Cobra 1 0 - Nytt bios för viper

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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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