Universal Retro Gaming Toolkit — by M5 Dev

🎮 Meet ROMeo — OpenROM's official mascot. Your friendly pixel-art cartridge companion for all things ROM.

OpenROM is a free, open-source Universal Retro Gaming Toolkit — one app to replace every fragmented ROM tool out there. Convert, patch, compress, clean, and manage your ROM collection with a modern Flutter desktop UI, real-time terminal logging, smart platform detection, and a full headless CLI for automation — all running 100% offline.

Each release includes the Flutter GUI (OpenROM) and the headless CLI (openrom-core).

📖 Guides & Docs: Official Wiki — setup, Steam Deck, Termux, FAQs.

• 20+ conversion paths — ISO, BIN, CUE, GDI, IMG, ECM, CHD, CSO, ZSO, XISO, RVZ, WIA, WBFS, GCZ and more.
• Smart Platform Detection — Magic byte detection for PS1, PS2, PSP, Xbox, GameCube, Wii, Dreamcast, Saturn, Sega CD — not size guessing.
• Real CHD Header Parsing — Reads actual CHD v4/v5 headers to determine CD vs DVD type accurately.
• Correct CHD Codec Routing — createcd for PS1/Dreamcast/Saturn/Sega CD, createdvd for PS2/GameCube/Wii/Xbox — never mixed up.
• Auto CUE Generation — Generates CUE sheets for standalone BIN files with correct track mode detection (MODE1/MODE2/AUDIO) via sector header inspection.
• Integrity Verification — Post-conversion CHD integrity check via chdman verify.

• 11 patch formats — IPS, IPS32, UPS, BPS, PPF, APS, EBP, DPS, xdelta3, SSP (Sega Saturn), DCP (Dreamcast).
• Auto format detection — Drop a patch file and OpenROM detects the format automatically.
• Checksum verification — CRC32 integrity checks before and after patching with a detailed report.
• Ignore checksum mode — Force-apply patches even on modified ROMs.

• DCP Patch Applier — Apply Dreamcast .dcp patch files with full xdelta3 delta-patch support. Compatible with Universal Dreamcast Patcher patch files.
• IP.BIN Editor — Read and modify the Dreamcast boot sector: game title, region flags (Japan / USA / Europe / Region Free), VGA mode toggle, and full Shift-JIS encoding support for Japanese game titles.
• GDI Track Inspector — Load and inspect GDI disc image track structure — track number, LBA offset, type (Audio/Data), sector size, and filename.

• ZIP and 7Z support — Compress ROMs or entire folders with fast / normal / ultra presets.
• Smart skip — Already-compressed formats (CHD, CSO, RVZ, 7Z…) are automatically skipped.
• Batch extraction — Extract ZIP and 7Z archives with progress tracking.
• Delete source option — Auto-clean source files after successful compression.

• Copier header detection and removal for NES (iNES), SNES (SMC), Game Boy / GBC — with confidence rating (certain / likely).
• Double-strip protection — SNES internal header validation prevents stripping clean ROMs twice.
• Auto backup — Original ROM backed up as .bak before any modification. Existing backups are never overwritten.
• Non-destructive — Output written to a separate file; source untouched by default.

• M3U Playlist Generator — Auto-generate M3U playlists for multi-disc games (PS1, Saturn, etc.).
• BIN Merger — Merge multi-track BIN files into a single BIN + CUE, with correct INDEX 00 pregap handling.
• CUE Sheet Editor — Open, edit, and save .cue files directly inside OpenROM.
• Batch Processing — Drop a whole folder, process everything at once.

• No-Intro + Redump DAT support — Import any DAT file from datomatic.no-intro.org or redump.org.
• CRC32 matching — Identifies ROMs by hash, not filename.
• Dry run mode — Preview renames before applying.
• DAT library — Import multiple DATs and OpenROM stores them locally for reuse.
• Streaming XML parser — Handles massive DAT files (hundreds of MB for PS2/MAME) without RAM spikes.
• 100% offline — No network requests, no API keys.

• Queue Manager — Drag to reorder conversion jobs before running. Clear completed jobs with one click.
• Compression Preview — See estimated output size before converting, based on format and compression level.

• Gaming Dashboard UI — Flutter-powered dark interface inspired by PS5/Xbox aesthetics, with ROM cards, platform badges, and real-time progress.
• Themeable — Swap between built-in themes (Gaming Dashboard, Cyberpunk, Terminal, Minimal) or create your own via JSON.
• Real-time Terminal Log — Live process output with timestamps, slides up during conversion.
• Drag & Drop — Native drag and drop for files and folders.
• Full Headless CLI — openrom-core for scripting, automation, and Flutter IPC.
• 6 Languages — English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese.
• No Telemetry — Zero network requests. No analytics. Runs 100% locally forever.

# Detect file format and platform
openrom-core --detect game.iso

# Convert a single file
openrom-core --input game.iso --format CHD

# Batch convert a folder
openrom-core --folder /roms/ --format CHD --compression Max

# Convert with verification
openrom-core --input game.iso --format CHD --verify

# Apply a patch
openrom-core --patch game.sfc --patch-file hack.ips

# Apply a Dreamcast DCP patch
openrom-core --dcp patch.dcp --disc-dir /disc/ --output /out/

# Read IP.BIN fields
openrom-core --read-ipbin IP.BIN

# Edit IP.BIN — region free + enable VGA
openrom-core --write-ipbin IP.BIN --region-free --set-vga

# Edit IP.BIN — set custom title
openrom-core --write-ipbin IP.BIN --set-title "MY GAME"

# Inspect GDI track structure
openrom-core --read-gdi disc.gdi

# Compress to 7Z
openrom-core --compress game.iso --format 7z --level ultra

# Remove ROM header
openrom-core --remove-header game.smc

# Generate M3U for multi-disc game
openrom-core --m3u /roms/Metal\ Gear\ Solid/

# Verify a CHD
openrom-core --input game.chd --verify-only

# JSON output (for scripting / Flutter IPC)
openrom-core --json --detect game.iso

OpenROM ships with 4 built-in themes and supports fully custom themes via JSON files in the themes/ folder:

Create your own theme by copying any JSON file and editing the color values.

All tools are open source and verifiable. See SECURITY.md for SHA256 checksums.

• Python 3.10+
• Flutter (latest stable)
• Nuitka 4.0+

git clone https://github.com/M5Devs/OpenROM
cd OpenROM

# Build headless Python core
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install nuitka ordered-set zstandard
python -m nuitka --onefile --output-filename=openrom-core --include-data-dir=assets=assets core/cli.py

# Run Flutter UI
cd openrom_flutter
flutter pub get
flutter run -d windows   # or linux / macos

# Windows
build_windows.bat

# Linux
./build_linux.sh

# macOS
./build_mac.sh

• Flutter UI rewrite (v2.5.0)
• Magic byte platform detection
• CHD header parsing
• Theme system
• ROM Patcher — IPS, BPS, UPS, xdelta3, PPF, SSP and more (v2.5.0)
• ZIP / 7Z compression & extraction
• ROM header removal — NES, SNES, GB/GBC
• M3U playlist generator
• NKit / WUD / WUX support (v2.8.0)
• SSP Sega Saturn Patcher (v2.8.0)
• Linux ARM64 builds (v2.8.0)
• CUE Sheet Editor (v2.9.0)
• Queue Manager + Compression Preview (v2.9.0)
• ROM Renamer — No-Intro + Redump DAT support (v3.0.0)
• Dreamcast DCP Patch Applier (v3.0.0)
• IP.BIN Editor — region, VGA, Shift-JIS (v3.0.0)
• GDI Track Inspector (v3.0.0)
• DCP Patch Builder 🔨
• Android support via Termux 🤖
• maxcso ARM64 build
• RetroAchievements hash verification

Contributions are welcome! Read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests.

OpenROM is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL v3) — a free, copyleft license approved by the Open Source Initiative.

See LICENSE for the full license text.