Hacking Homebrew GCN PicoBoot - GameCube IPL replacement modchip using Raspberry Pi Pico

[urbanman2004]

well i have both already lol pico still works with xeno installed how do you do burnt discs with pico?

You should've done like I did and used 2x different GameCubes to install the XenoGC on one and the Pico boot on the other. I can play burnt discs on both of them: The Pico boot requires that I use Swiss (by way of SD2SP2) to run games from the disc drive and the XenoGC can run them automatically (after performing the potentiometer tweak).
I actually prefer burning Swiss on a burnt mini-DVD (w/ the GBA player included) in order to run Swiss on my XenoGC GameCube and I store my roms on a microSD card that is connected to memory card adapter from the Player 1 slot.

 

[Jayro]

You should've done like I did and used 2x different GameCubes to install the XenoGC on one and the Pico boot on the other. I can play burnt discs on both of them: The Pico boot requires that I use Swiss (by way of SD2SP2) to run games from the disc drive and the XenoGC can run them automatically (after performing the potentiometer tweak).
I actually prefer burning Swiss on a burnt mini-DVD (w/ the GBA player included) in order to run Swiss on my XenoGC GameCube and I store my roms on a microSD card that is connected to memory card adapter from the Player 1 slot.

I absolutely despise optical media, so any time I can run ISOs without the drive, I do it. I did the Xeno chip on my cube mere DAYS before Picoboot dropped, so I have both in my 'cube. But had it dropped before, I would have just gutted the drive and put a 3D printed GBA cart holder in it's place instead. And GBi for the GB Player beats the original disc all day every day in terms of features and improved latency.

 

[urbanman2004]

I absolutely despise optical media, so any time I can run ISOs without the drive, I do it. I did the Xeno chip on my cube mere DAYS before Picoboot dropped, so I have both in my 'cube. But had it dropped before, I would have just gutted the drive and put a 3D printed GBA cart holder in it's place instead. And GBi for the GB Player beats the original disc all day every day in terms of features and improved latency.

I understand your appeal to forgo using optical media on the GameCube. I'm the same way. However, when I bought my first GC in 2019, I didn't mod it till 2020 during COVID after watching one of MVG's "pimp your GC" videos, and since then I've always just burnt a copy of the latest version of Swiss w/ the GBA player included (every 2 years or so when warranted) just to run my roms from my microSD card. You know the disc only spins up once after you start the GC and then it's silent after that since Swiss is stored in memory since it was ran once.
The moment the Pico boot became available, I bought a used GameCube via Facebook marketplace the next week in order to install it and I use the SD2SP2 to run both Swiss, DOLs (emulators) and my roms from it so I can avoid using optical discs entirely. I prefer to keep the optical disc drive on my GCs so that way if I decided to remove the mods (which I doubt I ever will), it can always be reverted back to stock w/o issue.

 

[Jayro]

and I use the SD2SP2

Lucky... I have 3 Gamecubes, one of each American color (Silver, Indigo, and Black) and none of them have that port on the bottom. I have to let Picoboot run Swiss from GC Memory card+SD instead. It's bulky and ugly, and I'm honestly thinking of just soldering it internally. Unless the M.2 Loader ever sees the light of day.

 

[Shadow_The_Hedgehog82]

You should've done like I did and used 2x different GameCubes to install the XenoGC on one and the Pico boot on the other. I can play burnt discs on both of them: The Pico boot requires that I use Swiss (by way of SD2SP2) to run games from the disc drive and the XenoGC can run them automatically (after performing the potentiometer tweak).
I actually prefer burning Swiss on a burnt mini-DVD (w/ the GBA player included) in order to run Swiss on my XenoGC GameCube and I store my roms on a microSD card that is connected to memory card adapter from the Player 1 slot.

why 2 gamecubes lol both mods work in one gamecube

 

[urbanman2004]

Lucky... I have 3 Gamecubes, one of each American color (Silver, Indigo, and Black) and none of them have that port on the bottom. I have to let Picoboot run Swiss from GC Memory card+SD instead. It's bulky and ugly, and I'm honestly thinking of just soldering it internally. Unless the M.2 Loader ever sees the light of day.

Wowzers. I guess I should consider myself lucky since both of my GCs are compatible w/ the SD2SP2 and also compatible w/ those HDMI adapters that plug into the "Digital AV Out" port. I wouldn't consider it a drawback b/c you have to run Swiss from the memory card adapter though. It could be worse.

why 2 gamecubes lol both mods work in one gamecube

I bought 2 different GCs b/c the first one was used to install the XenoGC modchip in and the other GC I bought b/c I wanted to install the Pico boot mod on. It doesn't make sense for me to install both mod methods on the same GC since I would be wasting a mod that could be sourced on anther GC.

 

[purechaos996]

Questions, a buddy of mine gave me his cube to look at since it working. No video output, drive doesnt spin, laser doesn't move/produce a beam. I've visually inspected the board for issues and couldnt see anything. Measured voltages across the board and confirmed the correct power is going to the corrects places. The one issue I think I found is with the IPL chip. It seems like there is an internal short to ground on one or more of the pins. Would a Picoboot mod completely bypass/replace the IPL on the board and allow the gamecube to boot again even if into a just homebrew app like swiss.

 

[Ryccardo]

Would a Picoboot mod completely bypass/replace the IPL on the board

No, with the official firmware it substitutes itself to the RTC-DOL only to deliver its custom firmware and only once per power cycle, it doesn't contain the official GC menu, the stock font, the RTC+SRAM, etc

and allow the gamecube to boot again even if into a just homebrew app like swiss.

Probably yes, as far as loading and running some .dol program, but results beyond that can't be guaranteed due to the above (in other words, it's not too uncommon for official and amateur programs to use the ROM fonts)

 

[purechaos996]

No, with the official firmware it substitutes itself to the RTC-DOL only to deliver its custom firmware and only once per power cycle, it doesn't contain the official GC menu, the stock font, the RTC+SRAM, etc


Probably yes, as far as loading and running some .dol program, but results beyond that can't be guaranteed due to the above (in other words, it's not too uncommon for official and amateur programs to use the ROM fonts)

Understood, thanks! Guess I'll just do a motherboard swap so he can get back up and running.