gc-forever - Gamecube/Wii Forums

So, I picked up a GC at Savers for cheap and thought I would take it home and mess around with it. I'll start by saying that I used to have one years ago but that was before modding, I think. I do have a soft-modded Wii and that was easy enough for someone like me with no previous hacking experience. I frequent the site here, mostly check on emulator updates for the Wii but am aware of the community of people who hack their GameCubes. That being said, I thought I would pick this one up and see what I could do with it...

So my questions are.... what exactly can I do with a modded GC? Are there only hard-mods for GC? (do I have to buy a chip to get this going?) I suppose I assumed that this was relatively easy like the Wii soft-mod, in doing some light reading here it seems a little more involved than what I thought. Soldering and such, which I have zero experience with but I'm handy enough. I was under the impression you could run emulators on a GC too? Do you basically have access to the same homebrew applications on the Wii side? Media Center and such? (guess it wouldn't be wiiMC would it) Maybe someone could break it down to noob speak for me...?

Any help on the matter is appreciated. Thank you.

This page will basically tell you the methods to get you booting code: http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... g_Homebrew

You have similar homebrew to the Wii in terms of emulators but there's less available due to the lack of a wiimote to point at stuff easily. There's mplayer-ce which is similar to WiiMC, etc.

emu_kidid wrote:less available due to the lack of a wiimote

Wait, people actually LIKE the wiimote??!

Well some (all the homebrew from the tehskeen competition many years ago) were specifically written to utilize the "new" wii remote as it were. I think the fact that there are at least 5 million modded Wiis out there probably helped get a lot more interest in developing Wii homebrew. Good thing is a lot of it can be easily ported back to GameCube

Hi All,

I'm very much a noob to the Gamecube, i had one in the past but didn't get to have it for long. I just have a few questions if that ok?

1. Is the Datel SD Media Launcher the best for me to get or should i go down the chipping route?

2. If i do use the SD Media Launcher will all games work or will their be compatibility issues with some games like on the Wii when some games work and some don't.

and lastly...

3. If i was to get an SD Media Launcher, i've read that the highest i can go with it is 64gb, is that right?

Thanks

1) WiiKey fusion/WASP is the best method especially if you plan to load backups.
2) Said chip has 100% compatibility but audio streaming will be disabled from the SD card. You can still burn DVDs for games that use it. SDML on the other hand only lets you load off an SD Gecko and this has a ton of compatibility issues.
3) The SDML disc itself only supports regular SD (up to 4GB). WiiKey/WASP supports SDHC/XC up to 64GB

1. If you can solder, go for a XenoGC, it's cheaper and more reliable than the SDML disc. (either way you'll want to grab yourself a SD Gecko or wiiSD adapter: https://dx.com/p/wiikey-sd-card-adapter-for-wii-3993 since the one that comes with SDML is rubbish)

2. SD Media Launcher does not support backups via any means, it supports homebrew and by using that functionality to boot Swiss off a SD card plugged into the memory card slot then you can boot backups from DVD-R/SD. The compatibility from DVD-R is very good (99% or so) and from SD it's constantly getting better (it'll run your main titles mostly well with a few audio glitches and cutscene stutter due to the nature of the SD card).

3. SD Media Launcher itself can only read up to a 2GB non SDHC SD card. From there you can swap once you've booted Swiss to any size SD/SDHC/SDXC SD card (I use a 128GB SDXC for instance) in the SD slot off the SD Gecko.
(or as StreetWalker said, go the very complex route of a Wiikey Fusion/WASP (DVD drive emulator))

Well both are answers complete each other (I edited my post). So there you have it, all you need to get started.
Also installing a drive emulator is not /that/ hard, just needs patience to solder all these pins.

Thanks for the help both.

My only issue with chipping is that i can't solder for toffee I tried it once and made a right pigs ear of it. The only way i could get it chipped is if i bought one pre-chipped or got someone to do it for me.

So basically the only good thing about SDML is the disc, the hardware is crap? It looks like i'll go down that route then as it seems the easiest (for me anyway)

So first things first, SDML, SD Gecko or wiiSD and then a 128gb SDXC. Is any brand of SDXC ok or do i need to be looking at one of the main brands?

Thanks again both.

If you go the SDML route this is what I'd suggest: SDML + wiiSD + 2GB SD

Put a game backup using CleanRip on the 2GB SD card, see how you like performance from Swiss running games on the SD card before dropping $$$ on a larger card, otherwise invest in some high quality mini dvd-r and go that route. Swiss will let you read DVD-R just fine without a modchip.

Can't you get a friend to solder it for you ?

I'm sorry for all the silly questions, like i said i'm very much a noob when it comes to the Gamecube.

If i remember rightly Cleanrip would rip an original to the SD Card, but as I already have some backed up games on mini discs from years gone by, would these work with the homebrew on SDML or do backed up games on disc only work on a chipped gamecube? Am i right in saying that i can just copy to the larger SDXC some iso's then i could play them that way?

Thanks

Yes, you can play those old mini discs fine in Swiss loaded from SDML and also you could dump them to the SDXC card and play them that way in Swiss.

At least with SDML, it's portable for use on any other cube. Get a cube for every room you like and use SDML for your backups in the room you wish to play. You'll only need one SDML. Just don't lose the disc...

Am I right in saying I can just download the sdml and burn it to a disc or am I better off with an original sdml disc? I've noticed that isozone have one you can download.

Thanks

Just bought this for £3.00

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003260 ... X110_SY165

Clansman wrote:Am I right in saying I can just download the sdml and burn it to a disc or am I better off with an original sdml disc? I've noticed that isozone have one you can download.

Thanks

You can't use it unless your gamecube is chipped. Other than that, you need the original SDML disc if your going that route.

Ah right, best get scouring the net for one then.

Thanks

http://us.codejunkies.com/Products/GCNW ... 00589.aspx
Here's where you can get one. It's the U.S site. They have a Euro site too depending on your location. They charge $10 to ship it as well (U.S site that is). Took about two weeks for me.

Right, i've just got myself a cheap Gamecube, I've ordered my SDML and the wiiSD adapter. I'm just wondering does it matter the make of SDXC that i get?

And lastly is there a link to the homebrew that i need to put on the 2gb card that comes with the adapter?

Thanks again everyone for all the input, you have all been a great help.

Yes, I linked Swiss on the first page of this thread, put it on there. And grab some emulators etc, it's all on the forum under the Software forum.

Clansman wrote:I'm just wondering does it matter the make of SDXC that i get?

Do you mean the brand or standard vs micro (with adapter of course)? If brand, I guess everyone has their own preference. I say if using eBay then be cautious as many fakes are out there. I personally prefer SanDisk but I don't run homebrew and emulators from my cubes, I use my Wii for that.

Now, I have a SanDisk 32gb Class 4 Micro SD (with adapter) for my Wii. That runs fine. Some say not to use micro cards but I haven't heard that referring to the cube. Then again, I haven't had any issues either. My cube only has a 1gb micro with adapter. I do have a 16MB card laying around I could use. It should be enough for Swiss...

emu_kidid wrote: 3. SD Media Launcher itself can only read up to a 2GB non SDHC SD card. From there you can swap once you've booted Swiss to any size SD/SDHC/SDXC SD card (I use a 128GB SDXC for instance) in the SD slot off the SD Gecko.
(or as StreetWalker said, go the very complex route of a Wiikey Fusion/WASP (DVD drive emulator))

Actually it supports up to 4 GB SD cards. The adapter that comes with the disc cheap quality in fact, but I take advance of it placing most of my homebrew using this adapter with a 2 GB micro SD in slot A and my roms/isos in slot B using an SD Gecko with a 8 GB micro SD.
In my particular experience my main issue is fragmentation, wich do not let me play GC isos, because I share the same micro SD with GBA, NDS and gamecube flashcarts/softmods so if you dedicate a standard SD only for gamecube backups it will be all ok.

Swiss supports fragmentation...?

Obviously Swiss does not support (yet?) fragmented files, so I cannot play gamecbe isos until I buy new micro sd card or find a slution to avoid fragmentation.