Official Gamecube IDE/USB interface thread (PROJECT BEGUN!)

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:26 pm

toru173 wrote:This is where I do my "I told you so" dance - it's not even really a filesystem, it's just a list of "FILE_ENTRY" structs which are pointers to the files. You quoted from the post I was refering to earlier, by the way

Err... when did I argue with you?

toru173 · Post by **toru173** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:36 am

There was supposed to be a huge amount of grinning in there, it just got edited out. I never said you argued, but I adore being right ^_^

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:24 am

toru173 wrote:There was supposed to be a huge amount of grinning in there, it just got edited out. I never said you argued, but I adore being right ^_^

Oh... okay. ^-^

On a side point, or actually the main point of this thread, I can't help but think you guys have permanently lost interest in this project. I was sure that the compilation of the HDD loader program would re-inspire you all, as I think of it as the biggest breakthrough the BenHeck community has made yet.

What's up, everyone?

By the way, I'm currently working on re-designing the schematic in ExpressSCH, which I will then export to ExpressPCB. That's right... I've finally decided to start making my own board. That's the first step after all, right?

I'll be sure to upload the schematic and PCB for you guys as soon as I'm done with them.

Post by **marshallh** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:14 pm

Please for the love of all that is holy don't use Express***. It is a waste of time because you are locked into their proprietary file format, and it is basic at best. Have you given any thought to how you are going to route the traces?

Get CadSoft Eagle. There is a freeware version that works fine as long your board size is below a certain limit. If you need bigger PM me. You can add your own footprints with just a datasheet and a package template. It is also possible to export your netlists to a industry-standard format so you can use an autorouter (very important).

Rain, I think you are running into the same problem I did with this board - once you get past a certain threshold, people don't understand what you are doing, and have no ability to help. Some don't even care (though fortunately that number is small).

I've discovered that the group-project approach never gets anywhere in this kind of community. It lacks responsibility. Your best option is to slog it out and figure out just how this thing works and build it yourself. I can help you to that extent. I'm still trying to find a forum that has kind of people on it.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:21 pm

marshallh wrote:Please for the love of all that is holy don't use Express***. It is a waste of time because you are locked into their proprietary file format, and it is basic at best. Have you given any thought to how you are going to route the traces?

Get CadSoft Eagle. There is a freeware version that works fine as long your board size is below a certain limit. If you need bigger PM me. You can add your own footprints with just a datasheet and a package template. It is also possible to export your netlists to a industry-standard format so you can use an autorouter (very important).

Ah... you're right. The only reason I use Express*** is because I know how. I don't know how to use Eagle. I'm sure I could learn it easy enough if I wanted to, but I plan to make my own PCBs, (I'm incredibly stingy) so the proprietary format doesn't really affect me.

marshallh wrote:Rain, I think you are running into the same problem I did with this board - once you get past a certain threshold, people don't understand what you are doing, and have no ability to help. Some don't even care (though fortunately that number is small).

I've discovered that the group-project approach never gets anywhere in this kind of community. It lacks responsibility. Your best option is to slog it out and figure out just how this thing works and build it yourself. I can help you to that extent. I'm still trying to find a forum that has kind of people on it.

You know... I think you're right. In fact, I'm know you're right. The number of people here at Benheck that ask why you can't use a PSP battery for an Xbox portable or how to hook up screen A to console B is far larger than the number of people that would ask for the Datasheet to the 'cube's Gecko CPU so they can write an app for GCLinux, for instance.

I knew in the back of my mind that this was true. I knew nobody here would be able to do anything with this project for one reason or another. In fact, I've known this about the Benheck community ever since this thread, where Sparkfist told me, and I quote:

Sparkfist wrote:Remember we chop up consoles, not many of use are really into the iner workings of the consoles or their accessories.

But I guess I just hoped that someone out of the small handful of truly talented programmers here, like yourself, would come along and show enough interest in the project to take matters into their own hands. I guess you're all just too busy and/or uninterested...

I have accepted the fact that I'm on my own, and I'm okay with that, but it'd still be nice if the rest of you showed a LITTLE bit of interest, though. >.>

P.S. Autorouter's are for n00bs.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:03 pm

Electric Rain wrote:Autorouter's are for n00bs.

^ That guy is an idiot.

Turns out, this board is REALLY hard to route!

I've done complex boards before... but I guess not this complex. Originally I was going to try to do a single sided board and use SMD jumpers if I needed to overlap traces, but that is NOT gonna work. The problem with double sided boards is that vias are hard to deal with. The two sides need to be PERFECTLY lined up, and I don't know how I'd handle the vias. Would I just insert a really thin metal pin through the via and solder it on both sides?

I could, of course, suck it up and NOT make my own boards, but then I would have to go through ExpressPCB if I were to continue using their software. That's another point for Marshall and Eagle.

Post by **Triton** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:51 am

my question is would it be in the realm of possiblity to recode this or whatever to use a standard format lie fat16 or something? would probably be way more trouble than its worth and if the hardware you are designing can interface via usb i suppose it wouldnt be needed at all but its worth keeping in mind i think

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:38 am

It probably wouldn't be very hard at all. Something tells me that all filesystems are simple by nature. After all, Destop basically created his own filesystem for this project. Obviously, the FPGA is what interprets the file system, translates it into "Gamecube Disk Drive Language" and feeds it to the 'cube. How hard can it really be to code in a FAT16 interpreter? *shrugs*

Psst! Am I giving anyone the illusion that I might possibly have a clue what I'm talking about?

Anyway, I just want to get the original thing working. Then I can worry about how to modify it.

Fat D · Post by **Fat D** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:19 pm

There seems to be a new adapter in development for SDHC cards.
It comes equipped with a microSD slot.
http://digg.com/gaming_news/PIC_DVD_Emu ... ack_2_life

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:45 pm

Well well well... it seems as though this project's use has now been negated. I see no reason to continue development, how about the rest of you?

Fat D · Post by **Fat D** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:48 pm

that thing is SD(HC) only. No CF, no IDE, no nothing with ATA, so no OMGHUGE capacity.
Also, no ATAPI for other ODDs

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:55 pm

Very true... but still... this solves the biggest problem people (here) have with the 'cube; the Disk Drive is too friggin' big. Nobody is going to care enough about the added benefits of this project vs. this new thing. Including myself.

I can't decide if I'm happy that a solution has finally come along, or if I'm depressed that I, nor anyone else involved with this project, were the ones to come up with the solution.

extremesonic · Post by **extremesonic** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:35 pm

MicroSD.TF cards don't sound like enough for cube games. What is the max size micro card anyway? 4GB? And at that size aren't they ridiculously expensive?

Still when this finalizes, it may rekindle my interest in the portable cube(when I have the cash). As with all it's emulators, the portable cube can become an omni-portable with ease.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:40 pm

Would this thing not be backwards compatible with standard SD cards (which are much cheaper and still very small)? I mean, besides the physical attributes, of course. A standard-sized SD card slot would have to be hacked onto the board.

Fat D · Post by **Fat D** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:50 pm

yes, microSDHC is expensive. I wonder if normal ÂµSD works...
ÂµSD cards are fully compatible with Fullsize SD (except there is one less pin for... I think it's ground) and even on a 2 GB card you can fit some (depending on the games between 2 and 5, with a bad choice only one) trimmed games. 4 GB would support 3 (nearly) untrimmed ones. And for Homebrew, SD cards are more than enough. However, you could just use a Qoob with SDLoad for that...