The goal set before us is simple - install, boot, run and use Linux and sub-apllications such as SNES9X, Mediaplayer, MAME and/or the Neo Geo Emulator. Now lets go over the requirements. Requirments - Nintendo GameCube Broad Band Adaptper (BBA) Microsoft Windows PC Internet Connection Hardware/Software Router Hex Editor Hard/Softmod Basic Windows Networking Skills Required Files cube_rootfs.rar nbdsrvr-1.2.zip putty.exe rootgs-ndbsrvr.bat zImage.nbdc6.dol SNES ROM Image(s) MPEG, AVI, JPEG and/or MP3 File(s) Optional Requirments - FTP Server Deamon HTTP Server Deamon winscp374setup.exe It's pretty simple how this actually works as the DOL (Linux Kernal) will boot on the GameCube and then communicates with your PC using the BBA as this is where it stores it's virtual harddrive partition(s). GC-Linux (GCL for now on) will also use a shared internet connection to retrieve any file(s) it might need. As most of you know to boot the Kernal (DOL File) you will need either a hardmod (modchip) or softmod (bba+pso, maxdrive pro, ar+memcard) that will allow you to either flash the DOL to the BIOS (Qoob), boot the DOL via DVDR (Viper, GCOS) and/or stream the DOL over the network to the GameCube (PSO, Max Drive Pro). If you are unfamiliar with using either a hard/softmod please visit our Mod That Cube -FAQ- for detailed instructions located at http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com. Once the DOL file is loaded it will constantly communicate with the PC (this is also where you will control GC-Linux) to do it's job. Now lets briefly look over the files that are required to get the job done. cube_rootfs.rar - Root Filesystem (Main Paritition and Virtual Hard Drive) nbdsrvr-1.2.zip - PC Side Server Application putty.exe - SSH Client to Control GCL via Keyboard rootgs-ndbsrvr.bat - Batch file to launch ndbserver zImage.nbdc6.dol - Linux Kernal in DOL format SNES ROM Image(s) - For running in SNES9X GC Media File(s) - For viewing using MPLAYER These optional programs are not required, but will make this a lot easier after installing them. FTP Server Deamon - Access your local hard drives and/or network via FTP HTTP Server Deamon - Access your local hard drives and/or network via HTTP winscp374setup.exe - GUI based application for file management between GCL <-> Windows Now that we know which files that are required it is time to download and install them. You can either track them down yourself or find them all in one complete archive located at http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/files/linux/cube_linux.zip. Next extract the files into a directly and then extract the archives from them in the same directory.  Now since you have the files it is time to setup the IP of the Cube and your Computer in the DOL file itself. Since my GameCube IP is 192.168.1.32 and my PC is 192.168.1.100. Hopefully you know basic networking and know that for the Cube and PC to communicate they both must be on the same subnet so say for example your PC's IP is 192.168.5.# that means your Cube must also be 192.168.5.#. If you are unsure about this whole IP address issue I suggest you read up on IP addressing before you go any further. To change the IP's in the DOL load up a hexeditor such as UltraEdit32 and search for '192.168' which will return two IP addresses which you might need to change.  Next you will want to run the DOL file somehow. Because I have a Qoob Pro (www.qoobchip.com) I can actually put the DOL on the chip itself and boot it by simply holding 'b' while starting the Cube and selecting it. This makes life a lot easier as it is the best solution for booting the DOL compared to all of the other hard/softmods outlined in my FAQ.  Before you run the DOL file you will want to run the 'rootgs-ndbsrvr.bat' batch file. Now boot the DOL and hopefully it will connect to the Cube. Depending on your firewall and/or router setup you may have to open the '55321' port for this to work.    As in picture below the last line of text coming from your Cube should be "Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 cube tty1" and if it isn't you're going to have to configure your network correctly and try again.  Next run 'putty.exe' and type in the IP address of your Cube and you might want to save it so the next time you can easily connect without having to type in it. Once it has connected login as 'root' and the password is 'cube'.  If you would like to change your password type in 'passwd' and change it!  Next type 'route add default gw 192.168.1.1' where the IP is the default gateway IP. If you own a router this is usally the routers IP address and if you do not have a router you will need to setup an internet connection sharing program such as 'WinRouteLite' before you can connect to the internet. After adding your gateway IP you can test your internet connection by pinging a website url by typing in 'ping -c 3 google.com'  If for some reason the program (or any program) needs to be stopped you can press 'ctrl+c' to stop any program at any time. Next we need to update your system in a few various ways and download various applications and programs. From now on any line that starts with -> means you must input the rest of the line into 'putty' then execute it (by pressing enter of course) -> echo 'deb http://honk.physik.uni-konstanz.de/~agx/linux-ppc/debian/ mplayer/' >> /etc/apt/sources.list -> apt-get update -> apt-get upgrade Your Cube might lose it's video signal after a while, but this is not a problem as it is like a built in screen saving feature so don't worry! After the last command when asked to continue enter 'y', when asked if you want to update the system answer 'y' and then when the below text appears answer 'n'.  -> apt-get install mplayer-powerpc -> wget http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/files/linux/ek-loner.mp3 -> mplayer ek-longer.mp3  The 'wget' command will download a file from a remote location (http/ftp) and put it in the currentl directory you are in and then the 'mplayer' command will play the mp3 file which in this case happens to be a great song from a band I followed around the USA called 'Loner' by 'Ekoostik Hookah - http://www.ekoostik.com'. Make sure to quit MPLAYER by pressing 'q'. -> apt-get install bzip2 -> wget http://www.gc-linux.org/down/isobel/sdl/sdl-wip5.tar.bz2 -> tar -jxvf sdl-wip5.tar.bz2 -> cp nfsroot/cube/usr/local/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.0 /usr/lib -> rm /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0 (if exists) -> ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.0 /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0 -> wget http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/xanimdlls-ppc-20040626.tar.bz2 OR -> wget http://www2.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/xanimdlls-ppc-20040626.tar.bz2 -> tar -jxvf xanimdlls-ppc-20040626.tar.bz2 -> mkdir /usr/lib/codecs/ -> cp xanimdlls-ppc-20040626/* /usr/lib/codecs -> wget http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/files/linux/ff-zombie.avi -> mplayer -vo sdl -ao sdl -framedrop ff-zombie.avi OR -> mplayer -vo sdl -cache 512 ff-zombie.avi   You can use either command above to play your media files with. The other commands above were needed so we could update the codecs in MPLAYER so that we could actually watch Divx, Xvid, mpeg2, etc. Now we will work on Mounting a Windows Network Share so you can access your local hard drive folders without having to go through all of that HTTP and/or FTP downloading. -> mkdir /mnt/share -> nano /etc/fstab This will bring up the text editor NANO and you will need to change the '0' to a '1' as specified below. change "/dev/nbd0 / ext2 defaults 0 0" to "/dev/nbd0 / ext2 defaults 0 1" -> apt-get install smbfs smbclient When prompted type in your Domain or Workgroup and remember it is case sensative! -> echo '//COMPUTER/SHARE /mnt/share smbfs user=????,password=####,defaults,ro,user,noauto' >> /etc/fstab Replace COMPUTER with your computer's name, SHARE with the share name, ???? with your login name and #### with the password. Example -> echo '//BRAKKEN/gamecube /mnt/share smbfs user=jesus,password=willsaveyou,defaults,ro,user,noauto' >> /etc/fstab If at a later time you need to change the computer/share name type 'nano /etc/samba/smb.conf' and find your old one and change it. To mount you share type 'mount /mnt/share' and to unmount it type 'unmount /mnt/share'. To access it type 'cd /mnt/share'.  Now we have MPLAYER installed and working lets move on to the great SNES emulator SNES9X For the PAL version enter this... wget - Q http://voidpointer.org/gc-linux/snes wget http://www.gc-linux.org/down/isobel/gx/gxsnes9x_static5 sed "s\/usr.*$\gxsnes9x_static5\g" -i snes chmod u+x snes gxsnes9x_static5 mv snes gxsnes9x_static5 /bin Or for the NTSC version enter this... wget - Q http://voidpointer.org/gc-linux/snes wget http://voidpointer.org/gc-linux/gxsnes9x_static sed "s\/usr.*$\gxsnes9x_static\g" -i snes chmod u+x snes gxsnes9x_static mv snes gxsnes9x_static /bin To test the emulator type... -> wget http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/files/linux/starfox.smc -> snes starfox.smc   Get the file 'scummvm.tar.tgz' from 'http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/files/linux/scummvm.tar.tgz' and copy it into the root directory of Linux. If you are copying it from your network share you can copy using the 'cp (filename)' syntax. Next uncompress the archive, change some file permissions then run scumm. If you want to add games simply copy them into a new directory under /SCUMMVM_GAMES/ -> tar -xvzf scummvm.tar.tgz -> cd /bin -> chmod u+x scummvm -> chmod 777 scumm -> scumm In /root/.scummvmrc (the scummemulator puts all settings for every game) so if you want to edit namnes in the menu that is the file to edit. Scumm's homepage can be located here -> http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gist/gamecube/gamecube.html Installing the IRC client 'BitchX' is really simple to do and works pretty well. It's kind of cool to IRC from the GameCube! -> apt-get install bitchx To shutdown GCL type in 'shutdown -h now' and if you're interested in learning the basics of Linux check out 'http://linuxsurvival.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=1&meid=-1'. Thanks to vimacs, cr4iz3, mith0s and scognito for helping and putting up with my noob ass for hours while I got this information to write this FAQ as without them writing this would of been close to impossible! You can find the official MFE Homepage here. MFE (MPLAYER FRONT END) is a stand alone Linux distribution that will boot from a DVDR using any solution to do so and does not require a connection to your computer. MPLAYER of course will let you view and/or listen to your media files, such as MP3, DIVX, XVID, SVCD, MPEG2, VOB, etc. 1) Download the original and updated packages which obtains the DOL file and Linux FileSystem needed to boot with. 3) Using Nero Burning ROM create a new DVD with an ISO-9660 + Joilet filesystem and uncheck any relaxed restrictions. 4) Put both the 'mfe-boot.dol' and 'mfe-fs.bz2' files into the root (main directory) of your new disc 5) Put any media file you want into you compilation including, but not limited to AVI, DIVX, MP3, MPEG, MPEG2 or OGG (See Mplayer's HomePage for a List of Supported Formats) 6) Burn the disc and make sure to close the session 7) Put it in the Cube and select the DOL file to boot using your disc explorer option in the BIOS of your choice. 8) It'll take a minute to load and then you'll be given a menu (see pix above) of which media file to play The playback quality is the best I've seen on any console so far and it beats XBOX Media Center (XBMC) and the limited PS2 Media Players hands down, but sadly you're only limited to 1.4 gigs of information per disc so it's not really a pratical solution unless you're only playing smaller files. Unlike GC-Linux you are not able to mount a share or access files from a remote source or switch discs, but hopefully we'll see these features added in newer versions. It's a great start and much better then any other alternative if you do not own a BBA! NOTE: I know that the Cobra BIOS itself cannot read Joilet filesystems, but you must realize that all Joilet burned discs also contain the normal ISO9660 filesystem. Now with this in mind the Cobra disc explorer will let you boot the DOL, but then once Linux loads it can read the Joilet filesystem and there are no problems so you can browse through your media with complete filenames. I admit this isn't for any n00b or the faint hearted as it requires you do manually patch the uncompiled GC-Linux source code, compile it and then make sure it works out right. Basically this patch is to allow you to use the various PS/2 -> GameCube keyboard adapters allowing you to use normal PS/2 keyboards under GCLinux. Of course if you have a keyboard pre-made for the GameCube you don't need to worry as it already will work just fine. All you must do is read forum post which has all of the information of what to change and then use this guide for compiling your own GC-Linux DOL file. Good luck!  (Information on installing MAME EMU, NEO GEO EMU and Lynx Web Browser will be in the next revision) |
The purpose and character of the use of any copyrighted material on this page is for
nonprofit educational purposes. All other content (C)opyright PhantomX.NET, 2005
Page design by "brakken" and hosting is provied by NGC DEV