SDML, Swiss, DOL-101 not working

[ratster]

I've scoured everywhere for an answer and tried almost everything I came across but I still can't get backups running. Here's what I do:
1. Boot Gamecube with the SDML boot disk
2. Run Swiss from an SD card in the SD Gecko
3. Swap the SD card for an SDHC card and browse to the games
4. Try to launch the ISO

Games will not load. I haven't gotten any combination of SD cards to work. I've tried 4-5 different SDHC cards. One of them is the 8 GB SanDisk Ultra that is listed on the compatibility page as working. I've tried an ISO from the small SD card that I boot with and that doesn't work either. I've tried both slots. I've tried the latest "nightly" build of Swiss and I've tried the latest official release. With the official release I get a blocky green screen on the boot attempt. With the nightly (249) I get a quick green flash and then black. I've tried many different games. Pikmin 2 is the one I use for most of my testing since it supposedly works as well as any. I start from scratch with just about every attempt to make sure I don't get fragmentation issues that I had with the official release. I have a DOL-101 silver Gamecube if that matters. I even ran an md5 check on the iso to verify that it is a clean rip and it matched what an online site said a clean rip should be.

I'm getting ready to deploy and I want to take this bad boy with me. Please help me! Thanks.

[jlo138]

Have you tried the game as a compressed iso or as a full size iso? I burn mine to discs so I can't help you with much else. You can try GCoS, doesn't have as many features as Swiss though.

[ratster]

I haven't tried to manipulate the isos at all. I essentially just put the 1.5 gig .iso file on the card. How would I compress it? Is it as simple as zipping or ".7z"'ing it? I also just tried the most recent 251 build with a brand new formatted SD and SDHC card without luck. I tried every video output option I could just to see if that helps. I'll give GCoS a shot to see if I have any better luck. I liked the idea of Swiss because it looks like it's got good compatability and is still under development. Thanks for the reply. I'll post results of another launcher when I get a chance to try it later tonight.

[emu_kidid]

If you are using the SD adapter that came with the SDML then that is possibly your issue. Try the latest from the nightly builds thread and try a known working title.

[ratster]

Thanks for the reply emu_kidid. I gave the newest build (251) a try. I had no luck. I'm using the SD adapter that came with the SDML. I'm testing with Pikmin 2 but I get the same result from any number of games. I know I've read bad things about the quality of the SD adapter that comes with the SDML but mine seems solid and I never have issues getting cards to read. I formatted the SDHC card as FAT32 and copied Pikmin 2.iso over to it in the root folder. Are there restrictions on file names and am I formatting it correctly? As far as i can tell I'm doing everything right. I can get emulators and other homebrew to work.

[ratster]

I'm still troubleshooting this. Just an update... I loaded up swiss 251 on my Wii and I get the same results when trying to launch the game from the SD Gecko that came with the SDML. I'm copying the iso to a hard drive where I have my wii backups to try to remove the gecko from the equation.

[megalomaniac]

can you try burning the title to DVD and use swiss to read the dvd??
that would be another way to eliminate the SDML SD gecko adapter...

...but you can load emulators and other homebrew so maybe that kinda verifies the adapter works??
unless the adapter is limited in read size?
ive never used SDML but so many people report having issues with it, it makes me wonder why it is still being purchased by people time and time again who always end up here to forums for support when the sellers of the product cannot provide support...

are you using slot A or slot B?
are you seeing the SD card contents correctly within swiss browser?

[ratster]

I went the SDML route because it looked like the easiest. I couldn't find a source for the modchips or drive replacements. I initially didn't want to open my gamecube up to adjust the laser pot. I also don't think that I have any mini dvd-r's around so I'll have to find some good ones. I guess I could use a full size dvd-r in the wii though.

[ratster]

Sorry I forgot to answer your questions. I have tried from both slots. I just tried a dvdr in the wii and the DVD won't mount. I can see the sdhc card contents just fine on the gamecube. The only issue is that I have to swap the ports when I swap to the sdhc card for it to refresh, otherwise it doesn't update and keeps showing me the smaller sd card I use to boot Swiss.

[emu_kidid]

damn you refresh issue. I will fix that shortly!

[ratster]

Okay so I guess I'm stupid. I noticed that someone else just posted about his issues that were the same as mine. I tried SD boot and it worked. For some reason it even read my SDHC card but it failed to see it using 32 mhz so it bumped down to 16 and worked. This prompted me to try the slower speed on Swiss and vuala. I don't know why this is. It's listed on the compatibilty page as working at 32. Who knows. I'm not going to argue. Pikmin 2 booted up and played with very minimal slowdown on the intro screen. Thanks for the help guys. Just in time to take it with me for my deployment!

[ratster]

Sorry, another stupid question. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that you can't use iso's that have been stripped down. Is that correct? I can't find anything that says that you can.

[emu_kidid]

You can but I can't guarantee compatibility since some ISO shrinking tools are inherently bad.

[ratster]

Which tool would you recommend?

[emu_kidid]

GCM Util 0.5 (check the ISO Tools thread) is good for single game shrinking (it's mainly used to make multi-discs).