Wii already running GC homebrew via Action Replay

[Louis Dias]

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=12048

now it's a question of doing some speed tests to figure out how much faster it is than a Gamecube...infact I think I will test out Madden 05 to see if the slow-down is eliminated.

Can anyone help JLF65 port AROS to GC/Wii?

Edit:
OK,
I've played for the last hour and there is ZERO slowdown on the running game up the middle or when loading replays from the play selection menu.

I suspected this was the case, like PC's.  The GC's bus and multiplier were tweaked only 4 months before launch from 200MHz and 2x to 162.5MHz and 3x so I imagine all the devkits were designed to not depend on a fixed clock...etc...

So how does a creme de la creme PPC sound running AROS for $250?  It ain't a gimped PPE like the cores in the Xenos and CELL.

What ever changes made for the Wii above and beyond the original Gekko cpu must have been in the floating point or general math processing department as the Wii has to handle input from multiple accelerometers, gyros and compute geometry between the sensor bar and up to 4 controllers.

A cpu optimized for gaming, not a streaming media center.  That's what we have here.  And it's escentially cracked for homebrew NOW.

[Louis Dias]

The Wii uses a modified 750CL, the latest G3.  It's the sucessor to the GC's 750GX.

Since I have determine noticeable framerate improvement over the GC when running GC software, it's 100% HARDWARE compatible.  There is already a project to create a libowii library as an expanded libogc library.  Libogc exposes all the GC's hardware functionality.

Funny thing is the Wii acts like a GC with a mod chip.  My qoob chip has the option to boot the NGC original IPL and it seems the Wii does the same thing to play GC games.  I bet the Serial Port 1 on the GC that was removed as of Rev B was for the GC-Mote that never was.

The GC's 16MB of auxillary RAM (running at 81.25MHz) got upgraded to 64MB and turned into 1T-SRAM like the GC's main memory (extremely fast).  This leads me to believe the Wii's new main memory is running at 325MHz and the auxilary at 162.5 in order to keep the same 2:1 ratio the GC had.

24MB is not alot but since it can use the auxilary RAM like really fast virtual RAM or a ramdisk, it's not as big an issue as it was on the GC for programmers.

The Wii is a nice tight system, and it's portable.  I'm sure a future WiiConnect24 patch will enable higher resolutions in the future...heck PAL is 576p afterall...

[Louis Dias]

MskoDestny wrote:

Hate to break it to you, but a single PPE core at 3.2GHz is still faster than the Wii's CPU.

I'm just saying it's a better general-purpose cpu compared to the others.  It's a creme de la creme PPC when compared to the now dead G4 and G5.  The G5 tried to do too much...then just got to hot.

It's definitely an improvement over any of these Freescale-based A1-wanna-bee's.  It actually exceeds the A1's processing power.

[Louis Dias]

This is not a PPC vs. x86 thread.  Leave these comments out please.

There is no G5 board for the Amiga or A1 so it's dead and useless to the Amiga.

The G4 is plain dead and has no advantages over the 750CL as the 750CL has SIMD instructions as well, better cache handling and a faster front-side bus.

Now IBM has tweaked the 750CL for Nintendo.  For the 750GX, it was a faster bus and splitting the 64 integer processor into 2 32bit units.  There in no documentation on what IBM has done for Nintendo additionally this time except that when know it can do everything the Gekko did.

I suspect more ALU's to handle all the data it can potentially receive from 4 remotes and 4 nunchuks.

1 year ago, developers were given devkits with 729Mhz Gamecube cpus.  Broadway (the new cpu) was not finalized until around E3 6 months later, iirc.  So something must have changed...

Anyway, when I first started the record-breaking "potential PPC Amiga real cheap" thread and the trolls attacked, there were some valid complaints about using a Gamecube:

1) low memory
2) low cpu power ( :cough: EFIKA (or whatever you call it) :cough: )
3) unable to attach a hard drive easily

Now reponse relating to the Wii:

#1 - Wii has an extra 48MB that we know of right now.  The Devkit GC's had 48MB of main RAM so I don't know if Wii was given the extra 24MB to main memory as well.  Either way, it's all 1T-SRAM now which is access alot faster to parts of that 64MB of aux RAM can be swapped out rather quickly according to ACTUAL Wii developers.

#2 - Wii is ATLEAST 1.5x as powerful but rumored to be more so.  Some cpu tests via GC homebrew will answer this question soon enough.  It certainly blows away anything currently available from Freescale and G3-based A1's due to it's faster fsb and larger programmable cache.

#3 - Wii has 2 usb 2.0 sockets


To answer why I don't help port it.  The answer is the same:  I am not an OS developer, nor a C++ programmer.

The only direction this thread needs to take is whether AROS developers see it as a viable platform and who is willing to help.

All other matters of personal taste can be excluded please.

[Louis Dias]

@AJCopland

So I wouldn't call it a G4.
Again, while the 750CL is documented, the Nintendo specific changes are not yet.  Also, the cpu that you referred to, the 'GX, is not the gpu and would have nothing to do with shaders in the gpu, Hollywood.  I already see higher polygon counts in the Wii as well as much better lighting effects.  The lighting effects leads me to believe it's not just a straight over-clocking there as well.

@Adolescent
State your sources.  For all we know, the built-in WiFi may transparently seem like a BBA to the GC and as long as it's configure within the Wii's system settings, it may just work.  I don't have Phantasy Star 1&2 to test this out with.  
As for accessing the Wii specific functions, I imagine it's extra functions are just extensions of it's current ones.  For instance, I imagine the WiiMote are simply mapped as controller ports 5,6,7 & 8...or it's from the 'Cube's never used Serial Port #1...  But whatever the case, the homebrew community will find it in short order.

Coincidnetally, a Wii dekvit software package was leaked to a torrent site.  So like, I said, it's just a matter of time and alot sooner (and cheaper) than modding a 360 or PS3.

[Louis Dias]

LOL!

Wii Shop Channel already hacked.

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=12087

how to:
http://wiihacks.blogspot.com/2006/11/wii-shopping-channel-hacked.html

[Louis Dias]

adolescent wrote:

lou_dias wrote:
LOL!

Wii Shop Channel already hacked.

It's nice that someone figured out how to get the browser that Nintendo promised but didn't deliver.  :roll:

Yeah, they tease you with it next to the Virtual Console under Wii Ware...

[Louis Dias]

We've (www.gameparts.biz) sold 9 SD Geckos since Tuesday when word that using Action Replay and SDLoader on an SD Gecko allows you to run code on the Wii via GC "mode".  So this scene is about to take off with a quickness.  The GC libraries only access FAT16-formatted SD cards so the limit is 2GB there.  It may be possible for someone to write a driver for bigger cards but at this point, it hasn't happened yet due to lack of demand.  We'll see what happens down the road.

For anyone else interested, we currently have 9 left.  However, we are about to order another batch (expected early next week) and possibly the Chilli unlock kit for anyone who wants to open their 360.

Here are the details:
-- A special designed opening tool kit to safely and quickly remove the Xbox 360 case, without causing any damage to the plastic outer shell. The kit is moulded from steel metal crafted to fit all the complex clips on the Xbox 360 case, allowing a fast unlock of the case.
-- A special anti scratch coating material is used to give the product a quality look and feel.
-- Kit includes a T10 Screwdriver with handle for Xbox 360 inner screws.
-- The kit comes with protective packaging and an outer brown giftbox.
-- A must have for any Xbox 360 Modder

Is there any interest in this?  If not we may get a batch of one of those SuperPass, SuperCard or SuperKey thing-a-ma-jigs for the Nintendo DS.

[Louis Dias]

Well, the Wii-Mote is already working on a PC...
http://www.wiili.org/Main_Page
there's a link to the video on the site...