Bin To Pkg Better

You have a Sega CD or PC Engine game as .bin + .cue. Your emulator (like OpenEmu or RetroArch) requires a .pkg (rare) or a .chd. Many users incorrectly search for "bin to pkg" when they actually need "bin to chd."

The Better Hack: Instead of converting BIN to PKG (which an emulator won't read), convert BIN to CHD (CompactCHD), then wrap that CHD in a metadata PKG for frontends like LaunchBox. bin to pkg better

chdman createcd -i game.cue -o game.chd

Then use a simple XML wrapper to create a dummy PKG that points to the CHD. This yields 50% smaller file sizes and zero performance loss. You have a Sega CD or PC Engine game as

| Approach | Quality | Ease | Notes | |----------|---------|------|-------| | pkgbuild --root ./binary_folder | High | Medium | Standard macOS way | | fpm -s dir -t osxpkg ./binary=/usr/local/bin/ | High | High | Great for CI | | Manual PackageMaker (deprecated) | Low | Low | Avoid | | tar + installer-compatible structure | Medium | Low | Too error-prone | Then use a simple XML wrapper to create

Apple’s native tools, when used with a component-property-list, can do "better" conversion. The trick is using --component flag with a properly structured .app or binary hierarchy, not just raw files.

When you download a standalone binary, you are often on your own regarding dependencies.

Winner: Packages save debugging time by resolving dependency graphs for you.