How to Convert Game File to CSO
Converting the contents of a PlayStation Portable UMD game disk to the ISO file format offers certain advantages to PSP owners. Running a game from a disk image instead of an actual disk helps to preserve battery life and often results in faster loading times in-game. However, ISO files tend to be large because they represent the entire, uncompressed contents of the original UMD disk. As a result, some PSP owners convert the ISO game files to a related format called CSO. Depending on the settings used, a CSO file can be as much as 30 percent smaller than the ISO file from which it is derived. A free, open-source utility called UMDGen is available to convert between ISO and CSO.
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Instructions
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Download and install UMDGen. The application doesn't include an installer. You can place it anywhere on your hard drive, including the Windows desktop. Put the .exe file in your preferred location.
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Launch UMDGen by double-clicking its icon. UMDGen loads and its interface appears.
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Click the "Options" icon in the toolbar. A dialog window appears.
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Select the "Use No Extra Padding" option; without it, the CSO file will be roughly the same size as the original ISO. This defeats the purpose of compressing the file to CSO in the first place because the only advantage of the CSO format is its ability to free up space on the PSP's memory card.
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Click "OK" to close the dialog.
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Open the "File" menu and select "Open Disk Image." A file selection dialog appears.
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Navigate to the ISO file you want to convert in the dialog and double-click it. UMDGen analyzes the file for metadata about its contents and loads it. The metadata information is accessed by clicking on the "UMD Properties" tab.
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Open the "Batch Image Converter" tab. The ISO image file is listed in the box on this tab. If you want to convert multiple ISOs to CSO, drag and drop the other ISO files into the box.
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Select the "CSO" option in the section labeled "Convert To." This option converts all ISOs in the list above to the CSO format.
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Open the drop-down menu labeled "Please Select Compression" and select a compression type. Nine represents maximum compression and one represents minimum compression. Nine is the default and will work in most cases. Selecting anything below five will result in a file only slightly smaller than the ISO file being converted.
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Click the "Start Batch Conversion" button. UMDGen converts the ISOs in the list to CSO format. The CSO files are saved to the same location as the ISOs. Once the conversion process ends, the resulting CSO files can now be put in the "ISO" folder on your PSP's memory card and played as normal.
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Tips & Warnings
UMDGen is a Windows-only application. If you use a Mac computer, there is a very similar utility available called Prometeus. Like UMDGen, it is a freely available, open-source application.
