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How to Convert to CSO

"CSO" is a file format associated with the Sony PlayStation Portable handheld device. "ISO" is the native format for the files stored on the universal media discs (UMD) for the PSP, but converting these files to CSO offers a substantial decrease in size. This is due to the compression abilities of the CSO format which also removes the "dummy sectors" in the ISO file. CSO files are only readable on a PSP device running custom firmware. The main purpose of CSO files is to decrease the size of PSP games to enable them to run even from a 1GB memory stick.

Instructions

- 1
  Connect your PSP with the UMD in the drive to your PC using a mini-USB cable.
- 2
  Press "Select" on the PSP and press "Down" on the d-pad until "USB Device" highlights. Press "Right" on the d-pad until "UMD Disc" is shown. This opens the contents of the UMD when connecting the PSP to a PC instead of showing the contents of the memory stick. This only works on PSP devices that have custom firmware.
- 3
  Press "Select" to close the menu then press "Left" on the d-pad to navigate to "Settings" on the PSP crossbar. Press "Up" on the d-pad until "USB Connection" is highlighted.
- 4
  Press "X" to enable the USB connection. Click "Open folder to view files" from the autorun menu that appears on your PC. The ISO file on the UMD will display.
- 5
  Right-click the ISO file and select "Copy" from the menu. Create a new folder on your hard drive named "ISO" and paste the file into it.
- 6
  Download and install one of the freeware CSO conversion programs from the Internet. "UMDGen" (see Resource 1) and YACC (see Rresource 2) are just some of the many available. Install then start the program of your choice.
- 7
  Click the "Input ISO Filename" button in YACC or click "Open" in UMDGen and then select the ISO file you copied to the folder on your hard drive.
- 8
  Click the "Go" button at the bottom of the YACC program screen to start converting the file. Click "File" then "Save As" and select "Compressed CSO" when using UMDGen.
- 9
  Wait until the software has finished converting the ISO file to CSO. Exit the program and copy the CSO file to your PSP for use.

Sony PSP