Wode Gamecube Help & Questions

[XeroOmega]

Hi my name is Xero, this is my first post in these forums, though i can say i've been reading them for some time. If the answers i'm looking for were out there, they sure hid them well..but i am pretty tired. anyway on to it shall we.

So i've decided to spruce up my old gamecube after all these years, i got it a wode jukebox 2.0 for it. Now i'll go through the loops of what i've done. I did follow the tutorial, but have made minor deviations.

Start, remove the dvd rom permanently, i want to build this into a nice streamlined internal hdd mod. The method i used to connect my wode was splitting the flex cable for the (host) side of my wode main board. after a little trial i had a system and was splitting that cable good, soldered all my wires(is using old ata 100 ide cable torn apart) tested and sealed the cable. no shorts and all wires connected. Got my 2 other wires for the (host power) hooked up (2x 3.3v & 4x GND) i'm only using these 2 because i intend to nix the dvd altogether, thus i only need to power the modchip (So i'm not supplying 12v and 5v to the modchip through (host power)). Now comes question number 1, in the thread it says on the pinout where wire 29 is install a NC momentary switch with 1.9v on NO of that switch for the simulated wii eject button. Do i HAVE to have this on a switch. or seeing as i do not need an eject button can i just ground this permanently? the way i understand it it pin 29 is a sense wire looking for ground, when 1.9v is switched on it, the eject button press happens. oh it should also be noted that all of my wires are just about 5" including the flex cable. other than pin 32 which needs to reach the inverter board and pin 29 which i have yet to solve.

Now for my symptoms.
My Wode seems to be working, i can browse on it and select things as i please. BUT when the gamecube sees it detecting a disc it immediately tells me to turn off the console and consult my instruction manual(which is not much help). With the SD card in on boot, it does this as well after a couple seconds, but with the sd card out i can move around the gamecube home menu all i want. I'm thinking this has something to do with disc sensing. because it's when my wode sends info for the gamecube is when the gamecube crashes. It should be noted i do have a "?" in my gamecube menu dvdrom tab. (not open tray). right now wire 29 is grounded and wire 24 is connected to it's spot on the dvd connector.

Now i did test my gamecube out and my wiring at the same time. if my wiring was faulty you'd think even with the wode unplugged the wiring would still be faulty, on that logic i grabbed the dvd rom unhooked my wode and plugged the dvd rom back into the top side of the connector with it's lid switch on. works like a charm, reads the disc in seconds. no problems there, plug wode back in, same issue.

I'm making this mod internal i want it as sleek as possible. Would the gamecube motherboard give me enough 5v power to power a usb hub?(to power wode backlight and usb devices/hdd's) Without killing the motherboard of course.

Oh and a side project, anyone know how the gamecube component cable works? i don't have one but i think i could muster making my own, so long as no proprietary components are used.

Well thanks for reading and any help would be greatly appreciated, but for now i've been at this all night, i'm goin' to sleep. when i do get up though i'll be back testing it until i have a sexy, highly modified, powerful gamecube.

My Wires are connected as such
Bottom of motherboard in wii pinout:
1.5.9.13.21.24.19.27
.3.7.11.15.17.25.26.28
G.G.G.G.G.23.5v.5v
.G.G.G.G.22.G.5v.5v
Bottom of motherboard in compared gamecube pinout:
31.27.23.19.15.11.7.3
.29.25.21.17.13.9.5.1
32.28.24.20.16.12.8.4
.30.26.22.18.14.10.6.2



5v on dvd connector are unused
2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20 are all connected to G pins on above diagram
29 is grounded for a n/c state.
30 & 31 are unused
32 is connected to 3.3volts at the regulator board
The only other 2 wires i have connected are 3.3volts and grounds for (host power)

[XeroOmega]

So over the course of today i have had little success, i now know i can connect the wode usb to 5 volt so thats one question answered through research. I'm warming my soldering iron now to remove my dvd conector wires as that seems to be where i'm getting the problem. as i said before when the wode loads anything it crashes my cube. just did a test and it doesn't matter if pin 29 is connected or not i still get this crash and the wode still works normally. i've decided i'm going to bastardize the dvd rom connector and make my own plug in cable. also it should be a little easier to solder to the dvd rom connector. wil report back when i've made some headway. now on to the fun wii gc pin matching yay.

[emu_kidid]

So i've decided to spruce up my old gamecube after all these years, i got it a wode jukebox 2.0 for it.

Awesome and welcome to the site!

Start, remove the dvd rom permanently, i want to build this into a nice streamlined internal hdd mod. The method i used to connect my wode was splitting the flex cable for the (host) side of my wode main board. after a little trial i had a system and was splitting that cable good, soldered all my wires(is using old ata 100 ide cable torn apart) tested and sealed the cable. no shorts and all wires connected. Got my 2 other wires for the (host power) hooked up (2x 3.3v & 4x GND) i'm only using these 2 because i intend to nix the dvd altogether, thus i only need to power the modchip (So i'm not supplying 12v and 5v to the modchip through (host power)). Now comes question number 1, in the thread it says on the pinout where wire 29 is install a NC momentary switch with 1.9v on NO of that switch for the simulated wii eject button. Do i HAVE to have this on a switch. or seeing as i do not need an eject button can i just ground this permanently? the way i understand it it pin 29 is a sense wire looking for ground, when 1.9v is switched on it, the eject button press happens. oh it should also be noted that all of my wires are just about 5" including the flex cable. other than pin 32 which needs to reach the inverter board and pin 29 which i have yet to solve.

On the power cable, try supplying all the needed voltages, 3.3v,5v,12v. Yes, you can ground pin 29 permanently if you don't want eject. 5" wires should be ok.

Now for my symptoms.
My Wode seems to be working, i can browse on it and select things as i please. BUT when the gamecube sees it detecting a disc it immediately tells me to turn off the console and consult my instruction manual(which is not much help). With the SD card in on boot, it does this as well after a couple seconds, but with the sd card out i can move around the gamecube home menu all i want. I'm thinking this has something to do with disc sensing. because it's when my wode sends info for the gamecube is when the gamecube crashes. It should be noted i do have a "?" in my gamecube menu dvdrom tab. (not open tray). right now wire 29 is grounded and wire 24 is connected to it's spot on the dvd connector.

Re-check wiring on the gamecube side, verify 100% that there are no shorting wires or cold joins - took me a few days to track mine down, it was so annoyingly painful to find.

I'm making this mod internal i want it as sleek as possible. Would the gamecube motherboard give me enough 5v power to power a usb hub?(to power wode backlight and usb devices/hdd's) Without killing the motherboard of course.

I have done this and it's fine, but I've connected the 3.3v,5v & 12v to the wode where needed, this might make a difference.

Oh and a side project, anyone know how the gamecube component cable works? i don't have one but i think i could muster making my own, so long as no proprietary components are used.

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:nintendodigitalav it is a custom proprietary device.

[XeroOmega]

Some progress but still going. i've removed my dvd rom's connector, removed pins im not using, and wired it up. i cut about half an inch back in my cabling so i'm now at 4.5 inch. i've installed my usb power for the wode from 5 volt power off the regulator. I've removed my grounds from my dvd slot and looped them into a good ground cable, my (host power) on my wode is also attached to said ground. i hooked up 12 volt and 5 volt to my (host power) as recommended. feel good about the quality of all today work. i fired it up, as before, my wode works, and my cube. but. When the wode starts loading any rom or the config iso(just updated my wode today to newest firmware). it crashes tells me to power off and refer to manual(still not helping). is there anyway to get the cube to give me an error code for that error? with all the work i've done today i'm pretty sure it's a wire or 2 on my flex cable. which means when i feel up to it i'm going to take a pair o scissors to the ribbon, use a lot of flux and my iron to melt/clean away the insulation and wire anew, this time with a piece of double sided tape, folded with a little piece of cardboard in there. i do this because i'm going to reseal this time with brush on electrical tape. impossible to remove, but does a damn good job keeping wires in place/not bridging.
To clarify i have removed my 32pin flex cable setup off of the bottom of my motherboard and onto my dvdrom's slot that plugs into all those pins from the top and i've redone the area i was attached to and tested it with the dvd rom before i took the connector from it.

summary of current config:
on my regulator board i have 5v bridged with my usb and (host power) wires attaching there and i have the leftmost ground bridged with all on my ground wires attaching there.
12v, 5v, and 3.3v power are connected to (host power)
all grounds from (host) and (host power) are connected to a common ground **Pin 29 also attaches to this loop
pin 32 connects to 3.3v power from regulator board
my lid switch isn't yet connected but i do have pin 23 connected to pin 12
the gamecube dvd slot pinout is this i believe.

Gamecube slot(in gamecube pins)(top down facing motherbord)
1.3.5.7.9.11.13.15.17.19.21.23.25.27.29.31
2.4.6.8.10.12.14.16.18.20.22.24.26.28.30.32

Gamecube Slot(with wii pin #)
28.27.26.19.25.24.17.21.15.13.11.9.7.5.3.1
5v.5v.5v.5v.G.23.22.G.G.G.G.G.G.G.G.G

My Config (I removed pins from my connector as i wont be using them)
28.27.26.19.25.24.17.21.15.13.11.9.7.5.3.1
X.X.X.X.X.23.22.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Also emu_kidd thanks for the help, i look forward to getting it running, but for now it's a fun project.

[Ashen]

The only thing I'll argue here is that if you care about multidisc game support the eject button is needed.

You seem like you have things pretty much worked out and things are hooked up correct. So I'll ask this, Which firmware for the WODE are you using? I seem to remember having similar issues at first when I was using the read/write firmware for the WODE. Try using the Read only firmware, and if the new firmware revisions are not working proper try downgrading and go from there.

[XeroOmega]

so i chopped and rebuilt my flex cable today. no luck. my host power connector had a bent pin in it so i removed the connector and wired direct. my wode seems to be working, it loads up, loads iso's, but still i'm getting the message on screen. i updated from 2.8 read/write to 2.8 read only. no difference. my cube also decided to die for a little while. the power led would blink (and the wode) then both of them turned off, the only thing still running was the fan. i rechecked and re melted any points i've modified. all of them are fine. plugged it back in, working again. i can't seem to get around the "a problem has occurred, power down your console and refer to manual"(still not helping lol). i'm getting a little frustrated. everything has been redone/checked other than the flex. i know at least most of it is working as i have power to the wode and ground. my cables are attached in the right order(triple checked) unfortunately the probes on my multimeter arn't small enough to test the 32 pins on the flex cable. but i'm going to try again in a little while. the stock firmware also was having this issue. the only things not wired on are my lid switch and eject switch. Ashen i'll take your suggestion and wire in the eject button when i can find a switch. do i need to have pin 29 grounded (nc) AND have 1.9v(no) connected for the eject to function? i'm also going to wire in my lid switch in a bit to see if that makes a difference.

Thanks again for your help guys, unfortunately i'm still working on it. Ashen, could i ask how much your slot connectors will be? i may fall back to that if i stay unsuccessful.

[XeroOmega]

just checked my flex cable, i used the back of the wode (host) connector to check for continuity, i have 2 wires that are shorting, i suppose i'll cut the *bleeping* flex cable again and try to get it done right. 3rd times the charm..i hope. will report back when done.

[emu_kidid]

also, downgrade to 1.28 or something low on the Wode, the newest version seems to have issues with the gamecube.

[XeroOmega]

So i've rebuilt my flex cable for a third time, this time i got it. it's sturdy and nice and short free. i've ended up cutting it down to about 2.5 inches total. I tested every lead as i did them and throughout. no shorts/pins touching. no broken cable ends it's all good. but now i have a symptom with my cube. it now is only blinking the power light and shutting down(but the fan keeps running) i've checked around and all of my points are good/not touching. the only semi bad points are on the regulator board. ground and 5 volt are too big for my iron to heat thoroughly. thus i can only kind of melt it together. it is touching but may be a cold weld. all of the wires going into the wode have been checked for short. none detected. i'll give a try melting the 5 volt and 12 volt lines again soon. are there any other issues that would cause this? or possibly a fuse bunt out(though i don't see how i didn't have any power bridging other than to ground)
Fyi my cube has done this power thing to me 2 times before this, but seems to solve itself without my intervention. also i should note that 2 of the times it has done this i was at the unit and it was running. then poof off. and back to no power.

emu_kidd when i get the wode running i'll be sure to downgrade it, but i'll also do some testing as well.

[XeroOmega]

got my cube running, it ws my 5 volt line. was a cold weld so it was shorting out. i fixed the problem by taking my wires apart and soldering them 1wire to 1 pin. i've split up my cables on the regulator for ease and permanent soldering. i plugged my wode in and found it not working again. checked my flex cable again. pin 1 and 5 were touching. so i pulled off my brush on electrical tape and resealed those 2 wires. am going to try again when i get home from all you can eat sushi!

[emu_kidid]

yeah, like I said, there's always going to be a short somewhere, took me days to get mine sorted out as well.

[XeroOmega]

so i've check checked and rechecked all my wires, there are no shorts/touching wires. the only wires that ARE touching are 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20 and 29. they all go to the regulator spot. now for my symptoms, my gamecube is running but i keep getting the message. i've updated from 1.0 to 2.8 read/write, 2.8 r/w to 2.8 read-only, 2.8 r/o to 1.28, 1.28 to 1.0. none of the firmware is working. whats happens is the gamecube turns on then the wode right away. the blue light on the wode comes on as its booting(with no sd card in) when the blue led turns off the gamecube gives me the error. there is only 3 things i can think of that could be wrong but i don't know for sure. 1 all my ground pins go back to the regulator (not the dvd interface), could this be problem? and if yes can i bridge all the grounds on the bottom of the dvd interface and attach it back to my common ground at the regulator. 2 i don't have a sutible eject switch yet, though pin 29 is grounded there is no 1.9v n/c. 3 My case is not together, nor does it have screws in it, i have it apart for testing, am i missing something when the case isn't 100% together that would give me said error? other than that im at my wits end.

[megalomaniac]

i dont have experience in wode connection, but as far as electrical connection for your ground situation:
ground is ground..

they should all be tied together..
i dont think NOA would allow floating grounds in their design..(too many safety issues when kids are involved)

check to make sure all grounds have continuity from the regulator up to your solder joints..
if the common ground is tied into GND (which it should), then yes, it it would not be a problem to tie em all together...

as for pin29, that appears optional from what ive been reading and should not be part of the problem your experiencing...

the case not being screwed in has nothing to do with it (this i know for sure)




wish i could offer more info, but from an electrical standpoint, i have stated as much as i can to answer your concerns..
anyone like to add anything?

[Ashen]

Megalomaniac is correct in all his above statements. Just out of curiosity what revision is your motherboard? DOL-CPU-?? also, pal or ntsc? Do you have the region set correctly in the WODE settings? Other WODE settings are all correct?

[XeroOmega]

Ashen my mobo revision is a dol-001 rev a i think as it has the digital av and serial port 2, printed on the mobo is this "..c/dol-cpu-20". it's a usa console so ntsc, my region in the wode settings is region US, autoboot off, update off, game patching off(i think thats what it's called). and those are the only setting i can remember currently. what do you set your setting to? i wouldn't imagine i need anything set to on other than my region,.

To update, i have checked checked and re checked my wiring. no touching wires, no bad solders. everything is most defiantly connected to the right pins.(i've check about 2 or 3 dozen times now and of that about 5 tims i noticed issues. but they are since all fixed) i still get the error on boot of my GC. my blue led comes on, on the wode, when the wode finished loading this light gos off, and at exactly that time is when the error pop's up. I have shortened the dvd connector ground wire from connecting to the regulator to connecting to the back of the mobo on 1 wire that touches all 10 ground contacts(and nothing else). I have also hooked up my lid switch, don't quite know if it's working or not as it does not say open lid(in the gamecube menu) with the switch off or on. mind you i only have at most 10 seconds to check once the gamecube starts, because guaranteed it's going to give me the error again. i've re-flashed it, but not since i triple checked everything and re did some contacts. i'll try again tommrow(or later today as it's 7 am my time and i'm going to sleep). pin 29 is still connected to ground for lack of a switch(my regulator ground to be exact).

When you flash your wode does all the firmwares work every time? or some firmware revs work some don't, or intermittent like might require multiple flashes until it takes it/configures properly. Also just for curiosity sake what rev mobo is your wodes (not/)working with? thanks again for the help guys, i wish i could get this working. 5 days with my sweet wode mod going on, not even 1 partially successful attempt, ug. *sleep*

[XeroOmega]

So i picked up a wiikey fusion today to run some tests on this cube. seems to me i have a ipl 1.0 as neither the wiikey nor wode will run and my gamecube is most likely a dol-01 rev a(as stated in my previous post). Has almost the same symptoms, gamecube will error most of the time. on with lid switch closed, sometimes error sometimes not, but only 2 times have i been able to get it to go from "please insert a gamecube disc" to "reading disc". even on reading disc it didn't go anywhere and my wode(and now wiikey) have very little if any connectivity led(blue on both) blinking. BUT i have yet to hook up an eject switch, i'm going to pull a switch off an old computer mouse tonight and rig it up. Also i got a new flex cable with the wiikey, if i can't get it running i'll build a new adapter using a little higher gauge wire(and i'll want to have another adapter around for future use anyway). I'm getting another cube free off a friend in the next couple days. I don't know what version it is, but hey worth a test.

[XeroOmega]

Just an update, i installed my eject button, 1.9 from regulator to no, pin 29 to c, and ground to nc. no effect. i did notice a little cange in functionality.

when i start the gamecube with the lid switch closed and an sd card in the wiikey, the gamecube loads up fine, doesn't error, but wont read the disc(i'm making sure to press eject to init the wiikey), but does switch from inset a disc to reading. during this time the wiikey has turned on to solid blue light with no flickering. pressing eject does not change this.

When i start the gamecube with the lid switch open the gamubecube loads then error'. during this time the wiikey will turn on briefly(blue led lights up) then turns off(this is when the gamecube crashes). i've tried hitting eject before this happens to no avail.

i have yet to test the wode with the lid switch, but i don't imagine anything would have changed. now i'm splicing apart my new wiikey flex cable i got and am going to wire it up real slow and methodical like, with some ata100 ide cable(to correct myself from before, my original cable is made from ata133 ide cable much smaller single wire. but is also only about 3/4 inches long.), should be nice and clean. also im using my other soldering iron on 15 watt instead of the one i was using before at 30w as extra precaution.

[XeroOmega]

update again, Woot got the wiikey running, kinda. i might have a little cable touching somewhere requires further investigation. i can get it to boot most of the time, it will boot into the wiikey menu then restart when i select "mounting" the first try it detected the game(wind waker) and even tried to play it a little, the music was skipping at the opening screen then the gc gave me the standard error. another time i got could not read disc. so i think i have a little fiddling left to do, then i'm going to hook back up the wode and see if i can make i work. fyi i've checked my old and new cable, they both have continuity on each wire and none touch(but i have to check the new cable again), so maybe the wire size was my problem all along. who knows. well anyway back to testing, testing and re testing. after that once it's in 100% condition glue it up to a perfect cable. 1 more time WOOT! some success after almost a week.

[XeroOmega]

So i'm at a new point now, im glad i had the wiikey to test with otherwise i'de be pulling my hair out. my wiikey works about 90% occasionally i get the error message but it seems like it when it's loading not randomly from shutting off.. The wode still gets the symptoms i've posted before, gamecube boots wode loads up, when wode has finish loading(blue light turns off) the gamecube error's, lid switch open or closed doesn't make a difference. same with open/closed with a sd card in(i know it's compatible as the wode reads my iso from it). The wode has full functionality, even while the gamecube is still at error message. i can mount,eject,browse files. just not use it. i'm at 1.28 firmware currently. but i've tried 1.00 with same symptoms. i'm going to try going up the firmwares later to see if i can find a working one. fyi i just ran my wiikey again and it's working flawlessly.

[XeroOmega]

Update again, i've updated the wode firmware to 2.8a and that works!!. WOOT finally after a little over a week i have a working wode. now to dremel out the case and make it nice and sleek. Thanks for your help/suggestions guys.

[Ashen]

Pretty awesome man! Glad to hear you got it all working.

[psyko_chewbacca]

Is your IPL on that GameCube really 1.0? I do have a spare GC with IPL 1.0 I would like to install a Wode. I just don't want to buy the device to realize it can't be installed.

Congrats on your success!

[yamaharacer]

if it doesnt work I would say its cheaper to exchange the cube with another one that you can buy for cheap from ebay than to throw your wode away.

[XeroOmega]

Hi unfortunately back again, sorry psyko_chewbacca i have yet to run swiss on my console. but it IS a dol-001 rev A with dol-cpu-20 in it and NTSC. I can confirm both chips work with my gamecube, so seeing as it's yet unsupported i would imagine it's higher than 1.0. I agree with yamaharacer, GC's are easy to come by, i can find 10 in my city in about 5 minutes, cheap too, around or under the $20 mark(with controller, memcard and maybe a game or 2 with it), with the wode being pricey(but soo worth it when it runs), i also would replace the cube.

So i have run into a strange issue, first off, my cabling has ALL been tested, i have checked all my solder points(under a magnifying glass). I have checked my flex cable(it has hot glue that i intentionally re-melted with my iron to make smooth and shiny and fit down into all the grooves) also with the mag glass no problems, checked where my pins go to/from (even though i know they are correct as it was working in this exact configuration) and for shorts/bridging. Added another ground to my flexcable(i had left a little standoff on the end of my wire tinned and under glue for exactly the purpose of adding an extra/bigger ground if needed) i also tried moving that ground around a little(off the regulator, the edge of the mobo, now back to the dvd rom connector on the mobo, bridged to all the G pins.). nothing.
Edit: Just wanted to add, I am using 1 sd card for the tests, it's actually a micro sd (2 GB), in adapter. BUT this very card has worked in both chips to read games so i'm pretty sure it's not my problem.

What my gamecube is doing is:

Wode fw 2.8B: (2.8B RO works 2.8A R/W has issues)
- Start with lid switch open, Error
- Start with lid switch closed, gc boots, and runs without any errors no matter if i toggle the switch. the lid switch works as i go from no gamecube game inserted, to reading, then right after "cannot read disc", Eject does unmount an iso on the wode. The wode also does 1 read for every lid switch toggle i do, but never any data (0 KB)

WiiKey fw 1.0:
- Start with lid switch open or closed doesn't matter. Gc boots and runs fine. toggle switch closed, says reading then cannot read disc. i can press "eject" with the lid switch open and the wiikey turns on, but as soon as i close the switch, the wiikey flickers and off right away. For every time i open/close lid switch i get a little tiny blink on the blue wiikey led.

Now i had it running, on these wires, the only things i did was shorten a few of my wires and routed them nicely, bent the ide cable wires on my flex cable to the left to accommodate for my wode's position, and put more of the case back together(all screws in, other than 4 "secure" screws, back and front on, fan in place and bolted in, top off.) then it mysteriously started having this happen. And i have been testing it for about 2 nights now. to no avail. i'm going to prep up another flex cable off on the maybe 2 cm i have left of my wode one. so it'll be nice and short(like around 3-4cm in total length. FYI my current cable that was working is about 4 inches long.), but i don't think i can use bigger wire as the points are simply too small. ide cable(ata 100) seems to be just right. but just in case do you guys recommend i find some bigger wire?.
Edit: Also do think i should remove the dvd connector and wire straight to the motherboard? just thinking it could help make that much better contact with the mobo.

Whew that was a mouth full, none the less i'm confident i can get it running again, as i've managed to go through the loops of making my own process for making the cable, connections and so on. If you guys have any thoughts about my current predicament much appreciated if not i'll still post where my problem was, when i find it. Wish i could get my hands on a good ffc connector breadboard, but till then, flex cable cutting hackery afoot!