Emulators/systems that are recognizing compressed roms

Sidrack · May 17th, 2009

I was wondering what systems/emulators can recognize each one of those, in that order:

7Z (7-Zip)
ZIP
RAR

And how many cannot, and will only load the original ISO/BIN/GMC/whatever/ files...

I need to do that research for archival purposes, since I am saving all roms I can in my external HDD. Some were 7-Zipped, some were not, because the console was using too many files, and changing that (from ZIP to 7Z, for example) will take too much time.

First, to copy all files from the external drive to my system (once it's formated or the internal HDD is lost/replaced), second: to compress all those files again in ZIP files to be recognized by the emulator, since it's important to not waste the internal HDD space either.

From my tests, I was able to save more space from the external HDD by compressing all roms in 7-Zip. But if there are too many roms I will avoid that step.

Here's my list from possible systems. A = Answer, if the emulator can recognize ZIP/RAR/7Z or neither. A = will answer all those questions.

You can contribute to this thread by providing the answers you know.

01 - Arcade/MAME

A: ?

02 - Fairchild-Zircon Channel F

A: ?

03 - RCA Studio II

A: ?

04 - Atari 2600

A: ?

05 - Philips Odyssey 2

A: ?

06 - Mattel Intellivision

A: ?

07 - Tandy Color Computer

A: ?

08 - Arcadia 2001

A: ?

09 - Commodore 64

A: ?

10 - ColecoVision

A: ?

11 - Atari 5200

A: ?

12 - Vectrex

A: ?

13 - Bally Astrocade

A: ?

14 - Microsoft MSX1

A: ?

15 - Microsoft MSX2

A: ?

16 - Memotech MTX

A: ?

17 - Tangerine Oric-Atmos-TeleStrat

A: ?

18 - Amstrad CPC

A: ?

19 - Thomson MO5

A: ?

20 - NES

A: ?

21 - Master System-SG-1000-SC-3000

A: The "Fusion" emulator (I have tested the 3.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP.

22 - Atari 7800

A: ?

23 - SAM Coupé

A: ?

24 - Game Boy-Color

A: ?

25 - TurboGrafx-16-PC-Engine

A: ?

26 - Atari Lynx

A: ?

27 - Mega Drive-Genesis-32X

A: Both the "Fusion" (tested on the 3.6 version) and "Gens" cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP.

28 - Neo Geo-CD

A: ?

29 - Sega Game Gear

A: The "Fusion" emulator (I have tested the 3.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP.

30 - Super NES-Famicom

A: ZSNES can only read ZIPped roms, which have the worst compression rate. RAR and 7Z are not recognized.

There is one frontend aplication for SNES, called NSRT, that can compress all roms into the JMA format, with the same level of compression used for 7-Zip (Ultra profile/max). It can be downloaded here.

If you wish to compress the rom, it's necessary to open the DOS prompt and type this syntax, making sure you are doing that on the NSRT EXE folder:

nsrt -savetype jma -rename [rom's-name.extension]

You need to use the "rename" command along with "savetype", it's not possible to use just one of them. "Rename" will give your rom the original title. After that procedure, the JMA file will be created and ZSNES will read with no problems at all.

Update: To process all files in the current directory:

nsrt -savetype jma -rename -r .

31 - Philips CD-I

A: The "CDI emulator" cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

32 - Watara Supervision

A: ?

33 - Sega-Mega-CD

A: Both the "Fusion" (tested on the 3.6 version) and "Gens" cannot read 7Z/RAR/ZIP files for this one. Only CUE/ISO/BIN.

34 - Panasonic 3DO

A: The FreDo emulator cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

35 - Amiga CD32

A: ?

36 - Atari Jaguar

A: ?

37 - Bandai Playdia

A: ?

38 - Sega Saturn

A: ?

39 - Sony PlayStation 1

A: ePSXe cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

40 - NEC PC-FX

A: ?

41 - Nintendo 64

A: Project64 (tested on the 1.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP.

42 - Virtual Boy

A: ?

43 - Tiger Game.com

A: ?

44 - Neo Geo Pocket-Color

A: ?

45 - Bandai WonderSwan-Color

A: ?

46 - Sega Dreamcast

A: Chankast cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

47 - Sony PlayStation 2

A: PCSX2 cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

48 - Game Boy Advance

A: The No$GBA emulator cannot read 7Z/ZIP/RAR/compressed roms. Even if you use the MyZoom hack, it will NOT BE POSSIBLE to read 7Zipped roms, if they using the original .GBA extension on these files. However, if you rename them to .NDS, MyZoom will recognize them!

The Visual Boy Advance (also another GBA emulator) is able to read compressed roms, but only those who are using the ZIP profile.

49 - Nintendo GameCube

A: Dolphin cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR).

50 - Nintendo DS

A: Alone, No$GBA cannot read 7Z/ZIP/RAR/compressed roms. But if you use the MyZoom hack, it will be possible to read only 7Zipped roms.

Last edited by Sidrack; May 26th, 2009 at 16:44. Reason: Updating list...

Squall-Leonhart · May 17th, 2009

NoGBA requires pkunizip.exe (rename unzip.exe 5.4 or 6.0)
No$Zoomer also does zipped files.

Snes, zip
zsnes, zip
VBA-M, 7z, zip
Kega Fusion, zip
PJ64, zip

Zip is comparable to rar when you set it to max lzma compression.

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

Rebel_X · May 17th, 2009

blueMSX supports multiple roms in one zip file, also supports compressed save states after I suggested that to devs..

Hatorijr · May 18th, 2009

as of latest build my Space Invaders Arcade emulator supports zip support and my Gameboy Emulator will support zip support when it is finished as well, not sure yet if i will do 7-zip yet or not, guess i will see when it gets that far.

mamefan · May 21st, 2009

Quote:

Snes, zip
zsnes, zip
VBA-M, 7z, zip
Kega Fusion, zip
PJ64, zip

Correction:

Snes9x: zip, JMA
ZSNES: zip, JMA
BSNES: zip, JMA
VBA-M can have RAR support enabled, but is disabled due to licensing
Nestopia: zip, RAR, 7z

Squall-Leonhart · May 21st, 2009

indeed.

__________________

VBA-M | Xtemu | NGOHQ | Post Impact Productions | TNHW | XBCD 0.2.6 | Satanic666's Emulator Compiles
Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct
Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!.
If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help.
Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

May 17th, 2009	#1 (permalink)
Sidrack Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Earth Posts: 4	Emulators/systems that are recognizing compressed roms I was wondering what systems/emulators can recognize each one of those, in that order: 7Z (7-Zip) ZIP RAR And how many cannot, and will only load the original ISO/BIN/GMC/whatever/ files... I need to do that research for archival purposes, since I am saving all roms I can in my external HDD. Some were 7-Zipped, some were not, because the console was using too many files, and changing that (from ZIP to 7Z, for example) will take too much time. First, to copy all files from the external drive to my system (once it's formated or the internal HDD is lost/replaced), second: to compress all those files again in ZIP files to be recognized by the emulator, since it's important to not waste the internal HDD space either. From my tests, I was able to save more space from the external HDD by compressing all roms in 7-Zip. But if there are too many roms I will avoid that step. Here's my list from possible systems. A = Answer, if the emulator can recognize ZIP/RAR/7Z or neither. A = will answer all those questions. You can contribute to this thread by providing the answers you know. 01 - Arcade/MAME A: ? 02 - Fairchild-Zircon Channel F A: ? 03 - RCA Studio II A: ? 04 - Atari 2600 A: ? 05 - Philips Odyssey 2 A: ? 06 - Mattel Intellivision A: ? 07 - Tandy Color Computer A: ? 08 - Arcadia 2001 A: ? 09 - Commodore 64 A: ? 10 - ColecoVision A: ? 11 - Atari 5200 A: ? 12 - Vectrex A: ? 13 - Bally Astrocade A: ? 14 - Microsoft MSX1 A: ? 15 - Microsoft MSX2 A: ? 16 - Memotech MTX A: ? 17 - Tangerine Oric-Atmos-TeleStrat A: ? 18 - Amstrad CPC A: ? 19 - Thomson MO5 A: ? 20 - NES A: ? 21 - Master System-SG-1000-SC-3000 A: The "Fusion" emulator (I have tested the 3.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP. 22 - Atari 7800 A: ? 23 - SAM Coupé A: ? 24 - Game Boy-Color A: ? 25 - TurboGrafx-16-PC-Engine A: ? 26 - Atari Lynx A: ? 27 - Mega Drive-Genesis-32X A: Both the "Fusion" (tested on the 3.6 version) and "Gens" cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP. 28 - Neo Geo-CD A: ? 29 - Sega Game Gear A: The "Fusion" emulator (I have tested the 3.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP. 30 - Super NES-Famicom A: ZSNES can only read ZIPped roms, which have the worst compression rate. RAR and 7Z are not recognized. There is one frontend aplication for SNES, called NSRT, that can compress all roms into the JMA format, with the same level of compression used for 7-Zip (Ultra profile/max). It can be downloaded here. If you wish to compress the rom, it's necessary to open the DOS prompt and type this syntax, making sure you are doing that on the NSRT EXE folder: nsrt -savetype jma -rename [rom's-name.extension] You need to use the "rename" command along with "savetype", it's not possible to use just one of them. "Rename" will give your rom the original title. After that procedure, the JMA file will be created and ZSNES will read with no problems at all. Update: To process all files in the current directory: nsrt -savetype jma -rename -r . 31 - Philips CD-I A: The "CDI emulator" cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 32 - Watara Supervision A: ? 33 - Sega-Mega-CD A: Both the "Fusion" (tested on the 3.6 version) and "Gens" cannot read 7Z/RAR/ZIP files for this one. Only CUE/ISO/BIN. 34 - Panasonic 3DO A: The FreDo emulator cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 35 - Amiga CD32 A: ? 36 - Atari Jaguar A: ? 37 - Bandai Playdia A: ? 38 - Sega Saturn A: ? 39 - Sony PlayStation 1 A: ePSXe cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 40 - NEC PC-FX A: ? 41 - Nintendo 64 A: Project64 (tested on the 1.6 version) cannot read 7Z/RAR files. Only ZIP. 42 - Virtual Boy A: ? 43 - Tiger Game.com A: ? 44 - Neo Geo Pocket-Color A: ? 45 - Bandai WonderSwan-Color A: ? 46 - Sega Dreamcast A: Chankast cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 47 - Sony PlayStation 2 A: PCSX2 cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 48 - Game Boy Advance A: The No$GBA emulator cannot read 7Z/ZIP/RAR/compressed roms. Even if you use the MyZoom hack, it will NOT BE POSSIBLE to read 7Zipped roms, if they using the original .GBA extension on these files. However, if you rename them to .NDS, MyZoom will recognize them! The Visual Boy Advance (also another GBA emulator) is able to read compressed roms, but only those who are using the ZIP profile. 49 - Nintendo GameCube A: Dolphin cannot read any kinds of compressed roms (neither 7Z/ZIP/RAR). 50 - Nintendo DS A: Alone, No$GBA cannot read 7Z/ZIP/RAR/compressed roms. But if you use the MyZoom hack, it will be possible to read only 7Zipped roms. Last edited by Sidrack; May 26th, 2009 at 16:44. Reason: Updating list...

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May 17th, 2009	#2 (permalink)
Squall-Leonhart Behind ur girlfriend :D Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 18,442	NoGBA requires pkunizip.exe (rename unzip.exe 5.4 or 6.0) No$Zoomer also does zipped files. Snes, zip zsnes, zip VBA-M, 7z, zip Kega Fusion, zip PJ64, zip Zip is comparable to rar when you set it to max lzma compression. __________________ VBA-M \| Xtemu \| NGOHQ \| Post Impact Productions \| TNHW \| XBCD 0.2.6 \| Satanic666's Emulator Compiles Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!. If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help. Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.

May 17th, 2009	#3 (permalink)
Rebel_X Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ 龍我雷 Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Oak Lawn, IL Posts: 1,199	blueMSX supports multiple roms in one zip file, also supports compressed save states after I suggested that to devs..

May 18th, 2009	#4 (permalink)
Hatorijr Emu Author Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 373	as of latest build my Space Invaders Arcade emulator supports zip support and my Gameboy Emulator will support zip support when it is finished as well, not sure yet if i will do 7-zip yet or not, guess i will see when it gets that far.

May 21st, 2009	#6 (permalink)
Squall-Leonhart Behind ur girlfriend :D Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 18,442	indeed. __________________ VBA-M \| Xtemu \| NGOHQ \| Post Impact Productions \| TNHW \| XBCD 0.2.6 \| Satanic666's Emulator Compiles Don't be a NOOB, READ THE NGEmu/EmuForums Rules of Conduct Need Help with ePSXe? This is your first stop!. If you don't post all the required information, you don't get help. Everytime someone posts a romsite, God kills a beautiful woman.