Ok, since no one has any GC development hardware to sell me, I have started to look at alternatives. It seems that there are only two ways that I could develop on the Gamecube: - Use the PSO/BBA or SD adapter trick - Use a modded GC I tire quickly of swapping disks and have a moral objection to buying the game which ruined the Phantasy Star series. I don't have a problem going the modchip route though and I like the thought of having a crystal clear cased GC sitting next to my Xbox Debug Kit. So, has anyone here played around with either of the two GC modchips as far as development is concerned? I don't care about backing up or playing retail games, just development.
I don't understand what you mean by "played around with either of the two GC modchips as far as development is concerned." Modchips have no special facillities for development. Development through a modchip will be just like development through an Action Replay or one of the numerous other ways to load DOLs.
Well like Kyuusaku said it matters not. ...Personally I have one old GC fitted with a Viper just to f*ck around with, but the worlds your oyster as far as GC Dev goes.
Basically, I just want to know how easy it is to load games from the network and if the chips have any remote debugging capabilities.
³ - COBRA FOR VIPER GC V1.2 - ³ ³ ³ ³ 8th of may, 2005 ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[WHAT'S NEW ?]------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ - Multi-disc games support ³ ³ - Introducing Cobra Plug-in System: put a GC program (Game Ripper, ³ ³ MP3 Player, Network loader, etc.) directly in Viper GC Memory! ³ ³ - Full Panasonic Q support ³ ³ - Supports disc changing from homebrew applications ³ ³ - A lot of backend changes (the VGC is smaller now!) and some bugfixes. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[FEATURES]----------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ - Direct boot of all media, without swapping! ³ ³ - Automatic Media Detection: Insert disc, turn on GC and play! ³ ³ - Supports all regions PAL / USA / JAP ³ ³ - Play originals or backups from any region, thanks to the built-in ³ ³ region-free feature ³ ³ - Built-in Audio Fix, that could be Enabled/Disabled in the Config ³ ³ Menu for full backward compatibility with your old backups. ³ ³ - Fully compatible with multi-disc games ³ ³ - Unique MultiBoot feature: put several games on one single disc! ³ ³ - Cobra Plug-in System: put your GC program (Game Ripper, MP3 Player, ³ ³ Network loader, etc.) directly in Viper GC Memory! ³ ³ - Disc Explorer to browse the content of original GC discs or DVDs and ³ ³ that allows you: ³ ³ - To flash your Viper GC by burning the flash file on a DVD ³ ³ - To execute homebrew programs (.DOL) from DVD, and enjoy many ³ ³ already-released homebrew productions! ³ ³ - To play music (ADPCM files aligned on a 32kb boundary) ³ ³ - To run the game you want from a MultiBoot compilation ³ ³ - To load cheat codes from disc into Viper GC Memory ³ ³ - To load a cobra plug-in from disc into Viper GC Memory ³ ³ - Powerful Cheat Code System compatible with Action Replay codes, ³ ³ codes are stored in the Viper GC Flash so no memory card is needed! ³ ³ - Cheat codes can be either entered using Cobra Menus or loaded from ³ ³ a file using the Disc Explorer ³ ³ - BIOS Configuration stored into the Viper GC Flash ³ ³ - Selectable default boot action (Main menu, Boot disc, Original BIOS, ³ ³ Disc Explorer) and special boot action (when the X key is held) ³ ³ - Calls Original BIOS Game Loader for 100% compatibility ³ ³ - Supports all hardware revisions (including DOL-101 and Panasonic Q) ³ ³ - Idle-bug free ³ ³ - User-Friendly GUI ³ ³ ³ ³ A Swap disc option was left in (called "Change Disc" as you could also ³ ³ replace a backup with another backup) to be totally backward compatible.³ ³ ³ ³ So what do you need exactly ? ³ ³ - A Viper GC chip ³ ³ - This very flash file ³ ³ - Some Compatible Media and a DVD-burner ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[USER MANUAL]-------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ - If you want to use full-size DVD-R you can remove the top of the ³ ³ console. This week team Xtender should be releasing their officially ³ ³ Viper GC branded replacement case that works with full-size DVD-R! ³ ³ ³ ³ - Flash the Viper GC with this BIOS then remove the parallel port ³ ³ connector from the programmer. If you prefear you can flash this ³ ³ BIOS from DVD if you have Cobra 0.3+ already running on your chip. ³ ³ We've heard Viper Team will release an USB programmer for the chip ³ ³ soon if you prefear USB. ³ ³ ³ ³ - Turn on your GC with the disc you want to run. It can be an ³ ³ original or a backup. While turning on your GC : ³ ³ - Hold Y to go to Main Menu (if it's not your Default Boot mode) ³ ³ - Hold X for the other boot mode (can be set in Config Menu) ³ ³ - Don't hold anything for Default Boot Action ³ ³ ³ ³ - If you want to use the old Swap Trick Method (for discs that are ³ ³ not full or that have problems to sync with the Direct Disc Boot) ³ ³ boot your GC with an original disc. Then choose the "Change Disc" ³ ³ option and follow the instructions. After the swap is done, you ³ ³ can select Direct Disc Boot option again. ³ ³ ³ ³ - Read more about the different menu options below. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[THE MEDIA]---------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ The GC drive in its default state only eats high-quality DVD-R and ³ ³ a few MINI-DVD-R. By tweaking your laser it's possible to have your GC ³ ³ read almost any media including DVD+R. For more info use google with ³ ³ GC laser tweak keywords. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[MAIN MENU]---------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ DIRECT DISC BOOT : Play a backup or an original GC game from any ³ ³ region. ³ ³ ORIGINAL BIOS : Play an original game compatible with your GC ³ ³ region or enter GC BIOS menus. ³ ³ CONFIGURATION MENU: Change Cobra settings and view GC version info. ³ ³ DISC EXPLORER : Browse the content of the disc and load files. ³ ³ CHEAT CODES : Manage cheat codes ³ ³ CHANGE DISC : Change the disc without having to reset the GC. ³ ³ PLUG-IN : Execute the embedded Cobra Plug-in. Only available ³ ³ if a plug-in is loaded. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[DISC EXPLORER]------------------------------------------------------ ³ ³ ³ ³ The Disc Explorer lets you browse the content of the inserted disc. ³ ³ The following file systems are supported: ISO9660 (Level2 compatible, ³ ³ no joliet) and FST (GC native file system). ³ ³ ³ ³ The files with following extensions can be selected, loaded or ³ ³ executed by pressing the A button: ³ ³ ³ ³ .VGC : Viper GC flash file. Select this file to reprogram your Viper GC ³ ³ without the need of the Viper GC parallel port programmer. ³ ³ .DOL : Homebrew application. Select this file to execute it. Examples ³ ³ of homebrew applications are emulators, games, loaders, etc. ³ ³ .COD : Cobra cheat code file. Select this file to add cheat codes for ³ ³ a game without the need to enter it using the pad! ³ ³ .CBP : Cobra plug-in. Select this file to load a plug-in into Viper GC ³ ³ Memory. You can then execute it from the Cobra main menu. ³ ³ Examples of plug-in are disc rippers, MP3 players, loaders, etc. ³ ³ .PCM : ADPCM stream file (must be aligned on a 32kb boundary). ³ ³ .ADP : ADPCM stream file (must be aligned on a 32kb boundary). ³ ³ ³ ³ The disc explorer can also play any audio file encodded with GC native ³ ³ ADPCM format, regardless of its file extension. If you suspect a file ³ ³ is an ADPCM audio file, simply select it and see if it plays! ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[CHEAT CODES]-------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ If you want to use cheat codes, enter Cheat Codes menu,select a game, ³ ³ check the codes you want to use, exit the cheat selector and enable ³ ³ cheats. ³ ³ ³ ³ To add new codes follow on-screen instructions. The codes are ³ ³ compatible with decrypted AR codes. You can decrypt AR codes using ³ ³ the great GCNCrypt by Parayste. Never enter the first code of a given ³ ³ cheat code (validator code). You can also put .COD files on a DVD and ³ ³ load cheat codes from there, each file corresponds to one game. ³ ³ ³ ³ Cheat codes are working for backups and original games. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[MULTIBOOT DISCS]---------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ The MultiBoot features let you put several games on one disc. ³ ³ You can use Viper_Multi_Boot_ISO_Creator by LoonyCube to create ³ ³ MultiBoot discs easily. Technical info can be found in Cobra 1.1 NFO. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[COBRA PLUG-IN SYSTEM]----------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ A plug-in is a small application that stays into Viper GC memory and ³ ³ can be executed from Cobra main menu. ³ ³ ³ ³ You can load plug-in (.CBP) from DVD Explorer. ³ ³ ³ ³ Another possibility is to embed the plug-in into the Cobra .VGC file. ³ ³ To do so you must append the plug-in to the Cobra .VGC file. Use the ³ ³ following DOS command line: "copy /b cobra.vgc+plugin.cbp out.vgc" ³ ³ You can then reprogram your Viper GC with the file "out.vgc" using the ³ ³ Viper GC Programmer or Cobra Disc Explorer. ³ ³ ³ ³ To create your own plug-in from a .DOL file, use the supplied program. ³ ³ Plug-in files (.CBP) can't be bigger than 45056 bytes but their ³ ³ corresponding executables (.DOL) can be a lot bigger, as plug-in are ³ ³ compressed. You can distribute your plug-in by sharing the .CBP file, ³ ³ but you're also free to distribute the Cobra .VGC file with your ³ ³ plug-in embedded! ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[TECHNICAL INFO FOR DEVELOPERS]-------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ It is now possible to let the user change discs in your homebrew ³ ³ program. To do so, stop the disc using the usual E3 immediate command. ³ ³ Don't reinit the drive as usual to load the new disc. Instead call E5 ³ ³ command in DMA-read mode (read 0x20 bytes and discard them), followed ³ ³ by an immediate E0 immediate read command (discard the result). It ³ ³ works just as the reinit command would, so you must read the new Disc ³ ³ ID before reading anything else. ³ ³ ³ ³ Technical info about MultiBoot disc format can be found in Cobra 1.1 ³ ³ NFO File. Official .COD file sample can be found in Cobra 1.0 ZIP file. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[THE FUTURE]--------------------------------------------------------- ³ ³ ³ ³ As usual, much more to come ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ -[CLOSING WORDS]------------------------------------------------------ ³ ³ ³ ³ Special thanks to E*Flash for his help, RoM for the early units, ³ ³ Melan for the /48 GC, ATH for the Panasonic Q and to everybody that ³ ³ tried Cobra V1.1 and posted constructive feedback. ³ ³ ³ ³ You are free to redistribute this package as long as it's not changed, ³ ³ patched, ported, or whatever. ³ ³ ³ ³ Our code is free of any copyrighted code from third party. ³ ³ It is also free of any GPL licensed code, we have strong respect for ³ ³ other people's hard work. We only ask you to show similar respect ³ ³ toward our work. To put it in other words, if you are in the "right" ³ ³ side, draw the line between learning and stealing. Thank you. ³ ³ ³ ³ Enjoy! ³
(sorry for answering with some delay..) i usually develop using a qoob chip with either the qoob's bios or my own ipl replacement (though i got lazy and use the qoob most of the time). You need a BBA, though, unless you don't want to have fun while development. It's possible to flash your application to the qoob chip, but for a quick turn around cycle, use a BBA. It's worth it. For uploading, you need either just "netcat" or a tool like "dolstream". The protocol is damn simple: open a tcp connection to port 4000, push the dol/elf, and it will run. In my experience, the qoob's dol loader is the most compatible one, even more compatible than my ipl replacement (i really should work on this . A viper could be used, too, but you need to flash something like gcos on it. It has only 128k of flash space, so you can switch between bios (qoob has 2MB). you can't start your applications from network with the stock bios. There are no debug possibilities, neither with the qoob nor with the viper. I would prefer a qoob'd (or viper'ed) cube over an official one. The turn-around time is shorter (make; push dol), while - i think - for the official toolchains, you need to build a dvd-image first (not sure, though. i never used the official toolchain). Of course debugging would be cool, but i survived about 2 years of gc development without it.
