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· bchunk · bin-cue · iso · cd-image · linux

Mount a BIN/CUE disc image on Linux (2026)

Linux can't loop-mount a raw BIN/CUE pair the way it mounts an ISO. The simple fix is to convert the BIN/CUE to ISO with bchunk and mount the ISO; for mixed-mode or audio discs, cdemu emulates a real optical drive instead.

TL;DR — you can’t mount a BIN/CUE pair straight away. Convert it: bchunk image.bin image.cue out produces an ISO you can loop-mount. For discs with audio tracks or copy protection, use cdemu to emulate a drive instead.

A 2012 note, still accurate. BIN/CUE images are everywhere (old game/VCD rips), and the loop-mount confusion is perennial. See also the companion post on bchunk itself if you just need the conversion.

Why you can’t just mount it

A .bin is a raw CD sector dump and the .cue is a text sheet describing its track layout. The kernel’s loopback mounter understands filesystem images (ISO9660, etc.), not raw sector dumps with a separate cue sheet — so mount image.bin fails. You bridge the gap one of two ways.

Option 1 — convert to ISO with bchunk (data discs)

bchunk (binchunker) converts a .bin/.cue set into .iso (data) and .cdr (audio) tracks.

sudo apt install bchunk          # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf install bchunk          # Fedora

Convert — the last argument is the output basename, so this writes out01.iso:

bchunk image.bin image.cue out

Then loop-mount the ISO:

sudo mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 out01.iso /mnt
ls /mnt
sudo umount /mnt

This is the right tool when the image is a single data track — most software/VCD rips.

Option 2 — emulate a drive with cdemu (audio / mixed-mode)

If the disc has audio tracks, multiple sessions, or anything bchunk’s flat conversion would mangle, emulate a real optical drive with cdemu. It loads the .cue directly and exposes a virtual /dev/sr device the desktop auto-mounts.

sudo apt install cdemu-client gcdemu      # Debian / Ubuntu (universe)

cdemu load 0 image.cue                     # load into virtual drive 0
cdemu status
# the virtual disc now appears like a real one; eject with:
cdemu unload 0

cdemu handles audio and mixed-mode discs that a straight ISO conversion can’t represent.

Option 3 — just extract the files

If you don’t need a mounted volume, 7-Zip can list and extract straight from many BIN/CUE data images:

7z l image.cue      # list contents
7z x image.cue      # extract here

FAQ

bchunk wrote a .iso and several .cdr files — what are those?

The .cdr files are the raw audio tracks. Convert one to WAV with sox track.cdr track.wav (it’s headerless CD-DA), or ignore them if you only wanted the data track.

mount says “wrong fs type” on the converted ISO

The image may not be ISO9660 (e.g. a UDF or game-console format). Drop the -t iso9660 and let the kernel autodetect: sudo mount -o loop,ro out01.iso /mnt. Console images often need a dedicated emulator instead.

Can I do this on macOS?

bchunk is in Homebrew (brew install bchunk); convert to ISO, then hdiutil attach out01.iso.

Summary

  • BIN/CUE won’t loop-mount directly.
  • Data disc → bchunk image.bin image.cue out then mount -o loop out01.iso /mnt.
  • Audio/mixed-mode → load the .cue in cdemu.
  • Just need the files → 7z x image.cue.