I'm out of ideas, so I figured I'd better ask around here. I have all these beta/debug games I download, but most of them are just .bin files. And I have no idea what to do with them. Only a few of them came with .cue files, I know there's some sort of relationship between the two. I've heard of this whole 'mounting' thing, but I really don't understand it or how to do it. Can someone please possible help me or link me to something that will explain it?
A bin file is the image file, a cue file is a sort of info file for the CD drive and directs to the image, sometimes it contains vital track information for music files, it all depends on different track formats and is specific system to system. If it's a PSX game most of the time you can get away with just burning the bin file, the cue file isn't always needed and can be recreated from the bin file using free software. On the other hand some systems like the Saturn require the cue file for music track information so without it you'll not get any music and sometimes the game won't physically work. Not the most technical explination but it's my understanding of bin and cue files, I hope it helps.
as for "mounting the image", that is the term used for emulating an optical drive for reading the contents of a .ISO file or other format used for content burned to a CD. They show up as "physical" disk drives in your computer. I use Gizmo for my emulator. It is free and can mount several "drives" at once. You will need to mount the image to edit the .cue file before burning the .ISO to a CD.
Windows 8 allows you to mount ISOs natively...although chances are you're not using Win8. You can do this in Mac OS X too, but for any other version of Windows you need third-party software.
Some disc burning software will let you burn bin/cue files directly. It depends on what you want to do with it - do you want to emulate it, or play it on actual hardware?
If you plan on mounting it, use Alcohol 120%. Not free but there is a trial period. I recommend buying it anyways, comes in handy all the time. If it's a .bin file, is it from a game or is it a PS2 game? Those are the only locations I can think of right now. It would help if you can fill us in (as much as possible) with the details- origin, purpose, goals, etc.
Yeah, some details might help. I basically (out of boredom) scrolled back through the downloads threads here and downloaded a whole bunch of betas and debugs. Most came as solo .bin files, with no .cues. I've tried mounting them on Daemons Tools Lite, but..well, nothing happens. Sometimes I can open them as see their contents, other times, nothing. As a sample, I have the HL Alpha .bin and .cue files. Could someone walk me through emulation them, or how to burn them to a cd-r?
What system for? I'll assume PS2. To emulate, download PCSX2 (for Windows) and a PS2 BIOS file. When it's running just navigate to the ISO and select it, start the emulation. For most games you'll need a fairly beefy computer to run the stuff, especially with enhancements and at HD. Oh yeah, I'm more than willing to walk you through the process (if that's what you want) over PM too.
Download imgburn, insert blank CD into drive, set it to write mode, navigate to the cue file (if there is no cue file, click view all files and just try forcing the bin file to burn instead), burn at 4x and wait. If you want to play halflife browse the contents of the CD, it is a data CD for some weird reason, this is why some people mount it, me personally I just burned it.
i'd recomend imgburn too it can also handle disc juggler files ( .cdi ) with the library added daemon tools is handy too twice for typo's lol
Warning: do NOT install Daemon Tools, not the newest version at least. I used to use it all the time, but the newest version comes with this piece of shit browser toolbar that it automatically installs when you install the program. It asks you if you want to install it, but even if you say no, it installs it anyway. And it's seemingly impossible to fully remove it. Total piece of shit.
During the installation you can pick "Advanced" instead of "Quick" and untick "Install Delta Toolbar". Then a confirmation pop-up come up, which you have to cancel. Same with the next 2 screens. Ridiculous, how they try to force you to install all this crap. But it's been so since years. I remember sometimes you have to tick a box to NOT install some crapware.
always found it funny /unbelievable seeing other peoples internet explorer back in the day overloaded with crapware toolbars people are just lazy and click yes yes yes next next next ok ok ok
see pza's response. If you dont click advanced install for EVERYTHING you download from the internet - you are an idiot. Daemontools installs without the toolbar long as you do this. Though I do agree the bundling of all this crap is going too far.
