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First Mod Chip For GameCube
Cuber writes "The first modification chip for Nintendo's GameCube console has been announced. It will allow users to boot homebrew applications, loaders and BIOS'. Until now hackers where using an exploit in the game Phantasy Star Online and a broadband adapter to be able to load homebrew software like GC-Linux over a network connection but now they'll be able to run code directly from flash memory.
The mod chip will require to solder only 4 wires and while the device comes empty it's not impossible to think 3rd party loaders will come that allow you to boot copied games."
Check thebroken.org for a video explaining how to load software onto the GC using the optional ethernet port. It's Episode III.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
How long till Nintendo DMCA's the crap out of this?
You don't need to do jack to hack the Dreamcast. It doesn't have any anti-copy protection that prevents it from booting off CDs. Instead it used a special disc format for the games called GD Rom that stores about 1.2 GB. So in theory, it was not possible to copy them. In reality, it turned out that there were a few groups able to extract the contents of the discs anyway and make them fit on 700 MB CDs, sometimes with ripping out movies and so on, sometimes not. Sadly, that's one of the reasons the Dreamcast tanked as hard as it did. Rampant piracy. Only a few of the release groups could make the discs because of the hardware hacking involved, but once they got made, they got passed around all over. It got so bad, there was even the rumor that Sega Japan approached the most egregious group with a bribe to stop doing it, which they allegedly took. But, nature and release groups abhor a vacuum, so when one group took a bow, others came in to fill the gap.
But the upside is if you want to run, say, MAME on it, just burn a CD with a bit of help and off you go. No hardware modding required.
This really isn't as revolutionary as it sounds.
What this mod essentially does. is allow you to store DOL files on the modchip itself. DOL files are Gamecube executable files, so it allows you to send small apps across. Not bioses.
Do you guys remember the old PSO Exploit, where you could send small apps across to your GameCube using a bug in the network connection? From here, you could send across little 'loaders' that could stream the games from your PC...
This mod really doesn't provide anything that the previous method could not... it just saves you from having to boot up PSO.
This is a rather cool little mod if you would like your apps to automatically boot up when you turn in your GameCube... GC-Linux anyone? And you can send across the afrorementioned 'loaders' you boot yer Iso's... but this isn't going to help you play games from disc, nor is it going to help you use a hacked bios replacement. Sorry guys.
The main reason a 'proper' modchip for the GameCube does not exist yet is because it uses proprietory discs, not mini-DVD's as people seem to believe.
I gather it's theorietically possible to boot a DVDR on the Gamecube... but it would require hacking of the drive controller, as opposed to merely hacking the bios.
My understanding is the Gamecube uses a 3" disc which is a proprietary mini DVD format that holds 1.5GB. It cannot be read by the CD or DVD player in your PC meaning you have to invest in some slightly more serious hardware to try and copy these discs, pushing it out of the reach of the average user. A great approach by Nintendo to copy protection, I have heard rumour that the XBox 2 is gonna follow suit and have a proprietary disc format to help combat copying.
What you say is true, and I don't know why the "backward spin" myth is so prevelent when it is so damn easy to check. I suspect it is because people hear that the data is written backward (outside to inside) and cannot wrap their minds around that concept so it becomes the disk spinning backwards.
Finkployd
I'd buy one just to screw around with Gamecube-Linux.. not really interested in pirating games (even though I know that many people are).
If I recall correctly, I believe the drive in the Gamecube spins the opposite way of other drives.
Nope, that is one of those strange rumors that just will not die. What happens is the data is written from the outside of the disk to the inside (backward from how optical and magnetic disks normally work) so that is where people probably got the misconception.
it's a serious hassle to do the PSO (phantasy star online) hack. It takes quite a bit of setup and navigation just to get the game running (takes over 2 minutes to do everything). I assume you could save the iso/gcm/dol loader in memory or on a card and boot into the loader right from the getgo. You would simply have to select a game on your PC and power yer gamecube up.
One thing I was thinking would rock is if someone had a way of attaching an iPod running iPodLinux and the linux GameCube loader and streaming the game from that. You could carry all yer homebrew code and consolidated game library in your pocket.
check out my program. Modify the content in your GameCube games!
...spike
Ewwwwww, coconut...
No, this strange and easily debunkable (is that a word?) rumor has to stop, for crying out loud. The GC disk does not, and has never spun backwards. It spins clockwise just like every other optical disk.
However, for some strange reason, every discussion board on the net seems to have someone claiming otherwise.
However, and this is probably where the confusion comes from, the disks are written backwards in a sense. The data is written to them from the outside in, instead of from the inside out like all other disks. And they are encrypted in some fashion (probably like DVD-CSS). Otherwise they are normal mini DVDs.
Just to repeat GameCube disks do NOT spin backwards.
Finkployd
Nintendo did a great job locking up the GameCube. It uses a custom-format mini-DVD (CAV, read from inside out, barcodes in different places, etc). There is tough encryption built into the chips that handle the boot process. Basically lots of people has tried and until now, no one had succeeded.
In addition to the Phantasy Star Online hack, there is also a product called MaxDrive available from a UK company. It's an 8MB memory card with a USB cable sticking out of it. You plug the USB cable into your PC and then you can copy files to/from the card whenever you want (even while cube is on, I think). The "professional" version, MaxDrive Pro, comes with a boot disk which looks on the card for an executable, and if it finds one it just launches it. So you have 8MB to get your own boot loader etc. going, after which you can use a broadband adapter (or whatever) to transfer the rest of your game.
Good for you. Continue to use and enjoy your GameCube. There are a few among us however that feel the need to disassemble things and look at them and attempt to study them, then enjoy tweaking what and how they do it. Irrational? Perhaps. But then again, what is art? Is it necessary? Not everyone's cup of tea, but some people enjoy things like this as a hobby.
"Yes, you can.... shtml#1. 1d -r. html"
http://www.megagames.com/dc/dc_backup_faq
http://www.dvd-supply.com/double-sided-mini-dv
No, you can't. The Cube discs *aren't* dual-layer DVDs. They are a proprietary optical disc from Matshusta. To my knowledge, there isn't even a GDROM-R, and if there were, you can bet that you wouldn't be able to buy them.
The "use the broadband adaptor" trick that you linked to changes nothing. The DC also used proprietary discs, and that article says what the grandparent said - you cannot burn Dreamcast games just as you cannot burn Gamecube games.
Yes, you can use the PSO hack to image and play 'Cube games over the network. Most people won't be doing that, though.
I'm glad that this has happened, but not so I can play copied games.
I'm looking forward to being able to play my imports without using a boot disc (I currently use freeloader). And being able to patch and update it against bugs in such handling (Japanese Namco games are quite well known for having serious problems with freeloader and save cards).
Homebrew software development also appeals to me, but not as much as the ability to handle those imports.
And why am I so interested in imports? Well, our local Nintendo office has seen it fit to destroy the gamecube by keeping the prices high, failing to promote the cube sufficently, being slow on the uptake of titles and withholding new accessories for the gamecube from market.
In Australia, you can't even buy the Official Nintendo 1019 block memory card, whereas I bought one during a visit to the US for the same price that a 251 block memory card costs us here. The broadband adapter was announced at one point, but you certainly can't buy them here.
Not only that, imported gamecube games cost LESS than their local counterparts, even after shipping in most cases. I bought R: Racing (US) for a whole US$20, whereas it was still priced at AU$90 back home. Given express shipping from Lik-Sang costs around AU$25, we still keep just below the $90-100 line for most games here.
Now, given the choice, would you give money to that division when you could just buy from overseas, with one of the foreign divisions of that company earning the profits instead?
As far as I'm concerned, it means I get my games, and I get them cheaper than buying locally, and Nintendo still gets the money they deserve for producing such a good (underrated) platform.
And, with some luck, I hope that the local branch will get their act together and start giving us prices that are even vaugely competative against their neighbouring branches.
Not only does the GameCube motor not spin opposite from the way most optical drives spin, 'Headcase' is referencing a similar urban legend that water will always spin in a certain direction in the northern hemisphere of the Earth (as in a sink drain or toilet), but in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere.
This was mentioned in a Simpsons episode, where they visited Australia IIRC (it was a big issue for Homer when the toilet spun 'the wrong way').
This is also not true. The direction the water spins when circling a drain can be attributed to nothing more than the construction of the sink and Chaos Theory. If you don't believe me, ask Snopes!
~ Aero
you cannot burn Dreamcast games just as you cannot burn Gamecube games.
BS. The Dreamcast could read and boot from CD-R media without a modchip; I've done it with my DC. It took a bit of knowledge to dump the proprietary games from GD-ROM and (for some games) cut out the movies to get them under 700 MB, but once they were on Usenet...
Now all the pirates need is a way to coax the GameCube's DVD controller into reading 8cm DVD-R media.
Metal Gear Solid, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil, yeah, they're all kid games.
Enlighten Yourself
When you look at the state of the world, how can you not become a radical, liberal anarchist?
It'd be nice to not have to use a Freeloader disk to boot my PAL version of Metroid Prime though...I'd consider getting the chip for that convenience alone.
The outside-to-inside writing of the data was most likely used to improve load and start times, which is also one reason for using tiny media. this was also the reason nintendo was late to move away from cart media.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Japanese Console Hardware Chart
PlayStation 2 - Last Month Sales 67,558; Total This Year 2,026,980
GameBoy Advance SP - 43,959; 2,125,520
GameCube - 4,880; 516,493
Xbox - 1,200; 32,966
GameBoy Advance - 1,024; 189,677
Swan Crystal - 76; 7,156
PSone - 60; 13,754
--is not to be confused with user #672982 - Bame Flait
I thought someone here would know this...
:)
The secret is that GC games are encrypted to a degree. if you look closely at the data area (not the hub) there is a barcode. this is actually a decryption key for the disk. the only reason is that cheat devices will boot is that they are pressed on the same type of machine the retail games are (although the media has a differently shaped hub, and obviously they didn't use Nintendo's equip.) and that they use the barcode from a retail game. (NHL Hits was used for the freeloader if i remember corectly)
For those of you with a GC check the disk. if you take the cover off the gc and then hold back the 2 lid switches (redundancy...i like it) and turn on the GC you will see the lazer go to that barcode, read it, then seek to where it needs to.
or a simpler method is to take a game you don't like and take a sharpie and cover that barcode area (once again in the data area, not the hub) the game will not boot, even if you cover a small area. (iso. alchohol and a paper towel will take it off usually incase you like the game)
Nintendo also did tons of other things. while the actual game of Animal Crossing is less than 40 megs (provable by taking out the game, it functions regularly) the whole disk is full of data. the rest is randomly generated data (theirby making it hard to compress for internet distrobution)
there was also alot of questions about the bios. some believed that it was actually on the die of the GPU (which if you look at the GC block diagram is in the center performing I/O duties) others believing it was only stored in parts in multiple places being assembled at boot. (less likely) but finally someone found it.
by far the hardest to crack system so far. it wasn't untill the pso server spoofing thing came along that people were able to run demos on it. (and AFAIK not an official game)
since dvd burners don't have the level of accuracy needed to burn that barcode, let alone the whole reverse track thing, you can't pirate games for the system. (which in my opinion is a GOOD thing) there are disk dumps, minus the random data thanks to a prog someone wrote on the net but they are WORTHLESS. (till a real, working emu comes out, but that could be awhile)
i don't pirate games, just a fan with an interest in hardware