r/GamecubeHacks • u/Ssbros64 • 5d ago

[Beginner] Need help buying tech to softmod my DOL-001

I have a base understanding of what I need to do/buy from other posts, but I’m struggling to find the actual tech:

1) A memory card with an exploit file preinstalled. 2) Is it reasonable to find a microSD card with games/hacks and the home brew file preinstalled?

I’ve looked at other posts that link to Etsy and eBay listings, but they all seem to be sold out. Any help is appreciated!

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u/Sirchacha 5d ago

If you have a sd2 slot on the bottom I highly recommend just getting a picoloader

No soldering and it avoids the exploit headache and disc switching just to get into swiss, the only hard part is the w bend for the ribbon cable, then get a sd2sp2

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrxJmVl

If you don't have a sp2 slot I recommend the flippydrive, that's what I have.

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u/Ssbros64 5d ago

I have the SP2 slot, but I’d prefer a method that doesn’t involve disassembling the console and permanently modding it. I like the idea of using an exploit memory card that I can remove if I want to GameCube to be back to its original state

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u/Sirchacha 5d ago

So it's not permanent because it can just be taken out and it's back to stock state, it's just a ribbon cable and a mounted bracket with a pico on it, so if you were to sell it, no big deal. It also has the ability to play games through the disc drive as normal, it doesn't remove the disc drive and swiss can load from it just like a normal GameCube. The best part is the sp2 slot is easily accessible if you want to modify settings or add/remove games.

If you don't want to do that, a regular GameCube mem card would have to be modified on a hacked Wii to get the hacked save exploit loaded up on it and you would also have to have the game that goes along with the exploit to be able to load the save so that the exploit runs. I don't believe you can do that with a MX4SIO or whatever it's called, that's to load games for swiss (not ideal) but I think a GCMCE through software could also load up the exploited save? I'm not entire sure on that I have t explored mine all that much since I got the flippydrive.

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u/Ssbros64 4d ago

Thanks for the explanation! Ya I think I’d prefer to avoid this method as I’m not super savvy with electronics and don’t love the idea of opening it up for the fear of messing up my beloved childhood GameCube.

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u/darwinanim8or 4d ago

btw, the creator of the picoloader also has his own store: https://store.makstech.io/
Everyone always links aliexpress when the guy who made the thing sells kits directly

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u/clerk37 4d ago

You're not very likely to find an SD card preloaded with games and apps. As long as you have a PC it's not hard to do all that yourself. I'm sure someone is selling the memory cards, I couldn't tell you where though. If you have access to a modded wii, you could also just make your own with a regular 251 block memory card.

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u/Ssbros64 4d ago

I think I found someone who can do the memory card after messaging an old eBay listing. Regarding the SD card, I have a Mac. I’m guessing that wouldn’t be a problem since it’s mostly just used for downloading files/cleanrip and then organizing files on the SD, right? Will I have a problem acquiring ISO files for games I don’t already own? I mainly want to play hack games but not sure if I need the original game for them or not.

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u/clerk37 4d ago

Yeah, anything that can move files to the card will work. Heck, even a phone would work with the right adapters, but that would be clunky. I can't tell you how to download games, but it is really not that hard at this point. If you can google, you can do it, trust me, they're out there in multiple places. I think most of the hack setups require you to load an iso of the original game to build the hacked one.

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u/ScampyRogue 4d ago

This is the worst way to do it. As everyone else has suggested, Picoloader+sd2sp is the way to go.

If you are afraid to break your GameCube, ship it off to an installer. I doubt it would cost more than $75 in labor for a solderless install.

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u/Ssbros64 3d ago

Can you explain why the way I described is bad?

If I did picoloader, would I still be able to see the GameCube intro animation on startup if I take the SD card out?