° ° ° ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³X °ÛßÜÜ °Ûßß ÜÛßß ²Ûß ßßÜ ²Û °ÜßÛ °Ü Û ²ÛßÛ °Ûßß X³ ³ ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛß ÛÛ Û ÛÛ ²ÛßÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Ü ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛß ³ ³ ° ± ² Û ²Û ² Û ßÛ²Û ÛÛ ² ßÛ²± ßÛÛ² ßÛÜ ßÛ²Û ßÛ²Û ÛÛ²ß ßÛ²Û Û ² ± ° ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ - COBRA FOR VIPER GC V1.1 - ³ ³ ³ ³ 14th of april, 2005 ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ WHAT'S NEW ? ³ ³ ³ ³ - Built-in Audio Fix, that could be Enabled/Disabled in the Config ³ ³ Menu for full backward compatibility with your old backups. ³ ³ - Music Player in Disc Explorer! Select an audio file to play it. For ³ ³ now only ADPCM audio streams are supported (*.ADP, *.PCM, *stream*, ³ ³ etc.), the GC streaming format. Support for more formats, including ³ ³ MP3, is coming in a next release. ³ ³ - Optimal DRE Handling, read more below. ³ ³ - Improved Direct Boot mode Compatibility, now it should be compatible ³ ³ with every good media, including DVD+R. ³ ³ - No need to enter Disc Explorer anymore to boot MultiBoot discs, just ³ ³ select Direct Boot Disc and the Cobra BIOS will detect automatically ³ ³ if you inserted a GC Original, DVD-R, DVD+R or MultiBoot Disc ! ³ ³ - Fixed a MultiBoot compatibility problem. Now it should work properly ³ ³ with every images. ³ ³ - Upgrade with the Disc Explorer from Cobra 1.0 if you want to keep ³ ³ your AR codes and configuration intact. ³ ³ - And some more bugfixes/changes ³ ³ ³ ³ About Disc Read Error handling, we can't help you if you use a bad ³ ³ burner, media or if your laser is not tweaked correctly. But we've ³ ³ improved the error handling code A LOT. Here is a small experiment ³ ³ we don't recommend trying at home, except if you know what youre doing: ³ ³ You can remove the spinning disc for one second while it's playing a ³ ³ movie or loading data. This will trigger some serious read error with ³ ³ any other BIOS :-) Now put the disc back in quickly and it will ³ ³ continue loading, without a crash! ³ ³ 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 - Built-in Audio Fix, that could be Enabled/Disabled in the Config ³ ³ Menu for full backward compatibility with your old backups. 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 play music, for now only ADPCM files aligned on a 32kb ³ ³ boundary are accepted. This is the format of all GC games that ³ ³ are using audio streaming, so listen to those games songs! 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 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 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 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" 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 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. For more info on ³ ³ laser tweaking please read this forum post: ³ ³ http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/138930 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 Cheat codes are working for backups and original games. ³ ³ ³ ³ For now we've reserved 4kb in Viper GC Flash memory to store cheat ³ ³ codes, that should be enough to store a few hundred of codes. 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! We strongly recommend NEC burners, they ³ ³ produce really good discs that won't give you any DRE. 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 You can use Viper_Multi_Boot_ISO_Creator by LoonyCube to create ³ ³ MultiBoot discs easily. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ THE FUTURE ³ ³ ³ ³ Much more to come :-) 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 V1.0 and posted ³ ³ constructive feedback. 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 ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ±² ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ °ÛßÜÜ °Ûßß ÜÛßß ²Ûß ßßÜ ²Û °ÜßÛ °Ü Û ²ÛßÛ °Ûßß ³ ³ ÛÛ Û Û ÛÛß ÛÛ Û ÛÛ ²ÛßÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ Ü ÛÛ Û ÛÛ Û ÛÛß ³ ³X ° ± ² Û ²Û ² Û ßÛ²Û ÛÛ ² ßÛ²± ßÛÛ² ßÛÜ ßÛ²Û ßÛ²Û ÛÛ²ß ßÛ²Û Û ² ± ° X³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ