Cobra BIOS v1.0 by Mentalcube
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MD5 checksum 296ef37e1ee3ec4b5396bc97aaca5f88
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Download mental.nfo
Size 23 kB
2005 May 1
"It appears that one of our beta-testers leaked a beta of Cobra 1.0 one month ago.".
- Text / NFO file or scene release
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├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ │
│ - COBRA FOR VIPER GC V1.0 - │
│ │
│ 1st of april, 2005 │
│ │
│ │
│ So, you were wondering what was the surprise in Cobra 1.0 ? Well... │
│ We are proud to give you the very first Gamecube BIOS that works │
│ Without swap. Seems that the Viper GC was unwittingly 2nd Generation │
│ from the very beginning, since we made nice use of the lid switch │
│ sensor cable designed by the Viper Team. Thanks guys you made it easy │
│ with your foresight, for us to make the Cobra BIOS swapless. Don't │
│ mess with the disc & lid anymore. Turn on your console and play. │
│ │
│ FEATURES │
│ │
│ - Direct boot of all media, without swapping! │
│ - Automatic Media Detection: Insert disc, turn on GC and play! │
│ - Supports all regions PAL / USA / JAP │
│ - Play originals or backups from any region, thanks to the built-in │
│ region-free feature │
│ - Idle-bug free (no more Disc Read Errors when the drive is resting :-) │
│ - Unique MultiBoot feature: put several games on one single disc! │
│ - Disc Explorer to browse the content of original GC discs or DVDs and │
│ that allows you: │
│ - To flash your Viper GC by burning the flash file on a DVD │
│ - To execute homebrew programs (.DOL) from DVD, and enjoy many │
│ already-released homebrew productions! │
│ - To flash your Viper GC by burning the flash file on a DVD │
│ - To run the game you want from a MultiBoot compilation │
│ - To load cheat codes from disc into Viper GC Memory │
│ - Powerful Cheat Code System compatible with Action Replay codes, │
│ codes are stored in the Viper GC Flash so no memory card is needed! │
│ - Cheat codes can be either entered using Cobra Menus or loaded from │
│ a file using the Disc Explorer │
│ - BIOS Configuration stored into the Viper GC Flash │
│ - Selectable default boot action (Main menu, Boot disc, Original BIOS, │
│ Disc Explorer) and special boot action (when the X key is held) │
│ - Calls Original BIOS Game Loader for 100% compatibility │
│ - Supports all hardware revisions (including DOL-101 units) │
│ - User-Friendly GUI │
│ │
│ So what do you need exactly ? │
│ - A Viper GC chip │
│ - This very flash file │
│ - Some Compatible Media and a DVD-burner │
│ │
│ │
│ WHAT'S NEW ? │
│ │
│ Well, as you can see from the feature list, there are a lot of new │
│ features we introduced in this release. │
│ - Direct boot of all media, without swapping ! │
│ - Fixed compatibility problem with DOL-101 units │
│ - Automatic Media Detection: Insert disc, turn on GC and play! │
│ - Fixed Idle bug, you won't have any DRE if the drive is resting :-) │
│ - Powerful Cheat Code System compatible with Action Replay codes, │
│ codes are stored in the Viper GC Flash so no memory card is needed! │
│ - Cheat codes can be either entered using Cobra Menus or loaded from │
│ a file using the Disc Explorer │
│ - Unique MultiBoot feature: put several games on one single disc! │
│ - A lot of fixes and low-level changes │
│ │
│ A Swap disc option was left in (called "Change Disc" as you could also │
│ replace a backup with another backup) to be totally backward │
│ compatible. Read more below │
│ │
│ │
│ USER MANUAL │
│ │
│ - If you want to use full-size DVD-R you can remove the top of the │
│ console. Team Xtender will be releasing replacement lids compatible │
│ with full DVD-R within two week. Best of all, we learned this week │
│ that they will be officially Viper GC branded! │
│ │
│ - Flash the Viper GC with this BIOS then remove the parallel port │
│ connector from the programmer. If you prefear you can flash this │
│ BIOS from DVD if you have Cobra 0.3+ already running on your chip. │
│ We've heard Viper Team will release an USB programmer for the chip │
│ soon if you prefear USB. │
│ │
│ - Turn on your GC with the disc you want to run. It can be an │
│ original or a backup, but if it's a backup it should be filled with │
│ 1.3GB of data at least (for now). If you have a black screen coming, │
│ it's probably beause your Viper installation is not clean. │
│ │
│ - While turning on your GC: │
│ - Hold Y to go to Main Menu (if it's not your Default Boot mode) │
│ - Hold X for the other boot mode (can be set in Config Menu) │
│ - Don't hold anything for Default Boot Action │
│ │
│ - Select "Direct Disc Boot" if you want to play a backup or homebrew │
│ program from DVD. If you have problems using the Direct Disc Boot │
│ method with your media, you can still use the Swap trick. │
│ │
│ - If you want to use the old Swap Trick Method (for discs that are │
│ not full or that have problems to sync with the Direct Disc Boot) │
│ boot your GC with an original disc. Then choose the "Change Disc" │
│ option and follow the instructions. After the swap is done, you │
│ can select Direct Disc Boot option again. │
│ │
│ - Select "Original BIOS" if you want to play an original Game │
│ compatible with your GC region, or if you want to go into the │
│ Original BIOS menus. │
│ │
│ - Select "Configuration Menu" if you want to change your Cobra BIOS │
│ configuration. The options are quite self-explanatory. │
│ │
│ - Select "Disc Explorer" to enter to browse the content or your │
│ original GC discs or DVDs. Supported file systems are FST │
│ (GC File System) and ISO9660. Joliet encoding is not supported in │
│ ISO mode. │
│ │
│ - Enter "Cheat codes" to select, enable, disable and edit cheat codes │
│ │
│ - Enter "Disc Explorer" to select a game from a MultiBoot disc │
│ │
│ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .VGC file if you want to reflash │
│ your Viper GC without the need of the Parallel port programmer! │
│ │
│ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .DOL file if you want to run │
│ a homebrew program! (You can put up to 1.4 GB of homebrew things on │
│ a disc. We hope this will give some inspiration to emu authors :-) │
│ Our DOL loader is not perfect for now and works for around half of │
│ the public homebrew programs. Here are some of the programs booting │
│ successfully: │
│ GC-Linux, Ascii Fighter, DVD Browser, CTR_GCS, CTR_SND, GBQ Gameboy │
│ emulator, PSOLoader "It's working" demo, Maze, Nitrorally, Yeti 3D │
│ 3D engine, Chip8 emulator, Snowlords game, Terranigma, XRick and │
│ probably many we missed! │
│ │
│ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .VGC file if you want to reflash │
│ your Viper GC without the need of the Parallel port programmer! │
│ │
│ - Enter "Disc Explorer" and select a .COD file if you want to add │
│ cheat codes for a game without the need to enter it using the pad! │
│ │
│ - Make sure that the "lid passthru" wires of the Viper GC are │
│ installed correctly or the disc won't spin.
│ │
│ │
│ DIRECT BOOT LIMITATIONS │
│ │
│ THE MEDIA │
│ │
│ The GC drive in its default state only eats high-quality DVD-R and │
│ a few MINI-DVD-R. But a couple of weeks ago, speedi from the afterdawn │
│ forums found a nice way to tweak the laser so it reads almost any burned│
│ media including some DVD+Rs. We recommend doing this laser tweak if you │
│ have any problems reading your DVDs. We are no laser experts, in fact │
│ we think it would be more appropriate to just lower the value of the │
│ variable resistor instead of setting it to an absoulte given value, │
│ but lots of people including us have been using this laser tweek for a │
│ couple of weeks without any problem reported so far. │
│ │
│ You don't need to encrypt the disc or use a special burner firmware │
│ to write the disc. Just burn your ISO/GCM (rename it to .ISO) with │
│ Nero (or any other tool). │
│ │
│ │
│ CHEAT CODES │
│ │
│ If you want to use cheat codes, enter Cheat Codes menu,select a game, │
│ check the codes you want to use, exit the cheat selector and enable │
│ cheats. │
│ │
│ To add new codes follow on-screen instructions. The codes are │
│ compatible with decrypted AR codes. You can decrypt AR codes using │
│ the great GCNCrypt by Parayste. Never enter the first code of a given │
│ cheat code (validator code). You can also put .COD files on a DVD and │
│ load cheat codes from there, each file corresponds to one game. │
│ │
│ For now we've reserved 4kb in Viper GC Flash memory to store cheat │
│ codes. If that's not enough we'll add some more space in next release. │
│ │
│ │
│ TROOBLESHOOTING │
│ │
│ - If the disc stops spinning in the menu it means that the drive can't │
│ sync with your media, or that there are not enough data on your disc. │
│ In direct boot mode the GC is very selective about the media it │
│ takes. If you have any problem please try the swap trick. If you │
│ still have problems try with different media/burner. Make sure your │
│ laser is correctly tweaked! │
│ │
│ - Audio Streaming: Some games use a special audio streaming mode │
│ that can be compared to CDDA. For now, the ISO of the file needs to │
│ be patched with 0rbital's great ViperTemporaryAudioFix 1.1+. If the │
│ ISO is not patched you'll have noise instead of music. We will try to │
│ fix this issue so no patching is required. But in case we do, YOUR │
│ PATCHED ISOS WILL BE FULLY COMPATIBLE and still work with music! │
│ (so forget what is written in the fixer nfo file). Don't run the fix │
│ on ISOs that don't need fixing as it will only destroy them :-) │
│ │
│ - Most multi-discs games are working, just play with Disc 1 until │
│ you're asked to change disc and make a save here. Then boot with │
│ Disc 2 instead. We started working on code to allow disc-change, │
│ and we'll integrate it in a new release. │
│ │
│ All those problems could be fixed in a next update. │
│ │
│ Before burning an image, makes sure it is 1459978240 bytes long else │
│ you may need to use the swap trick method. │
│ │
│ To know what's your GC Version code (2 digit number) go into Config │
│ Menu, then Version Info, 2nd page. First digit corresponds to GC │
│ mobo version, 2nd digit corresponds to drive version. │
│ │
│ IF YOU MAKE BACKUPS, DON'T USE ANY "WIPE" TOOLS TO SAVE SPACE. Unless │
│ you know it's REALLY working. Most of thoses tools only work because │
│ the current pso loaders patch libraries routines to emulate DVD. But │
│ on REAL HARDWARE, each file/fst has to be aligned on a 4-byte boundary! │
│ Else nothing will work. Audio Files (for audio streaming) even need │
│ to be aligned on a 32kb-boundary ! So forget current "WIPE" tools until │
│ they are fixed. But note that Garbage is NOT NEEDED by the GC. The │
│ files must be correctly aligned that's it. So if your "WIPE" tool is │
│ not changing the image size (meaning there's no relocation) then it's │
│ probably fine. Use FSTFIX by LOONYCUBE to fix bad rips. │
│ │
│ │
│ TECHNICAL INFO │
│ │
│ We'll release a command-line MultiBoot Disc maker next week if nobody │
│ releases a better one before we do :-) Here are the specs for Multiboot │
│ discs. Note that every image should be aligned on a 32kb boundary. │
│ At offset 0x00: 43 4F 42 52-41 4D 42 31 │
│ 0x40: Position of the 1st image in bytes (Big endian) │
│ 0x44: Position of the 2nd image in bytes (Big endian) │
│ ....: ...etc... │
│ ....: 00 00 00 00 │
│ │
│ The MultiBoot feature is stealth for the GC so it's 100% compatible │
│ with homebrew images. If you want to put several backups on one disc │
│ you'll have to remove the garbage at first. │
│ The maximum size of a MultiBoot disc is 1459978240 bytes. │
│ │
│ │
│ THE RUMORS & EVENTS │
│ │
│ Lately there has been a few events we'd like to comment. First, │
│ congratulation to Utopia for the deobfuscation work you did and the │
│ release of Anaconda. We like your style :-) Except maybe for the │
│ "Mentalcube [...] did a well job while choosing the neccessary patches" │
│ we find that "choosing" is not exactly the right term, as this patch │
│ is the results of tousands of lines of firmware code and several months │
│ of hacking and debugging. And thanks for the obfuscation tips :-) │
│ Anaconda led to a lot of stuff from the best (GCOS) to the worst │
│ (people selling our code without authorisation). Anaconda code is │
│ a 1:1 rip of our code, except for the loading part running on the GC │
│ CPU that was rewritten by Utopia (they made it clear but some people │
│ just didn't get it). │
│ │
│ Now about GCOS. We like what you're doing, even if up until now you're │
│ using our code without authorisation. But we're releasing Cobra 0.4 │
│ drivecodes under GPL license so it matches the license of other files │
│ you're using. Feel free to use, abuse it and improve it! ;-) │
│ Cobra 1.0 drivecode might follow in the future, but for now we chose │
│ closed source. │
│ │
│ It appears that one of our beta-testers leaked a beta of Cobra 1.0 one │
│ month ago. We'll do all beta testing by ourselves now. We find it's an │
│ amazing coincidence that a swapless chip was announced two weeks after │
│ the leak. Please don't support thieves. │
│ │
│ Oh and about Idle-bug, it was a BUG, yes a BUG of our old cobra │
│ code in the way we were handling a protection. The bug is now fixed │
│ and now the laser won't go out of the data area anymore, causing idle │
│ DREs when it couldn't focus. │
│ │
│ │
│ THE FUTURE │
│ │
│ There's MUCH more to come, you'll see soon :-) │
│ And our low-level hackers are currently working on the disc calibration │
│ code to improve Direct Boot Media compatibility. We'll mess with that │
│ only when we are certain that the code won't hurt your console! │
│ │
│ │
│ CLOSING WORDS │
│ │
│ Special thanks to E*Flash for his help, RoM for the early units, │
│ Melan for the /48 GC and to everybody that tried Cobra V0.4, posted │
│ constructive feedback. Thanks a lot for your patience. You'll never │
│ wait that long anymore for future release, this was a very special │
│ milestone :-) │
│ │
│ You are free to redistribute this package as long as it's not changed, │
│ patched, ported, or whatever. │
│ │
│ Our code is free of any copyrighted code from third party. │
│ It is also free of any GPL licensed code, we have strong respect for │
│ other people's hard work. We only ask you to show similar respect │
│ toward our work. To put it in other words, if you are in the "right" │
│ side, draw the line between learning and stealing. Thank you. │
│ │
│ Enjoy! │
│ │
│ ░ ░ ░ │
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