Gamecube newbie

[endragor]

Hi all,
I am new in the forum and also on Nintendo's console in general. I've bought a GCN last week and i get a SD Media Launcher with it, but i don't really know how to use it well.
I followed a guide that made me install swiss and sd gecko on my sd card then i copied the ISO of a game (Mario Kart double dash) in the specified folder and i was able to launch it from the homebrew. Now i have some question on how the homebrew works.

1) The game don't allow me to save games on SD Launcher (plugged in A slot) also doesn't allow me to save on the memory card plugged in slot B. Am i missing something to make the homebrew save games ?

2) I tried to launch another game (Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes) but after the Konami screen the game stops and shows an error about some insufficient size of supported memory. There is something to do before launching games ?

I hope i've wrote in the right section of the forum and thanks for the replies.

[emu_kidid]

1.) You can't save to SD cards, have the SD adapter in slot B.
2.) Swiss isn't compatible with every game, but be sure to be using the latest build from here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1375

[novenary]

Most games can only save to a memory card in slot A. As emu_kidid said, you cant' save to an SD card so swap the slots you're plugging stuff into.

[endragor]

Thanks for the replies i've swapped the sd media launcher in the slot B and the gc memory card in the slot A and seems to be ok now. I am running the latest nightly (r326) and in the compatibility list metal gear is marked as "working" in yellow. As I understand it means that it works with some limitations, but i have no clue of what kind of limitations are.
I'm considering to buy 8cm dvd-r for burning the games i have in iso as I understand it works better than launch the backups from sd card, am i right ?
In that case i found this: http://www.amazon.it/TDK-DVD-R-1-4GB-CM ... mini+dvd-r
Are this dvds good for the task ?

[novenary]

The compatibility list is outdated. I haven't messed too much with metal gear but the only compatibility issue I know of is that dual disc games are apparently not supported in Swiss (but I haven't looked into it too much). There was support at one point and there are still traces of it in the code base but I can't seem to make it work.

[endragor]

Do you think that burning the iso files to a phisical disc and launch them with gcos will make some difference? Naively i thought that it was enough to start the homebrew to launch any iso, but i'm realizing that the process is closer to emulation concepts instead of a classic reading backup's mod.

[novenary]

You can, but use Swiss not gcos.
Swiss is not an emulator in any way, it modifies games to make them read from the SD card. Some games have quirks that make it more complicated though.

[endragor]

Ok i think i'll run some tests burning the iso files. I just bought maxell 8cm dvd, 16 pieces for 11€ which i think is a very good price and give me some room for testing. Caming from x360 lt+ experience and having a liteOn iHas 124b burner with custom firmware i'm used to check media type and id for my backups and i read somewhere that gc backups also depends on the media id of the dvds, but i also read that sometimes you have to tweak the console's POT but i don't understand how to know when you have to tweak it. Did you ever have to do that ?

[Kiara1970]

Hi.

I´ve used this Maxell on 2 black and one Silver Cube and after the POT Adjust (Lasertweak) they´ll work very well..Please burn the DVD-R from 1x to max 2x Speed if your Burner can handle it.With 4x you have many Errors while playing....

Another Option are this Verbatim
http://www.amazon.it/Verbatim-DVD-R-1-4 ... atim+1.4gb

The Maxell and the Verbatim have at the Moment the same Manufacturer Code CMC MAG. AF1.I´ll buy this one 4-5 Times from 2014 to this Year.


This one from TDK

http://www.amazon.it/Maxell-registrabil ... xell+1.4gb

have the Code RITEKG04 01.I´ve used this BEFORE i´ve got a Burner that supports 1x-2x writing Speed.This one works on my black Gamecubes.But after a while i read read Errors.....

From my point of view i prefer the Verbatim.

[endragor]

Thanks for the feedback Kiara. I didn't know there were differences between black, silver and purple cubes. When I bought it I had the opportunity to choose which color i want and I opted for the purple one since it was the original color as i remember. My burner supports both the 1x and 2x writing since it mounts a custom firmware in order to burn the x360 backups. Since i have an original game (The Legend Of Zelda Wind Waker) adjusting the POT for reading the maxell dvds makes the other discs unreadable ?

[megalomaniac]

I didn't know there were differences between black, silver and purple cubes.

there is no difference between black purple or silver GameCube other than the physical color.....

[endragor]

I didn't know there were differences between black, silver and purple cubes.

there is no difference between black purple or silver GameCube other than the physical color.....

Ok then, i thought it was so because Kiara has specified many times the color of the console. My bad!

[Kiara1970]

Every Gamecube Drive is different how good it reads the DVD-Rs (how old it is,how the POT is adjusted etc.)
If i remember,the POT Value is between 170 and 210 Ohms.
And thats why i wrote the Black and the Silver:
My two Black GCs had to be adjusted to ~220 Ohms
My Silver GC had to be adjusted to ~240 Ohms
My friend have two Black GC they works with DVD-Rs at 240 Ohms.

The next Value is the DVD Burner and the Writing Speed.

Please search the Internet about this theme,everybody has different Values and Experiences.

This was MY Experiences with the Gamecube.
And in my opinion,the POT Tweak doesn´t effect the ORIGINAL Discs.

[jlo138]

Since i have an original game (The Legend Of Zelda Wind Waker) adjusting the POT for reading the maxell dvds makes the other discs unreadable ?

Adjusting the POT for ANY DVDs can make original games unreadable, yes. Just don't over adjust. Once you find a good brand you like, you'll have to pot tweak for that brand as each may require slightly different adjustments overall. Adjust it in small increments and test after each... Personally, I know it's done pretty good when load times aren't slow AND your able to get through video cutscenes without issues. Then your original games should still work fine. Switch brands and you might have to start the process over.

[megalomaniac]

specifying a color has nothing to do with identifying a hardware difference because there is no hardware difference other than the DOL-CPU- 30 models where some had serial port 2 and some did not have serial port 2.
After this was the move between DOL-001 to DOL-101 which does contain hardware differences but not in any way identified only by color..
there are also drives where the factory pot setting was about 600ohms and some with the pot setting of about 240ohms...
most of the drives were adjusted to a higher value after an approximate serial number range (info is on my other PC) possibly because of analysis performed from the GC sent in for warranty repair...

the life of the laser is never known unless you have owned a NIB GC which has never been used...then you can assume it has full laser life...
with any other GC you come across in a sale or auction you will never know what to expect from the laser nor can you even assume what pot value you will require to get the drive to read an original disc...i had to adjust the pot down once to about 50 ohm just to read original disc...
you also can never know the clarity of the lens or any small dirt debris at the laser diode...

point to take here is you never know the condition of the laser based on color of the shell and you will never know its past history of usage....
with this in mind you will never know what value will be required to adjust the pot in order for the drive to read an original or backup disc...
there is no magic number to use to read discs....
there is a typical value that usually works but it not always the case...


adjust your pot to whatever setting is required so the drive can successfully read the disc...

[Kiara1970]

point to take here is you never know the condition of the laser based on color of the shell and you will never know its past history of usage....
with this in mind you will never know what value will be required to adjust the pot in order for the drive to read an original or backup disc...
there is no magic number to use to read discs....
there is a typical value that usually works but it not always the case...


adjust your pot to whatever setting is required so the drive can successfully read the disc...

You´re absolutely right.Thats the point.

Myself hat the most experience with the "Black".Second Hand Purple Cubes are not "common" here in Austria
Never mention the color,the thing is,as you say,to get a working Value you have to use "Try and Error".

@endragor

When your Burner supports 1x write speed,use it,the Cube will thank you.

[endragor]

I'll definitely do as you said Kiara, since I have absolutely no hurry. Thank you all for your answers, now i'm just waiting for the dvds to be delivered. I'll let you know the results as soon as i can.

[XC-3730C]

What DVD burners support writing at 1x or 2x? I wanna get an IDE burner for my old school PC. I have RiData mini DVD-R discs that support 1x-4x.

[endragor]

I've made a couple of burning tests and i definitely need to adjust the POTs value. I'm going to do it next weekend.

What DVD burners support writing at 1x or 2x? I wanna get an IDE burner for my old school PC. I have RiData mini DVD-R discs that support 1x-4x.

I use a LiteOn iHas 124b with a custom firmware which i tweaked for make possible to burn Ritek's disc at 1x or 2.4x, but i am sure you could find a burner less expensive and which doesn't require such mod.