MiSTer Main – Physical Disc Support

Physical Disc Support adds direct USB optical drive support to MiSTer FPGA, allowing supported cores to run games from real CDs instead of disc images.

Connect a compatible USB CD/DVD drive, insert a supported disc, and launch the appropriate Physical Disc core from the MiSTer menu.

For easier setup and configuration, MiSTer Companion can install, update, and configure Physical Disc Support automatically.

Supported Systems

• Sony PlayStation
• Sega Saturn
• Mega CD / Sega CD
• PC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-16 CD
• Neo Geo CD
• Philips CD-i (experimental)
• 3DO (experimental / unstable)
• SNES MSU-1
• Mega Drive / Genesis MD+

Compatibility can vary depending on the game, core, and USB optical drive being used.

Requirements

• MiSTer FPGA
• Compatible USB CD/DVD drive
• Physical Disc version of MiSTer Main
• Physical Disc compatible cores

Installation

MiSTer Companion

The easiest way to install and configure Physical Disc Support is with MiSTer Companion.

Download:

https://mistercompanion.org

Open the Install Center and install Physical Disc Cores.

MiSTer Companion can:

• Install the required Physical Disc files
• Update Physical Disc Support
• Configure the required MiSTer.ini entries
• Enable or disable Auto Disc Detection

This is the recommended installation method for most users.

Update_All

Physical Disc Support can also be installed through Update_All using its Downloader database.

Once enabled, running Update_All will install and update the required Physical Disc files.

Usage

Manual Launch

Manual launching is the standard way to use Physical Disc Support and does not require Auto Disc Detection.

Physical Disc Support installs a _Physical Disc Cores folder in the MiSTer menu.

This folder contains MGL files for the supported Physical Disc cores.

To launch a physical disc:

1. Connect your USB optical drive.
2. Insert a supported disc.
3. Open _Physical Disc Cores from the MiSTer menu.
4. Select the MGL for the system you want to use.
5. The corresponding Physical Disc core will start and use the inserted disc.

The MGL files make it easy to manually select which Physical Disc core should be used.

They are also useful for Audio CDs, as you can simply launch the MGL for the core you want to use.

Auto Disc Detection

Auto Disc Detection is an optional extra feature that can automatically identify a newly inserted disc and launch the appropriate Physical Disc core.

When enabled:

1. Start MiSTer normally.
2. Insert a supported disc.
3. Physical Disc Support identifies the disc.
4. The appropriate core is launched automatically.

A disc that is already inserted when MiSTer starts is not automatically launched. Auto Disc Detection reacts to a disc being inserted after MiSTer has started.

MiSTer Companion provides an easy option to enable or disable Auto Disc Detection without manually editing MiSTer.ini.

MiSTer.ini Configuration

Physical Disc Support uses dedicated MiSTer.ini sections following this pattern:

[A0CD-*]
main=MiSTer_Physical-CD

The * represents the Physical Disc profile being used.

MiSTer Companion can configure the required entries automatically.

Enabling Auto Disc Detection

To enable Auto Disc Detection manually, add the following to your existing [menu] section:

main=MiSTer_Physical-CD

For example:

[menu]
main=MiSTer_Physical-CD

Audio CD Override

When Auto Disc Detection is enabled, standard Audio CDs use the PlayStation profile by default.

If you prefer Audio CDs to launch using another supported Physical Disc profile, add an AUDIOCD= override to your existing [menu] section.

For example, to use the Sega Saturn profile:

AUDIOCD=A0CD-Saturn

Supported Audio CD overrides:

AUDIOCD=A0CD-PSX
AUDIOCD=A0CD-Saturn
AUDIOCD=A0CD-MegaCD
AUDIOCD=A0CD-TurboGrafx16-CD
AUDIOCD=A0CD-NeoGeoCD
AUDIOCD=A0CD-CDi
AUDIOCD=A0CD-3DO
AUDIOCD=MISTERHIFI

Only use one AUDIOCD= entry.

AUDIOCD=MISTERHIFI launches MiSTer Hi-Fi directly into Physical Audio CD playback. MiSTer Hi-Fi must be installed at /media/fat/Scripts/misterhifi.sh.

For example:

[menu]
main=MiSTer_Physical-CD
AUDIOCD=A0CD-Saturn

The Audio CD override is only relevant when using Auto Disc Detection.

When Auto Disc Detection is disabled, simply open _Physical Disc Cores and launch the MGL for the core you want to use.

DVD Core Selection

When Auto Disc Detection recognizes a DVD-Video disc and no DVD= entry is configured, it selects an installed DVD core automatically. The hybrid DVD Player core is preferred when both supported cores are installed; otherwise, the available core is launched.

To select which installed DVD core should be launched automatically, add one DVD= entry to your existing [menu] section:

DVD=HYBRID

Supported DVD core selections:

DVD=HYBRID
DVD=FPGA

DVD=HYBRID launches only DVD_Player.rbf.

DVD=FPGA launches the latest dated DVD_<date>.rbf core, such as /media/fat/_Other/DVD_20260830.rbf.

Both DVD cores support physical DVDs independently. This setting is only used by Auto Disc Detection to choose which core to open when a DVD-Video disc is inserted.

An explicit selection is always respected. If the selected core is not installed, Auto Disc Detection shows a warning instead of launching the other core. Invalid DVD= values are also reported without launching a core.

Disc Swapping

Supported cores can detect physical disc removal and insertion while running.

This allows Physical Disc Support to handle things such as:

• Multi-disc games
• Games that request a disc change
• Games that allow the game disc to be replaced while the core remains running

Support depends on the individual core and game.

CD Audio

Physical Disc Support supports games that use CD audio, including mixed-mode discs containing both game data and Red Book audio tracks.

Because the audio is being read from a real optical drive rather than a disc image, compatibility and timing can vary between drives and games.

Burning SNES MSU-1 & Mega Drive / Genesis MD+ CDs

For users who want to create physical discs for SNES MSU-1 or Mega Drive / Genesis MD+, a dedicated burning tutorial is included with the project.

The tutorial was written by NinoPrime and covers the process of preparing and burning compatible discs for use with Physical Disc Support.

Note: The tutorial currently covers the process on Windows only.

Burning MSU-1 & MD+ CDs

Updating

Physical Disc Support can be updated through:

• MiSTer Companion
• Update_All

MiSTer Companion:

https://mistercompanion.org

Known Issues

Physical Disc Support is still under active development.

Current known issues include:

• Some games may still require additional timing.
• USB optical drive compatibility can vary between models.
• Philips CD-i support is experimental.

Reporting Issues

When reporting an issue, please include:

• System/core
• Game title
• Region
• USB optical drive model
• Whether the issue also happens when using a disc image
• Whether the problem affects loading, CD audio, disc detection, or disc swapping

Credits

• NinoPrime — author of the SNES MSU-1 & Mega Drive / Genesis MD+ CD burning tutorial

This project builds on MiSTer Main, the supported MiSTer cores, and the work of the MiSTer FPGA community.

MiSTer FPGA:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel