Disk images

86Box supports a large variety of disk image formats for the emulated storage drives.

Hard disk images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Raw image

Many *

Japanese FDI

.hdi

Extended HDI (HDX)

.hdx

Virtual Hard Disk

.vhd

* Raw image extensions recognized by 86Box include: .hdd .ima .img

Hard disk size limits

There are limits to how big of a hard disk an emulated machine can accept. Such limits will vary depending on the machine’s BIOS. The table below lists all important limits applicable to the IDE bus:

Limit

Disk size

Cylinders

Heads

Sectors

20-bit CHS

504 MB

1024

16

63

12-bit cylinder

2015 MB

4095

16

63

ECHS translation

4032 MB

1024

128

63

Revised ECHS

7560 MB

1024

240

63

LBA translation

8032 MB

1024

255

63

16-bit cylinder

32255 MB

65535

16

63

28-bit CHS

130558 MB

65535

255

63

86Box

131071 MB

Not applicable

The maximum supported disk image size for IDE or SCSI is 131071 MB. Disk overlay software such as Ontrack Disk Manager can work around BIOS limits and allow booting of IDE hard drives within the 131071 MB limit, with the same caveats as using such software on a real machine.

Floppy disk images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Raw image

Many *

86F

.86f

CopyQM

.cq / .cqm

DiskDupe

.ddi

EZ-DisKlone Plus

.fdf

Formatted Disk Image

.fdi

HxC MFM

.mfm

ImageDisk

.imd

Japanese FDI

.fdi

PCjs JSON

.json

Teledisk

.td0

* Raw image extensions recognized by 86Box include: .bin .dsk .flp .hdm .ima .img .vfd .xdf

Floppy disk detection

86Box determines the physical media format (sides, tracks per side, sectors per track, bytes per sector) of a floppy disk image through the following methods:

  1. Image file header data - not applicable for Raw and DiskDupe formats;

  2. DOS BIOS Parameter Block data within the image;

  3. If all else fails, a guess is made based on the image file’s size.

The BIOS Parameter Block detection method may behave incorrectly with non-DOS floppy disks. Installation floppies for UNIX and Linux are common examples of non-DOS disks. Disabling Check BPB is strongly recommended when accessing these, as an inaccurate BPB detection may result in read errors, data corruption and other issues.

Note

When using a Raw image of a non-DOS floppy with Check BPB disabled, make sure the image file is not truncated (smaller than its media size), otherwise incorrect behavior may still occur.

MO / ZIP removable disk images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Raw image

Many *

Japanese FDI

.mdi (MO)

.zdi (ZIP)

* Raw image extensions recognized by 86Box include: .ima .img

CD-ROM / DVD-ROM optical disc images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Cue sheet

.cue + .bin

ISO

.iso

CD audio

Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA) playback through the emulated CD-ROM drives is supported on Cue sheet images. Audio output is enabled on the first CD-ROM drive and muted on subsequent drives by default; individual drives can be muted or unmuted through the status bar or Media menu.

Note

Only raw format (.bin) tracks are supported. Compressed or otherwise encapsulated audio tracks (.wav, .mp3, .ogg, .flac and other formats) are not supported.

Cassette tape images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Raw PCM audio

Many *

PCE cassette

.cas

Wave audio

.wav

* Raw audio extensions recognized by 86Box include: .pcm .raw

PCjr cartridge images

Supported formats:

Format

File extension

Raw image

Many *

JRipCart

.jrc

* Raw image extensions recognized by 86Box include: .a .b .bin