GC doesn't boot to Swiss with pico firmware v0.4

[jimfrob]

Answer some general questions first
Which firmware version are you using?	v0.4
Are you using the official Raspberry Pi Pico board?	yes

I have been using v0.2 for quite a while, but remembering that it was considered "highly experimental," I was keeping an eye out for updates. This morning's release of v0.4 didn't include the word "experimental," so I downloaded it, opened up my GC, and reflashed the pico. To my dismay, I got absolutely no output for the first several power-ons. When it did boot (which was extremely infrequent), it was to the regular GC system. Thinking my soldering might have come undone, I went to the soldering iron and redid the one connection on the pico that looked a bit dodgy. This made no difference. I redownloaded v0.2 and reflashed the pico with that. The GC booted right up to Swiss with that version. I deleted my download of v0.4 and redownloaded it and reflashed the pico again - again, the GC didn't boot. As per the notes in the release, I have not redone the wiring to remove the bridge between GP6 & GP7. Doing so would be difficult since I would have try to remove the pico.

While shooting video for this issue, I did manage to get the GC to boot on v0.4 twice by fiddling with the angle of the wires, but more often this resulted in the console's booting into the regular system. I'm now starting to wonder if it might be the bridged GPIO. For now, I'm going to stick with v0.2. Even if it's experimental, it does work with all games I've tried playing.

In the attached videos, IMG_3550.mov shows a typical startup with v0.4. IMG_3551.mov shows a typical startup with v0.2.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ada7e593-a6b2-4ec8-ac90-3347454fd35c

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4ad4e84c-8670-4cfa-8562-87513d3b407d

[webhdx]

First thing I notice is that it would really help to shorten the wires. Unfortunately it's the most common issue people have with their setups. I know this Pico placement is suggested in Macho Nacho's video but much better location is near fan assembly as it allows for shorter wires run.

Can you check if this build helps to mitigate the issue? https://github.com/webhdx/PicoBoot/actions/runs/10342489277/artifacts/1799614245

It adds another safety measure to disable GP7 which could potentially degrade data signal. I haven't ran into this problem with 3 GameCubes I've tried with v0.4 though.

[jimfrob]

You’re absolutely right about my following Tito’s guide on installing the pico. I didn’t know the wire length was going to be such a problem down the road. The build you linked did not fix the issue, so it probably is the wire length. I don’t feel like taking it all to pieces again to shorten them, so I’ll stick with v0.2. Maybe I’ll feel like it later. Thank you for your quick reply. I really appreciate this project. It allows me to play off of ISOs of my damaged discs (and maybe a few others 😉).

On Aug 11, 2024, at 3:26 PM, Maciej Kobus @.***> wrote:

First thing I notice is that it would really help to shorten the wires. Unfortunately it's the most common issue people have with their setups. I know this Pico placement is suggested in Macho Nacho's video but much better location is near fan assembly as it allows for shorter wires run.

Can you check if this build helps to mitigate the issue? https://github.com/webhdx/PicoBoot/actions/runs/10342489277/artifacts/1799614245

It adds another safety measure to disable GP7 which could potentially degrade data signal. I haven't ran into this problem with 3 GameCubes I've tried with v0.4 though.

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[dragoncity17]

Same problem, 0.3 boot but if I flash 0.4 no boot.

So come back to 0.3 without problem.

[webhdx]

@dragoncity17 Are you able to check if unbridging GP7 solves the issue for you? This is weird because GP7 should not mess the ouput, I've tested it on 3 of my consoles. But who knows...

[dragoncity17]

I unbridged GP7 (only bridge GP6) same problem.

And of course now doesn't work with 0.3.

[Anakiev2]

This can be caused by cold solder joint on GP6 and a good one on GP7. I would reflow all pins on the Raspberry Pi Pico board or at least GP6.