GCN Xeno-chip

[DeathEverlasting]

I just installed a xeno chip into one of imported gamecubes since I thought it would be interesting to play on it with whatever region games I want. So at first I wasn't able to get it to work but found that during the install I had a short, after fixing that short my NTSC games worked on my Japanese gamecube. Success! or so I thought. Every game that I have tried to play so far has worked, though sometimes it requires me to restart the gamecube once or twice but they do eventually work and nearly boot every time without issue after the first time I put in a game. I'm not sure what causes this but I have I assume it has something to do with the chip patching the disc driver? I could be way off base with that and frankly isn't my problem. What is my problem is I found one game that just refuses to work. So I have a copy of animal crossing that is an official game, I'll put it in and run into the problem where it just won't load the disc, but after enough tenacity of restarting the console it will eventually start to boot into the game. However I get text from the game that says there was an error loading the game and to restart my console, I have never been able to get past that text. It's the only game I have tried so far that has this issue and I at first thought it was just me game disc but after inspecting it it looks just fine but it does appear that it was resurfaced at some point so maybe there is so underlying issue I can't see? I'm not entirely sure but I figured I would just post on here and see what others think.

 

[Alexander1970]

I just installed a xeno chip into one of imported gamecubes since I thought it would be interesting to play on it with whatever region games I want. So at first I wasn't able to get it to work but found that during the install I had a short, after fixing that short my NTSC games worked on my Japanese gamecube. Success! or so I thought. Every game that I have tried to play so far has worked, though sometimes it requires me to restart the gamecube once or twice but they do eventually work and nearly boot every time without issue after the first time I put in a game. I'm not sure what causes this but I have I assume it has something to do with the chip patching the disc driver? I could be way off base with that and frankly isn't my problem. What is my problem is I found one game that just refuses to work. So I have a copy of animal crossing that is an official game, I'll put it in and run into the problem where it just won't load the disc, but after enough tenacity of restarting the console it will eventually start to boot into the game. However I get text from the game that says there was an error loading the game and to restart my console, I have never been able to get past that text. It's the only game I have tried so far that has this issue and I at first thought it was just me game disc but after inspecting it it looks just fine but it does appear that it was resurfaced at some point so maybe there is so underlying issue I can't see? I'm not entirely sure but I figured I would just post on here and see what others think.

Hello.

It is difficult to say because of not 100% sure if original games works BEFORE the ModChip install.

First please check all your soldering points (did you solder it DIRECTLY or as recommended with short cables ?)
It is maybe a high possibility that the Drives DVD Laser needs to be adjust.

Here is a little help to show WHERE to "tune" it - it is on the under side of the Drive:

Note:

Please make slow and little steps/adjust turns and test it after every step.It is a little of TRY and ERROR.
Better mark it on the point where you begin to adjust.

Goo Luck.

 

[DeathEverlasting]

So, I am a bit new to modding, and at the time I didn't think of soldering using short cables, so sadly I did solder it directly to the board. Though I will check if the laser needs tuning and will update you if that fixes my issue.

 

[DeathEverlasting]

Ok, so I had the time today to check if adjusting the laser was the issue and sadly I still receive an error has occurred message when the game starts to boot past the gamecube logo.

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

Thank you for your Update on your Laser issue.

Thats sad to hear.
It would be a consideration to maybe buy an replacement laser (Aliexpress have them for about 8 $,Amazon is according to experience expensive).

Or get another used Gamecube and change the Lens only.

 

[subcon959]

It would be a good idea to make sure the disc is good before doing anything to the console. I once spent hours trying to tune the laser for a particular game only to find out the disc was the problem all along. If most other discs work then that is a clue.

Also, I would recommend getting a multimeter to anyone who is thinking of doing any pot tuning. It makes life so much easier than doing it blindly.

 

[DeathEverlasting]

It would be a good idea to make sure the disc is good before doing anything to the console. I once spent hours trying to tune the laser for a particular game only to find out the disc was the problem all along. If most other discs work then that is a clue.

Also, I would recommend getting a multimeter to anyone who is thinking of doing any pot tuning. It makes life so much easier than doing it blindly.

I was using my work bench with a multimeter, I do a lot with small electronics just never modded a console before so I had a good idea what I was doing but I did make sure every time I made a small adjustment I would check with the multimeter. I'm kinda thinking it's the game because of the fact the rest of me games work once they boot past the gamecube logo, but mind you I only have a small handful of games so what I'm going to do is try to find a friend who has on old one sitting around someone and test it on his and see if it's the game or the gamecube.

 

[DeathEverlasting]

So I finally found a friend that has a NTSC console and when I ran the game it worked just fine on his system so needless to say I am a bit disappointed since it doesn't work on my modded system, though all my other games work? So I'm a bit confused on what could be causing this issue.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I also have a picture of the error that it gives me if anyone is interested in seeing that.

 

[Alexander1970]

So I finally found a friend that has a NTSC console and when I ran the game it worked just fine on his system so needless to say I am a bit disappointed since it doesn't work on my modded system, though all my other games work? So I'm a bit confused on what could be causing this issue.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I also have a picture of the error that it gives me if anyone is interested in seeing that.

Hello.

That is sad.,I am sorry for that.

I have to question please do understand you right:

- your ORIGINAL NTSC (and JAP too ?) games work on YOUR Gamecube with the XENO ?
- do BACKUPS (US/PLA/JAP) work on your Gamecube ?
- it is only this ONE Game that not wokr on your Gamecube ?

Sorry to ask this (again) but I am a little confused which game works and which not.

A picture from the error/issue,Yes please.

Thank you.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

GameCube drives are – to put it nicely – not the best optical drives. To make this worse, the lasers are old and – depending on how much they were used – pretty much worn out.

If you:

• made sure the disc(s) is/are clean and not badly scratched
• cleaned the lens
• adjusted the potentiometer

I would say: the best bet is a dying laser.

It would be interesting to know if you have had disc read errors (DRE) before installing the XenoGC. Having to try multiple times to start pressed retail discs is not a good sign (unless you already have lowered the resistance toooo much; at some point it might even read backups better than originals).

Troubleshooting GameCube DRE can be frustrating. One of my cubes will not read backups no matter what. The other one does – but a single disc, same blank media burned like all the others – makes trouble.

Even if a disc looks good, it may still be damaged and the GameCube (and Wii) are not very good at dealing with damaged media → I had to rip one retail disc with an LG-8164b drive because neither a GameCube nor a Wii was able to do it.