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This guide walks you through creating your first PlayStation ISO image with mkpsxiso.

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Prerequisites

1

Install mkpsxiso

Make sure you have mkpsxiso installed. See the Installation guide if you haven’t installed it yet.
2

Prepare your files

Create a project directory with your PlayStation executable and assets:
mkdir my-ps1-game
cd my-ps1-game

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Create an XML project file

Create a file named project.xml with your ISO project configuration: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<iso_project image_name="game.bin" cue_sheet="game.cue">
  <track type="data">
    <identifiers
      system="PLAYSTATION"
      application="PLAYSTATION"
      volume="MYGAME"
      publisher="MYNAME"
    />
    
    <directory_tree>
      <file name="system.cnf" type="data" source="system.txt"/>
      <file name="game.exe" type="data" source="game.exe"/>
      
      <dir name="data">
        <file name="level1.dat" type="data" source="data/level1.dat"/>
      </dir>
    </directory_tree>
  </track>
</iso_project>

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Create a system.cnf file

Create system.txt with your boot configuration: 
BOOT = cdrom:\GAME.EXE;1
TCB = 4
EVENT = 10
STACK = 801FFFF0
The BOOT line specifies which executable to run. The ;1 suffix is required by the ISO9660 standard.

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Build the ISO

Run mkpsxiso to build your ISO image: 
mkpsxiso project.xml
You should see output like: 
MKPSXISO 2.20 - PlayStation ISO Image Maker
...
ISO image generated successfully.
This creates two files:
  • game.bin - The ISO image data
  • game.cue - The cue sheet for CD burning/emulation

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Test your ISO

Load the .cue file in an emulator like:
  • DuckStation
  • PCSX-Redux
  • ePSXe
  • Mednafen
The emulator will use the .cue file to locate and load the .bin image.

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Common options

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Generate LBA log

Create a log of where each file is located on the disc: 
mkpsxiso project.xml -lba filelist.txt

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Override output name

Specify a different output filename: 
mkpsxiso project.xml -o custom-name.bin

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Quiet mode

Suppress progress output: 
mkpsxiso project.xml -q
For a bootable PlayStation disc, you need a license file. See the License Data guide for details.

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Next steps

XML Configuration

Learn the complete XML schema

Building ISOs

Advanced ISO building techniques

XA Audio

Add compressed audio streams

Commands

Full command reference

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