work but then it says windows doesnt recognize it. The file i tried was 730mb's and yet still burned on a 700mb disc. Weird. What do i put on the cd? All these advanced options come up in nero. Can someone please tell me what to do in a few steps that are not too advanced in computer language? Like what objects exactly do i use? Just from the getting of the files to the end of burning is all im looking for. I'm really sorry to ask a question like this but I can't find anything that specifically goes to my needs. You guys rock, thanks.

P.S. I have tried in Nero and Alcohol 120%.

 

assuming u have the correct bin's and cue's, all you have to do is go into Nero and go to the drop down menu
File - Burn Image.
This will take you to a browse menu, where u need to locate the cue file(s), that coordinate to the bin file(s). The cooresponding Bins and Cues must be in the same directory. Then click Open. Then tell Nero to Burn, and it will copy the INFORMATION from the BIN, not the actual BIN file itself. This will create the information for the backup CD that the windows registry will recognize, and you can run.
AS for the .bin.exe file, i'm not sure what to do for that, however i do remember someone telling me once that you can just rename it to a .bin file. But try getting some expert advice from aldaco or cd-rw.org on this before doing it. (Or make a copy of it and then try, preserving the old file)
Good Luck!

 

I really appreciate your help erico. Everything will work fine if i can fix one thing. Everywhere i look on my pc it says that the .bin files are just .bin files, not .bin.exe's. Yet, when i open Nero it says they are .bin.exe's. Whats up with this? Is there anyway i can fix it? I'm sure it will work if this is fixed. When i try to burn it it says "error in first line" of the cue. Thats the error. Any help? Thanks again.

 

The last post i put i fixed. I just single clicked on the name in Nero. Duh. Anyway im gonna try that now. Thanks erico, and everyone.

 

ok i thought i had it worked out, up until i took the disc out of the burner when finished and tried it in the normal cd-rom drive. It still comes up with a box with the title "disc not formatted" and saying its bad or corrupt. Here is what i did to make the cd:

IN NERO:

- File-Burn Image
-Selected .cue file in the same directory as the .bin
-Went to burn tab, under action selected "write" chose 24x write speed, write method "disc at once" 1 copy and "buffer underrun protection.
-Started writing
-Finished burning, then tried the disc.

Is there something wrong with the .bin file? Do i need to download it all over again? someone please help! I also re-named a .bin.exe file to just .bin in nero. Did this do something?

P.S. I went to the info tab in the "Write CD" box that appears when you go to burn it and it stated:

Track: Track #1
Kind of track: Data (mode 2)
Size of track 630MB

Yet it says that the image size is 731. I know these are seperate but do the #'s seem right? And i thought that the data should be mode 1. I'm probably wrong. Please Help!

 

u may have a faulty BIN, but the other problem is that if you are making a backup PC cd, then it needs to be in mode 1. Only PSX or ?other console games? runs in mode 2. try changing that to mode, and see if it works. Other than that, i'm sure what is up. You could always try downloading a better .BIN file. I use DIRECT CONNECT the most, cause that supplys the best information. Kazaa, Morpheus, etc. just dont have enough software available.

 

I've downloaded a PSX game from the web that was separated in "kal-ddrk.001" to "kal-ddrk.018", also contained a "nfo" and a "sfv" files. I've joined them with HJjoin Pro(?) and the mix made a file without format, I readed the "nfo" file where appeared that the in the game was in "cue/bin" format, so I put ".bin" to the file and made a "cue" file like this:

FILE "C:\Archivos de
programa\eMule\Incoming\kal-ddrk.bin" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE2/2336
INDEX 01 00:00:00

I made the CD with Nero and with CDRwin and both were wrong, where's the error?

 

Hi!
First of all I would like to say that it's great that there is a board like
this, from were we can learn about burning .bin/.cue/and ISO.

My problem is that I downloaded a game (007:NightFire.exe) from kazaa and I
can't make it to work. So I send a message to some of the others who had
downloaded it and one of them said that it was a .bin file.
So then I tried like you wrote (cd-rw.org) to make a .cue file and loaded that
to nero, but nero refused and error messages occured.
Should I keep the NightFire.exe and just put a .bin behind like this
(NightFire.exe.bin) or should I just remove the .exe with a .bin.

I don't know if the file is a .bin/.cue or .ISO.
The file is 734126080byte big when I check the properties of it, and 716 920kb.
I would really appreciate for any adwice you can give me.