GUIDE: How to properly burn Nintendo Gamecube games.

NOTE* - Now I know there are a few guides out there and I just wanted to write up my process of burning games and also the correct way to burn them.

GUIDE: How to properly burn Nintendo Gamecube games

This guide will cover the various ways to correctly burn games as as well as troubleshoot some common problems with burned games such as DRE's and unreadable media. POT adjustment is coming soon.

CONTENTS:
1) What will be needed
2) Preparing the ISO for burning
3) Choosing a burning program/DVD Burner
4) Writing the disc
5) Playing your new game(s)
6) DRE's (coming Soon)
7) POT Adjustment (Coming Soon)

1) What will be needed
- Ritek G04 Mini DVD-R, or good full sized media (Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, Ritek G05)
- Good quality DVD Burner(NEC/Pioneer)
- Modded NGC

2) Preparing the ISO for burning

After you procure an ISO(s) of choise, you first need to see if the ISO is the correct size. The correct Size of an ISO is "1,459,978,240 bytes". You can simply right click your ISO(s) and select "properties" from the menu. If the listed size is bigger.smaller than 1,459,978,240 bytes, the iso is either: corrupt, under dumped, over dumped and will need to be fixed.

To fix the underdumped/overdumped ISO you will need a utility called called "Wiped GCM Fixer" (Located here for download > HERE)which will basically add or remove data to make the ISO the correct size. Once the application is loaded, DO NOT check any of the boxes. Just click on the "1.4GB Image" button to rebuild the ISO. After it has finished rebuilding the ISO, it is ready to burn.

3) Choosing a burning program/DVD Burner

Having the right Combination of a DVD burner and DVD burning software us essential when it comes to properly burning NGC games. In my experience, the "SONY AWQ170A" and "Lite-On 1693S" DVD Burners have made many good burns for me. I have also had good burns on some NEC drives as well. For the price, I would shoot for the Sony as I have yet to get a bad burn.

As for media, either get the "Ritek G04 Mini DVD-R" or get some really good full sized media such as "Verbatim" or "Taiyo Yuden". The Ritek Mini DVD-R are the best choice all around as they produce the best burns and have the most compatible dye. I currently use a
SONY AWQ170A burner and I burn all my games at 2X and have yet to have a problem. Other media will also work but the good burn rate ratio may be different among brands.

4) Writing the disc

When it comes to writing the disc, you actually need one of these 2 software(s): IMGBurn, or NERO 6.

IMGBURN INSTRUCTIONS:
Load up the image and select the lowest write speed possible for your selected media. Make sure "Finalize Disc" is checked and click Burn.

NERO 6 INSTRUCTIONS:
Load up NERO Burning ROM and select "Recorder > Burn Image" from the top menu bar in NBR. Now you can browse for your ISO(s) and clikc on one. One it is loaded into NERO you have to set the burn speed to the lowest setting and also make sure "Finalize Disc" is selected as well as "Disc-At-Once (DOA)" mode is also selected. If a block size erroe pops up right after you select your ISO, you make have to try to fix the block size, but I've have good burns on these errors. It will take around 20 minutes to burn an image at 1X speed so don't do anything else on the computer until the burn is complete.

5) Playing your new game(s)

After you game(s) are burned the only thing left to do is test them out a bit to see if you have any problems. If you experience no errors for and hour or more, you should have a good burn. If your NGC is unable to read the disc, then it was a bad burn and the above burning steps need to be repeated again.

Congrats on burning your first NGC game!!

MORE COMING SOON.


Also, it would be nice if this thread could be stickied.

 

"If a block size erroe pops up right after you select your ISO, you make have to try to fix the block size"

This is the only problem that I cant deal with, got know idea what to fill in when this pops up !

 

so with this method you dont need extra hardware except a modchip right?

 

You can use the AR swap method or SD Load to load up GCOS to boot the game, but a mod-chip is probably the best choice as it is the easiest/fastest way to do so.

 

i downloaded mario kart, from isohunt i think, but the think im concerned is, if my laptop cant even read my origonal game

how will i be able to burn a downloaded game?

 

Most PC DVD drives can't read gamecube games because they are pressed different. Don't worry though, that is normal.

 

but will i be able to burn it on the same dvd drive, if i use your listed burning softwares?

 

Yeah, mostly all DVD burners can burn NGC games.

 

on mini dvd?

8cm?

 

Yeah on mini dvd, try to get Ritek G04 mini dvd and burn them at the lowest speed.

 

I used the ''TDK Mini DVD-R'' to burn a NGC Game but the GC can't read the disk.

 

You may have to adjust your NGC "POT".

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7263043&st=verbatim&type=product&id=1117177062616

Will the above DVDs work to burn GC games? I recently bought a GC modded with the Qoob Chip, and it has the full sized opening. The guy gave me 5 discs for it they were all burned onto Memorex DVD-R.

I then downloaded some isos renamed them into gcm files and bought my own Memorex DVD-R spndle yet for some reason out of the 7 games I downloaded only one would play, any reason this might be?

 

it may be the image that is the problem, not sure though

 

Is there a way to check images before burning them? It's costing me quite a few DVDs. Now I am even trying Verbatim DVDs along with my Memorex and still no luck.
As a matter of fact I burned Metroid Prime and when I went to play it, Qoob read it fine, then went to load the game and the screen became all bouncy and grayish color....

 

If you burn with Nero, it automatically checks them. If no error pops up after you select the image you want to burn, then the image is fine.

 

Does it matter if the file is an .iso or a .gcm?
Also does anyone know how to adjust the laser, I was told this could be the problem, adjusting the p.o.t. or something?

 

So I took a RE2 File, "s3-re2.iso" burned it through Nero on a Memorex DVD-R at 2x speed. Didn't give me any errors said it was completed successfully. The file size is 1,459,978,240 bytes, so I have no clue what's wrong. I am also using a Benq Lightscribe DVD burner.

 

Well..that is a common problem for users who use Memorex...DO NOT USE THEM! Try Verbatim, Sony, Taiyo Yuden,etc. If you burned the game to these discs and its still showing a grayish/distorted image...then you might need to adjust your laser...

 

The reason I used Memorex was because when I bought the modded Cube with Qoob Pro it came with 5 games all burned on Memorex, and all work fine.

I've also use Verbatim though and haven't had luck either.