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."

Comments

what took so long?

[npfscayle]

why did it take so long to get one of these to market?
I mean....there a shitpile of mod chips for X-Box, PS-2, etc......
Just my 2c

Awfully late...

[eeg3]

But a great tool, nonetheless. Especially with the low prices and great capabilities of the gamecube.

I'm looking forward to getting the chip for myself. The old method was annoying, and lacked the potential this has.

Market

[FiReaNGeL]

Why did it took so long for a modchip on the Gamecube? Is it because the targeted market isn't hacker friendly? Was there a market for the Gamecube at all, facing Xbox and PS2 competition? Not enough incentive (demand) to create / sell a chip, not enough potential 'customers'?

It doesn't seem related to poor marketshare, as GameCube seem to hold its fair share of the pie.

Re: Market

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no need to mod a gamecube to do these things since it can all be done in software:

Freeloader, MAXDrive Pro, etc.

Plus the fact that there was already a mod for the Panasonic Q, which includes gamecube hardware (and works 100% with the above software), but also played DVDs and could read standard CD/DVD media.

Also, Nintendo's got nothing on Sony for (trying to) shut down mod/emu vendors/users, and even Sega was more proactive about stopping rom pirates. Nintendo's been rattling its sabre over Gameboy roms, but there's not really all to much to be gained from the GC side of things since the losses to piracy are realtively small. Well, have been so far, anyway...

And lastly, PSO is commonly used for console hacking because it loads executable data from a network source; once the handshaking was worked out, the most complex task left was running a name server so that it thought that your PC was Sega's server.

Re:Copied games?

[stratjakt]

Apparently (I haven't taken mine apart) if you take off the top part, the sled that the laser travels on is full length, and it's been speculated that there could be a case mod that would allow you to use full sized discs.

It's a regular DVD assembly, just a funny shaped case.

And the discs do not spin backwards, that I know. How they're written to the disc would be irrelevant if a BIOS hack allowed you to read regular UDF filesystems.

Re:Copied games?

[Donkey5555]

As of now there is no way to put any disc into the gamecube that wasn't made by Nintendo. All the images you can download can only be run over the ethernet card served from your computer. They run ok except for poor sound quality (the GC's nic currently only runs at 10mb/s using Phantasy Star).

My GameCube already boots copied games

[tepples]

I have a Game Boy Player accessory on my GameCube console. I can use it to boot original Game Boy Advance Game Paks, or I can use it to boot homebrew GBA games that I've developed on my flash card, or I can (rarely) use it to boot copied GBA games on my flash card. So my GameCube already boots copied games, albeit not copied GameCube-native games.

Re:Because there's hardly any games for it?

[TheKidWho]

Yet the gamecube constantly outsells the Xbox... which is the failure here?

For those who don't read the article.

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, the device just loads code, from a parallel port, into flash memory, so the GC boots from this instead of its own bios.

Still, after this, maybe it won't be long before some idiot manages to make the GC read from a mini dvd or something, and screw up nintendo.

Hey, those hackers should go find something constructive to do, instead of helping piracy. Face it, that is what they do.

GC discs spin backwards, right?

[maniac/dev/null]

I thought GC discs spun backwards? If you wanted to create pirate games with your DVD burner, wouldn't need to modify your burner to burn backwards?

Would you be able to just reverse the polarity to the motor...? /me breaks out the soldering iron and the ol' 4x CD burner... it's hackin' time.

getting it backwards

[n3k5]

And the discs do not spin backwards, that I know.

I haven't got a GC myself so I can't verify this, but many sources claim that the spiral of pits and lands on the discs is indeed backwards. It isn't read by spinning the disc backwards, as can be easily verified by opening the lid while it's spinning, but the laser moves from the outer rim inwards. I don't know for sure, but I think this is true; I think this is how that huge "spins backwards" myth was started. I wonder if this could be compensated for with a driver, or if a regular DVD burner could be hacked to write apropriate media with a firmware flash.

With a dual layer burner?

[tepples]

It isn't read by spinning the disc backwards, as can be easily verified by opening the lid while it's spinning, but the laser moves from the outer rim inwards.

In other words, GameCube uses the DVD's second layer, right?

I wonder if this could be compensated for with a driver, or if a regular DVD burner could be hacked to write apropriate media with a firmware flash.

Depends. Does your burner support DVD+R DL?

How about CUSTOM games! :(

[Spy der Mann]

One thing i hate about copy protection schemes in the PS2, for example, is that people aren't allowed to program their own games and distribute them. No, you have to get a contract with Sony, so they distribute your games in their uncopiable format, and they get their share. Oh, you haven't got the money? Sorry. "But the game..." NO DEAL!

Sometimes i wonder... have Sony forgotten their roots, when they were trying to sell transistor radios in Germany?

This is not a piracy chip

[Megane]

As far as I can tell, this chip doesn't let you do anything but load some code onto it which can be used as a net bootloader. You could try to play ISOs with the help of a PC, but the 10 or 27* megabit speed limit of the Ethernet port means that ripped games will stutter or have to be downsampled to work properly. It doesn't even seem to have the ability to bypass the region lockout.

But the important thing is that it won't play "silvers" (pressed pirate discs) or burned CD-R/DVD-R discs, not even homebrews. As far as I know, nobody has yet gotten the GC's drive to read any data from a burned disc. Whether it's the reverse spiral or a wrong wavelength laser, proper piracy can't be done without being able to slap in a bootleg disc and hitting the power button. You can use this mod to play ripped game images, but only with a lot of effort, and only with a PC handy. Having to load ISOs over the Ethernet port is only for true die-hards, and is enough of a pain in the arse that you might as well go legit... or mod an X-box instead.

*The broadband adapter is connected via a 27Mbit serial interface, shared with the memory cards, and probably a few other things. And early attempts to use the 100Mbit mode of the Ethernet port weren't reliable.

Xbox has it better

[Jagasian]

The Xbox has it better. You don't even need a mod chip. There are sophisticated software exploits that are free, easy to use, and totally undo-able. One such exploit is the Ultimate Dash Eploit (UDE). With it you can turn a new $150 Xbox into a modded-Xbox capable of playing burned CDs, DVDs, games copied to the internal harddrive, etc.

I don't really use my UDE modded Xbox for playing pirated Xbox games, as there aren't many Xbox games that I care to play. Instead, I use it to run Xbox Media Center so that I can play my MP3s and watch my Xvid and Divx movies, and classic console emulators such as FCE Ultra X, a high-quality NES emulator and MameoX a high-quality Multi-Arcade emulator.

Mod chips are expensive, harder to get, and harder to install than the Xbox's new software exploits like UDE. If you want to check out more info about modding your Xbox, go to Xbox Scene.