Concerns About Recently Acquired Pre-Modded DOL-001

[MarioGuy789]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum. I previously made a post on the GameCube subreddit but didn't get much headway because I didn't really know what to be asking, which now I do.

In short, I purchased a pre-modded Xeno-chipped DOL-001 GameCube from Japan, and the modders who had done the work had made the NTSC-U English BIOS default. I thought this sounded great, so I placed an order for the console as I already had everything else I needed, including the CARBY HDMI output by Insurrection Industries. Fast forward a couple of days and the console arrives, I test out several games, which all seemed to work just fine with a couple of interesting exceptions that I'll elaborate on (see #4).

My main concerns are the following:

1. Either the CMOS battery is dead or the Xeno chip is doing something to the clock settings, as the clock keeps resetting to very wrong dates, often for way into the future. I have no soldering experience and therefore cannot replace the battery on my own, are there any reputable servicers that I should consider for such a job?

2. In preparation for a few in-development projects, I picked up a Game Boy Player and some new old stock RiData Mini DVD-R discs on which to burn Swiss and the GBI. My concern with this is I am unfamiliar with burning GameCube ISOs and don't know the proper way to combine the GBI files into a custom Swiss image for convenience, I've already wasted one disc on this so I'm not going any further until I have more information on that. I'd really prefer a step-by-step guide on what software to use and the proper way to make a Swiss image with GBI incorporated into the bootable ISO.

3. In reference to #2, this is an NTSC-J console with a modded English NTSC-U BIOS: What region of ISO should I be using when I go to burn my custom Swiss disc? Does it matter? I only have 9 discs left, and if worse comes to worst I may have to use two separate discs, one to load Swiss on its own and one to load the GBI afterward.

4. I don't know if this has anything to do with anything else, but my friend and I attempted to play a couple of games, including Mario Party 6 and Lego Star Wars II just for basic multiplayer tests, with very different results. First, Mario Party 6 didn't seem to recognize that the second port was plugged in at all, and we confirmed that my friend's controller wasn't the problem, as we tested it in both Dolphin and on my Wii, both of which worked just fine. We played Lego Star Wars II for a bit on the Wii and then transferred over into the GameCube, which at first didn't recognize the controller, but after dropping out, unplugging the controller and plugging it back in, the game seemed to work without a hitch for the rest of the play session. I don't know if perhaps the ports themselves were improperly assembled after the mod process or if something else is amiss, but I'd appreciate some input on that.

My intentions with this unit were never to install homebrew or emulators, I simply didn't want to have three separate GameCubes, one for each region, just lying around (as it is I already have two, with one being a standard NTSC-U DOL-101 that I've had for years now). The price of the Game Boy Player startup disc is also getting up there, and I've already spent a fair bit just getting to this point.

I would very much appreciate any advice on this matter. I wasn't really sure where to drop this post as my concerns cover a range of things.

Thanks for your time.

-MarioGuy789

[Papy.G]

Hello, and welcome.

Too bad you didn't come here at first, 'cause it seems you almost already had what you need to achieve what you wanted to do.

I personally prefer to go for a "familly" virgin unmoded console than for a pre-modded (and sometimes quite beaten/damaged inside) console, specially now with gamesave exploits and SWISS's functionnalities, hard mods are hardly mandatory.

1. I have experienced a couple dying batteries, and only witnessed the time/date stop or loss, some strange behaviors in SWISS (v4 it was) probably because of SRAM settings loss too, but don't remember settings jumping forward to a "future" value.

2. SWISS and GBI are updated so frequently that you had better not waste your time and medias to burn them on disc, except for boot purpose (if you don't already have an exploit-able game disc). For developpement projects, you'd better go on for a re-writable media such as SD cards (SDGecko/WiiSD, SD2SP2), or Memcard.

3. As long as it has a boot chip, the region doesn't really matter, but in reference to #2 answer, it may be quite irrelevant.

4. The console may be damaged, but it may just be bad contacts due to the second port not used enough and collecting dust along the life of the specific console. It usually happens with the Digital AV out when plugging the new digital devices for the first time, nothing that an earstick and a bit of alcohol can't solve.

I have three GCs, one Wii, both PAL and unmodded, three GBPlayers, no GBPlayer boot disc, but everything works just fine thanks to game exploits, SWISS, GBI, and SD card adapters. (I usually play both PAL and NTSC games, though no Jap ones.)


A side note: I also have to use the GC RF modulator (Eur) (Wich is, in fact, the N64's one, with the SNES RF cable/switch) to get dual display (P&P) on my TV, and to my surprise, NTSC games show no bad display, colours are right.

[emu_kidid]

Yeah, I've had a dying battery cause impossible/future dates, get it changed.

Also the ports on consoles I typically buy as "junk" from Japan need to be cleaned with contact cleaner, especially the digital video port and the 2/3/4 controller ports.

[MarioGuy789]

Hello, and welcome.

Too bad you didn't come here at first, 'cause it seems you almost already had what you need to achieve what you wanted to do.

I personally prefer to go for a "familly" virgin unmoded console than for a pre-modded (and sometimes quite beaten/damaged inside) console, specially now with gamesave exploits and SWISS's functionnalities, hard mods are hardly mandatory.

1. I have experienced a couple dying batteries, and only witnessed the time/date stop or loss, some strange behaviors in SWISS (v4 it was) probably because of SRAM settings loss too, but don't remember settings jumping forward to a "future" value.

2. SWISS and GBI are updated so frequently that you had better not waste your time and medias to burn them on disc, except for boot purpose (if you don't already have an exploit-able game disc). For developpement projects, you'd better go on for a re-writable media such as SD cards (SDGecko/WiiSD, SD2SP2), or Memcard.

3. As long as it has a boot chip, the region doesn't really matter, but in reference to #2 answer, it may be quite irrelevant.

4. The console may be damaged, but it may just be bad contacts due to the second port not used enough and collecting dust along the life of the specific console. It usually happens with the Digital AV out when plugging the new digital devices for the first time, nothing that an earstick and a bit of alcohol can't solve.

I have three GCs, one Wii, both PAL and unmodded, three GBPlayers, no GBPlayer boot disc, but everything works just fine thanks to game exploits, SWISS, GBI, and SD card adapters. (I usually play both PAL and NTSC games, though no Jap ones.)


A side note: I also have to use the GC RF modulator (Eur) (Wich is, in fact, the N64's one, with the SNES RF cable/switch) to get dual display (P&P) on my TV, and to my surprise, NTSC games show no bad display, colours are right.

Hello Papy, and thanks for the warm reception.

Since I have a lot to reply about, I'll just go in order from first to last.

To begin, I'm very unfamiliar with the console modding scene, regardless of what console it is. I'm fairly staunch about keeping my own hardware original, but of course I'm willing to purchase modded consoles if it makes my play experience easier and if I don't have to do anything that I don't know how to do myself. I actually JUST got finished installing the Homebrew Channel and a couple of patches like RiiConnect24 on the Wii I've had for twelve years just a few days ago.

Anyway, onto the bullet points.

1. So either the battery is going on me or it has to do with Swiss, correct? I've seen the dates go as far ahead as the 2100s, which is why I've not tested Animal Crossing for fear that I could irreversibly damage something in my save file by constantly going forward and backward in time. The time settings always seem to reset after I turn the console off and back on, regardless of whatever amount of time I've let it run for, and the dates always range anywhere between 2030 to 2099 or something absurd like that. What does a normal time loss on a GameCube look like? I'd assume that it would just reset to the factory settings of 2000 or something, not some far-off date in the future.

2. I thought about getting a GameCube memory card to SD card adapter, but went on the side of getting bootable discs instead because I was constantly getting confused on how to access Swiss in the first place. I've seen a multitude of videos with methods on how to go about it, such as using the ever-out-of-reach Action Replay disc, to using the Serial Port SD Card Adapter, to using a Swiss boot disc or a save file exploit. I guess I should ask if an SD card is absolutely required for the disc boot method, because from what I was able to gather was that it wasn't necessary unless I had images I wanted to run, which of course I don't, I have copies of all the games I want to play already, which is why I got a Xeno-chipped GameCube in the first place so I could play my PAL copy of Doshin the Giant on actual hardware. BIG SIDENOTE: I should have specified that I'm not actually developing software or homebrew of any kind, the "projects" I was referring to were videos, I'm trying to capture footage of games for my YouTube channel in the best quality I can on actual hardware, which is why I invested in a Game Boy Player and a DOL-001 unit because of the HDMI capabilities of the Digital AV out port, making it immediately usable with my capture cards.

3. This actually answered my question, the only concern I have remaining is with PAL games like Doshin which are supposed to run at 50hz instead of the NTSC standard of 60. I know Swiss can force 60 on some PAL games, but then again I'd need to get into it first to make sure everything is working correctly.

4. I will be sure to give my controller ports a good cleaning, I have 91% alcohol laying around for all of my cartridges (as well as brass polish, Q-tips, cleaning brushes and a good set of iFixit screwdrivers). I think it's probably just the ports anyway, as the third and fourth ports seemed to be okay when we tested my friend's controller in them. The Digital AV out seems to work just fine, but is it possible that I may need to disassemble the GameCube to clean the rest of the innards of the unit? I'll try to provide some images and possibly link to some videos later with further details.

Thanks again for the responses thus far, I'll await further input on disc burning, but I'll go ahead and clean the ports and see if that provides any better results.

[MarioGuy789]

Yeah, I've had a dying battery cause impossible/future dates, get it changed.

Also the ports on consoles I typically buy as "junk" from Japan need to be cleaned with contact cleaner, especially the digital video port and the 2/3/4 controller ports.

Hello emu_kidid,

I do believe it is the battery at this point, I've ran a couple more tests since my last post and the time settings continue to be reset. I was able to get every controller port to work this time around after cleaning them out, I did still have some trouble at first, but that may be due to the controller not connecting properly. After unplugging and plugging my controllers back in, all ports were confirmed to work correctly. Perhaps I can get someone to take a deeper look at that. I also cleaned out just about everything else, including the Digital AV Out port.

Do you happen to know anyone on this site or elsewhere who can do a quick battery change and possibly clean my console better than I can? I'll be sure to pay shipping and for labor, I can provide a standard CR 2032 battery, I have several laying around.

Thanks again.

[dilav]

The clock should maintain time correctly for a few minutes after shutdown, but a dying battery can cause the dates to be incorrectly retained. I assume you don't have a multi-meter to check voltages? See if you can find controller port module with new battery installed, it's probably easier than to have to ship a console back and forth.

[MarioGuy789]

The clock should maintain time correctly for a few minutes after shutdown, but a dying battery can cause the dates to be incorrectly retained. I assume you don't have a multi-meter to check voltages? See if you can find controller port module with new battery installed, it's probably easier than to have to ship a console back and forth.

While it's not a new battery, I did do a simple swap-out of the front ports with my other GameCube, since I know that battery is still working. It's not a permanent fix, but until I can get someone to solder in a new battery for me, this is the best I can do. So really my only remaining concern is to create a Swiss boot disc with GBI already installed into the directory, which I am still very confused about. I have ordered a GameCube SD memory card adapter for future convenience with these two pieces of homebrew, I just need to know how to make a boot disc for temporary full access to Swiss and the GBI features.

What I'm looking for is the following information:

As instructed by the RetroRGB page located here: https://www.retrorgb.com/gameboyinterface.html I am still trying to figure out how to even create a bootable Swiss disc, but for added convenience, I'd also like to, on the same disc, have the GBI installed, which in one of the linked videos is said to be possible. I've seen a few videos showing different methods of making a Swiss disc, but I only have 9 more attempts with my RiData discs. If someone could please provide me with instructions on how to make an image like this, I'd very much appreciate it.

[Papy.G]

It is better to have the SD card adapter anyways, to keep settings saved at least (GBI and SWISS).
GBI can be run off a memcard, SWISS will need a quite bigger one.

You can set up a memcard for save exploit with a GC compatible Wii, softmodded or not (GCMM can be launched off the letterbomb hack). Then, you can play any region disc on any region console from SWISS.

SWISS is doing wonders, but I still don't advise to anyone to force any GC game to run in 60Hz if the option doesn't exist natively in the game (press B at launch). I think you'll be able to display PAL games in 50Hz progressive scan on your display, you have to know that even in Europe, LCD TVs only output in 60Hz anyways (even when you feed them with 50Hz…).

For the clock battery, take your time, and find a slot not to risk overheating to the battery itself.