Problem running burned media on GC

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game^3
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Problem running burned media on GC

Post by game^3 » Tue Jun 25, 2013 1:05 am

I recently bought a Datel SDML for my NTSC DOL-101. I also bought some of those Ritek Ridata Mini-DVDs with the purple colored data side, I heard that these were supposed to be very reliable. I put GCoS 1.5 and the 1.x Beta, as well as Swiss. I have a Pioneer external burner (I have heard that Pioneer is a good brand of burner) and I use ImgBurn at 2x. I tried three games: Mario Sunshine, Smash Bros. Melee, and Starfox Assualt; SMS and SSBM were burned as .iso at 2x, and SFA was burned as an .iso at 1x. I've used my multimeter to adjust my laser at almost every spot ranging from 90 to 300 ohms. None of the games have worked, all come up with DREs and "an error has occured" at various spots depending on the booter, game, and POT adjustment. In the case of SFA; the game did not boot up at all. I think the closest I've gotten is mid way through the intro movie (with freezing and stutters, of course) on Mario Sunshine before crashing and getting to choose my character in Melee. I've read many guides on running GC backups, and I have no clue what I'm doing wrong and was wondering if the kind GameCube enthusiasts at GC-Forever could help. Thank you.

PS. The burned games run in Dolphin, so I figure it's not the burner, file, or discs. I'd much rather play them on the real deal rather than 9 FPS on Dolphin.
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emu_kidid
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by emu_kidid » Tue Jun 25, 2013 1:30 am

Try the latest Swiss (r221) from here viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1375 with StarFox, see if it gets any better. Basically, I think your media (if the media code starts with 'CMC MAG') and GameCube lens are on their last legs. Try cleaning the lens with some rubbing alcohol.
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game^3
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by game^3 » Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:49 pm

Thanks emu_kidid, but it didn't work. I put the nightly build on my SD card, cleaned my laser lens, set the POT to 160 and it didn't boot at all. I then tweaked the POT to 220 and it did boot StarFox, but it came up with "an error has occured" when I started to play. I feel you may be right about my laser, but the mini-DVDs are brand new Ritek Ridata G04 discs (http://www.supermediastore.com/product/ ... i-dvd-r-10) so I don't think they would be faulty and I've heard good things about them. Thanks anyway, it was close to working.
noobcube
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by noobcube » Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:22 pm

If an adjustment to your laser potentiometer has noticeably improved reading reliability, there may be hope yet. I'd suggest trying a variety of values above and below the current settings, say in 20 ohm increments. Make note if it gets better or worse and use smaller and smaller adjustment increments as you get close to the optimal value. Some Gamecubes work better with higher values (>400), while others are most reliable in the 180-220 ohm range. Trial and error is the best way to find out.

Also, some burners work better than others. I've had the greatest success with Pioneer burners at 2x.
dilav
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by dilav » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:10 pm

Try burning them at 4x as well, my sony optiarc burn these disc better at 4x than at 2x.
game^3
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by game^3 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:27 pm

So I adjusted the POT quite a few more times, using r221 with the SFA burned disc.

~160 ohms - Did not work at all, Swiss would never boot the game.
~200 ohms - See above.
~240 ohms - On the 2nd and 3rd attempt at this level I booted into the game but it would only work for about a minute before giving me a DRE.
~360 ohms - Swiss gives me "Error Disk not Initialized" and won't boot the game or even read the disc to pre-patch.
~310 ohms - See above.
~290 ohms - Was slow to read and boot, but eventually I was able to get into the game. This only lasted a minute before giving me a DRE right as I was about to get into the gameplay.

Should I give up on this 'Cube? It seems anything below 200 ohms and above 300 ohms won't even boot, and anything in between works for about a minute. Would it be ethical to trade this GameCube with someone who doesn't want to mod theirs? The machine runs actual discs just fine. If so, I could just go on Craigslist and try this all again on different one.
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by megalomaniac » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:40 pm

try a xeno gc modchip and forget about the SDML
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Re: Problem running burned media on GC

Post by emu_kidid » Mon Jul 01, 2013 11:47 pm

SDML wouldn't make a difference. the XenoGC might help but I don't think it'll be that fantastic. Sounds like it needs a new laser.
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