Alpha testing

CLI/GUI mostly working. Bug fixes probably still needed more. Benchmark needed. Compatability info.

CHDlite

Basically a CHDman wrapper with added functions and drag&drop support. Priority on disc rom consoles. Read, hash, extract, and create CHD files. Main support: Optical disc chd.

Acknowledgments

This project incorporates code and concepts from the following open-source projects:

• MAME — CHD/cdhman core library and codec implementations (BSD-3-Clause)

• chdman-simd — SIMD-optimized codec improvements (BSD-2-Clause)

• 7-Zip — LZMA ASM decoder (x86-64) (Public domain)

• Some antiviruse software seems to flag it as FileRepMalware. This does not mean it is actually malware, but can be also due to low app recognition, as in this case.

-VirusTotal analysis

Code insights The provided binary is a standard Windows host runner for a Flutter-based application. Analysis of the decompiled code reveals typical framework initialization: it sets up the Flutter engine (FlutterDesktopEngineCreate), loads essential assets such as 'app.so' and 'icudtl.dat', and registers common plugins including 'DesktopDropPlugin' and 'UrlLauncherWindows'. The 'main' function handles standard Win32 window creation (FLUTTER_RUNNER_WIN32_WINDOW) and enters a routine message loop. No malicious behaviors, such as unauthorized persistence, network exfiltration, or code injection, are present in the host logic.

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/87f1612c5d2a48600c4f9bfc2f7c4fcf3cbb8d80326decb3f6217eeade52b5bb

License

AGPL-3.0 (This project incorporates CHD/cdhman code from MAME, which is licensed under BSD-3-Clause. If for what ever miraculous reason the MAME development team wishes to use or incorporate code/ideas from CHDlite back into MAME, this project's license can be lowered, limiting it to the mamedev team, on notice.)

• Read headers, tracks, and metadata (CHD) detects platform, title, manufacture id(iso/bin/cue/gdi/chd)

• Auto-detect content type: CD-ROM, DVD, GD-ROM (Dreamcast), Hard Disk, Raw

• Hash hashes CHD content by track, including cue/gdi(SHA-1, MD5, CRC32, SHA-256, XXH3)

• Extract CHD to CUE/BIN, GDI, or raw image

• Create CHD from CUE/BIN, GDI, ISO, or raw image

• System detection: PS1, PS2, PSP, Saturn, Mega CD, 3DO, Dreamcast

• Batch processing — process multiple files and folders in one invocation

• chdman-compatible commands for drop-in replacement workflows

• Drag-and-drop Binary D&D Windows only. GUI - Mac,Linux,Windows

Downloads

Pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows are available on the Releases page.

Each release contains four binaries:

Binary	Default Behavior	Purpose
chdlite	Auto (extract or create)	Main binary, speed-optimized
chdread	Display CHD info	Symlink to chdlite
chdhash	Hash CHD content	Symlink to chdlite
chdcomp	Create with max compression	Symlink to chdlite, uses --best automatically

Windows: All binaries are copies of the same executable with different defaults.
Mac/Linux: chdread, chdhash, and chdcomp are symlinks to chdlite.

Usage

Binary Drag&Drop file, files, folder. (Windows)

CLI
chdlite <command> [options]

GUI
Drag&Drop

Generic commands

extract  <input.chd> [-o output] [options]    Extract CHD to disc image
create   <input>     [-o output.chd] [options] Create CHD from disc image
read     <input.chd> [options]                 Read CHD info (header + tracks)
hash     <input.chd> [-hash sha1,md5,...] [options] Hash CHD content
auto     <input>     [options]                 Auto: .chd → extract, else → create 
input path can use also "-i path"

Compression defaults

CHDlite picks codecs automatically based on content type with priority on speed, unless emulator compatibility issues. You can override with -c. ex: "-c zlib", "-c zlib,zstd,lzma"

Content	Default	Reason
CD / GD-ROM	cdzs, cdfl	ZSTD wins data sectors (fast decomp, strong ratio); FLAC wins audio sectors (lossless PCM). Two-slot competition — no wasted cycles testing codecs that can't win.
DVD — PS2	zlib	Some Android PS2 emulators only support zlib for DVD CHDs. Using ZSTD would break compatibility on mobile.
DVD — PSP / generic	zstd	Fast decompression, especially when hashing CHD contents — which requires reading and decompressing every hunk.

--best, -best codec preset: cdlz, cdzs, cdzl, cdfl for CD / zstd, lzma, zlib, huff for DVD — maximises compression. slowest. Use chdcomp binary for automatic --best compression. --chdman, -chdman codec preset: chdman defaultcdlz, cdzl, cdfl for CD / lzma, zlib, huff -usually maximises compression. slow but faster than --best.

Single codec is faster than chdman due to simd optimization Multi codec is about 0-10% slower than chdman due to unknown bottleneck probably due to adding architecture changes for simultaneous hashing etc. If you have a preference for a codec, it is recommended to use single codec.

Compatibility tests are limited. If you experience any issues with certain emulators, reports will be appreciated.

chdman-compatible commands

createcd   -i <input> -o <output.chd>    Create CD CHD
createdvd  -i <input> -o <output.chd>    Create DVD CHD
createraw  -i <input> -o <output.chd>    Create raw CHD
extractcd  -i <input.chd> -o <output>    Extract CD from CHD
extractdvd -i <input.chd> -o <output>    Extract DVD from CHD
extractraw -i <input.chd> -o <output>    Extract raw from CHD

Options

-i, --input <file>           Input file
-o, --output <file>          Output file
-f, --force                  Overwrite existing output
-c, --compression <codecs>   Compression: none, zlib, zstd, lzma, flac, cdzl, cdzs, cdlz, cdfl
-hs, --hunksize <bytes>      Hunk size in bytes
-us, --unitsize <bytes>      Unit size in bytes
-np, --numprocessors <n>     Number of compression threads
-ob, --outputbin <file>      Output bin filename template (%t = track#)
-sb, --splitbin              Split output into per-track bin files
--no-splitbin                Single bin file for all tracks
-hash <algorithms>           Hash algorithms: sha1, md5, crc32, sha256, xxh3
--result <on|off|format>     Pretty log output control (on/off, or for hash: text/json/lot/svg)
-log <level>                 Structured log level: debug, info, warning, error, critical, none
-v, --verbose                Verbose output

Examples

# Read CHD info
chdlite read game.chd

# Hash a CHD
chdlite hash game.chd
chdlite hash game.chd -hash sha1,md5

# Extract CD image
chdlite extract game.chd -o game.cue
chdlite extractcd game.chd -o game.cue

# Extract with split bin files
chdlite extract game.chd -o game.cue -sb

# Create CHD from CUE/BIN
chdlite create game.cue -o game.chd
chdlite createcd game.cue -o game.chd

# Drag-and-drop style (auto-detect action)
chdlite game.chd              # extracts
chdlite game.cue              # creates CHD

# Batch process a folder
chdlite /path/to/chd/folder/

chdman compatibility

CHDlite aims for full chdman compatibility with one exception:

• Uncompressed CHD (-c none) is not supported. Creating or working with uncompressed CHD files is not currently implemented. This is the only known chdman non-compliance.