Wii DVD/Wiikey Fusion/WODE + GC Portable Discussion

[Ashen]

Got some analysis done on both systems finally. For those interested here are the Saleae analysis files for both systems:

Wii: http://www.fileserve.com/file/XDyUmkz

GC: http://www.fileserve.com/file/PthRBnS

Saleae logic software download links:

32bit: http://www.saleae.com/downloads/logic/L ... 2-bit).exe

64 bit: http://www.saleae.com/downloads/logic/L ... 4-bit).exe

I should probably explain how I went about this so here we go. I have included "boot sequence" analysis files for both systems. These files correspond to all other pins on said system other than the bidirectional data lines (DID0-7) the reason for this is to help determine whether we have all the other pins matched up correctly. Since the Wii and GC boot differently what I did was to just boot the Wii up normal with Zelda: TP GC disc inserted and let it idle at the channel menu. For the Gamecube what I did was boot the system with the disc cover open and close it right after boot (also with Zelda: TP inserted) to get roughly the same effect as we do on the Wii. This way the GC does not automatically boot into the game but sits idle till the game is started. So in short these files are just the boot sequence where the disc gets mounted but does not actually start the game.

For the DID0-7 lines I used 2 different games. Zelda: TP and Zelda Collectors Edition. For both games I booted into the game and started the logic as soon (roughly) as the Nintendo logo showed up on the screen. Please keep in mind though that we are dealing with units of time measurement sometimes smaller than microseconds so the point at which I started the analyzer may vary seemingly greatly between sessions (making it hard to find the same points in the game between systems).

I ran each different analysis twice to make sure there are no discrepancies and for the Wii side I also ran some analysis with the sundriver and the DVD drive. Hopefully the way that I have named the files makes things clear as to what was going on at the time. I have not had a chance to make any comparisons between the data yet so you are essentially getting this info at the same time I am. Any help interpreting all of this and matching things up is greatly appreciated

Off to do my taxes now and hopefully have time to pour over this later.

[Ashen]

Two side by side comparisons of a point of time in TP that the data matches exactly. Safe to say I think that we were right in the DID0-7 pin matchup.

[emu_kidid]

Ashen, I think with the GC, have you tried perhaps toggling the disc inserted wires to "inserted" a few milliseconds after boot?

[Ashen]

I will try later on. Honestly i think the issue lies with the sundriver now. Comparing the logic data the sun seems to be doing lots of odd stuff the DVD drive isn't. I'll poke around with the sun a bit when i get home. Im also going to give in and try the wii dvd drive on the cube. Hope i dont fry it... Also looking at the logic data more closely i'd say the original pin matchup is accurate, pin 29(wii) still needs to be driven low by ground or some other means though. Dont know why when i swapped pins the sun behaved differently now. Oh well, back to the drawing board

[liquitt]

i just want to say that you're doing some awesome work there ashen! keep it up!!

[emu_kidid]

Ashen, when my adapter arrives I'll solder in the Sundriver using the latest pinout and poke at it using homebrew.

[Ashen]

Not saying much for the mass storage department on the gamecube yet but, can I get a fucking booyaa!
This is the correct match up:

[liquitt]

wow --> BOOYAA! (there you go!)

for all the non-believers you should've included the video part where you insert the disc and afterwards eject it again

[Ashen]

I would have but disc eject is still a work in progress. For things to work correctly the eject pin needs to stay grounded (low byte). To eject the disc it needs a 1-1.9v pulse. Gonna have to figure out a good way to do it. Also, I still am not giving up on the sundriver, especially now.

[liquitt]

yeah keep going, your progress until now is fantastic!

[justNer]

Wow man.. Very impressive..
Seems like a very sound solution.
Cant you build a small circuit to handle eject feature?
Guess next step is to alter SunDriver code to allow choosing disk image? or does that work out of the box?

hehe.. guess i jumped the gun... missed that it was running Wii drive

[gtmtnbiker]

I've got a sundriver SATA at home in pieces ready to wire up.. once done I'll make a guide

they were $20 from divineo!

Did they sell out? I don't see them anymore on divineo.

Ashen, congrats on getting the Sundriver to work!

[liquitt]

that just a wii dvd drive. not a sundriver

[Ashen]

Did they sell out? I don't see them anymore on divineo.

Ashen, congrats on getting the Sundriver to work!

Yea Last time I ordered 2 more sundrivers it cost me alot more than 20$ a piece

[gtmtnbiker]

that just a wii dvd drive. not a sundriver

Whoops, thanks for pointing that out.

[Tchay]

I would have but disc eject is still a work in progress. For things to work correctly the eject pin needs to stay grounded (low byte). To eject the disc it needs a 1-1.9v pulse. Gonna have to figure out a good way to do it. Also, I still am not giving up on the sundriver, especially now.

I was ganna say, you could have a switch that connects to the gamecubes 1.9v line. And toggling the switch will send 1.9v to the line.

:draws it out:

EDIT: Okay I think I was just having a brain fart. This is very simple. A 2 way switch will fix this problem ASSUMING it is okay to have a constant 1.9 volts being fed into pin 29. Then when you toggle the switch the other way, it connects ground to pin 29. WIll the drive work again after the toggle?

[Ashen]

I'm not sure tchay. I still dont have a spare Wii to test on. The drive from the vid's I made was out of the "family" Wii, which i have taken apart and put back together about 100 times now... Hehe. Anyway I didnt want to risk damaging it to much. But i did take pin 29 and tap it against my 1.9v lead and it spit the disc out. If the ground is broken at any point on pin 29 during gameplay the GC errors out. When i tested the eject signal on the actual wii it pulses the voltage so quickly its difficult to even get it to register on my meter. I will probably be ordering a spare Wii drive or two to mess with and cut apart like palmer did . I think there is probably a better way to drive this signal low other than just grounding it, but for now i'll leave that to electronics wizards smarter than I.

[Abb_eliten]

This is awesome!!!

So, the eject pin needs a constant ground connection?
Otherwise maybe you could use a PNP transistor switch?
I'm not really good with these types of circuits, it just crossed my mind...

EDIT: nvm. That switch wouldn't do anything useful at all I think

Abb_eliten

[Tchay]

Okay, so you are saying that it must ALWAYS be grounded, even when you tap the 1.9v to pin 29???

I'm surprised that doesn't short the system as that is a voltage line going into ground.......

But, if it worked then instead of a 2 way switch, we can just use a momentary push button. AKA, a tactile switch. Pressing it once, just barely allows 1.9v to pin 29 but does not KEEP the 1.9v there. works the same way with normal buttons on a GC controller.

The thing I am still confused about is,how the open/close procedure works on this disc drive. I know for the gamecube, the disc lid is either open or closed. So when you tap the 1.9v to pin 29 and the disc ejects. how does the gamecube know whether the "lid" is open or closed? And will this work for multidisc games like Resident Evil 4?????

sorry for all the questions, just hope I can help!!

[Ashen]

No no. Pin 29 does not ALWAYS need to be grounded. In fact a game will boot without it, but the GC errors out shortly after booting. Pin 29 I think expects to recieve a "low byte" signal after a game is booted. Grounding pin 29 tricks the drive into thinking its recieving this low signal.

Pin 23 on the Wii side is the "lid open, lid closed" signal. In the case of the Wii its actually just disc inserted, disc not inserted. Same thing really.

[Tchay]

No no. Pin 29 does not ALWAYS need to be grounded. In fact a game will boot without it, but the GC errors out shortly after booting. Pin 29 I think expects to recieve a "low byte" signal after a game is booted. Grounding pin 29 tricks the drive into thinking its recieving this low signal.

Pin 23 on the Wii side is the "lid open, lid closed" signal. In the case of the Wii its actually just disc inserted, disc not inserted. Same thing really.

Ah okay. Well the only time we would need to "alter" that low signal is for ejecting purposes. So it sounds like we can use either a switch or a tactile button. You simply "tapped" the 1.9v line onto pin 29 right? So just a quick 1.9v signal is enough to eject.

After you have ejected though, will the gamecube still be able to tell when you have re-inserted a game?

I will probably try and buy a Wii disc drive to try this out. But I will need to figure out what you did with the lines. Was pin 29 the only altered line? Did you just connect the pins of the Wii drive to the gamecube motherboard after that?

[Abb_eliten]

nvm

Man, this really isn't my day :S

I think I'd better stop writing stuff right now

[Ashen]

Yep, pin 29 (wii side) is the only altered pin. The rest is pretty much "plug and play". Pins 32, 31 and 30 are unhooked in those vids I made, if you look close u can probably see the extra wires going nowhere. I will say though that the drive does act funny when ejecting and inserting a disc, kinda like the disc insertion/eject motor doesnt know when to stop running. I can make some vids sometime this weekend that show these issues.

Also, for those interested in trying this mod. I would suggest getting the same flat ribbon cable connector from proto advantage that emu_kidid ordered a few pages back. It will make your life much easier. Soldering straight to the cable is a major biatch.

[Ashen]

nvm

Man, this really isn't my day :S

I think I'd better stop writing stuff right now

Its the thought that counts man any help is always appreciated.

[Abb_eliten]

nvm

Man, this really isn't my day :S

I think I'd better stop writing stuff right now

Its the thought that counts man any help is always appreciated.

Yeah

Anyway, I was thinking of some sort of 2-way tactile switch so you don't have to short the 1.9 and ground
Thought I had found one, but I was wrong
I've started to make my own.
Let's see how it turns out ( prob bad, as everything else today :/)