How to Open, Edit, and Transform ECM Files
A file with the ECM file extension is an ECM Disc Image file, or sometimes called an Error Code Modeler file. They are disc image submits that store content without error correction codes (ECC) or error detection codes (EDC).
Slashing off ECC and EDC saves money on download time and bandwidth since the resulting file is smaller. The point is to then compress the file with a basic compressor like RAR or another compression algorithm to decrease the file size even more (they may then be named something like file.ecm.rar).
Like ISO files, ECM hold other info in an archive format, normally to keep image files like BIN, CDI, NRG, and so on. These are frequently used to save compressed variations of video game disc images.
You can read extra information on how the ECM Disc Image file format works on Neill Corlett’s website.
Note: The Cmpro Examples submit format might use the ECM file extension too however there isn’t much info on it.
How to Open an ECM File
ECM files can be opened with ECM, a command line program by Neill Corlett, the designer of the format. See the How to Use the ECM Program section below for more information.
ECM files also deal with Gemc, ECM GUI, and Rbcafe ECM.
Because an ECM file can be compressed to an archive like a RAR file to save money on hard disk area, they may first have to be decompressed with a file zip/unzip energy – my preferred is 7-Zip.
If the data inside the ECM file remains in the ISO format, see How to Burn an ISO Image File to a CD, DVD, or BD if you require some assistance getting it on a disc. See Burning an ISO to USB for assistance correctly installing it to a flash drive.
Tip: ECM files that aren’t disk image files may be able to open with a simple full-screen editor like Notepad in Windows, or something more advanced from our Best Free Text Editors list. If the whole file isn’t text-only, and only some if it is viewable, you might still have the ability to discover something helpful in the text about the type of software that can open the file.
How to Use the ECM Program
Encoding (developing) and decoding (opening) an ECM file can be accomplished with Neill Corlett’s ECM program discussed above. It’s a command line energy, so the whole thing runs in a Command Prompt.
To open the ECM portion of the tool, extract the contents out of the cmdpack( version) ZIP file downloaded through his site. The program you’re after is called unecm.exe, however you need to access it through a Command Prompt.
The simplest method to do this is to drag the ECM file straight onto the unecm.exe program to draw out the image file out of it. To make your own ECM file, just drag the file you want encoded onto the ecm.exe file.
To do this manually rather of with drag and drop, open Command Prompt (you may require to open an elevated one) and after that navigate to the folder that holds the ECM program. The simplest way to do this is to first relabel the folder you extracted above, to something easier like cmdpack, and then enter this command:
cd cmdpack
This command is to change the working directly to the folder where the ECM program is saved. Yours will look different depending on where the cmdpack folder lies on your computer system.
These are the commands you’re permitted to use:
To encode:
ecm cdimagefile ecm cdimagefile ecmfile ecm e cdimagefile ecmfile
To develop an ECM file with this command line tool, get in something like:
ecm "C:\Others\Games\MyGame.bin"
Because example, the ECM file will be produced in the same folder as the BIN file.
To translate:
unecm ecmfile unecm ecmfile cdimagefile ecm d ecmfile cdimagefile
The same guidelines apply for opening/decoding the ECM file:
unecm "C:\Others\Games\MyGame.bin.ecm"
How to Convert an ECM File
The PakkISO tool can be used to convert an ECM file into a mountable and burnable BIN file. If that doesn’t work, attempt the program pointed out in this tutorial at StramaXon.
Keep in mind: PakkISO downloads in the 7Z format, so you’ll need a program like PeaZip or 7-Zip to open it. The other program discussed in the StramaXon short article uses the RAR format, so you can use the very same file unzip tool to open that.
When you have the ECM file in the BIN format, you can transform BIN to ISO with a program like MagicISO, WinISO, PowerISO, or AnyToISO. A few of these applications, like WinISO, can then convert ISO to CUE if you want your ECM file to eventually be in the CUE format.
Is Your File Still Not Opening?
Some file formats share some or all of the same file extension letters but it does not indicate that they’re in the same format. This can be puzzling when attempting to open an ECM file because it may not actually be an ECM file … double check the file extension to be sure.
For instance, if your file doesn’t seem to be a disc image file, you may be puzzling it with an EMC file, which is a Striata Reader Encrypted Document file. You can open an EMC file with Striata Reader.
