13. Troubleshooting

Common messages, their meaning, and what to do.

13.1 Conversion Errors

Message (as shown in the log)	Meaning	Action
Failed to convert '<file>': ERROR: couldn't find bin file [<path>]	chdman cannot find a track file referenced by the cue (missing, wrong name, or on a different drive). The app logs a directory listing to help.	Verify the .bin files are next to the cue with matching names. Non-ASCII names/BOMs, wrong names and zero-padding mismatches are normally handled automatically; re-scan the folder. If the bracketed path looks like two paths joined together, see the note below.
Failed to convert '<file>': file size (N bytes) is not divisible by any standard sector size (2048/2324/2336/2352/2368/2448). The file may be corrupt or truncated.	The image size doesn’t match any CD/DVD sector geometry. Raw CD dumps mislabelled as .iso/.img are detected by content and no longer reach this check, so this now means a genuinely damaged file.	Re-download or re-rip the image; verify with the original disc.
<file> is named as an archive but contains a raw CD disc image; converting it as a CD. / ... named as a compressed ISZ image but ...	Informational. The extension disagreed with the content, and the content won.	Nothing to do — the conversion proceeds correctly.
<file>: no writable location on the same volume for a generated cue; converting the image as-is.	A raw CD image needs a generated cue, and chdman can only reach the image from a cue on the same volume — but no writable temp location exists there.	Free space on the image’s own drive, or move the image to a drive where a temp folder can be created.
The output folder is inside the source folder, so CHDs will be written alongside the originals.	Informational. Converting in place is supported.	Nothing to do. An existing CHD of the same name is only replaced after a successful conversion.
Files named after this disc already exist here; extracting into "<name>" so they are kept. / <name>.iso already exists here; extracting into "<name>" so the existing file is kept.	Informational. Extracted output takes the CHD’s base name, so it would have replaced files of the same name — most likely when extracting into the folder the CHDs already live in. The disc was written to a subfolder instead.	Nothing to do. The existing files are untouched and the new ones are in the named subfolder; a .cue/.gdi set there is still valid, because its track references are relative.
this is part 1 of an N-part split image ... A part is missing or truncated	The .001/.i00 parts do not join to a whole number of sectors.	Re-download the complete set; all parts must be in the same folder.
the image is split across N segments and <name>.i01 is not in the same folder	A segmented ISZ is missing a piece.	Put every .isz/.i01/.i02… segment together.
segment <name>.i01 belongs to a different ISZ image (volume serial number does not match)	Segments from two different rips were mixed.	Collect the segments of one image together.
the ISZ image is encrypted (AES-256) and this tool cannot decrypt it.	The ISZ was saved with a password.	Open it in UltraISO with the password and save it as an ISO first.
the ISZ decompressed to N bytes but its header declares M / the ECM file's checksum does not match the data it decoded to	The compressed file is truncated or damaged. The partial output is deleted rather than converted, because a short image would convert and look fine.	Re-download the file.
the .mdf data file was not found next to the .mds descriptor	An Alcohol descriptor without its data file.	Keep the .mds and .mdf together; a lone .mdf is skipped because the descriptor drives the conversion.
WARNING: <file> and <other> both convert to <name>.chd	Two inputs map to the same output name.	Informational, reported at batch start. The first result is no longer destroyed by the second, but only one of them will survive as <name>.chd — rename an input if you need both.

On “couldn’t find bin file” with a doubled path. chdman joins a cue’s FILE entry to the cue’s own directory unconditionally, so an absolute FILE path produces something like C:\temp\x\D:\game.iso. Generated cues therefore always use a relative path and are written on the image’s own volume. Seeing a doubled path means a hand-written cue contains an absolute FILE line — make it relative to the cue. | Failed to convert '<file>': Unit size must be specified if no output parent CHD is supplied | A .raw input was converted without a unit size, or a .cue referencing raw audio tracks was passed to chdman without the unit-size flag. | Should not occur in current versions (raw inputs and cues referencing .raw tracks both get -us 2352 automatically); if it does, use a .cue descriptor instead. | | Failed to convert '<file>': Compressing, 0.0% complete... | (Old versions) a chdman progress line was shown instead of the real error. | Update the app; the real error line is now selected from the end of chdman’s output. | | Failed to convert '<file>': Error creating CHD file (...): Unknown error | chdman could not create the output file (drive issues, permissions, full disk). | Check the output drive is writable, has free space, and the path isn’t overlong. | | TIMEOUT: Conversion of '<file>' exceeded N minute(s). Marking as failed. | The per-file time limit fired. | Increase the limit (max 4 hours) or convert fewer/larger files at once. | | Retrying with createdvd (unrecognized track type)... | A CD attempt failed; the app retries as DVD. | Usually succeeds automatically. If it fails again, force CD/DVD manually. | | chdman exited with code N but produced a valid output file... | Non-zero exit but a valid output; treated as success. | Informational — nothing to do. |

13.2 Archive Errors

Message	Meaning	Action
... multi-part RAR with a missing volume ...	A multi-part .rar is missing one or more parts.	Download all .partNN.rar volumes into the same folder.
... Archive is encrypted ...	The archive is password-protected.	Password-protected archives are not supported; extract manually first.
... compression method that is not supported ...	The ZIP uses Deflate64/LZMA/PPMd, which the extractor can’t read.	Re-zip with standard Deflate, or extract manually first.
... archive file may be corrupted or incomplete ...	The archive failed CRC/structure checks.	Re-download the archive.
No supported primary files found in archive.	The archive contains no convertible image/descriptor (and no bare .bin).	Check the archive contents.
... archive file appears to be incomplete ... / ... could not validate referenced files ...	Archive entries reference data files that aren’t in the archive (split-bin sets, CRC-skipped entries).	Get the complete archive set; the app skips the entry with a warning instead of failing hard.

13.3 CHD Extraction & Verification

Message	Meaning	Action
Failed to open '<file>.chd': Not a valid CHD file	The file isn’t a CHD (bad magic).	The file is corrupt or misnamed; re-acquire it.
Failed to open '<file>.chd': Invalid or corrupt data	CHD structure is broken.	Re-acquire the file; verify it with chdman verify.
Failed to open '<file>.chd': Cannot open file	The file is locked/unreadable.	Close any program holding the file (emulator, antivirus scan) and retry.
Partial extraction: N file(s) remain in temp directory: <dir>	A multi-track extraction failed partway; the temp dir is kept for inspection.	Check the listed _extract_temp_* folder, delete leftovers, and retry with a valid CHD.
Failed to move file <path>: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process	The move was blocked by a lock.	Current versions retry for ~45 s; if it still fails, close file-holding programs and retry.

13.4 Environment & Startup

Message	Meaning	Action
chdman.exe not found at '<path>'	chdman is missing or was moved.	Keep chdman.exe/chdman_arm64.exe in the app folder.
Status bar CHDMAN indicator red	Same as above.	See previous row.
Selected temp root "X:\" is not writable, falling back to system temp	The preferred temp drive can’t be written (e.g. E:\ is a card reader / locked).	Informational; the app uses the system temp instead. Free space on C: matters then.
Another instance of BatchConvertToCHD is already running.	Single-instance mutex.	The first instance is still running; close it first.
Update check skipped: GitHub API rate limit exceeded.	GitHub API 403/429 (shared IP).	Wait and restart; no action needed.
Failed to record usage statistics: HTTP 429	Stats endpoint rate-limited.	Expected; silently ignored (Debug log only).

13.5 Data & Safety Questions

Are my originals deleted automatically? Only when “Delete originals after a successful conversion” is enabled, and only after the CHD was produced successfully. Cue-set deletions also remove referenced .bin/.sub files; CCD deletions remove .img/.sub/.cdt.

What happens to temp files on crash? Leftover BatchConvertToCHD_Temp_* folders are deleted at next startup.

Where are the logs? %LocalAppData%\BatchConvertToCHD\logs (daily files, 7 days retained). Click the AppData button in the title bar.

Does the app phone home? It sends: anonymous usage stats (application name + version, once per launch), bug reports for warning-level events (see Bug Reporting System), and GitHub update checks. No personal data is collected (the bug report includes the Windows user name as userInfo).

Why do some bugs keep showing the same message? Corrupt input files (bad CHDs, incomplete archives) are user-data conditions — the app now excludes those messages from bug reports; the in-app log remains the source of truth for them.