I have an old notebook computer that I use mainly for my Gameboy flashcard that required a parallel port to program the card with. Now, I can use it to flash a Qoob Pro with!
I started off with flashing my own Gamecube with the computer, updating, at least, the secondary launcher (Swiss for Gamecube). Other than the fact that the case I got it sucks, everything worked as it was back in the day.
I disassembled my Gamecube to use the USB connector to program the other Qoob Pro that I was installing. Flashed it, no problem. Now the real test: to see if my connections were good enough.
I opened up the Q just on one side so I could access the harness for the Qoob. Hooked up the harness to the Qoob, and tested it out.
...it booted the Qoob BIOS!
I did some testing with backups and US retail discs, and all booted up nicely. No glitching, no read errors, nothing!
I had to open up the Q one more time to get the Qoob secured inside the case. Pretty much an expert at opening this beast now.
The only reason I call this 99% complete is because of the disc drive belt. As soon as that can be replaced, this thing can be considered 100%. For the time being, though, all I'm using is an old gift card to slide in and pull the tray out a bit.
No pics because of what a behemoth this thing was. But it really does look better now.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Panasonic Q: DONE! sort of...
Yeah, I haven't slept yet since the last blog post...albeit it was just about 4 or so hours since that.
I took another look at the Panasonic Q, just wondering what the heck was going on with it. I swapped the LCD board on the top (functions the DVD portion of the console) from the nice looking one to the hashed one. That seemed to work.
Swapped just the main boards from the cases. Tried again, now it didn't work again (the front function buttons was the problem before, but after the swap, both the top and front buttons weren't working).
...
So I left the top as is and tried the front case from the hashed one.
Boom! That worked! All the functions worked in that combination.
So I swapped the boards on the front panel as well. Got it all to a point where I could test it.
BOOM! Worked again...except for the drive. It wouldn't open up even if the LCD shows it now.
...
A bit of searching lead to a solution that the little drive belt is bad. Opening it back up again, I could tell that the belt was really old. I tried swapping it with the other belt. Still got the same results, but not as bad as the older belt was. I'm gonna leave it like that for the time being.
Since I had the case opened up again, I decided to swap out the fans as well. Something I learned about the Q; Press the DVD/CD button on the top to start the Q in DVD mode, press the Game button to start it in Gamecube mode. The fan doesn't start in DVD mode, but does in Gamecube mode. Anyway, the fan was really loud, so I swapped it out with the other one. That one worked much quieter.
There was also talk about having a Qoob Pro installed in it. I already had the wires installed where they're supposed to go, but I haven't tested the Qoob just yet. I'm gonna have to play around with my Cube to check a different OS for it, then possibly flash it to the drive.
I took another look at the Panasonic Q, just wondering what the heck was going on with it. I swapped the LCD board on the top (functions the DVD portion of the console) from the nice looking one to the hashed one. That seemed to work.
Swapped just the main boards from the cases. Tried again, now it didn't work again (the front function buttons was the problem before, but after the swap, both the top and front buttons weren't working).
...
So I left the top as is and tried the front case from the hashed one.
Boom! That worked! All the functions worked in that combination.
So I swapped the boards on the front panel as well. Got it all to a point where I could test it.
BOOM! Worked again...except for the drive. It wouldn't open up even if the LCD shows it now.
...
A bit of searching lead to a solution that the little drive belt is bad. Opening it back up again, I could tell that the belt was really old. I tried swapping it with the other belt. Still got the same results, but not as bad as the older belt was. I'm gonna leave it like that for the time being.
Since I had the case opened up again, I decided to swap out the fans as well. Something I learned about the Q; Press the DVD/CD button on the top to start the Q in DVD mode, press the Game button to start it in Gamecube mode. The fan doesn't start in DVD mode, but does in Gamecube mode. Anyway, the fan was really loud, so I swapped it out with the other one. That one worked much quieter.
There was also talk about having a Qoob Pro installed in it. I already had the wires installed where they're supposed to go, but I haven't tested the Qoob just yet. I'm gonna have to play around with my Cube to check a different OS for it, then possibly flash it to the drive.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Almost the end of the year...
Yeah, I skipped a whole month of posts...I REALLY don't like the holidays.
Anyway....
PRGE GETs!
Anyway....
PRGE GETs!
Day 1 GETs: 3 Famicom Pulse Label cartridges (Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, and Mario Bros.), Super Street Fighter 2 for Super Famicom, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii (Sans the manual).
Day 2 GETs: Soul Calibur 2 for Xbox, Capcom Fighting Evolution for PS2, Gunbuster 2 for PC Engine CD, and Dead or Alive 5 for PS3.
Forum Raffle GET: Savage Reign for Neo Geo MVS.
Random Goodwill find #1: Jigglypuff Amiibo.
#2: Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
#3: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Currently for repair work, I'm working on a Panasonic Q, "trying" to make the parts I have for it to work as one complete unit.
I also got word that the PC Engine Duo I worked on stopped working. Hopefully I can get to that soonish.
Add to that an SNES that has a problem and a 2DS that doesn't power on.
Currently, though, I'm having problems with my eye. It just plain hurts and it's being more sensitive to light that it usually is.
I've got my work cut out for me.
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