** XenoGC Chip **

^thanks 4 the review.

Can you use this and the viper gc extream instaled at the same time? cause i may get the xeno for a temporary solution but i probably dont need/dont know how to remove it.

And aslong as its aligned properly theres not much you can screw up right?, cause im a total noob to soldering and dont wana screw my gamecube.

 

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/279765

johnodd4 said that it was easy to install, but certain boards required more solder than others to install it. Considering it sits right on the circuit board, it should be pretty easy.

As for multiple chips, I don't recommend running more than one at a time since it would mostly likely cause issues. If you want a Viper GC Extreme, don't bother installing other chips first. Also, the XenoGC chip seems to work well on it's own, so if you want a budget solution get that and don't bother with anything else.

 

Well the thing is that with the viper extreame you can do backups with usb but 4 the xeno you need a bba which il have to buy so it kinda makes the chips cost the same overal. so i guess u can say i have my own reasons to want both.

 

The Viper GC Extreme can make back-ups using both USB and BBA. Don't even bother with the Xeno if you want USB ripping.

 

I finally got my chip and soldered it in last night. Does anyone know what the deal is with the red and green LEDs? And is there a tutorial anywhere on how to make a bootable disk with a ripping tool? I've tried to boot a disk with GCos on it, but I'm not sure if I have bad media (or I'm just doing something wrong).. Thanks in advance!

 

Take a look at modthatcube. They have a guide for that there.

 

A few more questions... is the ripping tool that gets burned on the DVD a *.dol or *.gcb? What would happen if you put more than one of these on a disk? How would the gamecube know which one to boot? Thanks again

 

Hi genkgenk, did you have any luck with ripping (have you tried GCOM?)

http://www.tehskeen.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&file=viewfile&id=653

 

Yes, thanks. I got it to work and understand the situation alot better now.

 

genkgenk, how did you get it to work? Was it a case of burning the ripping tool DOL file to a DVD-R and popping it in you XenoGC'd Gamecube?

 

[bold]Xeno GC Modchip Review[/bold]



Written by XboxModder999
January 2006

[bold]Introduction[/bold]

This Review is for the Xeno GC. The Xeno GC is a new no-frills chip which allows you to boot unsigned code such as backups as well as bootable homebrew discs.
Features

- Direct boot of DVD+-RW media
- Compatible with all Regions & all Versions
- Region Free Loading - Super Easy Wireless Install
- No Need to Remove Mainboard
- PAL/NTSC region force - installation control Led’s
- Switchable read setting adjustment / error retry
- Switchable Audio Fix
- Anti-static packaging
- Extremely low cost



http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/top.jpg
http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/bottom.jpg

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[bold]Package Contents[/bold]

The Xeno GC came in an Anti-static bag. The chip was the only thing inside.

[bold]Installation[/bold]

I started by taking apart the GameCube, as well as taking the shielding plate off of the GameCube. I will not tell you how to do this, as there are plenty of guides elsewhere that tell you how to.

I then put the chip in place (using the diagram from the Xeno GC site) and secured it with some tape. The soldering was relatively simple and took me about 5 minutes. The points are pretty small, but if you take your time almost anyone should be able to do it.


http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/dvd_shield.jpg

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[bold]Usage[/bold]

After the soldering was done I placed the DVD drive back in place, set the GameCube cover back on and inserted a game. Upon turning on the GameCube the original IPL loads and you see the GameCubes logo. During this time the Xeno GC’s red LED was flashing which I am certain means that it is putting in the DVD reset code (which allows it to boot the disc). After that is done the game boots and you are good to go. The Xeno GC’s green LED lights up as you are playing the image which means that the disc is being read.

Every game I tried booted without problems. I tried mini DVD-Rs, full-size DVD-Rs, and full-size DVD+Rs. On the website it claims that it boots DVD+/-RWs, but I tried multiple brands and none of them booted - which I expected.


Using the GC-Linux guide I made a few bootable homebrew discs and the ones that did not have DVD reset worked perfectly. For homebrew with DVD reset it just freezes.

http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/chip_inplace.jpg
http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/installed.jpg

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[bold]Conclusion[/bold]

The chip does exactly what the manufactures claim and does it well. It doesn’t have a lot of the features that the more expensive chips have, but if you are just interested in playing your backups you can’t beat it. I purchased mine from Eurasia for $22.50 shipped and I am very happy with it.

[bold]Good Points[/bold]

- Cheap
- Relatively easy install
- Works well
- Has all features mentioned on site

[bold]Bad Points[/bold]

- Missing features of other more expensive chips
- Official website is missing information. According to the features, it has Switchable DRE retry and audio fix, but I was not able to figure out how to switch them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By http://iso420.pxn-os.com/ngc/xenogc/index.htm

 

check out
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=15098
I am trying to compile all the info I have found there.

 

can I get some clarification on the difficulty of installing this chip on U.S.A versions of ngc? I've been reading and people are saying that the board doesn't match the diagram given, in what way? I don't get the "more solder is needed" part.

in addition, tempest, with your setup, the soft mods you currently have, are just for adding to the fun of modding and not for booting right? I see that you have "Soft Mods: BBA, AR 1.07, SD Adapter, Samson's Loader Mem Card - GCoS1.5 for playing and GcoM2.3 for ripping" BBA with the GcomM2.3 is for ripping, AR for cheat codes, SD to transfer saved games back and forth from pc to ngc. But what are Gcos, and Samson's loader mem card for?

I was thinking of getting the viper extreme but seems like people are having problems with the currently bios, and thinking twice I just want to use the chip for booting backups, so that's why I'm looking into this.

boki, for the cons you mentioned in your post for the chip, one of them was that it lacked stuff available on the more higher end chips, can you tell me what they are? so I can decide whether or not to get the xeno.

thanks everyone.

 

@nsx88
yeah I read about the difficulty of installing this chip on U.S.A versions as well, but not sure what the issue as poster seemed to get his running. I assume its the diff between drives or rev A, B, C, etc.

and to answer your question to me, YES, my soft mods are now just for fun! and thanks for the heads up - my sig is now updated...

For me this chip is best bang for my buck as I already had a full soft mod setup. The viper extreme seems cool if you do not have a BBA already and of course the GCloader sounds real interesting but it has been "coming soon" forever...

Good Luck

 

I just opened my cube, I see "RJB2281B" does right where the xeno chip goes.what does that tell me about the rev of my drive?

my cube is a dol-101 (USA).

by the way, thanks tempest for the prompt reply, I really appreciate it.

 

rev. a/b are the same c is diffrent but not much

 

was rev is mine? how is this determined? thanks

 

Does this chip not support all revisions of the gamecube?

 

It says it supports all revisions of Gamecube on the Xeno GC website, but if you want to make sure I guess you could take it apart, there's some pretty clear pics of where it goes here

http://www.dextrose.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=65823#post65823

The solder points pictured in the link above didn't look exacatly the same on on my board BTW! Weird.

So far have only tested the region free loading. USA version of Pikmin 2 now works fine on my UK Gamecube.

 

Attempted to solder mine last night. Had to remove it a couple of times due to mistakes and I seem to have pulled up some of the smaller contact points from the board. The cube still boots fine so no permanent damage but I'd like to get the chip in. Anything I can do to get this in - maybe using wire or something to diferent places?

Thoughts appreciated :-(