GCN What Way To Go About GC Mods Nowadays?

OldSchoolTech · Mar 24, 2017

Hi. I just got a GameCube and I haven't had one in years. I'm wondering what would be the best method of loading a backup nowadays as most things I can find are from 4-8 years back when I search. I heard about mini DVD-R or case mods for full size DVD's but you need a modchip which I assume you wouldn't find today. Also seen that there's an SD card modification but does this load the games at full speed or have any problems?

I have no idea what method would be best to use and I know I can just play them on a Wii but the purpose is to actually use the original GameCube here.

Thanks in advance.

Armadillo · Mar 24, 2017

steocullen91 said:
Hi. I just got a GameCube and I haven't had one in years. I'm wondering what would be the best method of loading a backup nowadays as most things I can find are from 4-8 years back when I search. I heard about mini DVD-R or case mods for full size DVD's but you need a modchip which I assume you wouldn't find today. Also seen that there's an SD card modification but does this load the games at full speed or have any problems?

I have no idea what method would be best to use and I know I can just play them on a Wii but the purpose is to actually use the original GameCube here.

Thanks in advance.

There's two ways to play from SD.

Either via swiss https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss & an SD card adapter. You'll have to find a way to boot it, there's a few exploits about, someone else will have to fill in the details there though. SD card launcher compatiblity is not great https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss/Compatibility_List.

Use a Wiikey Fusion or clone (like the Wasp fusion) if you can find one. https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=WASP_Fusion. Drive replacement. Only compatiblity issue is streaming audio games, which unfortunately include some of the GC's best games.

Playing from disc is easy.

XenoGC source code got released. Lots of clones, you can even build one yourself. https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=XenoGC_Clone. No compatiblity issues with games, may or may not have to tweak the gamecube pot to get it to read dvd-r (mostly have to, might get lucky and get away with not doing it).

OldSchoolTech · Mar 24, 2017

Armadillo said:
There's two ways to play from SD.

Either via swiss https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss & an SD card adapter. You'll have to find a way to boot it, there's a few exploits about, someone else will have to fill in the details there though. SD card launcher compatiblity is not great https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss/Compatibility_List.

Use a Wiikey Fusion or clone (like the Wasp fusion) if you can find one. https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=WASP_Fusion. Drive replacement. Only compatiblity issue is streaming audio games, which unfortunately include some of the GC's best games.

Playing from disc is easy.

XenoGC source code got released. Lots of clones, you can even build one yourself. https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=XenoGC_Clone. No compatiblity issues with games, may or may not have to tweak the gamecube pot to get it to read dvd-r (mostly have to, might get lucky and get away with not doing it).

That's the exact only modchip I could find. I suppose that and mini DVD-R is the best way to go. The full size case mod costs about €60 or more. I'd have to likely order the chip from the US but that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for the info. The disc method sounds the best

master801 · Mar 24, 2017

You can find the Xeno GC modchip on Ebay for less than 10 dollars.

It's not going to be the originally manufactured chip (they're extinct), but it'll work all the same and be cheaper than making it yourself.

OldSchoolTech · Mar 24, 2017

master801 said:
You can find the Xeno GC modchip on Ebay for less than 10 dollars.

It's not going to be the originally manufactured chip (they're extinct), but it'll work all the same and be cheaper than making it yourself.

Nice thanks. I'll look into getting one and I'll want a better soldering iron also. The mini DVD-R aren't as expensive as I would've imagined but would any brand work or do they need to be a certain brand for the laser to read them?

master801 · Mar 24, 2017

steocullen91 said:
Nice thanks. I'll look into getting one and I'll want a better soldering iron also. The mini DVD-R aren't as expensive as I would've imagined but would any brand work or do they need to be a certain brand for the laser to read them?

Ritek is said to be the best brand, but I wouldn't know for sure (I've never used mini dvd-rs before, only normal sized dvd-rs).

You'll need to adjust your drive's laser pot if the dvds don't work right away. Games will also need to be burnt at low speeds (x4 or lower, if possible) to avoid any reading issues.

OldSchoolTech · Mar 24, 2017

master801 said:
Ritek is said to be the best brand, but I wouldn't know for sure (I've never used mini dvd-rs before, only normal sized dvd-rs).

You'll need to adjust your drive's laser pot if the dvds don't work right away. Games will also need to be burnt at low speeds (x4 or lower, if possible) to avoid any reading issues.

No problem thanks. I'll order some discs and a chip and get back if I have any problems. The chip could take a month to get here anyway.

Sonic Angel Knight · Mar 24, 2017

Mod chip? what about action replay free loader?

Lumstar · Mar 24, 2017

A few games may be picky. FMVs and the like are harder to read from dvd-r.
XenoGC's low cost has its ups and downs. Relatively easy to find/install, but lacks extra features other chips offer. (no internal support for homebrew storage, forcing 480p, etc)

Sonic Angel Knight said:
Mod chip? what about action replay free loader?

Good way to get started. Take care that Datel discs do not support SDHC, you'll have to swap card to get very far with isos.

KevinLSX · Mar 26, 2017

Ive been using these for years
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-CheckOut...965453?hash=item487be0a60d:g:I7UAAOSw4CFY1iAC

work great with no problems and cheap. You might need to tweak your pot to use them.

OldSchoolTech · Apr 5, 2017

For now I'm using the splinter cell exploit. I currently have no discs to test a backup, but I used GCMM to put the exploit on a memory card along with swiss so it loads swiss 0.4 once I press load game. Is the idea of this basically to just use the exploit to boot swiss every time and then take out splinter cell and put in the game I want to play then start it?

Just wondering in case there's other loaders since I heard there's compatibility issues on some games.

Lumstar · Apr 6, 2017

steocullen91 said:
For now I'm using the splinter cell exploit. I currently have no discs to test a backup, but I used GCMM to put the exploit on a memory card along with swiss so it loads swiss 0.4 once I press load game. Is the idea of this basically to just use the exploit to boot swiss every time and then take out splinter cell and put in the game I want to play then start it?

Just wondering in case there's other loaders since I heard there's compatibility issues on some games.

Yes, current GC exploits need a disc every time. They can't be run from the system menu either temporary (PS2's Free Mcboot) or permanent (like Xbox/Wii/PSP).
Loading games from SD has compatibility issues. I don't really know about alternatives to swiss on a GC.

OldSchoolTech · Apr 7, 2017

OK so I got some mini dvd-r and tried to burn a game and my pc isn't able to even read the disc at all after burning it (that can't be a good sign lol) So I tried the POT tweak and got the Gamecube apart through trial and error and it was set to 370 so I set it to just above 180. It still won't read the discs at all so is it normal for the pc to not even recognize a burnt Gamecube disc or are these discs just extremely awful lol. They're called mediarange.

Since I have the Gamecube apart now I'm trying a full size DVD burn and it still won't even read that. It reads real games no problem. I wonder am I doing something wrong but swiss says Error: Disk not initialized

EDIT: OK so I think my drive is just on the way out it's an iHas324B and my brothers iHas624B managed to burn and verify no problem. It also looks like the Gamecube can't read DVD+R only DVD-R as the full sized burn on the +R wouldn't play. My drive does still work but since it's supposed to basically be the same as the other drive my brother has more or less I assume it's just giving up. It's burned plenty of XBOX 360 ISO since 2012 so maybe it's just time for a new one. Dunno which drive to get but since that's off topic the mediarange cheap discs are actually working. Made 2 nice little coasters for myself with my burner though.

Lumstar · Apr 8, 2017

Swiss in theory enables reading DVD-R without modding the system. Except for how fussy it is.
By the time you mess around with a modchip, the POT, different discs or burners... I'm hesitant to recommend burnt discs as an option.

GCN What Way To Go About GC Mods Nowadays?

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