Just installed XenoGC chip, backup loads, but not for long

I finnaly got my chip in today. Taking apart the Gamecube was pretty easy, and the ballpoint pen trick works great.

I havent soldered anything in 10 yrs, so when I saw the size of the chip in person, I was worried. I had trouble at first getting the first point soldered, but I was done in about 15 min (yes im slow)

So rather than screw everything in place, I put the dvd unit back on the chassis, then plugged the psu in. Red light...green light! Great. I then put the unit back together, and fired up a backup. The Gamecube title screen loaded, the main game screen loaded, I press start, then the game started to load.

After about 5 sec, the screen went black. It said "An Error has occured. Turn the power off, and refer to the Nintendo Gamecube Instruction booklet for further instructions".

I tried the game again, stopped in the same spot.

I also heard a click noise when I first load the game up. Is this normal for backups? I know my Dreamcast was pretty noisy on backup games.

Any suggestions/comments/tips would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Heres what ive done so far. Since the games worked for about 5min, I thought it was more than likely the POT problem. I changed the POT from 232 (original) to 208. Problem was still there, same point in the loading of the game. I then changed the POT to 196. Problem was still there.

I then did some research on burning methods. Someone posted on MaxConsole about using CloneCD to burn isos, and to burn at 1x speed. I burned the (2) backups I tested earlier with CloneCD and 1x speed, and everything seems to be working great now!

Im going to adjust the POT backup to the original setting, 232, and see how that works. Since the original backups had the issue after the POT change, I dont think the POT had anything to do with it.

Ive read that people get DREs after playing for about 10min. Do DREs also happen on an extended period of time? (20min, 30min, etc)

I sometimes play Metroid for hours..

UPDATE:

Damn, I guess I spoke to soon. I left a game on for the past 10min or so, and I just went to check it. It DRE. It was one for about 15min.

Any ideas what may be causing this? Is this more likely to be a POT issue or a burning issue?

 

1) You can try turning the POT up and see if that might help.
2) You might be using bad rips. Try finding an alternate source for the games, or make a fresh rip yourself.
3) It might be your media. Try getting some different mini-DVDs and see if those work better. Not all media are created equal! Not by a long shot!
4) Could, ultimately, be a point of hardware wear. Your laser assembly might be failing, your drive motor might be going weak/worn.
5) Dunno too much about the various modchips, but might you be able to do an externalized BIOS upgrade, with your XenoGC? Some sort of plug-in method or something, to run a flash, or just download and install the latest BIOS as soon as you can, since you can get about 5-10 minutes of use out of the unit as it is. BIOS updates have a habit of ironing out some DRE errors that don't fit into the other categories.

Hope this little checklist helps.

 

What media are you using ?,...This is crucial to success...
Try using Traxdata mini dvd-r or other Ritek g04 media. I've encountered alot of problems with other media such as TDK etc.

Your pot should be fine around 175-200 (mine's at 200)

 

Im using Ritek G04

 

You should try Schweino's suggestion of using an original disk/game to see if the GC may also crash after a certain amount of time, because if it does crash, then it points to the chip being b0rked or a problem with your soldering. If it doesn't crash then it points to disk read errors on the DVD W's that you have written to due to a weak laser or the DVD's not being written to properly (Crap DVD W/RW).

I don't have a XenoGC chip so can't comment on any suggestion for it. Google it![/QUOTE]

Yep, I tried an original disk, left it on for about 30min, didnt DRE.

I dont know what to do next. Ive tried lots of POT settings

Factory Setting - 235
209
196
234
278
159
132
312
178
252
264
271
221

None of them are really consistant. I usually just leave the unit on for awhile, let it play thru a start scene, etc.

Sometimes the video freezes while the audio keeps going, video then catches up with the audio, sometimes the video and audio freezes. Usually it doesnt make it all the way thru the start scene, and it doesnt always stop in the same spot.

I dont know anyone with a NEC burner, and no local stores carry them (unless its a rebadged, which is no gurantee). Also, most stores around here give you hell when returning an open computer product, except wally world.

I still dont understand why the XenoGC Bios screen is fuzzy/distorted and flipping like its a PAL source playing on a NTSC source. Any ideas?

 

i had the same problem after modding with duo q. i brought the pot down to 180 and used alcohol on the laser. no problems since.

 

I chipped my cube about 2 weeks ago, when I checked the pot, mine was at 168 or so, so I left it alone. I've only had one problem with one game (Nickelodeon Party Blast), and that's because I let Nero try to ignore the block size problem when loading the image. Otherwise, I've tried about 9 other games and I've never seen a DRE at all yet. All Office Depot MiniDVDs (Ritek G04) but I just got a 50-pack of Ridata Ritek G04's from Meritline today :B Been burning with ImgBurn (which is free and doesn't have the block size confusion that Nero does) and a NEC 3540 burner.

The XenoGC menu screen comes up in PAL for me too, I haven't found a way around it and I've been annoyed with it too, but I guess that's the way it goes.