Qoob Pro won't bring up boot menu!

[Looneybonics]

I'm entertaining for Christmas and, bragging about my Cube I try and power it on and it won't boot to the menu. I used it for about a month without fail. Within the last week it was probably 1 in 5 times it would actually boot the menu. Every other time it shoots straight to the Cube screen like it can't read there is a disk. I thought maybe the POT needed adjusting. It was only at 185. I went ahead and adjusted it to 217 and still...nothing. Just cube screen. Any help is greatly appreciated as I'm freakin out. This was the main source of entertainment. =/ Hope someone is lookin at these. Help is greatly appreciated!

Merry Chrismahanakwanzaka!

[lenselijer]

most likely a wire came loose on your qoob, or you have to replug the connector that connects the modchip with the wires.

[DaXIthR]

Yeah...

What he said.

You should be careful moving around a modded cube. There's always a chance something getting shifted, knocked loose or pinched. Something similar happened to me when I lent my Cube to a friend.

Re-checked and tightened all the connection and it's been fine since.

[Looneybonics]

All of the wires are still connected. I'll still try and plug and unplug them and make sure they're getting a good connection. The cube really didn't move much though. It stopped booting to bios on a slight decline over about a week and then it just stopped all together. *shrug* Nothing is pinched. The only thing I think it might be is that it needs to be plugged and unplugged to get a better connection to the chip. Could it be anything else? I've held the lid switch down manually and with the lid on to make sure the switch was getting pressed all the way down. I'll check the connections for now.

Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

Looney

[DaXIthR]

This doesn't address your problem directly, but you should know that you shouldn't have touched your POT.

If the POT is an issue, you'll get a DRE or your game will freeze. Going straight to the Cube BIOS is something else entirely. I'd set the POT if you had it at a sweetspot where everything was reading fine.

Also, the to be sure it's the POT that's an issue, you should play through a game for 10 to 15 minutes. That's how long it takes for the laser to warm up and stabilize itself.

So, if you experience lots of DREs and freezing, sometimes right at startup and sometimes an hour or two after continuous playing, then a POT adjustment by itself will not fix all your problems.

[Looneybonics]

I understand the Pot wouldn't effect that now. Thanks for clearing that up. I just was throwing everything I knew at it.

I dismantled it totally. Tugged lightly on each wire to make sure it was connected. They were all still connected. The Green wire was pinched slightly. I don't know if it's always been that way or if it was because of my bumpy flight home. I've deleted the Bios and reflashed them 3x. I even adjusted my pot from 217 to 210 (this was before I knew that wasn't a problem). I'm freakin out. I just got this about a month ago and it quickly became one of my favorite things and now it won't boot the bios and I have no idea why. =( Anyone have anymore ideas/tips/tricks? Your hlep is so greatly appreciated.

Looney

[Looneybonics]

I just tried a game I purchased from the store (now that I'm home) and that copy won't play either.

Doesn't play purchased or backed up games.
Won't boot to Bios.
Green wire appeared to be slightly pinched. All other wires appear to be connected properly.

Again, this worked perfectly for some time and then nuthin. What could it be? I'll try anything. Thanks in advance for any help. I certainly need some.

Happy New Years!

Looney

[goombakid]

How bad is that green wire? Is it severely pinched? From what I understand, pinched wires may cause the QP to not function; short part of it is that where the wire is pinched, some of the wire inside the insulation may be exposed, causing a short.

Have you tried removing the QP and seeing if the original Qoob BIOS boots? IF the original BIOS does not boot, then you may be looking at a dead cube.

If original BIOS works, then check your install job again. Check for globs (big or micro) that may be affecting your install.

If the culprit lies within the green wire, you might have to replace that wire. Fastest and easiest way to do it; wrap the pinched area on the wire with electrical tape.

Check my sig for information about rerouting the wires to avoid pinching, among other things.

FWIW, I travel a lot with my Cube. When I was in the transition of moving, I left my Cube along with the rest of my systems in storage (P.O.D.S style). Getting it back, it still worked like a charm, even with me treating the box it was packed in like s**t. Yes, you should be really careful with your electronics, but with the QP properly installed, you should have zero problems with it down the line.

[Looneybonics]

"Have you tried removing the QP and seeing if the original Qoob BIOS boots?"

Terribly sorry GK, but what do you mean? I know this is painfully obvious to you, but I'm not getting something. If I remove the Qoob Pro, how will the original qoob bios boot if it's not hooked up to a qoob chip? If I'm still to do that, what would I do? Just unplug the wiring harness? What should I unplug and replug in to "remove the QP to see if the og Qoob bios boots?" Just wanna be crystal about what it is I'm doing so I know i've tried everything right.

Thanks so much for the great response.

Looney

P.S. The green wire is probably got a dent 1/4 of the way into it. Would that have caused it to stop working over time? What is the green wires function anyways? Also...if my Cube was bricked, wouldn't the Gamecube logo/menu not come up? I hope it's ok. If it's not, is the chip salvageable?

[lenselijer]

all wires must be in perfect condition and must not short with the heatsink!

[goombakid]

Sorry, it was late. I did mean the original CUBE BIOS, not the Qoob BIOS.

That little dent in the wire may be causing the problems. Try rerouting the wire so it won't get pinched by the heatsink/DVD drive. Worse comes to worse, you might have to replace just that wire, but a piece of electrical tape to cover it may do the trick.

[Looneybonics]

Cool. I'll make sure it's not touching the heat sink. I've read lots about slapping some e.tape around a pinched wire. What exactly does that do for the wire? Anything other than strengthening it? What does the green wire do? It's definitely not being pinched anymore.

If it does need replaced...what would be the easiest way to go about that? Would I need to yank it from the board and totally resolder another or could one be spliced? What kinda wire should it be replaced with?

Thanks so much. Sorry if I'm overly inquisitive. I won't ask the same questions twice (unless they'ren not answered) :)

Looney

[goombakid]

It really depends on where the damage is to see if it's salvageable. One thing you can do is to cut out the pinched part, strip a little of the insulation off, and either see if you can solder the wire back to the green wire point, or solder an additional wire where the pinch was, and trim off the excess wire. Essentially, you'll to trim it so it's about the same length of the original wire.

...If I seem to be confusing, I apologize. To help you along, take a pic of your install. We can all take a look at it and see if anything is up.

[Looneybonics]

Nope. Not to confusing at all. I'm suuuuper novice at soldering though so I'm having a buddy come over tomorrow to check it out. He says he can fix a cube if it's bricked. My O.G. cube bios boot up...just doesn't spin discs so I figure mine ain't to bad. I'll take pictures though and let ya know what it was if we get it fixed. Thanks a lot! :)

[DaXIthR]

Unless you made a mistake uninstalling the Qoob, then no spin normally suggests a bad motor.

Did your Cube use to click a lot during gameplay (every 10 minutes to half an hour) after you made the mod?

[Looneybonics]

w00000000t! So here it is.

Pros:

Power light would come on.
Chip light would come on.
Chip could be flashed.
Cube Bios would come up.

Cons:
Wouldn't Boot Qoob Bios
Wouldn't Spin Backups or OEM Game discs

Solution: Yanked all the wires out. Cleaned the connection. Trimmed the ends (less contact point incase it was touching anything else) and soldered them back.

Fixed'er right up!

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS! Appreciate all the help. Special thanks goes to my buddy Lunchbox cuz I'm super novice at soldering, but learning. ;)

[DaXIthR]

Congratulations...

That's great news. It's a pity that all the troubles came around the holidays when you wanted to show off your cube. But hey, at least it's back up...

[Looneybonics]

Yea. True that. I was tellin the misses how awesome I could've been to my younger cousins, but I guess that can always come when I bring up my modded out Wii next year. ;)