A última hora de ayer, coincidiendo con el día de los inocentes anglosajón, fue liberada la esperada versión 1.0 de la Cobra BIOS (utilizada en el modchip Viper-GC para GameCube). Como ya se sabía incorpora un sistema de trucos similar al del action replay, el
Idle bug corregido, posibilidad de meter varios juegos en un disco y, atención a la sorpresa, carga de copias de seguridad sin necesidad de swap. Lamentablemente no soluciona la mayoría de los parones que sufrían algunos usuarios con la anterior versión y la carga sin swap no funciona con todos los discos, pero el avance es ciertamente importante y prometen sacar pronto nuevas versiones. En el foro de
scene podéis encontrar mucha más información.
° ° °
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³ ³
³ ³
³ - COBRA FOR VIPER GC V1.0 - ³
³ ³
³ 1st of april, 2005 ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ So, you were wondering what was the surprise in Cobra 1.0 ? Well... ³
³ We are proud to give you the very first Gamecube BIOS that works ³
³ Without swap. Seems that the Viper GC was unwittingly 2nd Generation ³
³ from the very beginning, since we made nice use of the lid switch ³
³ sensor cable designed by the Viper Team. Thanks guys you made it easy ³
³ with your foresight, for us to make the Cobra BIOS swapless. Don't ³
³ mess with the disc & lid anymore. Turn on your console and play. ³
³ ³
³ FEATURES ³
³ ³
³ - Direct boot of all media, without swapping! ³
³ - Automatic Media Detection: Insert disc, turn on GC and play! ³
³ - Supports all regions PAL / USA / JAP ³
³ - Play originals or backups from any region, thanks to the built-in ³
³ region-free feature ³
³ - Idle-bug free (no more Disc Read Errors when the drive is resting :-) ³
³ - Unique MultiBoot feature: put several games on one single disc! ³
³ - Disc Explorer to browse the content of original GC discs or DVDs and ³
³ that allows you: ³
³ - To flash your Viper GC by burning the flash file on a DVD ³
³ - To execute homebrew programs (.DOL) from DVD, and enjoy many ³
³ already-released homebrew productions! ³
³ - To flash your Viper GC by burning the flash file on a DVD ³
³ - To run the game you want from a MultiBoot compilation ³
³ - To load cheat codes from disc into Viper GC Memory ³
³ - Powerful Cheat Code System compatible with Action Replay codes, ³
³ codes are stored in the Viper GC Flash so no memory card is needed! ³
³ - Cheat codes can be either entered using Cobra Menus or loaded from ³
³ a file using the Disc Explorer ³
³ - BIOS Configuration stored into the Viper GC Flash ³
³ - Selectable default boot action (Main menu, Boot disc, Original BIOS, ³
³ Disc Explorer) and special boot action (when the X key is held) ³
³ - Calls Original BIOS Game Loader for 100% compatibility ³
³ - Supports all hardware revisions (including DOL-101 units) ³
³ - User-Friendly GUI ³
³ ³
³ So what do you need exactly ? ³
³ - A Viper GC chip ³
³ - This very flash file ³
³ - Some Compatible Media and a DVD-burner ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ WHAT'S NEW ? ³
³ ³
³ Well, as you can see from the feature list, there are a lot of new ³
³ features we introduced in this release. ³
³ - Direct boot of all media, without swapping ! ³
³ - Fixed compatibility problem with DOL-101 units ³
³ - Automatic Media Detection: Insert disc, turn on GC and play! ³
³ - Fixed Idle bug, you won't have any DRE if the drive is resting :-) ³
³ - Powerful Cheat Code System compatible with Action Replay codes, ³
³ codes are stored in the Viper GC Flash so no memory card is needed! ³
³ - Cheat codes can be either entered using Cobra Menus or loaded from ³
³ a file using the Disc Explorer ³
³ - Unique MultiBoot feature: put several games on one single disc! ³
³ - A lot of fixes and low-level changes ³
³ ³
³ A Swap disc option was left in (called "Change Disc" as you could also ³
³ replace a backup with another backup) to be totally backward ³
³ compatible. Read more below ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ USER MANUAL ³
³ ³
³ - If you want to use full-size DVD-R you can remove the top of the ³
³ console. Team Xtender will be releasing replacement lids compatible ³
³ with full DVD-R within two week. Best of all, we learned this week ³
³ that they will be officially Viper GC branded! ³
³ ³
³ - Flash the Viper GC with this BIOS then remove the parallel port ³
³ connector from the programmer. If you prefear you can flash this ³
³ BIOS from DVD if you have Cobra 0.3+ already running on your chip. ³
³ We've heard Viper Team will release an USB programmer for the chip ³
³ soon if you prefear USB. ³
³ ³
³ - Turn on your GC with the disc you want to run. It can be an ³
³ original or a backup, but if it's a backup it should be filled with ³
³ 1.3GB of data at least (for now). If you have a black screen coming, ³
³ it's probably beause your Viper installation is not clean. ³
³ ³
³ - While turning on your GC: ³
³ - Hold Y to go to Main Menu (if it's not your Default Boot mode) ³
³ - Hold X for the other boot mode (can be set in Config Menu) ³
³ - Don't hold anything for Default Boot Action ³
³ ³
³ - Select "Direct Disc Boot" if you want to play a backup or homebrew ³
³ program from DVD. If you have problems using the Direct Disc Boot ³
³ method with your media, you can still use the Swap trick. ³
³ ³
³ - If you want to use the old Swap Trick Method (for discs that are ³
³ not full or that have problems to sync with the Direct Disc Boot) ³
³ boot your GC with an original disc. Then choose the "Change Disc" ³
³ option and follow the instructions. After the swap is done, you ³
³ can select Direct Disc Boot option again. ³
³ ³
³ - Select "Original BIOS" if you want to play an original Game ³
³ compatible with your GC region, or if you want to go into the ³
³ Original BIOS menus. ³
³ ³
³ - Select "Configuration Menu" if you want to change your Cobra BIOS ³
³ configuration. The options are quite self-explanatory. ³
³ ³
³ - Select "Disc Explorer" to enter to browse the content or your ³
³ original GC discs or DVDs. Supported file systems are FST ³
³ (GC File System) and ISO9660. Joliet encoding is not supported in ³
³ ISO mode. ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Cheat codes" to select, enable, disable and edit cheat codes ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Disc Explorer" to select a game from a MultiBoot disc ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .VGC file if you want to reflash ³
³ your Viper GC without the need of the Parallel port programmer! ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .DOL file if you want to run ³
³ a homebrew program! (You can put up to 1.4 GB of homebrew things on ³
³ a disc. We hope this will give some inspiration to emu authors :-) ³
³ Our DOL loader is not perfect for now and works for around half of ³
³ the public homebrew programs. Here are some of the programs booting ³
³ successfully: ³
³ GC-Linux, Ascii Fighter, DVD Browser, CTR_GCS, CTR_SND, GBQ Gameboy ³
³ emulator, PSOLoader "It's working" demo, Maze, Nitrorally, Yeti 3D ³
³ 3D engine, Chip8 emulator, Snowlords game, Terranigma, XRick and ³
³ probably many we missed! ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .VGC file if you want to reflash ³
³ your Viper GC without the need of the Parallel port programmer! ³
³ ³
³ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .COD file if you want to add ³
³ cheat codes for a game without the need to enter it using the pad! ³
³ ³
³ - Make sure that the "lid passthru" wires of the Viper GC are ³
³ installed correctly or the disc won't spin.
³ ³
³ ³
³ DIRECT BOOT LIMITATIONS ³
³ ³
³ THE MEDIA ³
³ ³
³ The GC drive in its default state only eats high-quality DVD-R and ³
³ a few MINI-DVD-R. But a couple of weeks ago, speedi from the afterdawn ³
³ forums found a nice way to tweak the laser so it reads almost any burned³
³ media including some DVD+Rs. We recommend doing this laser tweak if you ³
³ have any problems reading your DVDs. We are no laser experts, in fact ³
³ we think it would be more appropriate to just lower the value of the ³
³ variable resistor instead of setting it to an absoulte given value, ³
³ but lots of people including us have been using this laser tweek for a ³
³ couple of weeks without any problem reported so far. ³
³ ³
³ You don't need to encrypt the disc or use a special burner firmware ³
³ to write the disc. Just burn your ISO/GCM (rename it to .ISO) with ³
³ Nero (or any other tool). ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ CHEAT CODES ³
³ ³
³ If you want to use cheat codes, enter Cheat Codes menu,select a game, ³
³ check the codes you want to use, exit the cheat selector and enable ³
³ cheats. ³
³ ³
³ To add new codes follow on-screen instructions. The codes are ³
³ compatible with decrypted AR codes. You can decrypt AR codes using ³
³ the great GCNCrypt by Parayste. Never enter the first code of a given ³
³ cheat code (validator code). You can also put .COD files on a DVD and ³
³ load cheat codes from there, each file corresponds to one game. ³
³ ³
³ For now we've reserved 4kb in Viper GC Flash memory to store cheat ³
³ codes. If that's not enough we'll add some more space in next release. ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ TROOBLESHOOTING ³
³ ³
³ - If the disc stops spinning in the menu it means that the drive can't ³
³ sync with your media, or that there are not enough data on your disc. ³
³ In direct boot mode the GC is very selective about the media it ³
³ takes. If you have any problem please try the swap trick. If you ³
³ still have problems try with different media/burner. Make sure your ³
³ laser is correctly tweaked! ³
³ ³
³ - Audio Streaming: Some games use a special audio streaming mode ³
³ that can be compared to CDDA. For now, the ISO of the file needs to ³
³ be patched with 0rbital's great ViperTemporaryAudioFix 1.1+. If the ³
³ ISO is not patched you'll have noise instead of music. We will try to ³
³ fix this issue so no patching is required. But in case we do, YOUR ³
³ PATCHED ISOS WILL BE FULLY COMPATIBLE and still work with music! ³
³ (so forget what is written in the fixer nfo file). Don't run the fix ³
³ on ISOs that don't need fixing as it will only destroy them :-) ³
³ ³
³ - Most multi-discs games are working, just play with Disc 1 until ³
³ you're asked to change disc and make a save here. Then boot with ³
³ Disc 2 instead. We started working on code to allow disc-change, ³
³ and we'll integrate it in a new release. ³
³ ³
³ All those problems could be fixed in a next update. ³
³ ³
³ Before burning an image, makes sure it is 1459978240 bytes long else ³
³ you may need to use the swap trick method. ³
³ ³
³ To know what's your GC Version code (2 digit number) go into Config ³
³ Menu, then Version Info, 2nd page. First digit corresponds to GC ³
³ mobo version, 2nd digit corresponds to drive version. ³
³ ³
³ IF YOU MAKE BACKUPS, DON'T USE ANY "WIPE" TOOLS TO SAVE SPACE. Unless ³
³ you know it's REALLY working. Most of thoses tools only work because ³
³ the current pso loaders patch libraries routines to emulate DVD. But ³
³ on REAL HARDWARE, each file/fst has to be aligned on a 4-byte boundary! ³
³ Else nothing will work. Audio Files (for audio streaming) even need ³
³ to be aligned on a 32kb-boundary ! So forget current "WIPE" tools until ³
³ they are fixed. But note that Garbage is NOT NEEDED by the GC. The ³
³ files must be correctly aligned that's it. So if your "WIPE" tool is ³
³ not changing the image size (meaning there's no relocation) then it's ³
³ probably fine. Use FSTFIX by LOONYCUBE to fix bad rips. ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ TECHNICAL INFO ³
³ ³
³ We'll release a command-line MultiBoot Disc maker next week if nobody ³
³ releases a better one before we do :-) Here are the specs for Multiboot ³
³ discs. Note that every image should be aligned on a 32kb boundary. ³
³ At offset 0x00: 43 4F 42 52-41 4D 42 31 ³
³ 0x40: Position of the 1st image in bytes (Big endian) ³
³ 0x44: Position of the 2nd image in bytes (Big endian) ³
³ ....: ...etc... ³
³ ....: 00 00 00 00 ³
³ ³
³ The MultiBoot feature is stealth for the GC so it's 100% compatible ³
³ with homebrew images. If you want to put several backups on one disc ³
³ you'll have to remove the garbage at first. ³
³ The maximum size of a MultiBoot disc is 1459978240 bytes. ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ THE RUMORS & EVENTS ³
³ ³
³ Lately there has been a few events we'd like to comment. First, ³
³ congratulation to Utopia for the deobfuscation work you did and the ³
³ release of Anaconda. We like your style :-) Except maybe for the ³
³ "Mentalcube [...] did a well job while choosing the neccessary patches" ³
³ we find that "choosing" is not exactly the right term, as this patch ³
³ is the results of tousands of lines of firmware code and several months ³
³ of hacking and debugging. And thanks for the obfuscation tips :-) ³
³ Anaconda led to a lot of stuff from the best (GCOS) to the worst ³
³ (people selling our code without authorisation). Anaconda code is ³
³ a 1:1 rip of our code, except for the loading part running on the GC ³
³ CPU that was rewritten by Utopia (they made it clear but some people ³
³ just didn't get it). ³
³ ³
³ Now about GCOS. We like what you're doing, even if up until now you're ³
³ using our code without authorisation. But we're releasing Cobra 0.4 ³
³ drivecodes under GPL license so it matches the license of other files ³
³ you're using. Feel free to use, abuse it and improve it! ;-) ³
³ Cobra 1.0 drivecode might follow in the future, but for now we chose ³
³ closed source. ³
³ ³
³ It appears that one of our beta-testers leaked a beta of Cobra 1.0 one ³
³ month ago. We'll do all beta testing by ourselves now. We find it's an ³
³ amazing coincidence that a swapless chip was announced two weeks after ³
³ the leak. Please don't support thieves. ³
³ ³
³ Oh and about Idle-bug, it was a BUG, yes a BUG of our old cobra ³
³ code in the way we were handling a protection. The bug is now fixed ³
³ and now the laser won't go out of the data area anymore, causing idle ³
³ DREs when it couldn't focus. ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ THE FUTURE ³
³ ³
³ There's MUCH more to come, you'll see soon :-) ³
³ And our low-level hackers are currently working on the disc calibration ³
³ code to improve Direct Boot Media compatibility. We'll mess with that ³
³ only when we are certain that the code won't hurt your console! ³
³ ³
³ ³
³ CLOSING WORDS ³
³ ³
³ Special thanks to E*Flash for his help, RoM for the early units, ³
³ Melan for the /48 GC and to everybody that tried Cobra V0.4, posted ³
³ constructive feedback. Thanks a lot for your patience. You'll never ³
³ wait that long anymore for future release, this was a very special ³
³ milestone :-) ³
³ ³
³ You are free to redistribute this package as long as it's not changed, ³
³ patched, ported, or whatever. ³
³ ³
³ Our code is free of any copyrighted code from third party. ³
³ It is also free of any GPL licensed code, we have strong respect for ³
³ other people's hard work. We only ask you to show similar respect ³
³ toward our work. To put it in other words, if you are in the "right" ³
³ side, draw the line between learning and stealing. Thank you. ³
³ ³
³ Enjoy! ³
³ ³
³ ° ° ° ³
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