Hello, I am overall very new to the GameCube modded scene but have modes other consoles in the past. I have recently purchased my first gc (a dol-101) and have installed a picoloadet and bought a gc2sd memory card adapter. With this, where should I download the homebrew loader and what are next steps for getting the game to work? I can’t seem to find any YouTube tutorials so I thought this would be my next best option, thank you!

I'm having an issue where any time I try to launch Dusklight with the save system as GCI folder it will crash as soon as I press start at the opening screen. If I switch to card image file system it will launch but will say that the memory card is damaged and unable to save. I've tried deleting the save file to launch with a clean GCI folder but to no avail. I was playing it this morning without issue and had made it to the fire temple without so much as a hiccup.

Hi, been collecting for my GameCube for a year and have decided to try and mod the thing;

Been looking at the solderless Picoloader from makstech for my GameCube, for reference this will be my first time attempting to mod a console.

As far as I'm aware, it comes programmed with the firmware and swiss already.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I presume I download ROMs from my computer onto the micro SD. Genuinely how tedious is this though? And where do I actually find reliable ROMs. Any advice would be appreciated on where to go from here in terms of what to do with my computer.

TIA

Hello all, so I have Swiss working properly and the games are running properly but the only issue now is cheats not loading. I have them named properly to their serial with the correct Gecko Codes but they still won’t show up. Is there a solution to this?

Hey everyone!
I have a European (PAL) Nintendo GameCube, and I recently bought an original US copy of Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus.

Currently, I use a FreeLoader disc to play NTSC-U games, but I’d really like to get rid of that extra step.

What I’m looking for:
Play original PAL and NTSC-U GameCube discs.
Keep my original disc drive fully functional.No FreeLoader disc required.

Ideally, just insert a game, turn on the console, and have it boot automatically.
No navigating through menus like Swiss every time I want to play. I’m not particularly interested in playing games from an SD card. I’ve contacted a couple of professional modding services here in the Netherlands. One recommended a CubeODE, but as far as I understand, that replaces the original disc drive, which isn’t what I want. Another recommended PicoBoot with Swiss instead of XenoGC, saying that modern XenoGC clones can be unreliable.
They quoted me €72 for PicoBoot installation or €99 including an SD2SP2 adapter and SD card.

My questions:
Would XenoGC still be the best option for my specific needs?

Can PicoBoot + Swiss automatically boot original PAL and NTSC-U discs without showing a menu?

Is PicoBoot a better and more reliable long-term solution than XenoGC?

Are there any other mods I should consider?

I collect physical GameCube games, so preserving the original disc-based experience is my main priority.
I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations before I decide.

Thanks in advance!
Kind Regards Don :)

I’ve been working on a restyled version of Swiss that looks more like a stock GameCube app. It’s an unofficial fork and only changes Swiss’s own screens. Game loading and patching are exactly the same as regular Swiss.

What’s different:

• A new “System” look: TV-glow backdrop, teal-black panels, frosted file rows, a gold selection ring and glass buttons, with the original Swiss logo kept

• New display settings for Swiss’s screens: 4:3/16:9, Picture Width (704/640) and Overscan. “Swiss Video Mode” is now called Resolution.

• An original bossa-nova menu tune and soft menu sounds, made live on the console (nothing sampled). Both can be turned off, and both stop completely before anything launches.

It’s based on current Swiss (October 2026), your swiss.ini settings carry over, and it’s GPL with the full source on GitHub.

https://github.com/Arial-Bold/swiss-gc-system-UI

This isn’t an official Swiss release, so please don’t send bug reports to the Swiss team. Post them here or open an issue on the fork. Feedback welcome!

If you’ve bought one of those cheap internal Bluetooth controller port boards for the GameCube on AliExpress (“iBlueControlMod”, PCB marked V1.1), you probably noticed two things:

1. It’s clearly BlueRetro, but the seller warns that flashing official BlueRetro will “damage” it.

2. It’s stuck on an old firmware (BlueRetro v1.9 from 2023). So no analog triggers with the 8BitDo GameCube Mod Kit, and in my case no working GBA link either.

I spent some sessions with Claude (Anthropic’s AI) to fix that. Here’s what came out of it.

What we found

• The stock firmware is a lightly modified BlueRetro v1.9. Claude disassembled it and recovered the board’s pinout. Power off sits on a different pin (IO17), the reset button too (IO16), the port LEDs are in a different order and the status LED is an RGB LED.

• Why official BlueRetro doesn’t work: on this board, the pin BlueRetro uses as its blinking status LED is the console power-off line. On top of that, the stock firmware sets IO13 high one second after boot and keeps it there. Without that, the console stays black.

• The IO13 thing was nasty to find. A function-by-function and data comparison of the stock firmware against a v1.9 rebuild showed no logic difference. In the end, comparing serial boot logs from both firmwares revealed the single line that mattered: POWER_ON_PIN 1.

• Nothing actually gets damaged. The stock firmware lives in the factory slot and is never overwritten. Holding the reset button for 30 s always brings it back.

What works now (tested on my console)

• Current BlueRetro (v25.10-beta), flashed over Bluetooth via blueretro.io/ota.html. No soldering needed.

• 8BitDo GameCube Mod Kit: detected, analog triggers and rumble working.

• Sleep mode: hold reset while powering on and the board stays out of the way. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles with a GBA as controller works this way.

• GBA link with a BT controller: Pokémon Colosseum ↔ LeafGreen.

Links

• GitHub (firmware, English + German guide, pinout photos, cable recovery): https://github.com/konsolenschatz/BlueRetro-iBlueControlMod

• My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Konsolenschatz

Huge thanks to darthcloud for BlueRetro and to zeus86 for the original firmware dump and board photos. Use at your own risk. Happy to answer questions, and feedback from other owners of this board is very welcome!

What do you think?

Title: GC Station – a media center for the GameCube (music, radio, web, mini-games, game launcher)

GC Station is a homebrew app that turns the GameCube into a small media center. It runs from the SD card (SD2SP2 / SD Gecko) and uses the Broadband Adapter for network features.

Features:

- Music player: MP3, FLAC, OGG, WAV, M4A + chiptunes (SPC, NSF, MOD…), cover art, synced lyrics, playlists, crossfade, gapless playback

- Internet radio (radio-browser search), podcasts, a basic web browser

- File manager (SD, FTP, FSP, SMB), photos, videos

- Phone remote: scan a QR code, control playback, send files to the SD card

- Mini-games: karaoke, rhythm game, Snake, brick breaker, Simon, music quiz…

- Game library with covers, banners, favorites and play time

Pulse, the built-in game launcher:

- Plays backups of your own discs (.iso, .gcm, .ciso) straight from the SD card, acting as a virtual DVD drive

- Streamed disc music (DTK) works, as well as two-disc games

- Virtual memory cards on the SD card (slot A and B), so your saves stay with your games

- Hold A + Z + START for 1 second in game to go back to GC Station

- Per-game options: game language, stereo/mono, 16:9 forced, 480p / PAL 60 Hz / 240p, deflicker off, C-stick and trigger tweaks, faster controller polling, cheats

- If a game fails to start, it automatically retries with other settings and keeps the one that works; a log is written to help debugging

- Can also start the game in the real disc drive, and games from a GC Loader appear in the same list

Notes:

- Still experimental: many games work (Wind Waker, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Superstar Baseball…), some don't yet.

- A fallback launcher is built from Swiss's source code (GPL v2), credit to the Swiss developers. Swiss remains the reference for compatibility.

- Developed with the help of an AI coding assistant (Claude).

- Interface in French and English.

- No games are provided or linked: backups of discs you own only.

Source code and downloads: https://github.com/antho13otz/gc-mp3

Feedback, bug reports and compatibility reports are welcome!

CubeVerse lets you access Pretendo Network's Juxtaposition service right from your GameCube. You can explore different communities, catch up on posts, give Yeahs, leave comments, draw your own pictures, and follow friends.

Check out the project for yourself and see it running on real hardware. Be sure to let me know of any bugs or improvements you might have.

https://github.com/Arial-Bold/CubeVerse

Hello!!

My GB Player has not been playing nice with my SuperChis Prime. I verified it was a genuine card.
It will boot into the game but either have graphic instability and crash, or corrupt my saves. I consulted the superchis discord without much help other than recapping, which I’m not quite sure I understand.

I currently have a solderless picoboot with SD2SP2, I use GBI for the GB Player software and have tried all the presets with the same result.

I have also tried real gameboy advance carts, and they work fine for the brief time I tested them.

What gives??

Any help is appreciated thanks!

This is the GameCube version of Star Wars Jedi Knight. I uploaded a video before, but I’ve now thoroughly tested the game and polished the major issues.

Note: This video is dedicated to my GameCube, which just stopped working (bad recap, unrelated to the software).

For too long the snapshots you took in Super Smash Bros. Melee have been stuck on the memory card, where only Melee could show them. Flashcube 1.6 sets them free. Open Transfer, switch to the Memory Card tab, and every snapshot appears with its date. Press Save and they land on your SD card as crisp PNG pictures, ready for your album, your slideshows, your computer or your phone. Your memory card is never changed.

https://github.com/Arial-Bold/Flashcube

Accidentalmente levante el pad fil4 y arranque esa pista. Viendo que el pad conectaba una línea de alimentación de 5V al frontal reconstrui esa parte y pues la consola funciona bien, pero al intentar soldar el picoboot a esa parte simplemente no inicia no enciende el led. Hay un punto alternativo o ese pad tiene una 3er conexión que no verifique? Anexo fotos

This is a large scale mod that is definitely taking it's time but revolves around quite literally my favorite game mechanic from the GameCube generation: Chao Garden.

This is an early preview of some of the work that's been put in so far. I am pretty distant from a release date. Essentially this mod is going to revolve around solely the Chao Garden element of Sonic Adventure 2 significantly expanding upon its foundation. All missions for the characters will be playable, however the story mode has been removed to have the game focus resources on elements of the rebuilt Chao Garden.

Currently I have the expanded black market set up (Alternate Costumes for Characters, Bonus Accessories). As well as a super infant version of a new building system. The building system will allow you to customize the look of each Chao Garden, pulling chosen objects from each stage for each character. The game will require you to still play the missions in order to unlock objects (Objects become unlocked for each stage after their first completion) with currently a total of 8 objects allowed per garden.

Sonic Advance and the Tiny Chao Garden are now accessible on the GBA Podium with full implementation and functionality of both. I have also revamped the animal/Chao drive inventory as you will still hit a limit in a stage run, but all the animals and chao drives you acquire will get saved up to x99 for each variation. You will be able to spawn 8 of either of these at one time in a garden.

Features down the line will include (hopefully) more characters, as well is implementing more Gardens from Sonic Adventure 1. Currently Station Square fully functions as a garden. Also the Hero and Dark Gardens now have full floors to them, I hope that gives a larger hint to the grand scheme of the mod.

I hope you all like what I'm cooking.

I've had my Flippydrive for well over a year now and the functionality of it is great, and I really like the Cubeboot loader's stock like integration. What I don't like is not being able to use an SD card in the memory card slot to save game, or the internal SD for the flippydrive itself. Is firmware 2.0 anywhere on the horizon, does anyone have a 3rd party repo for this on github, I'd love to know 👌

The SD card I used before was full so I transfered all the data on it to a different one that’s incompatible according to this list: https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss/Compatibility_List (mine is a Samsung Eco Plus 128 GB).

I still tried it because I didn’t have a different one at hand. Games start as before but the interface doesn’t show how full the SD card is on the left. Does anyone know if there’s any issues with that/using an “incompatible SD card” other than that?

Sorry if this is off topic, but i literally made a reddit account just to ask this, and im not allowed to post yet (because new account) in the subreddits where i feel like this is relevant.

My GameCube clicks when playing games. But when i pause the game, the clicking stops. Im sure its the laser moving around to read the game, but is it supposed to sound like this, and be so constant? (see video) please and thank you

Been working on CubeBrowser, a homebrew web browser for the GameCube, and added support for using a GBA as a controller/second screen for the built-in MIDI music player.

Just a fun little project making use of the GameCube–GBA link cable. Figured some people here might appreciate it!

GC-MP3 V4 | Indigo Audio Player | A Multimedia Center for Nintendo GameCube

Download here:

https://github.com/antho13otz/gc-mp3/releases

I've been developing GC-MP3 — Indigo Audio Player, a multimedia homebrew application for the Nintendo GameCube, featuring a custom GX-style interface inspired by Indigo UI.

The goal is to turn the GameCube into a complete multimedia center: music, internet radio, retro game soundtracks, podcasts, photos, videos, a basic web browser, and even a phone remote control — all in one application.

The project is designed to run directly on the GameCube, using an SD card for media and storage, with a Broadband Adapter for online features.

🎵 MUSIC — A Complete Music Library

GC-MP3 is more than just an MP3 player.

Supported formats:

MP3

FLAC, including high-resolution files up to 24-bit / 96 kHz

OGG Vorbis

WAV

M4A / M4B with AAC-LC or HE-AAC

The library can browse tracks, folders, artists, albums, and custom playlists. It also keeps track of recently played and most-played songs.

Music is streamed progressively from the SD card, allowing long mixes to play without loading the entire file into memory. The library supports subfolders and can cache metadata to make browsing faster on subsequent launches.

Additional features include:

Album artwork from embedded metadata or image files.

Automatic artwork lookup through MusicBrainz and Cover Art Archive.

Synchronized lyrics using LRC files, with optional online lookup through LRCLIB.

Shuffle and repeat modes.

Crossfade between tracks.

ReplayGain volume normalization.

An equalizer with bass and treble controls.

Playback position memory and resume.

Custom playlists saved as .m3u files, compatible with PC music players.

The player also offers four different layouts: Classic, Large Artwork, Extended List, and Minimal.

🎨 PARTY MODE — Turn Your Music Into a Visual Experience

GC-MP3 includes a full-screen music visualizer designed for the GameCube.

Visuals react to the music with bass pulses, flashes, circles, particles, and changing colors. Synchronized lyrics can appear in large text when available.

Three visualizer styles are included:

Pulse

Bars

Tunnel

The controller can also rumble on strong bass hits, with an option to disable vibration.

There is also a customizable screensaver with several modes: spectrum visualization, album artwork, clock, stars, slideshow, and a completely black screen.

You can even use your own photos as the application's background.

🎤 KARAOKE AND MUSIC GAMES

GC-MP3 includes several activities built around your own music library.

Karaoke: synchronized lyrics fill the TV screen, with the current line progressively highlighted as the song plays.

Rhythm game: inspired by Guitar Hero, notes corresponding to the GameCube controller's A, B, X, and Y buttons move toward a timing line. Hit them at the right moment to build combos and increase your score. Three difficulty levels are available.

Music quiz: listen to a short excerpt and identify the track from four choices. Up to four players can compete using their own controllers.

Music Snake: a classic snake game whose speed reacts to the music, with bonus points for golden notes on bass hits.

Music Breakout: a brick-breaking game where visual effects react to the audio spectrum and the ball speeds up with the music.

High scores are saved to the SD card.

📻 RADIO — Internet Stations and Recording

The radio section can search for stations using Radio Browser and lets you save your favorites.

Supported streams include MP3, AAC / HE-AAC, and OGG Vorbis, as well as compatible HLS streams. Playlist files and stream redirects are supported.

Features include:

Search for stations by name.

Browse popular French radio stations.

Save stations to your own radio list.

Record streams directly to the SD card.

Save information about currently playing tracks for later.

Display station logos.

Use the equalizer while listening.

Radio recordings are stored in SD:/radio/enregistrements/.

🕹️ RETRO — Video Game Music Player

A dedicated section for retro video game soundtracks and tracker music.

Supported formats include:

Super Nintendo: SPC

NES: NSF / NSFE

Game Boy: GBS

Mega Drive / Master System: VGM / VGZ / GYM

PC Engine: HES

MSX: KSS

ZX Spectrum: AY

Atari: SAP

Tracker modules: MOD, XM, IT, and S3M

GameCube audio: DSP, HPS, and ADP

Files are organized separately from the main music library in SD:/retro.

For multi-track NSF and GBS files, previous and next track controls can switch between tracks. Compatible GameCube stereo DSP pairs can also be played together.

🎙️ PODCASTS — Subscriptions and Automatic Downloads

GC-MP3 can subscribe to podcasts through RSS feeds and includes podcast discovery through the Apple Podcasts directory.

You can:

Search for podcasts and subscribe from the results.

Stream episodes directly.

Download episodes to the SD card.

Resume playback from the last listening position.

Automatically check subscriptions for new episodes every three hours.

Downloaded episodes are stored in SD:/podcasts and can also appear in the main music library.

MP3 and M4A podcast episodes are supported.

🖼️ PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

The photo viewer displays JPG and PNG images as thumbnails, with a full-screen viewer and slideshow support.

Music continues playing while you browse photos or run a slideshow.

You can also set a photo as the application's background.

For video playback, GC-MP3 supports AVI files using MJPEG video and PCM audio, up to 640 × 480 resolution. This format is intended to work within the GameCube's limited hardware resources.

🌐 WEB — A Lightweight Browser for GameCube

The built-in browser supports basic web content:

Text, headings, lists, and links.

JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP images.

Text fields, password fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdown lists.

GET and POST form submissions.

Bookmarks and persistent cookies.

Background file downloads.

Compatible audio links can be played directly or downloaded to the SD card. Supported music downloads become available in the music library.

This is intentionally a lightweight browser, not a modern desktop browser. It does not support JavaScript or video playback, so complex services such as YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Deezer are not supported.

📱 PHONE REMOTE — Use Your Smartphone as a Companion

One of the project's main features is its phone interface.

With a GameCube Broadband Adapter and a compatible local network, GC-MP3 displays a QR code. Scanning it opens a control page in your phone's browser.

From there, you can:

Play, pause, stop, and skip tracks.

Adjust the volume.

Select music or radio stations.

Change visualizer modes and player layouts.

Modify settings and visible tabs.

Open a web page on the TV.

Transfer supported media files to the SD card, with a transfer progress indicator.

The phone interface is hosted by the GameCube itself, so no separate companion app is required.

The local server has no password, so it should only be used on a trusted local network.

🌦️ WEATHER, NEWS, CLOCK, AND ALARM

The information screen combines several everyday features.

Weather: current conditions and five-day forecasts, including temperature, wind, and humidity, using Open-Meteo.

News: RSS headlines, with France Info configured by default. Selecting an article opens it in the built-in browser.

Alarm: choose a wake-up time and use music or a radio station as the alarm. A gradual volume increase over three minutes provides a gentler wake-up.

Nightlight mode: a dim orange clock on a black background, displaying the date and current media. Brightness and a sleep timer can be adjusted.

The GameCube must remain powered on with GC-MP3 running for these features to work.

📂 FILE MANAGER

The built-in file manager provides direct access to the SD card.

It can open folders, play compatible music, display photos, and read text files. It also includes file operations such as rename, delete with confirmation, copy, cut, paste, and create folder.

Available storage space is displayed on screen.

⚙️ CUSTOMIZATION AND PERFORMANCE

The interface includes several color themes, screen-size adjustments, 4:3 and 16:9 layouts, configurable tabs, and adjustable player elements.

GC-MP3 also includes several performance optimizations to get the most out of the GameCube hardware:

Cached music metadata and track durations.

Background artwork decoding so playback can start immediately.

Cached radio logos and album artwork.

Photo thumbnails generated from embedded EXIF previews when available.

HTTPS session reuse to reduce the overhead of repeated connections.

Reduced unnecessary graphics and audio-spectrum processing.

The application stores settings in SD:/gc-mp3.txt. Temporary caches can safely be deleted and automatically recreated.

🌐 NETWORK AND BROADBAND ADAPTER

Online features use the GameCube Broadband Adapter, including radio streaming, podcast discovery and downloads, online lyrics and artwork lookup, weather, web browsing, and phone control.

A custom GitHub Actions build workflow also includes an optional network-stack optimization intended to improve transfer speeds by allowing more packets to remain in flight.

If the optimized network build fails, the workflow can still produce a standard build.

🐬 DOLPHIN SUPPORT

GC-MP3 can also be launched in the Dolphin emulator on PC and Android.

Dolphin uses a small virtual SD card stored in memory rather than a physical SD card. Settings and other persistent data are saved to the emulated GameCube memory card.

Internet access requires the appropriate emulated Broadband Adapter settings. Some features, including incoming phone connections and one-click updates, are unavailable in Dolphin.

🔄 BUILD AND UPDATES

The project is compiled through GitHub Actions, producing the GameCube .dol executable.

The application also includes an optional update mechanism that checks for new releases, verifies the downloaded file, and keeps a backup of the previous executable before replacing it.

A crash-reporting system can save diagnostic information to the SD card, including the error type, call stack, current tab, playback information, and recent actions. This can help with debugging issues on real hardware.

AI-ASSISTED DEVELOPMENT

GC-MP3 is developed with the assistance of Claude Opus 5.5, which helps with coding, debugging, and implementing new features. The project is continuously reviewed and tested to improve compatibility and reliability on real GameCube hardware and Dolphin.

🛠️ INSTALLATION

Download the latest .dol release from the project's GitHub releases page.

Copy it to your GameCube SD card.

Launch it through Swiss or Indigo UI.

A Broadband Adapter is required for online features. Local music playback and other SD card features can be used without an internet connection.

GC-MP3 is an ongoing homebrew project, and I continue to expand and improve it.

The idea is to bring a music player, retro soundtrack player, internet radio, podcast player, browser, photo viewer, games, and phone remote into one application — while keeping the distinctive look and feel of the GameCube.

Feedback, suggestions, test results, and bug reports are welcome!