Hi. I just got news of the Viper GC chip today, and am excited. Im just not a techie, i know sauldering and shit like that, but i dont understand the programming lingo. So, could someone explain to me how this thing will work? What will be the physical steps to using it? Will i need mini CDRs or mini DVDrs?
Okay wjul_pr, first of all, it's actually spelled: Soldering. Viper is a chip that can hold an alternate set of bios (other wise known as instructions to boot a game) The original chip in the Gamecube is a READ ONLY chip (which means the instructions it holds cannot be *written* to, or altered)the instructions are pre-programed into it. Viper, however, is not "read only". Meaning? You're basically taking apart your Gamecube (find which version of GC you have on the net and see how to do it, fit in the chip, and so on) soldering in a writable chip for the Gamecube to read BEFORE it trys to read the original chip. To "flash the bios" (as I understand) is to send the new chip (viper) information... more spcific...a new set of instructions. So you turn your Gamecube on, the original boot process is intercepted by the modchip (which contains the new set of instructions) and it reads from there first. That is how a modchip works. You just have to have a program writer who knows Gamecube enough to write the boot process for it. Now, you should know by now that you cannot copy a game DIRECTLY and have it play because there are some TOC, blank, or *company* sectors that just can't be duplicated with a commercial CD/DVD writer. Those sectors are there on the original discs so that the machine you are using (in this case a Gamecube) will know whether the game is a copy or not. Those original BIOS has a set of instructions that tell the Gamecube to look for those sectors to make sure it's an original game. So, with the new set of BIOS, the Gamecube can boot copies because the program writer wrote the BIOS as such so that it will NOT look for the proof it needs to confirm it's an original Nintendo disc. So now the Gamecube will JUST read the data; considering of course it was written correctly with your DVD burner. Hence to your question "What will be the physical steps to using it? Will i need mini CDRs or mini DVDrs?" If you've ever ripped a game, you will notice it's ripped as an IMAGE (iso, gcm) around the 1.35GB area. (don't get rid of the garbage data or it's said it won't play) OBVIOUSLY a mini Cd-R can't hold that much data, so yeah, you'll have to burn it to a mini DVD-R. The way I did it? Make sure your game image is named in this form: "GCGAME".ISO. If it's a .GCM, then re-name it to ISO. It isn't going to alter the file. Open up NERO BURNING ROM, select "next" on the DVD option, select other format, select IMAGE, browse your folder to select your image then BURN! Slip it in your Gamecube the way the VIPER instructions tell you to. (those can be obtained at the site your purchased your Viper from) Class dismissed go play on your Gamecube! I hope this was informative for you. This is the best *laymens terms" I could muster up. Anyone!? If I left anything out or made something not clear enough please inform.
So once you have the chip installed, when you go to run a GameCube game do you have to write any special code for the chip, or is it simply place the disc in, turn it on? And according to another thread here you have to place the real version of the game in, then swap it with the back up copy, is this true?
1. You have to flash the bios, as I had discussed before. Download the BIOS then get ahold of a tutorial. I'm sure there is a tutorial that will give you guidance on that subject. I will be writting an entire Gamecube Backup Tutorial myself within this next week with EXPLICIT directions of every step for those of you who have tough times following directions written 1/2 way through. 2. I believe that was true with the first set of bios. Now, I believe all you have to do it hold one of the buttons to go to the original bios or not hold it to boot from the VIPER bios. Research it on the web. Hell, the Gamecube discussion forum alone has a BACKUP FAQ. You gotta learn to read and look for the answers yourself or else backing up Gamecube games won't be worth your time.
You should head to www . ps2ownz . com for more information. They have ALL the info you will ever need to know about the Viper chip, including how to install it, flash it, what not. You will have to look in the forums though, which require registration. But, its free, no spam. I really sugest you go there.
