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"No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:35 pm
by mat8888
I just got my mini dvds. I burned swiss iso to the disk with CDBurnerXP at 2x, and verified the files on another computer [swiss.dol and one other catalog file].

So I put in the disc and it says "No disc." My brother installed the xenoGC with no wires a week ago, and the color led turns from red to orange when booting. So I hold down "Start" and I read I'm supposed to get a version screen, but I get nothing, it boots normally.

I checked the pot when it was open a week ago, I believe it was like 180 ohms. I figured I would leave it since this seemed to be acceptable, judging from the posts of other people on various forums.

Anyway what should I do now?

also, they are the the mini dvd-r from DX.com. I've heard numerous reports the discs themselves work well with homebrew gamecube. here they are for reference: http://dx.com/p/mini-dvd-r-10-pack-spin ... -1-8x-4483

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:50 pm
by AC_Orange
If it changes from red to orange, means the chip is doing it's job. I would try a backup of a normal game if you suspect media is the problem.

What did you use to create the bootable swiss disc? I have had problems in the past but had success following infact's guide:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=657

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:18 pm
by emu_kidid
If there was an issue with the image layout it wouldn't have said "No Disc". Boot an original and hold start for a long time (until after the game was meant to have started, what are you greeted with?)

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:30 pm
by siphoned
Wasn't there an issue with the ntsc iso downloaded from google.code? Is that the one your using?

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:36 pm
by emu_kidid
the NTSC one would freeze the GameCube, use PAL but to be honest it sounds like it can't read your media. if you open the lid after the No Disc is shown, the disc would not be spinning, i.e. it couldn't be read. Get some better media cause DX.com always sells cheap stuff :P (I didn't even know they sold DVD Discs!)

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:54 pm
by mat8888
siphoned wrote:Wasn't there an issue with the ntsc iso downloaded from google.code? Is that the one your using?
Yes in fact I did indeed use the NTSC from the 7z archive on google code. :-S

So what should I do? burn the PAL version and try it?
emu_kidid wrote:If there was an issue with the image layout it wouldn't have said "No Disc". Boot an original and hold start for a long time (until after the game was meant to have started, what are you greeted with?)
I had to hook it up to my TV [I've been using a usb composite device], because after I held it, it went black, then it flickered, then I got the grey bars [which means that the device couldn't lock on to signal.]

After I plugged it into my big tv instead, it went to a very fuzzy screen that said xenoGC shell 1.05. then I can boot the game. So the xenoGC works.

Now the question is, did I get a bad .iso? Was it because I used CDBurnerXP instead of IMGBurn? I did burn @ 2x, and it took 6 or 7 minutes to burn the roughly 5 or 10MB iso file. Burned on Win 7 x64, desktop dvd burner [Samsung, I can post the model # if you want it].

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:25 pm
by mat8888
AC_Orange wrote:If it changes from red to orange, means the chip is doing it's job. I would try a backup of a normal game if you suspect media is the problem.

What did you use to create the bootable swiss disc? I have had problems in the past but had success following infact's guide:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=657
I used the included .iso in the latest 7z archive from here:

https://code.google.com/p/swiss-gc/downloads/list

ISO/swiss(ntsc).iso

Using http://cdburnerxp.se/en/home I figured that program would work, since I already had it installed and didn't want to install another burning program.

Edit:

I made my own .iso from the swiss.dol on google code.
I followed the instructions from the wiki http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... ebrew_disc

I downloaded imgBurn. I burned at 2x. It successfully verified the disc after burning [also took about 7 minutes--kinda weird considering it was only a 896KB iso file].

Now, it still reads "NO DISC" in my gamecube. Here is the file if anyone wants to check the integrity somehow:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/2as2t ... -swiss.iso
5d2efbfbcd63f0e0cdaabf4de3fe865a my-swiss.iso

I'm thinking the next step is to open up the gamecube again and turn the potentiometer down 10 to 15 Ω, and try it. But I'm certain it was below 200 [It was either 180 or 160 Ω when I measured it]. Seems like it is pretty low already [as some stock are like 300 Ω, or so I've read].

Please advise me what to do? Thanks.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:00 am
by siphoned
I burned your iso to a RITEKG04 mini disc and loaded it on a xeno cube. It boots to swiss no problem. Doesn't look like the image is the problem. Looks like it is the POT or bad media. Yes?

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:07 am
by mat8888
@siphoned, I appreciate it.. I'm pretty positive the ones I have are CMC MAG AF1. Anyway, I am going to tweak the pot. But not right now, because I have to get up early tomorrow. So maybe tomorrow I'll be able to do it, and hopefully then my discs will boot.
:)

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:21 am
by emu_kidid
CMC MAG AF1 are the cheaper Ritek which will need a better laser to read them. You can put the pot down to 50 ohms and work up from there, but it sounds like you need a new laser, or clean the laser at least.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:29 am
by mat8888
emu_kidid wrote:CMC MAG AF1 are the cheaper Ritek which will need a better laser to read them. You can put the pot down to 50 ohms and work up from there, but it sounds like you need a new laser, or clean the laser at least.
Oh like with a Q-tip (and rubbing alcohol? I'll try that before I take it apart.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:49 am
by emu_kidid
Yep

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:22 am
by detonatorinf
Try ImgBurn and look the log for supported writing speeds too. I use those mini-DVDs and they only started to work when i downgraded my DVD burner firmware to the first version.

ImgBurn shows the options for burning at 2x but when i started to burn the disc it changed the speed to 4x.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:21 am
by noobcube
Sometimes the GC laser will read DVD-Rs better if set higher instead of lower. Usually there is a "sweet spot" for each disc type. Try a variety of values using 50 ohm increments and note the changes. When you're getting close, it should start to read rather than seek and give up (no disc). Then reduce the increments and adjust until reading becomes most reliable.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:01 am
by mat8888
detonatorinf wrote:Try ImgBurn and look the log for supported writing speeds too. I use those mini-DVDs and they only started to work when i downgraded my DVD burner firmware to the first version.

ImgBurn shows the options for burning at 2x but when i started to burn the disc it changed the speed to 4x.
I did read the log. It said successfully set speed to 2x.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:54 pm
by detonatorinf
ImgBurn shows the options for burning at 2x but when i started to burn the disc it changed the speed to 4x.
I did read the log. It said successfully set speed to 2x.
[/quote]


I said log. But actually is this info.

Image

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:37 pm
by mat8888
detonatorinf wrote:
ImgBurn shows the options for burning at 2x but when i started to burn the disc it changed the speed to 4x.
I did read the log. It said successfully set speed to 2x.

I said log. But actually is this info.

Image[/quote]

ok:
Image

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:21 pm
by mat8888
First, it was already at 180 ohms. so I put the pot down to [roughly] 70, it didn't work. then I tried 55, and then about 30. all of them didn't work.

I tried to clean the lens with a qtip and water, because I couldn't find any rubbing alcohol, and I dried it of course with the other end. it reads my super smash disc fine, but neither of the 2 boot discs I burned.

So I'm gonna try burning it on a laptop, instead of the desktop..

Argh... so maybe the media ID is different after all??
Image

is the media id AML? and could this be why I am having trouble?

What I can't figure out is why people on the reviews all say it works fine with their gamecube: http://184.173.71.251/feedbacks/BrowseR ... x/sku.4483

Maybe I should try raising the ohms? couldn't hurt, right?

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:49 pm
by detonatorinf
mat8888 wrote:First, it was already at 180 ohms. so I put the pot down to [roughly] 70, it didn't work. then I tried 55, and then about 30. all of them didn't work.

I tried to clean the lens with a qtip and water, because I couldn't find any rubbing alcohol, and I dried it of course with the other end. it reads my super smash disc fine, but neither of the 2 boot discs I burned.

So I'm gonna try burning it on a laptop, instead of the desktop..

Argh... so maybe the media ID is different after all??
Image

is the media id AML? and could this be why I am having trouble?

What I can't figure out is why people on the reviews all say it works fine with their gamecube: http://184.173.71.251/feedbacks/BrowseR ... x/sku.4483

Maybe I should try raising the ohms? couldn't hurt, right?
No. Your media ID (AML) is the same i use. When i took the screenshot i used other minidvd brand. And you can burn in 2x too. So probably you are burning right.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:52 pm
by megalomaniac
mat8888 wrote: So I hold down "Start" and I read I'm supposed to get a version screen, but I get nothing, it boots normally.
dont assume your xeno is properly installed until you have verified this

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 3:07 pm
by mat8888
Good news, as a lost resort I tried burning from a laptop instead of my desktop.
What do you know? It boots at 65ohms!

My bro is putting it back together now. The one thing tho, it said there was no sd gecko present.
Does it need to be in slot A?

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:36 pm
by siphoned
SD Gecko can be in slot A or B. Swiss will find it and read from either slot.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:49 pm
by mat8888
Got it working. But each time I boot I have to manually select it from slot B. There's no way to do it any easier is there?

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:28 am
by alzen
Personally I use 90-120 ohms for the pot since like 1 month - good results. It's said to be dangerous value. A friend of mine suggested me that settings as he was using it no his own. Guess it's not so dangerous as people think.

Re: "No Disc" - pot or xenogc at fault?

Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:23 am
by siphoned
When I load Swiss from disc, it finds the SD card in A or B and loads it. Maybe you can set the SDGecko as default device and save preferences. Not sure about that.