I want GDEMU Manager to be able to import Music CDDA .cdi files to GDEMU It would be the GOAT update

[Mic24-287]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
When I try to Add Music CDDA .cdi files the Manager would just ignore then and won't add them in to the GDEMU

Describe the solution you'd like
GDemu only looks for bootable GD-ROM–style images, A pure audio CD .cdi has no Dreamcast boot sector (IP.BIN) and no data track the console can recognize as bootable.

So Please Make music CDDA cdi files work on the GDemu Manager it would be amazing :D

[webcamcals]

Seconding this! I would love to use my Dreamcast's Music feature again

[sonik-br]

Sorry but currently I don't have time to work on this feature.
I don't even know if/how cdda disc works on gdemu.
Does OpenMenu and Gdmenu supports the feature?
Leaving the issue open for the future.
Feel free to discuss implementation ideas and technical details. I can take a look in the future.

[webcamcals]

Here's some info about using Audio CDs on GDEmu from dreamcast-talk forums user ateam:

Grab a separate FAT32-formatted SD card and copy your other card's GDEMU.INI file to it. Then, create an 01 folder on the new card.
Next, rip your audio CD to CUE/BIN, then drag the CUE onto cue2ccd.exe (https://segaxtreme.net/resources/cue2ccd.386/). The CCD/IMG/SUB image that is generated can be copied to that 01 folder on your new SD card.
Insert the SD card and power on the Dreamcast. It should allow you to play the audio CD.
Note that you should also have no problem just ripping an audio CD directly to CDI format and using that. While CDIs are capable of describing a multi-session disc (like a MiL-CD), they don't have to.

I tried this and can confirm that it works! Which means that GDEmu does play Audio CDs just fine. What's unclear (to me, anyway) is whether or not OpenMenu or GDMenu can load/run audio cds.

GDEmu automatically runs the disc image stored in the card's "01" folder, which, in this case, is an image of an audio CD. (Ateam also said that additional audio cds can be stored in 02, 03 etc folders, and swapped using the physical button on the GDEmu, fyi.) In the case of OpenMenu and GDEmu, disc image 01 is the game-loading menu software. And I don't know if that software is capable of loading audio cds. I would guess that they probably are, though?

The current audio cd playing method works, and it's pretty cool to me. But it does have a couple of downsides:

1. There is no way to load up a specific audio cd. The Dreamcast isn't able to display any identifying information for a CD, so you just have to memorize the folder order (01, 02, 03...) and push the GDEmu button enough times to cycle to the right disc.
2. You have to use a separate SD card than the one you use for games. (I think?)

I feel like the "dream" implementation would be the ability to have, for example, one SD card you can browse in OpenMenu/GDMenu, with Audio CDs listed alongside games, showing album cover art and other metadata when your cursor is on a music cd, as it would for a game.

That would probably be a ton of work, though. And my post here probably goes beyond the scope of GDMenu Card Manager. I just wanted to share what I've learned thanks to ateam, and pass on that we can currently use the Dreamcast cd player via GDEmu. I have not tried testing loading an audio CD via OpenMenu, because I've only used GDMenu Card Manager for my card with games on it, but that might be a good next step for ppl who are interested in this. If that works, then supporting audio CDs in the Card Manager might not be a bigger deal than managing the folder number as it would with any other cd?