QoobSX flashing via DVD help

[lonewolf2331]

got my cube modded at a shop... (I got no confidence in my soldering skills :P)... the chip is flashed with version 1.2... It can't read my burns but it reads the burned copies the shop sells... they don't want to adjust my laser pot... so I wanted to update to version 1.3c for the qoob sx for DRE fixes... problem is I try to get into the boot menu by holding "B"... but instead a mesage that looks something like

"waiting for network upda
restart"

then nothing happens... is there something wrong with their installation?

the qoob bios faq says that I can get into a "backup bios" how do I do that?

gaahh... payed almost something around $50 worth in my currency just to get my cube modded... I'm also afraid of breaking something if I take my cube apart

sorry for all the noobish questions... been to almost every thread and I can't find any with my same problem

[Tall King Crap]

but it reads the burned copies the shop sells

so copy the games that do work - and see if your copies of their discs work

Think you may find they can burn GameCube backups and at present you can't so change software, media and/or burner

Media - Ritek G05 dvd-r or try other well known quality brands

Software - Nero 5 or 6 - change xxxxx.gcm to xxxxx.iso where needed
(burn at 2x or 4x)

Burner - Pioneer or NEC usually give good results burning GC stuff

Your GameCube is booting the shop's discs but not yours
- so your backups are not as good so you need to experiment to see how/where exactly your problem is in your present setup

[lonewolf2331]

I used nero7 burned 2 discs at 1x and one disc at 4x... my burner is ASUS

my current problem is I want to update the bios and I try following the intructions about putting a dummy file and then the elf update....

I made a dummy.txt file around 1gb and I put the qoob_sx_13c_upgrade.elf then burn it...

I hold left on the d-pad while the cube is booting... nothing happens... I hold B+left and the message "waiting for network upda please restart" appears...

another thing is my cube still reads the discs even tho the lid is open is taht a problem with the lidswitch setting? or is that normal?

heh... your help would be greatly appreciated...

btw the discs that work had gold for the color on the recording side... my ritek dvd-r's were blue...

[Tall King Crap]

I used nero7 burned 2 discs at 1x and one disc at 4x... my burner is ASUS

Is that an Asus 4x dvd+/-r writer = oem Pioneer 106 ?
(not sure if Asus used an oem 105 - actual model of Asus drive may help)

Nero 7 is/can be buggy - 6 was quite stable, though you could try using imgburn with nero 7 and that "may" give better results when burning from iso's though personally I am in no rush to upgrade to 7 myself


I made a dummy.txt file around 1gb and I put the qoob_sx_13c_upgrade.elf then burn it...

I used a a different program and made a xbox compatible disc that padded the disc out to 1gb for smaller stuff and that flashed my QoobSX fine - though you may have a problem burning any disc - If your game discs can't be read then chances are it is gonna struggle reading a data/bios upgrade disc if you see my point

Lid switch don't matter on the Qoob's (or Viper I think) - XenoGC does matter.
You can boot a single disc game up with lid open or closed or lid removed if you don't have a replacement big lid case - just on the multi-disc games you may have problems when it asks for next disc. It will run say Mario Kart with lid totally removed


btw the discs that work had gold for the color on the recording side... my ritek dvd-r's were blue...

Gold ? - not anything like that here - are they dvd-r or dvd+r's
Ritek G04 or G05's are very good all round discs usually.......

So my next guess is gonna be:

software - try nero 6
firmware - hmm maybe but nero 6 would be first call before any flashing gets done

Can you do a nice slow copy of a working game - this copy can be done with other software but if burning a iso then the initial burn should be done with nero 6 - addional copies can be done with other software and "should" work ok. Still don't see myself going up to Nero 7 though

As you got Nero......

open up Nero tools - Nero CD-DVD Speed util

Go to "Extra" tab and click either Disc Quality or disc info to see what type of discs they used - dye etc.....

Run disc quality on their disc and then on your disc and see how they compare - note this only a guide and just coz a pc dvd-rom or writer can read it ok doesn't mean the cube can. More a case of seeing how good/bad the various discs are they/you burnt

Once you know what them gold discs are then you may be able to try and get a similar media - if they are dvd+r and they run ok them you may need to try some different media brand/type, maybe the laser is tweaked for +r or just prefers them. But I would of thought you would of got something booting or looking like is was booting up ok - maybe crash later but a Ritek should boot ok except on really really bad/out of whack lasers I would of thought.

Deffo do some disc scans tests on theirs/your discs and consider trying Nero 6 too maybe

[lonewolf2331]

just updated my dvd writer's frimware
it's an ASUS 1608P2S 16xDVD+-R
I never knew that ASUS was a Pioneer drive...

going to install nero6 and try burning again at 1x... qoob removes region protection right? the games I burned were Naruto4 and bleach

[Tall King Crap]

I "think" the following is.....

ASUS 1608P2S is an oem Pioneer 110 with dvd-ram writing

ASUS 1608P2 is an oem Pioneer 110D no dvd-ram writing

uses slightly different firmware that Pioneer - might able to cross-flash it to a true Pioneer drive but is risky and I can't really help on that matter


going to install nero6 and try burning again at 1x... qoob removes region protection right? the games I burned were Naruto4 and bleach

Yup removes region protection but not tried them games myself - but first thing I would definately try and do is try to make a working copy of the games that DO work - it sounds obvious but there could be a chance that the iso's might be bad (unlikely but you could spend a lifetime trying to get something booting that is duff)

I would try n make a backup of working backup's first - that would be the easiest/best way of ensuring you can burn a disc

hopefully a firmware update & nero 6 will bring better luck

[lonewolf2331]

no luck... the new burn I made still did not boot...

why can't I acces the configuration menu? the one that is done by holding "B"... the "waiting for network upda please restart" message appears:confused:

[Tall King Crap]

You may be looking at a laser tweak but strange that they got backups that do boot ok

what media did they use - and your writer is an oem 110 pioneer with ritek n nero and that should work

just wondering if they were using dvd+r or something - run their discs through the nero to see hwta disc/dye type they are

not used many - about 2 +r's I tested but it did work but then dvd-r's is what is used on other consoles and works on GC for me

now if +r is used then the laser may be of a higher/different value than for -r though when tested I never needed to adjust the pot for the couple of +r's I tested and so left pot at usual179-200ohms

maybe the pot is at 325ohms and is booting some discs, maybe +r's but not GO5 -r discs that may need to be nearer 200ohms

kinda running outta ideas may have to ask the shop wtf they used

[lonewolf2331]

could you help me by giving me a step by step guide for flashing via DVD... because when I hold B "waiting for network upda please restart" appears...

the bios readme.txt says to hold left while the qoob is booting.... nothing happens...

the disc is in the drive and I'm holding left but it just says"disc read error :("

[lonewolf2331]

hmm... I found it wierd that using a cheapo DVD brand compared to RitekG04 was read and I was able to update to version 1.3c... not all my ritek backups worked I was able to get one to work but it was around 2 out of 10 tries... if the game would boot it was great but usually I had to reset and change the settings until it read the game by a stroke of luck... then I used the same brand that my cube read for the bios update but the game would'nt load... burnt it at 1x thought the cube would recognize it easily as it did the bios dvd...:confused:

[Tall King Crap]

In desperation could you buy a few dvd+r's ????

find out what media they used - this is important

If they tweaked the laser to read +r then it may be failing on -r even ritek's

these brands "can" work - I say can coz it really depends on your own cube's laser, writer & software........

Ritek G04 - some say they are better than the G05's

Ritek G05 - some of ritek's quality control has gone downhill a little but this is mainly down to some discs being scratched near the edges (Gamecube only uses 1.45gb so most discs should be fine)

CMC MAG AE1 - think that is the dye, these discs have improved and in some writers can give better burns on these than G05's

ProDisc S02 - not bad cheapy discs but some writers hate them

But like I said check their media under nero tools in case they tweaked laser to +r media (doubt it but ya never know)

see if you can do a copy "on the fly" @ say 2x from their working discs once you found out their media type/dye

Yes I found that I could "just about flash" the qoob-sx but was getting very little joy booting games

your laser may be tweaked or left untouched and only just plays their discs

end of the day - can you ask someone else to burn a disc for you and see if another writer "may" give better results than your rebadged oem pioneer drive. Asus may be using a different firmware that may not be as good as a true pioneer firmware - perhaps the asus could be reflashed to a true pioneer but it is really risky if you don't know what you are doing - besides writers are getting so cheap now.

You gotta see what dye they used first - maybe a pot tweak if you know how to use a multimeter ( very important ) and/or get discs burnt on another writer or buy a NEC maybe ????

It's difficult to pinpoint the exact problem - some people have a nightmare others are fortunate and it all just works - the dreamcast was nightmare for some peeps but others everything just worked no problem. When it all works flawlessly, it is all taken for granted the hassle-free booting of backups....

best of luck

[lonewolf2331]

well I got myself a copy of their disc... nothing turns up on nero CD-DVD speed... I asked the person at the store he said that these were "pressed" copies... mass produced pirate copies... they boot flawlessly

when burning which is better? 4x or 1x? gonna try other brands i see...

[Tall King Crap]

Nero - Nero toolkit - Nero CD/DVD Speed.............

place burnt disc in writer - must be in writer

3rd tab along - EXTRA - Disc Info

That will display what media was used if it was a recordable dvd media.....

Hmmmm...... if they was pressed/silvers then you may need to look at tweaking the laser then........

http://www.consoleworkshop.co.uk/Tutorials/GC%20laser%20tweak.php

[lonewolf2331]

hmm... gonna try burning on ritek's again... the copy of bleach that I burned before boots with hardly any problem in read mode B... I don't remember what speed I used tho... :o the game however has some choppy audio... voice and music...

btw what does
31 210A Read in Disc Data [1] or
3C 210A Read in Disc Data [2] mean?
that's what came out when I tried the read test on 2 dvd's... on another disc however it proceeded to the disc check but it stopped around 3XXXXXX not sure of the value but it was less than 5 seconds when the analysis stopped

ritek's here cost me somewhere $1.50 when converted to US... is that expensive?:confused:

any other way to open the GC without a gamebit? I can't find it locally... and no online store ships to my door :(

[Tall King Crap]

If you are talking about mini dvd-r's then they are always more expensive than full size dvd-r (8cm & 12cm discs)

you could try here:

http://www.cdrdvdrmedia.com/ritek-mini-dvd-r-media-4x.html

or buy full size dvd-r and get a big lid like here:

http://www.modchipworld.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=173

anyway - as you got a qoob you can remove the lid and run the single disc games without a lid - the lid switch can stay open the qoob will still boot the backup anyway. So you can then use / experiment with other cheaper full size discs.

To open a cube you really do need a GC tool - same type that is used on the Gameboy roms - not the tri-star fitting that is used on the nintendo pad screws but the 6 point start/flower looking screw

Yes it "can" be opened with the bic pen method - must be a bic pen either yellow or clear but bic pens & their nib/ends are just right. Heat it up with a candle - not melt it just so it starts to go then jam the sod in there and leave it for a good few minutes even shove it in freezer or cold water for a further 5 mins....
Hopefully it should of took the shape of the screws and you may just be able to open the cube up without needing more than 1 or 2 bic pens

First time I did it I got all 4 out no problem and done it up again, however when screwing the case back I over done them and screwed the pens up. A week or two later I got a big lid and couldn't undo them screws so had to get a proper GC bit. As the shop may have done them up they may have tightened them up a bit and you may have to be extra careful. Press down firmly as you undo the screws - it only needs to jump a couple of times and the plastic will wear and no longer bite the screwhead so good.
Also if you go too mad with the heat you may weld the pen inside the gamecube

A proper gamecube is worth it if they can be sourced easily and cheaply

does sound that your laser "may" need a tweak perhaps but you gotta open the ***** up first which is gonna be a little tricky but possible with a few bic pens and some care

I'd google the bic pen bit before you rush into anything as it is sometimes easier to see with a tutorial that me just bashing out some stuff in text form

a rough guide is here:

http://www.ps2fliptop.net/how_to_make_your_own_gamebit_scr.htm

[lonewolf2331]

wierd... my cube was now able to read the copy of zelda collectors edition that it did not before... and my copy of bleach boots faster now... heh.. havnt burned any new discs yet... gonna get some tom and hopefully I'll be able to play naruto:D