Wii DVD/Wiikey Fusion/WODE (sd/hdd loading) on the Gamecube

Includes PS2, Xbox 1, GameCube (but not the Phantom Game Console)

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Ashen
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Wii DVD/Wiikey Fusion/WODE (sd/hdd loading) on the Gamecube

Post by Ashen » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:49 am

Original Discussion here: http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewto ... ?f=3&t=301" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guide + Wiikey Compatibility list here: http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewto ... 4054#p4054" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wii DVD/Wiikey Fusion/WODE (sd/hdd loading) on Gamecube Guide/Tutorial
Direct copy from the gc-forever.com forums.

Things to know ahead of time:
1. You will need some soldering skill to perform this mod.
2. If you want to retain the ability to hook the original GameCube DVD drive back up you may solder to the DVD connector pins on the bottom of the GC motherboard (only one can be hooked up at a time!). If you plan to remove the connector a desoldering iron is recommended.
3. As of right now only original GameCube discs work with the Wii DVD drive mod. This may change in the future as different GC and Wii modchips are tested.
4. Not all Wii DVD drive revisions are tested.
5. When the Wii DVD drive is connected to the GC the disc insertion/disc eject (slot loading mechanism) acts kind of funny.
6. The Wiikey Fusion is not compatible with all Gamecubes! See the compatibility list below.
7. Last but not least, We are not responsible for anything you destroy or electronics that go up in a puff of blue smoke whilst attempting this Mod. If you read and follow this guide carefully you should be ok.

For those interested here is an early video of the testing of the Wii DVD mod: http://www.youtube.com/user/Ashen123451 ... MeXMlDtaGE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Zenloc's most epic Wiikey Fusion video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jht0PBJVTZE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Emu_kidid running the WODE on his cube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKGwzPU0Bs4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That all being said, on to the meat and potatoes.

Wii DVD/Wiikey Fusion/WODE Jukebox to Gamecube Mod:


These are the connector pin out's of the Wii DVD Drive and Modchips confirmed working with the GameCube:
Wii DVD Drive:
Image
Wiikey Fusion:
Image
WODE Jukebox:
Image

In reference to the above pinouts, all of the connectors pins 1 through 32 run from right to left. Pin 1 being rightmost on the connector and ending with pin 32 being leftmost.

Special Pins/Connections:

Pins 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 are ground pins and must be connected with a common ground on the GameCube motherboard itself!

Pin 32 Needs 3.3v power input to power the modchips. The Wii DVD drive will function without this hooked up.

Pin 23 Is the "lid open/closed" signal. Wire a on/off switch between this connection to retain the ability to "open/close the lid". The normal GameCube lidswitch is fine. This is needed for multi-disc game disc swapping.

Pin 29 Simulates the Wii's eject button and also controls disc sensing. This pin needs to be run to a normally closed momentary tact switch which is then run to the GameCube's ground. The DVD drive/Modchip WILL NOT FUNCTION unless this is done exactly as stated. Here is an example of the type of switch you will need:

Image

The common (C) pin should be run to pin 29, the normally closed (NC) pin should be run to the GameCube motherboard's ground and the normally open (NO) pin should go to 1.9v from the GameCube's regulator (1.9v is only needed for the Wii DVD Drive! Wiikey Fusion/WODE requires only the pin29/switch/gnd).

Little update from none other than our ol' pal Shockslayer that I think is worth noting if your having issues getting your wiikey to work:
ShockSlayer wrote:a few days ago, the wiikey quit working all together. I tried everything, I knew my wiring was good, checked all the switches, all sorts of sd card formatting, etc.

Nothing was fixing it.

I decided even though it had worked plenty of times before with the "eject" switch on just ground and pin 29, hooking up 1.9v might be what the wiikey needs. One added wire, once pinch of potassium chlorate, one errant button press?

Ta-da. Wiikey works everytime I press the button, first try. Pretty damn happy about that.

I suggest that, if you know your wiring is good, the blue light flashes in sequence with the "reading disc" message, you know your SD card is compatible and formatted right, and you can't get your WIikey to work?

Try this next.

I suppose it could have something to do with the Wiikey itself, or it's compatibility with this cube. I never had this problem with my last cube, it might have something to do with the board revision because the IPL on this one is the same as my last working one.

SS
Pins 30 and 31 are left disconnected.

Gamecube soldering points:
The soldering points depicted below are the above referenced Wii pin #'s. No confusing pinmatch required anymore.
Gamecube Motherboard DVD Drive connector. TOP of Motherboard:
Image
Gamecube Motherboard DVD Drive connector. BOTTOM of Motherboard:
Image

The power connections for the Wii DVD drive/WODE may be taken straight from the correct voltage pins on the GameCubes regulator board. For portablizing purposes the 12v power connector on the Wii DVD drive has been tested (not extensively) and confirmed to work with as low as 7.4v, it should work fine with Zenloc's custom regulator.

Power Regulator to Motherboard input (Rev A/B only):
Image

Making the connections between the systems:

However you decide to make the connection between the systems a high gauge 24-28awg solid insulated wire type is recommended. IDE wire has also been reported to be acceptable. Keep your wire length to a minimum. Anything over 5-6" wire length may run into latency issues. To sum it up, the shorter the better.

1. (DVD/Wiikey/WODE) Currently the best connection option is to order one of the connectors listed below. This option allows you to connect the flat ribbon cable directly from the DVD drive/Wiikey Fusion/WODE and provides good sized solderable pads/thru holes to run your wires to. Depending on the interest shown in this mod emu_kidid may end up stocking one of them in the web store. http://www.proto-advantage.com/store/pr ... id=3400013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://www.newhavendisplay.com/index.ph ... ts_id=2476" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://en.esskabel.de/adapter/datasheet ... 0-set/186/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=6598834882" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; + http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5686938034" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://www.lcd-store.de/xaranshop_k014013s001_1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (You have to specify that you need 32 pins though). If you decide to use an FFC adapter that has too many pins you need to make sure that the pins are aligned correctly when you seat the FFC into the adapter! Check continuity from the end of the FFC to the soldering points of the adapter BEFORE you attempt to power on the system! You can kill your DVD drive/modchip very easily this way! After you've done this its a very good idea to secure the FFC in the socket in some way (hot glue, epoxy).

2. (DVD Only) The second method is to solder to the test pads right on the Wii DVD drive daughterboard. As you can see in the photo above each connection coming from the ribbon cable has its own test pad that can be soldered to. Since there are so many different revisions of the Wii DVD drive daughterboard you will need to do your own testing and confirm what pads go to what pins.

3. (DVD/Wiikey/WODE) The third option is to solder directly to the ribbon cable leads. This can be very precarious work and for long term use may not be reliable depending on your soldering skills. However it is do'able. The easiest way I found is to split every lead on one end of the ribbon cable with a razor blade and fold every other lead back to avoid bridging. Hold the bent back leads in place with some double sided tape placed beneath them. Tinning the leads before hand should aid in making a proper connection. The leads on the ribbon cable are very easy to burn through so make sure you use as little heat and contact time as necessary with your soldering iron. After confirming continuity on all pins covering the soldered end of the ribbon cable in hot glue or epoxy is recommended to avoid future broken connections. Here is an example of this method:
Image

Other notes:

Before using your Wiikey Fusion on your GameCube you must set the region switch correctly! Else the GameCube will give you the standard error that you get when a Disc Drive is not connected to the Cube. Instuctions on how to set the region DIP switches on the Wiikey Fusion can be found here: http://www.wiikey.com/en/support/wiikey ... tallation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When first connecting a Wiikey Fusion to a gamecube you will need to update it to v1.5 Wiikey Fusion firmware for it to work with the GameCube properly. This update can be done right on the GameCube, However you must have an SD card inserted at system power on with only the v1.5 firmware update on it for the Wiikey to boot properly and to recognize the SD card inserted. All Wiikey Fusions I've received so far have shipped with v1.0 firmware flashed to them, so this is required most if not all of the time.

The Wiikey Fusion has been confirmed to work with multidisc games using a SD card swapping method. When asked to switch discs simply swap the SD card to a SD card with the next disc .iso on it and flip/press your lid/open closed switch. There is however one other catch.

When adding games to SD card it seems that the Wiikey uses whatever "slot" the game is loaded to to identify what image to mount if the SD card is removed and reinserted during gameplay. So if on one card you have 5 games and on another card you have 3 games and the multidisc game you are playing ends up in a different slot than it is on the first SD card. The trick will not work. Ex:

SD card 1:
1. game x
2. game c
3. game v(disc1)

SD card 2:
1. game v(disc2)
2. game p
3. game d

This will not work! The game needs to be in the same "slot" as such:

SD card 1:
1. game x
2. game c
3. game v(disc1)

SD card 2:
1. game q
2. game p
3. game v(disc2)

This would work. I'm not 100% sure how WBFS manager arranges things on the card and why. Honestly the best way I can say to play a multidisc game this way is to just go buy two 2gb SD cards and put disc 1 on one of them and disc 2 on another.

For those of you who like to have a bit more of a visual guide/reference and are using the newhaven display FFC adapter, Beta from over at the modretro forums has made up this nice clean diagram and shared it for everyone's use:

Image

I ask that if you find this mod useful and use it please give credit where its due. Many months were sunk into getting all this working. Find master Zenloc and emu_kidid and toss them some thanks too ;)
Last edited by Ashen on Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:18 pm, edited 13 times in total.
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hailrazer
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by hailrazer » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:25 am

Very nice. This will help a lot in portable Gamecube building :)
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MrAfterFx
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by MrAfterFx » Fri Feb 04, 2011 12:18 pm

It would be great for a slot loading gamecube portable hmmmmmmm.
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Tchay
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by Tchay » Fri Feb 04, 2011 4:44 pm

WOW. Great job man.

So its official then. The Gamecube disc drive is no longer a requirement for portablizing.

I've been wanting to say that for a LONG time.
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0uttake
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by 0uttake » Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:02 pm

wo wo wo wo wo, wo, wo. wo. This is amazing. I wonder if the wii drive can be slimmed to use just 8cm disks. That is the next step. I might have to grab a broken wii from somewhere.
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dasmith91
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by dasmith91 » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:40 pm

Is this a D2B or D2C based drive, and/or does it matter which revision you use?

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Ashen
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by Ashen » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:49 pm

Not really an expert on Wii drives. But its out of an ntsc Wii I bought on launch day. I would think it doesnt matter though. Also thats a D2lite drivechip installed in it. Again i dont think it really matters.
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by hailrazer » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:20 pm

So does the dvd Gamecube mod-chips work or do you need a wii mod-chip on the dvd drive? Or would you just have to use the Viper instead ?
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Ashen
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by Ashen » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:45 pm

Everything that will or wont work at this point would just be guessing. I had enough time before work today to get it working. Do a little victory dance and make these posts. The 2 games i used were legit GC discs. I'll try some backups when i have time. :)
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by gannon » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:19 pm

Interesting, I knew the hardware was similar, but not to this point :P
I'd just go for a wii portable, but if you are only interested in gc games this is a better (and cheaper) solution.

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0uttake
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by 0uttake » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:55 am

If you can get a sundriver working for the gamecube I will actually set up a shrine to you. Good luck!
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Ashen
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by Ashen » Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:54 am

0uttake wrote:If you can get a sundriver working for the gamecube I will actually set up a shrine to you. Good luck!
Lol. I am still hopeful that we can somehow get the sundriver (or some other HDD loading modchip) to work with the cube. The odd thing about the sun is that when i ran some games on a logic analyzer the data coming from the sun is very inconsistent when compared to loading the same exact game with the Wii DVD Drive.

Anyway, I did some testing for everyone this morning, its all in the video below but this is what I got:

(please excuse my sh@tty camera work) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMeXMlDtaGE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I ripped a tact switch out of an old computer mouse today to use as a makeshift eject button. the "always on" leads connected to pin 29(wii) and gnd and the "button pushed" pin to 1.9v from power supply.

The first thing you will probably notice is that the "disc insertion/disc eject" motor acts oddly (runs and runs until disc is put in, same when a disc is removed. It does eventually give up though). This is most likely a side effect of Pins 32, 31 and 30 being unhooked on the Wii side, These pins most likely help control disc in/out sensing.

The first game I boot in the video (SSBM) gets a random error. This is the first time I've seen this. Could have something to do with how I have eject wired up. Note that SSBM booted many other times for me without error.

Wii drivechips dont work for backup loading (at least my d2lite didnt) the GC gets an error when trying to mount the game. I dont have a spare GC modchip to wire up to try. Someone else can try if they do this mod (I'm not taking my Wii apart anymore) ;P

Wii games dont work... lol. I really didnt expect this to fly anyway.

Multidisc games SHOULD work as I ejected many discs in the middle of gameplay without error and on reinsertion they started right back up from the same spot. Should be the same for disc switching on a multidisc game.

Thats it for now I think. I'm going to be working with the sundriver again for the next few days. I will be ordering some Wii DVD drives though.

Is there any way thru homebrew on my Wii to identify my drive type? Need to find this out but I couldn't see anywhere physically on the drive that it says what type/revision the drive is.
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mako321
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by mako321 » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:49 pm

I might toy around with this, have a useless Wii and gamecube lying around, along with a missing d2pro and sundriver.

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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by zenloc » Sun Feb 06, 2011 1:03 pm

SICK!!! I'm gonna try this asap. Got all the parts laying around anyway. Altough I've noticed that if you trim down a wii board with a sundriver connected you can make a very small wii/gc portable which is able to play all gamecube games and some wii games that support horizontal wiiote and wi classic controllers.

Does it matter how long the wires are from wii drive to gc? Also if you just wanna remove the whole eject thing all together and use it like palmer's slimmed drive how would you have to wire the eject switch?

Great work so far man definitly a place in the book of portobalizing discoveries!!
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Re: Wii DVD drive on the Gamecube

Post by Ashen » Sun Feb 06, 2011 4:34 pm

To avoid confusion here is a little diagram of what pins are what on the Wii DVD drive. The top connector is power obviously. The red circles indicate power connections and the black represent ground. I have marked pin 1 on the dvd connector in reference to the pinout I supplied in the first post of this thread. Bow down to my paint skillz. ;P

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