THANKS TO CRUMPSTER FOR HIS EXCELLENT TUTORIAL: ORIGINAL
HERE
Cube modded on 4/23/2005
Review/Mini-Tutorial wrote on 4/25/2005
Updated on 4/28/2005 (Added Qoob Bios 1.2 screenshots/info)
Last Updated on 5/18/2005 (Added Qoob Bios 1.3 screenshots/info)
Hello, and thank you for reading Crumpster's
Qoob Pro review/Mini Tutorial.
I just want to let everyone know up front that I will always
give my totally honest opinion in my modchip/hardware reviews.
I don't care if I hurt someone's feelings by not liking their
chip. I recommend buying the "gamebit" nut driver as the bic
pen method pretty much sucks. This will set you back another
$7 dollars. Well worth it, IMHO. Anyways, on with the review.
Remember you can click on the thumbnail for a larger pic.
I should also point out that I don't care if there is spelling
errors in this document or if you know a "better way" to do
something.
Please note I am using the newest NTSC Cube (DOL-101) and
the newest Qoob Bios (v1.3)
After you got your qoob chip/gamebit you can take off the
bottom of the case and this is what you will find. I'm going
to go ahead and bash on the bic pen method. Yes, I did try
it . I have heard of people getting the plastic stuck in their
cube, I have heard of people using a 10 pack of bic pens just
to get 1 screw out. All of this trouble, isn't worth it. Just
pay the $3 bucks and get the gamebit. They normally sell on
ebay for dirt cheap. After you get the 4 secure screws out,
I recommend taking them to home depot and finding the same
thing but with a phillips head top, then taking those secure
screws and dropping them in the garbage can. I'm sure your
saying, well you got the gamebit why throw the secure screws
away, well you might lose your gamebit and need to open your
cube. Its much easier to find a phillips-head screwdriver.
The next image shows you the front of your cube (I recommend
removing the front controllers port after you unscrew the
4 screws). Just to keep things nice and safe.
A side shot of the cube, you will be installing the qoob on
the opposite side. (Unlike the Viper) 
A shot of the back of the cube, this black piece is removable.
Next is a pic of the main power source. I also recommend unplugging
this and putting it to the side during installation.
After everything is dissambled, you will see your cube's motherboard.
I took off the heatsink just for the pictures as I didn't
have to remove it since I have a dol-101. I recommend unplugging
the power/front controller ports now.
 
Be carful to not loose any of the screws because their is
a lot of them.
Here is a close up of the power getting removed.
 
Here is a close up of the front controller board getting removed.
Here is a pic of everything disassembled, and the motherboard
completely taken out.
 
Now comes the fun part (or as some might say, the hard part).
Since I had a DOL-101, I required 2 wires to be soldered to
the back of the motherboard.
The next picture shows the last 4 wires that need to be soldered
to the front of the motherboard. Please be careful with the
Red 5V wire as its small and tricky.
 
After you finish soldering the wires, install the lid-switch
and flexwire, put your GC back together. Now you can go ahead
and flash the bios. I recommended eraseing the BIOS it comes
with in the first block and putting Qoob V1.3 in. While you
are here, you might as well load GCOS 1.4, Qoob MP3 Player,
Mario's Cheat Compilation and AR file (needs to go in the
next to last bank at the bottom.) You will get the following
screen if you did everything right, you can also check for
a GREEN led on the qoobchip to double check its working correctly.
Here is a pic of BIOS 1.3 with a custom background that I
picked up off Maxconsole. 
Here's a pic of the old BIOS 1.2 
Here's a pic of the old BIOS 1.1 
Here is a quick shot of everything installed and ready to
go.
First up is Metroid Prime 2, NTSC version. Works perfect.
Next up is Paper Mario 2: TTYD, NTSC version. Works perfect.
Last up is an original, Mario Kart: Double Dash, NTSC version.
Works perfect.
The next thing to test is the Multiple games on 1 disc support
that BIOS 1.2 introducted.The pic below is what you get after
you boot a multi-game dvd. Both games worked well. You can
create your own multi-game disc using Loonycubes Multi-game
disc creator.
The MP3 Player was included in BIOS 1.2, so now lets give
it a shot. I created a DVD+R with 2.0 GB of MP3 files. (I
know the GC can only read 1.4GB of data). I booted it and
this is what I got.
After booting it, you will need to load the MP3 player by
pressing "B". Then you will get the following screen.
I then press "A" on my MP3 player and it loads the MP3 software.
Now select the folder then song you wish to play and hit "A"
again. You will see the name of the MP3 and a graphical representation
of the song.
I should go ahead and point out that you cannot use a CD-R
to play MP3s, only DVDR's work. Also, do not burn more than
1.4GB of MP3 because if you do your GC cannot read it. As
you read earlier, I burned 2.0GB of MP3 to see if it would
crash if you selected a song outside the 1.4GB barrier and
I'm pleased to say it DOES NOT. Great work Qoob Team!
With the release of BIOS 1.3, they introduced a new Menu system
and Cheat Function and much more. One of the neat features
is that you can use a custom background. I used a background
already made by a member of maxconsole. They also have a menu
system that looks much better than the old "hold this key"
menu. The cheat function only work if you load a Action Replay
dvd. It takes the AR and copies its game engine to the Qoob
Memory so next time you don't have to load the disc. They
included Mario's cheats that was already written, so its nice
to not have to enter the cheats manually. They also use a
fuzzy logic program to automatically take you to the page
of cheats for the game that is inserted (very cool, doesn't
work 100% but close enough). Enjoy the rest of the pics.
Final Thoughts: The Qoob chip booted everything I threw at
it. The media I was using was Ritek G04 burned at 2x using
Nero Burning Rom. I did not do the laser adjustment. The chip
just booted and ran great. I have beat Star Fox : Assault
(NTSC) and quiet a way through Starfox: Adventures (NTSC)
and have not experienced one DRE. The multi-disc games work/
multi-game disc work now. And you also get a MP3 player, Cheats
and so much more. The qoob chip will continue to get better
as new BIOS are released. If you were on the fence like I
was, then I can go ahead and say, get it. Its $68 dollars
well spent, for a chip with this many functions and how stable
it is. See below for + and - points.
+
USB interface - Need I say more?
MP3 player included
Tons of room to store, DOL and ELF 16mb
Easy installation only 6 wires - I was a total n00b to GC
and did it first go
Boots everything perfect - From multi-games to multi-disc
to retail backups
Panasonic Q support *whee*
Cheat Function featuring Action Replay
Network Flash Upgradable
Built-in GC DVD Ripper to save ISO's to HDD using BBA
Custom Backgrounds
You can force different video modes including progressive
output.
-
Pretty lame that they require Action Replay to use cheats.
It was a small inconvenience, but I think it should of came
with it already built in.
Custom background needs to support more common file types
(like jpg's or gif's or bmp)
Still a few games with problems, that lockup during the game
(not dre), a buzzing sound
So if you are in the situation which I was in, (had nothing
GC related). Then buy a GC and get a Qoob and you are set
for life. All of my other consoles are modded (ps2, xbox,
dc) but nothing was as easy to install/setup as the qoob.
Buy one today!
Thanks for reading my review. I might update this review/tutorial
in the future but I am uncertain. Anyways, I hoped I helped
someone make a educated purchase.
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