Formats & disc prep

Which file types boot as-is, what Finish Setup prepares, and what needs a manual step.

What Finish Setup does with each file type. The rule throughout: prep reports what is actually true — a format the route’s emulator cannot boot is NEEDS_MANUAL with the fix named, never READY.

Universal disc rules

Sheets: .cue / .gdi / .m3u validate (refs must exist); .ccd validates on PSX/Saturn/TG-CD (same-basename .img/.bin
- optional .sub). Same-disc duplicates collapse to one boot sheet (Dreamcast prefers .gdi, elsewhere .cue, then .ccd).
Cue audio: tracks must be raw (BINARY/WAVE). MP3/OGG/FLAC cues fail with a convert-to-WAV/BIN note.
CHD: container v5+ required (older: upgrade with chdman).
Multi-disc: an .m3u is generated over ordered sheets/images.
Single-ROM archives: a zip holding one cart-bootable file (Jaguar .j64, Dreamcast .elf, …) extracts and boots it; multi-ROM archives are refused with an explanation.
Dreamcast 45000-cues: CD-R-numbered rips (ISO extents below 45150) would hang black in flycast — prep boots a generated .gdi declaring track 3 at 45000 instead.

Per-folder notes (disc folders)

Folder	Boots	Needs manual step
Dreamcast	cue/gdi/m3u, chd, cdi, iso, elf, lst	`.dat` strays; 45000-cue → auto-GDI
PlayStation	cue/ccd/m3u, chd, iso, pbp, exe, toc	ecm (unecm), mdf/mds, psf music, z/znx/cbn
Saturn	cue/ccd/m3u, chd, iso, toc	mds/mdf
Sega CD, Neo Geo CD, TG-CD, 3DO	cue/m3u (+ccd/chd/toc on TG-CD), chd, iso	mp3-cues, old CHD
GameCube, Wii	iso, rvz/gcm/gcz/wbfs/wia/ciso, dol/elf, wad	NKit (restore to ISO), json/dff
PSP	iso, chd, cso, pbp, elf	prx plugins
PS2	via NetherSX2 manual pick	—
Jaguar	carts (`.j64`/`.jag`/…) loose or zipped	CD not emulated (cue/cdi); ambiguous `.bin` → rename

Cartridge folders

Everything accepted boots as-is, except:

Amiga: rp9/uae/nrg/mds/ccd are refused with notes.
MSX: only blueMSX extensions boot (rom/ri/mx1/mx2/col/dsk/ cas/sg/sc/m3u); disk variants, wav, ogv, xsa are refused.
NES .fds: needs disksys.rom in RetroArch/system.
N64 .ndd: needs IPL.n64 (or 64DD_IPL.bin) in RetroArch/system/Mupen64plus/.

Arcade folders (mame, neogeo, naomi)

Zips stay zipped and must keep exact shortnames (e.g. galaga.zip).