Modchip Solution for Panasonic Q?

[Jamisonia]

Hey guys, its been awhile since I've been active here. But I'm back!

Just picked up a Panasonic Q at MagFest, unfortunately its the version that is locked into Japanese games and DVDs. I plan on chipping it, and I was wondering what chip would be best. Is there a switchless region mod solution? I'm hoping to be able to play burns too, but being able to play my American GCN games is the most important.

Secondly, I know they released a second version that was a region free DVD player. This isn't as important, but I'm wondering if anybody knows of a way to make the first version region free? I know a lot of DVD players the region code was software based, not hardware based, so all one had to do was access a secret menu then change the DVD region code. Does anybody know if this is the case with the Q?

Lastly, until I get it chipped I was wondering if there are any region free GCN games? Maybe I have some in my collection I could play with. Are there any other concerns I should have? Is there a save data issue? For some reason I thought that I've read that playing a Japanese Gamecube using American save data will cause corruption issues.

[hailrazer]

The Viper chip works perfect with the Panasonic Q.

Here is the mod to make the Gamecube region free for games. Works the same on the Q

http://www.gamesx.com/importmod/ngcmod.htm

http://www.oratan.com/projects/gcn_mod.html

[renanbianchi]

The Panasonic Q is essentially a Gamecube, Therefor it's perfectly moddable. I've opened it's insides (and let me tell you, open it's guts is hard).

And the only difference is the Drive board is a little different to the standard gamecube one.

But the console's mainboard is just like the gamecube one, with some differences because of the composite out.

BUT, as i researched about the drive board, i even found the place where you can install the Xeno modchip on it, and it behaves just like the original Xeno, as the solder points are identical to the gamecube's dvd drive.

In english: Cobra Works, Xeno Works and Qoob works (Mine has Qoob, but i couldn't find where to fit the "open/closed" solder point, so every time i put a game i must turn it off and then on again).

[Jamisonia]

OH gosh, I already ordered a Qoob Pro because it was the only chip I could verify definitely worked with the Panasonic Q. I hope I can get the open and close two work properly. I understand the DVD player in there is very similar to the Panasonic RV31 DVD Player that can be easily hacked to be region free for DVDs with a disc from Panasonic. Getting that disc may prove to be hard though.

It would be awesome if we could get the GCN audio through the Optical Audio output, and the DVD video through the Digital AV out. I'm really very surprised they didn't put regular component ports on that thing.

[Jamisonia]

Could you explain the open close thing to me? I"m modding my Q now with a Qoob Pro, and I have that wire that goes to the eject button I'm not sure what to do with.

[renanbianchi]

Could you explain the open close thing to me? I"m modding my Q now with a Qoob Pro, and I have that wire that goes to the eject button I'm not sure what to do with.

Right, there is the cable that connects to the lid sensor. Since there isn't a "lid" on the Q, only an open/close sensor, it is possible to install the Qoob Without using the Lid cable. Just solder the other points normally and it will work. the only thing is that you'll need to turn it off/on every time you put a game on the tray for it to load up. And it will always give you a "Check lid switch wire!" message before running the disc that is on the drive.

I couldn't give it the right research, but there might be a way to make it work, i just don't want to open it anymore, it's really a beast to open it up to the GC motherboard already. Maybe sometime in the future i might give it a chance.

On the other way, there is the Xeno GC, wich there is a point on the drive motherboard that the Xeno will fit perfectly, just like the Q motherboard, but i don't know if it would work as i haven't tested. The solder pads are just like the gamecube ones.

[Jamisonia]

Got it working tonight. Ran into two problems. First time I couldn't get the the Qoob Bios to advance past please wait, but I noticed the blue LEDs around the controller ports weren't coming on, the ribbon cable attached to it was a little off. Fixed that, then got an Error Drive not recognized. Again the damn ribbon cable attached to the disc drive wasn't perfect. I hate ribbon cables! They break down too easily. Got it working perfectly, barring some other random ribbon cable error, like the c stick on the controller 4 or something cryptic like that doesn't work.

Now my question is can somebody explain the Qoob Main Menu. There are a lot of options, and I'm not sure what they all do.

[renanbianchi]

Got it working tonight. Ran into two problems. First time I couldn't get the the Qoob Bios to advance past please wait, but I noticed the blue LEDs around the controller ports weren't coming on, the ribbon cable attached to it was a little off. Fixed that, then got an Error Drive not recognized. Again the damn ribbon cable attached to the disc drive wasn't perfect. I hate ribbon cables! They break down too easily. Got it working perfectly, barring some other random ribbon cable error, like the c stick on the controller 4 or something cryptic like that doesn't work.

Now my question is can somebody explain the Qoob Main Menu. There are a lot of options, and I'm not sure what they all do.

I don't remember perfectly, but the boot modes A e B is an option to try if a game is giving too much DRE messages.

Since you're using the Qoob Pro, there is a way to put custom Backgrounds on the main menu, you can use the old qoob App to write into it's Flash (i heard you can also write DOLs to work with it Straight away) (Did it with my Girlfriend's custom Darth Vader Gamecube).

The Disc Check function is almost useless, as it almost aways gives DRE when checking, even if it is a genuine gamecube disc inside it.

The boot options are:

Streamfix: Some time Ago, some games had garbled sounds on their ISOs, this fixes it.

DRE Workaround: Force retries on DREs, but it won't make miracles if you're using a bad disc.

Disc Swap Support: Supports for ingame disc swapping.

IGR: Inside Game Reset, press the combination to reset back to the modchip's menu (if i remember correctly)

Video Mode Game and Qoob: that's the reason i modded my Q. This option enables you to "Force" 480p (using the gamecube component cable) on some games that originally doesn't have this support (Resident Evil 2 and 3, for example). But some games might not work, so it's a trial and error basis. The Qoob video mode is for the Qoob chip menu.

DVD Mode: Is explained above

Hide Texts: Shows only the background screen while booting.

[Jamisonia]

Thats cool that it can force 480p, but I wonder how good the chip is at deinterlacing.

So far this mod seems to work perfectly. Yes I do get the lid wire error. I do have to shut off the Q to load another game even when in the Qoob's Bios.

[theclaw]

Lastly, until I get it chipped I was wondering if there are any region free GCN games? Maybe I have some in my collection I could play with. Are there any other concerns I should have? Is there a save data issue? For some reason I thought that I've read that playing a Japanese Gamecube using American save data will cause corruption issues.

Some Japanese games have compatibility issues when run under English setting. The simplest way to tell which mode a Gamecube uses, is power button with no disc inserted. Its boot menu will be different. Nintendo bios changes language, Qoob bios changes the detected console version.

Affected non-Japan games are fewer. US Star Fox Adventures is one major exception. It contains the Japanese dialog on-disc, including menus and title screen. Chosen at startup by console language (a feature usually associated with Genesis or Neo Geo).

You do need separate memory cards for both console settings. English or Japanese mode won't access save files on cards formatted to the other.