Qoob Chip

[Undead Sega]

So if I am correct guys, I'm guessing that this is the very latest version of the Qoob bios?

And like I asked previously, really out of curiosity, could this be theoretically flashed onto another IC chip and work? Or is there more to the bios in the ProASIC FPGA chip than meets the eye perhaps??

This is the latest version.

This is the PowerPC code that the chip will run - it is encrypted in a way that only the hardware can decode, if you figure it out then you can run it on something else, but why bother when there are newer things around like HyperBoot.

Thanks for that informative post emu_kidid, I was not aware that it was encrypted on a hardware level!

So the downloadable bios itself is encrypted, right?

Do we know if it's the ProASIC chip that does the decrypting? Or any of the other IC chips on the board perhaps?

HyperBoot is good, but there's no indication that it does functions for physical media, and if it works on the Panasonic Q.

[emu_kidid]

You can run Swiss on hyperboot and it should work on the Q just fine since Swiss supports the Q drive

[Undead Sega]

You can run Swiss on hyperboot and it should work on the Q just fine since Swiss supports the Q drive

Well it's also because I now own a Qoob Pro (broke the bank a bit) and would like to work with it.

About the bios again, it is encrypted?

And is it the ProASIC chip that does the decrypting? Or the other IC chips perhaps?

[emu_kidid]

You can run Swiss on hyperboot and it should work on the Q just fine since Swiss supports the Q drive

Well it's also because I now own a Qoob Pro (broke the bank a bit) and would like to work with it.

About the bios again, it is encrypted?

And is it the ProASIC chip that does the decrypting? Or the other IC chips perhaps?

It's the ProASIC. The .qcb files are encrypted/encoded in some way. You can make your own .qcb files without encryption (just the standard IPL encryption) and those work so it's probably a mix of the hardware doing something + the PPC code.

If you want to put Swiss on there as the first thing that boots, or iplboot on there, both are possible.

[Undead Sega]

You can run Swiss on hyperboot and it should work on the Q just fine since Swiss supports the Q drive

Well it's also because I now own a Qoob Pro (broke the bank a bit) and would like to work with it.

About the bios again, it is encrypted?

And is it the ProASIC chip that does the decrypting? Or the other IC chips perhaps?

It's the ProASIC. The .qcb files are encrypted/encoded in some way. You can make your own .qcb files without encryption (just the standard IPL encryption) and those work so it's probably a mix of the hardware doing something + the PPC code.

If you want to put Swiss on there as the first thing that boots, or iplboot on there, both are possible.

Ah so it is the ProASIC that does the decrypting.

I think you might mean the .gcb file.
IF this file was decrypted or reversed engineered, it could then be placed into other IC chip I suppose?
You imply that people has made their own .gcb files and placed it into the Qoob Pro??

Not interested in Swiss I'm afraid, I never understood it's hype. I really like the features that the Qoob provides.

[emu_kidid]

Ah so it is the ProASIC that does the decrypting.

I think you might mean the .gcb file.
IF this file was decrypted or reversed engineered, it could then be placed into other IC chip I suppose?
You imply that people has made their own .gcb files and placed it into the Qoob Pro??

Not interested in Swiss I'm afraid, I never understood it's hype. I really like the features that the Qoob provides.

Yes I mean .GCB files. I've made .GCB files. You can find one here for iplboot: https://github.com/redolution/iplboot/releases that will allow you to boot a DOL at startup from an SD card.

Do you realise that Swiss has just about all features that the Qoob Pro BIOS has and more?

[Undead Sega]

Ah so it is the ProASIC that does the decrypting.

I think you might mean the .gcb file.
IF this file was decrypted or reversed engineered, it could then be placed into other IC chip I suppose?
You imply that people has made their own .gcb files and placed it into the Qoob Pro??

Not interested in Swiss I'm afraid, I never understood it's hype. I really like the features that the Qoob provides.

Yes I mean .GCB files. I've made .GCB files. You can find one here for iplboot: https://github.com/redolution/iplboot/releases that will allow you to boot a DOL at startup from an SD card.

Do you realise that Swiss has just about all features that the Qoob Pro BIOS has and more?

I'm sooo confused, so you made your own Qoob files? That of is identical to the original and not encrypted??

I didn't think Swiss had the features of Qoob, I saw the two feature sets of the two and they didn't match. Mind you I'm still a physical media kind of person. The SD card launcher doesn't appeal to me much

Anyways, if we can get the Qoob Pro 1.3c bios reversed engineered, then the world is our oyster I believe?
It is my understanding that there's no available source code for the Qoob (please correct me if I am wrong).

[emu_kidid]

I'm sooo confused, so you made your own Qoob files? That of is identical to the original and not encrypted??

I'm saying their specific BIOS (.GCB) is encrypted beyond the standard IPL XOR used. They didn't want people decrypting it completely. If you make one using the standard IPL algorithm then it's fine and it will boot, this is how you can put your own custom BIOS on the qoob. I've been running IPLboot on mine for years and just load things over my USB Gecko to it for dev purposes. You could run iplboot, have an SD card and boot to Swiss immediately.

I didn't think Swiss had the features of Qoob, I saw the two feature sets of the two and they didn't match. Mind you I'm still a physical media kind of person. The SD card launcher doesn't appeal to me much

Swiss can boot from DVD if you're into physical media, it can boot from DVD-R and whatever too. It can even browse and launch DOL files from the Qoob Flash. It also has the most comprehensive support for video mode patches and supports most if not all storage devices you can connect to a GameCube.

Anyways, if we can get the Qoob Pro 1.3c bios reversed engineered, then the world is our oyster I believe?
It is my understanding that there's no available source code for the Qoob (please correct me if I am wrong).

It's not worth it, the Qoob BIOS is very outdated and there's no source. I suggest you try Swiss using any means you can before you pursue decrypting an outdated closed source BIOS from 2005.

[codetvirus]

I hope you don't mind, I have just made a little change to your ELF! Now it shows the text "QOOB SX iplboot upgrade" instead of "QOOB SX upgrade to 1.3c" which it not true!
QOOB_SX_IPLBOOT_UPGRADE.jpg
I also build an ISO everyone can burn on DVD and upgrade:
QOOB_SX_IPLBOOT_UPGRADE_ISO.rar

Hi, with this and a SD Gecko can i boot directly to Swiss? I have the Qoob SX version. Thanks in advance.

[Papy.G]

The disc image there is one that boots itself and updates the bios, not a boot forwarder.

If you can run backup discs and don't want to setup a GameExploit, there's a Disc image in the GBI extras that forwards to SD Gecko/SD2SP2.

[schooluser]

Man this place seems to be jumping compared to a while back...

So does anyone have a ready made iso file with the latest qoobSX iplboot on it so I can just download that, burn it, and pop it into my gamecube and update to IPLboot?

I saw the post by toxic9 but is that actually the latest version?

[PlatypusWithCheese]

Man this place seems to be jumping compared to a while back...

So does anyone have a ready made iso file with the latest qoobSX iplboot on it so I can just download that, burn it, and pop it into my gamecube and update to IPLboot?

I saw the post by toxic9 but is that actually the latest version?

iplboot r5.2(Jun 16, 2018) is the last compiled version. but if the version in the image works for you use that.
the current version of the code for IPLboot with SD2SP2 support can't fit into the qoob SX chip.
i would say put swiss on a disc and boot using that. any new versions can be put on an sd card and be named boot.dol and swiss on disc will automatically boot that.

[schooluser]

iplboot r5.2(Jun 16, 2018) is the last compiled version. but if the version in the image works for you use that.
the current version of the code for IPLboot with SD2SP2 support can't fit into the qoob SX chip.
i would say put swiss on a disc and boot using that. any new versions can be put on an sd card and be named boot.dol and swiss on disc will automatically boot that.

Thank you!

I want to bypass all disc use.

I downloaded his ISO, and I will try that if the 5.2 doesn't work, but I'm not sure if he's got 5.0 or what on it, I will swap it with the 5.2 elf and burn it and see if it works fine when I get a chance.

[Undead Sega]

@emu_kidid So sorry for not replying sooner! Things got pretty busy during that time and didn't manage to get back here...Apologies!

I'm sooo confused, so you made your own Qoob files? That of is identical to the original and not encrypted??

I'm saying their specific BIOS (.GCB) is encrypted beyond the standard IPL XOR used. They didn't want people decrypting it completely. If you make one using the standard IPL algorithm then it's fine and it will boot, this is how you can put your own custom BIOS on the qoob. I've been running IPLboot on mine for years and just load things over my USB Gecko to it for dev purposes. You could run iplboot, have an SD card and boot to Swiss immediately.

That's a shame I would've thought someone by now would've decrypted it and make modifications (probably to have stuff that Swiss is doing), probably that was the idea if that was possible all those years back?

I didn't think Swiss had the features of Qoob, I saw the two feature sets of the two and they didn't match. Mind you I'm still a physical media kind of person. The SD card launcher doesn't appeal to me much

Swiss can boot from DVD if you're into physical media, it can boot from DVD-R and whatever too. It can even browse and launch DOL files from the Qoob Flash. It also has the most comprehensive support for video mode patches and supports most if not all storage devices you can connect to a GameCube.

I think you may have misunderstood me, I'm into physical media as in I like to boot games from discs, and not referring to Swiss, I don't like the idea of having the disc in and use SD cards. Is there no way to have Swiss boot without having to use disc and straight from a modchip by any chance? (just like the Qoob).

Anyways, if we can get the Qoob Pro 1.3c bios reversed engineered, then the world is our oyster I believe?
It is my understanding that there's no available source code for the Qoob (please correct me if I am wrong).

It's not worth it, the Qoob BIOS is very outdated and there's no source. I suggest you try Swiss using any means you can before you pursue decrypting an outdated closed source BIOS from 2005.

So there is no source code for the Qoob?

I have looked into Swiss and I do like a couple of things that it's able to do.

[emu_kidid]

That's a shame I would've thought someone by now would've decrypted it and make modifications (probably to have stuff that Swiss is doing), probably that was the idea if that was possible all those years back?

Swiss and other tools have long superseded the functionality of the Qoob BIOS hence no interest in decrypting it.

I think you may have misunderstood me, I'm into physical media as in I like to boot games from discs, and not referring to Swiss, I don't like the idea of having the disc in and use SD cards. Is there no way to have Swiss boot without having to use disc and straight from a modchip by any chance? (just like the Qoob).

You can get something like the HyperBoot mod and then use iplboot on it as the BIOS which will load Swiss from an SD card.

So there is no source code for the Qoob?

Nope, no source for Qoob, it's closed source and now 15 years old, everything Qoob achieved at the time has been done again in Swiss, and is open sourced.

I have looked into Swiss and I do like a couple of things that it's able to do.

Great, Swiss is somewhat actively maintained so please create an issue (on github) for anything you feel is lacking or broken.

[Undead Sega]

That's a shame I would've thought someone by now would've decrypted it and make modifications (probably to have stuff that Swiss is doing), probably that was the idea if that was possible all those years back?

Swiss and other tools have long superseded the functionality of the Qoob BIOS hence no interest in decrypting it.

I think you may have misunderstood me, I'm into physical media as in I like to boot games from discs, and not referring to Swiss, I don't like the idea of having the disc in and use SD cards. Is there no way to have Swiss boot without having to use disc and straight from a modchip by any chance? (just like the Qoob).

You can get something like the HyperBoot mod and then use iplboot on it as the BIOS which will load Swiss from an SD card.

So there is no source code for the Qoob?

Nope, no source for Qoob, it's closed source and now 15 years old, everything Qoob achieved at the time has been done again in Swiss, and is open sourced.

I have looked into Swiss and I do like a couple of things that it's able to do.

Great, Swiss is somewhat actively maintained so please create an issue (on github) for anything you feel is lacking or broken.

So it is my understanding that you always need a disc in the drive to boot Swiss?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but if this is the case, Is there anyway to have it load straight from a modchip in the same vein that Qoob or Viper does (i.e. bypass the original GC bios and straight to the alternative)??

[Papy.G]

No, current alternatives boot:
- from a disc first then off the SD
- from a chip to boot off the SD
- from an optical drive replacement's SD

That's why some people aren't that enthusiastic about harmodding their cubes when Softmods fullfill their needs. (Yes, I know I can't boot burned discs from the power on and have the utmost privilege of killing my drive's laser, but no thanks. )

Then I wonder if it is possible, since the Xeno chip can alter some of the Disc's data, with enough memory, would it be able to inject a full iso instead, where there is a loader to boot off an SD adapter?
Or the Xeno only alters data on the drive's firmware bus, and can't alter a full disc's data this way, nor fully simulate a disc.

[Undead Sega]

No, current alternatives boot:
- from a disc first then off the SD
- from a chip to boot off the SD
- from an optical drive replacement's SD

This one got me thinking, especially the second point you've made.

Are you saying that you can put Swiss on a modchip (i.e. boots straight to Swiss OS) and play games from discs?

If that's the case, why hasn't this been done more (except for the fact that not everyone can hard mod)? And what chis can you put it on perhaps??

[badsector]

All the IPL mod chips they are mostly unavailable. Whenever mega is shipping Hyperboot that would be your best friend: https://www.badassconsoles.com/gamecube/

[Papy.G]

This one got me thinking, especially the second point you've made.
Are you saying that you can put Swiss on a modchip (i.e. boots straight to Swiss OS) and play games from discs?

No, I said current alternatives only offer forwarder to launch off an SD card (except the third, where the drive replacement alter the "normal behavior" of the Cube, still, it loads oof an SD card too, at the end.
Anyways, it isn't recommended to run SWISS off a chip flash, since it is updated every now and then, and flashing a chip is not as easy as replacing a file on an SD card, plus it has a limited write operations and you may shorten its lifespan doing so.

[Undead Sega]

All the IPL mod chips they are mostly unavailable. Whenever mega is shipping Hyperboot that would be your best friend: https://www.badassconsoles.com/gamecube/

Well I so happen to have a IPL mod chip being the Qoob Pro, it took me a while to obtain one at a bit of a price too (however that's because it was already installed inside a gamecube, along with a full size disc shell). I've already looked at the Hyperboot, I'm not too keen on it myself unfortunately

This one got me thinking, especially the second point you've made.
Are you saying that you can put Swiss on a modchip (i.e. boots straight to Swiss OS) and play games from discs?

No, I said current alternatives only offer forwarder to launch off an SD card (except the third, where the drive replacement alter the "normal behavior" of the Cube, still, it loads oof an SD card too, at the end.
Anyways, it isn't recommended to run SWISS off a chip flash, since it is updated every now and then, and flashing a chip is not as easy as replacing a file on an SD card, plus it has a limited write operations and you may shorten its lifespan doing so.

I'm a bit confused, do you mean to boot games off an SD card? Or for Swiss to boot off an SD card??

Regardless if it's recommended or not, can it be flashed onto a mod chip and be booted from there?
Also, couldn't the updating be done by using the optical drive i.e. burning the updated file onto a disc and placing it in the console and make SWISS update itself from that?

[Papy.G]

The full size disc shell may be the most valuable part of your Setup.

I meant to boot SWISS off an SD card, only the disc drive replacement can boot games directly off its SD.

I don't know if many (if one ever) chips have enough memory to put SWISS in its current version/release. Burning an update disc to flash each release may be quite useless if you can flash straight from an SD card as well. There again you'd better just launch SWISS off this very SD.

[Undead Sega]

I don't know if many (if one ever) chips have enough memory to put SWISS in its current version/release. Burning an update disc to flash each release may be quite useless if you can flash straight from an SD card as well. There again you'd better just launch SWISS off this very SD.

Well couldn't replace the flash memory for a bigger sized one?

[Papy.G]

The flash memory is built in the chip. Replacing the flash means changing the whole chip.

[webhdx]

Papy.G: Qoob SX has dedicated parallel flash memory chip. It's possible to replace it but I'm not sure if it will be usable. I bet flashing tool is checking the file size so it might be required to use external flash programmer. Same story goes for Viper GC, if I'm not mistaken two use the same flash chip (SST 39VF010). I was actually thinking about doing it but first I need to go through other DIY Projects.