Tutorial: Convert GDmenu SD card to openMenu and configure custom boxart.

[ateam]

Hi everyone,

I've helped quite a few people with the process of converting their old GDmenu SD card to openMenu, as well as configuring things like artwork and metadata. As a result, I decided to set aside a little time to put together a video tutorial. My hope is that this tutorial once and for all teaches people who easy this process can be.

[DreamState]

Doesnt OpenMenu still have a thing where it just won’t even recognise certain CDI games? Or has that been fixed? I once tested OpenMenu awhile ago and games that appeared/played perfectly on GDMenu were either missing or wouldn’t play once implemented to OpenMenu. This very reason is what stops me from transferring over permanently, it’s just not up to speed yet in my opinion. You should expect that EVERY image you have playable on one front end will be perfect on another but this isn’t the case. There was also the problem of using a wireless Xbox One controller on OpenMenu, it would double jump on a single press making it almost impossible to select games. Like I said, until these type of things are refined, I can’t see openmenu being the go-to viable way to use GDEmu. There’s a reason lots of people still use GDMenu, it works with next to no issues at all.

[ateam]

Doesnt OpenMenu still have a thing where it just won’t even recognise certain CDI games? Or has that been fixed? I once tested OpenMenu awhile ago and games that appeared/played perfectly on GDMenu were either missing or wouldn’t play once implemented to OpenMenu. This very reason is what stops me from transferring over permanently, it’s just not up to speed yet in my opinion. You should expect that EVERY image you have playable on one front end will be perfect on another but this isn’t the case. There was also the problem of using a wireless Xbox One controller on OpenMenu, it would double jump on a single press making it almost impossible to select games. Like I said, until these type of things are refined, I can’t see openmenu being the go-to viable way to use GDEmu. There’s a reason lots of people still use GDMenu, it works with next to no issues at all.

I can't speak to using other controllers, but the disc image compatibility issues have all seemingly been fixed. I haven't run into a single one since the last few releases which failed to boot. I like to think I've put openMenu through its paces in that regard.

By the way, haven't you brought this up on Discord before?

[DreamState]

Doesnt OpenMenu still have a thing where it just won’t even recognise certain CDI games? Or has that been fixed? I once tested OpenMenu awhile ago and games that appeared/played perfectly on GDMenu were either missing or wouldn’t play once implemented to OpenMenu. This very reason is what stops me from transferring over permanently, it’s just not up to speed yet in my opinion. You should expect that EVERY image you have playable on one front end will be perfect on another but this isn’t the case. There was also the problem of using a wireless Xbox One controller on OpenMenu, it would double jump on a single press making it almost impossible to select games. Like I said, until these type of things are refined, I can’t see openmenu being the go-to viable way to use GDEmu. There’s a reason lots of people still use GDMenu, it works with next to no issues at all.

I can't speak to using other controllers, but the disc image compatibility issues have all seemingly been fixed. I haven't run into a single one since the last few releases which failed to boot. I like to think I've put openMenu through its paces in that regard.

By the way, haven't you brought this up on Discord before?

I have yes, but whatever feedback you give these days tends to go ignored mostly. Using the GDMenu theme on openmenu is where I had problems. I use a Brook Wingman SD with Xbox One controller and openmenu scrolls out of control not allowing you to properly select any games. I consulted Brook about this, no joy. I also consulted Megavolt, no joy. The original GDMenu front end works flawlessly however so i have to assume it has to be something internally to do with openmenu. If you are saying there has been plenty of updates recently that have sorted the unplayable CDI situation, then I guess I could give openmenu another go soon.

[nextlie]

Thank you so much, really useful! I was able to do it perfectly!

[megggan]

Thanks for this, the only game I had issues with adding before was Xenocider so hopefully that's sorted now.

[Xerxes3rd]

I have yes, but whatever feedback you give these days tends to go ignored mostly. Using the GDMenu theme on openmenu is where I had problems. I use a Brook Wingman SD with Xbox One controller and openmenu scrolls out of control not allowing you to properly select any games. I consulted Brook about this, no joy. I also consulted Megavolt, no joy. The original GDMenu front end works flawlessly however so i have to assume it has to be something internally to do with openmenu. If you are saying there has been plenty of updates recently that have sorted the unplayable CDI situation, then I guess I could give openmenu another go soon.

I have the scrolling issue as well- for me it happens if there’s no controller connected to port 1, and when that happens, it’s like the right trigger is being held down. For me, plugging in a controller makes it behave normally. Aside from that I’ve had a really good experience switching from GDMenu, especially for VM2 and CodeBreaker support!

[meathane]

Man I've just saved over my whole database by mistake trying to update 1 file. Unfortunately the database doesn't back up to the SD card, so I can't re-import, that would e a good feature

[ateam]

Man I've just saved over my whole database by mistake trying to update 1 file. Unfortunately the database doesn't back up to the SD card, so I can't re-import, that would e a good feature

One habit I've gotten into is backing up my DATs before doing any artwork changes. I should have mentioned this in my video. My apologies.

Curious though, what specifically did you do that triggered the DAT corruption?

EDIT:
Actually, you can restore your old DATs. Copy all the files (except the two text files) from your SD card's 01 folder to some new location.

Download extract.exe to that same folder (https://drive.google.com/uc?export=down ... _mFGEvW617).

Open disc.gdi with a text editor and look at the LBA of track 5.

Code: Select all

5
1 0 4 2048 track01.iso 0
2 450 0 2352 track02.raw 0
3 45000 4 2048 track03.iso 0
4 490691 0 2352 track04.raw 0
5 490842 4 2048 track05.iso 0

In this example, the LBA is 490842. Next, add 150 to that number, giving us 490992.

Now, use PowerShell or CMD and navigate to that folder where you copied the GDI files from your 01 folder (the same place where you saved extract.exe). Then, issue the following command:

Code: Select all

extract.exe track03.iso track05.iso 490992

If using PowerShell, you may have to issue command like this:

Code: Select all

.\extract.exe .\track03.iso .\track05.iso 490992

All of the files in your SD card's openMenu GDI will be extracted, including those DATs.

[MoeFoh]

Hi everyone,

I've helped quite a few people with the process of converting their old GDmenu SD card to openMenu, as well as configuring things like artwork and metadata. As a result, I decided to set aside a little time to put together a video tutorial. My hope is that this tutorial once and for all teaches people who easy this process can be.

Nice going on the Tutorial.

As for a newly added title Meta data, I would at least check the game genre box(es). Why? So the title gets sorted when the Genre or Filter option is used. Especially important if you have a large amount of games on your card.

I have asked Sonik twice to remove the hyphen on Save, but he keeps forgetting.