Started Modding! Advice please? Gamecube?

Hi Guys!!!! :encouragement:

I'm new to this thing so go easy on me please!!

I currently have a Dreamcast i've been messing around with. (just burning back ups)
But i want to move into more detailed stuff.

I have just brought a PAL GC Off ebay.(£15. 1 game, 2 controllers) I want to mod it with an XenoGC. (Think i have found one off here)

Is this a easy place to start with? Or am i going into this too deep?

Any advice on how to do this? or what to be careful of?

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT! :applause:

Thank you!!!!!!
DL.

 

Hey dude,

Can you solder? If not, or not well, that's probably the place to start. From what I've seen online the Xeno GC install is simple enough but needs due care and attention on account of it being pretty small. I've also got a gamecube/chip lying around that I'll attempt one day when I get off my lazy ass.

 

Yeah, I've got a few GC Xeno chips and Xbox Xecutor chips that are just sitting around. lol

 

soldering is a hard thing to do. It takes some skill and proper hardware. I have the skill but not the proper hardware but yet I get by. I was able to solder some really tiny SMD stuff with it. I was modding my model 3 Sega genesis for multi region. Hardest part was soldering the wires to the tiny spots on the board. As I said, it takes skill to do a lot of this stuff. With enough skill and luck you can pull off some hard mods using cheap tools that should be done with high quality equipment. I don't recommend it but I have lotsa luck on my side.

 

spend at least 30 dollars (NOT AT RADIO SHACK) on a decent soldering station with adjustable temperature and you'll be ok.

 

You should also practice on broken electronics first as well , take a part a old cd player or something and start soldering on that before you make a move to a console you want to keep

 

Look at some video tutorials on soldering, practice on something first if you want and give it a shot. My first proper experience with soldering was a Viper GC install, I didn't know what I was doing but managed to pull it off. It just took hours instead of minutes...
You should be okay XenoGC, just take your time, flux is very useful

 

^This.

If there is one thing you should NEVER buy is a soldering iron with unregulated temperature. ( Aka cheap radio shack ones and alike )
They just keep heating up to the point of burning up the tip of the iron itself and you are very likely to consistantly damage whatever you are working on.
You can buy a cheap one as long as the temperature is regulated.

I use an old school Weller station from the 70s. There is no adjustable temperature Dial on it but it is still regulated. The temperature at the tip is constant.
So far I dont feel the need to get another one with adjustable temperature, mine is at the ideal temperature for electronics.

 

Modding can involve soldering things smaller than this.

Until you're comfortable with that, practice practice practice!

 

Oh hey! It's the amp I used in my PC Engine! Still, I'd much rather solder one of those than solder wires to the legs of various chips in the PS2!

 

You should not attempt modding before you are 100% comfortable soldering wires on .5mm pitch surface mount chip legs (/sarcasm)

 

I'm a beginner and I've managed to solder a Saturn modchip, TSOP an XBOX, and various other mods for on the XBOX. Practice a bit on something that's not expensive but some what works so you can test your work and go from there.

 

Those are very easy compared to the xeno though.

I am not entirely sure why people are saying the xeno is easy. Dont get me wrong, its not hard for someone with experience, but its far from easy for your first soldering task - especially if you are doing it "directly" with no wires.

 

The one and only problem that i did sometimes came across when installing XenoGC's is one point on the chip that has too big of a point that can lead to bridging to another point on the Gamecube DVD PCB. Though i notice its not a fatal mistake so i wouldnt worry if you bridged that point. Now what i like to do is lay down a very thin strip of kapton on the point that can bridged with the installation point and that takes care of the problem. It is defiantly not hard install but something i would take the time and study the diagram and if you can, do a wire install as its easier to troubleshoot if something does go wrong.

 

You can bridge points, you can get solder in the hole and its not even connected to the point on the board, most cheap irons are too big to fit the hole...

etc etc, certainly not as simple for a beginner as its being implied in this thread.

 

Thanks for your advice guys!! Bad_Ad84 is right though! its not a really simple task. he's actually the chap i have brought the chip from!
Im pretty good at soldering. I have made many guitars that have required soldering. But saying that i will take all your advice and spend a week just soldering old Cd-players etc...

When the time comes im sure Youtube and the good old Google is there for me!

I will keep you all informed! thank you very much guys!!! :encouragement:

 

I have one piece of advice for you mate- before you start a mod, get on an active IRC channel for your particular console, and don't be afraid to ask for help. People have all sorts of tips- from disabling UAC in Windows 7 when running flash dump checkers to what the best backup manager is... L_Oliveira saved my PS3 the other day