Linux Now Booted On GameCube System 80
modifried writes "The GameCube-Linux project managed to get the Linux kernel to boot on a GameCube gaming system - it 'shows a full screen of kernel messages, up to mounting root', but there are still errors to be fixed. From what I have gathered no one has (as of yet) been able to burn a bootable mini-DVD for the system. Instead they are currently using a glitch in the patching system from the online-enabled game Phantasy Star Online. Screenshots can be found here. (And if you'd like more information on the PSOLoader, it can be found here.)"
In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Theres a reason they can't make the DVD's (Score:2, Funny)
Well, I have a GameCube, and every time I power it down and open the lid, the disc is spinning clockwise...
There have been some seriously tricky rumors about the contents of the disk. What is so far known is that the media is normal 8mm DVD - burnable blanks are available, just rarely and costly. (No idea if the GC drive can read burned discs anyway - as everyone knows some optical drives can only read factory-pressed CDs/DVDs...)
Yet, the disc is not in standard DVD format. And the problem is, the DVD-ROM drives are probably too smart to read disks blindly and just tell what's the situation on some specific spot on the disc surface.
Sort of like the "copy-protected" CDs. The discs are not in standard Redbook format, so "dumb" CD players can read them almost (and barely) without problems, because they essentially do "The groove starts here, read the pits at constant speed from here on and make some noise". The "smart" CD-ROM drives can't read the discs because they're intentionally confused by the bogus data on CD - "Read the disc table of contents to determine track location... what the hell?" or "The disc says this, the error-correction data says that, uh, don't blame me if you're getting a headache from all this, boss". (Nintendo's case is different from broken CDs because this stuff is a comprehensive design from ground up, of course... it just happens to use mini-DVD discs and drive mechanism, not the standard disc layout.)
So obviously, you can't rip the GC discs if your DVD-ROM drive won't even recognize it as a DVD-ROM! I read somewhere people were using really contrived means to examine the disc data, like hooking up an oscilloscope to GameCube disc drive data lines...
Some speculate that there are features on the disc that are absolutely impossible to replicate on consumer DVD+-RW drives. For example, some think the barcode visible on inner part of the disc is relevant to booting the disc, and burning features that are visible to naked eye might be mighty tricky...
And I'm not a GC technical expert, I've only had the machine for less than a month and I've read only a couple of articles on the matter anyway. Hope this helps.