This Theory May Prove Which GameCube IPL You Have

[zeldaxpro]

*UPDATE* 11/17/12: Hey guys this theory is indeed confirmed by me. Wired up a Wiikey Fusion to a Dol-CPU-11 Made in China, Purple Start Menu. Wiikey works just fine!!! So any GC mobo with a Purple Start Menu must be IPL 1.1 and work with a Wiikey Fusion. ENJOY!!!


Hey guys zeldaxpro here with a theory on GameCube IPL. I am currently in the process of making a GameCube Portable and have been testing many GameCubes to decide what motherboard is the best to use with a Wiikey Fusion Modchip. I recently bought a lot of 5 GameCubes labeled "AS IS" and I was diagnosing the problems (turns out the only problems were faulty disc drives). When I was trying out one of the GameCubes, I noticed that it had a red "Press Start" menu instead of the normal purple Start menu that all the others had. Now I did some research about this in regards to IPL and have not found anything. So I am presenting my theory: If your GameCube "Press Start" Menu is Red, then it is IPL 1.0 and incompatible with the Wiikey Fusion.

Ashen made a statement on GameCube IPL:

All PAL GameCubes = IPL 1.1+

NSTC-U/J GameCubes:

Dol-CPU-10: IPL 1.0
Dol-CPU-11: 50/50 chance of IPL 1.0 or 1.1
Dol-CPU-20/30= IPL 1.1+
Dol-101 (Rev C)= IPL 1.1+

Me and a friend have tested out all the GameCube Motherboards we had and here were the results:

1. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-10, Made in Japan: Red Start Menu
2. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-11, Made in Japan: Red Start Menu
3. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-11, Made in Japan: Red Start Menu
4. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-11, Made in Japan: Purple Start Menu
5. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-11, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
6. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-20, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
7. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-30, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
8. Dol-001, NTSC-U, CPU-30, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
9. Dol-101, NTSC-U, CPU-50, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
10. Dol-101, NTSC-U, CPU-50, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
11. Dol-101, NTSC-U, CPU-50, Made in China: Purple Start Menu
12. Dol-101, NTSC-U, CPU-50, Made in China: Purple Start Menu

Now these results match up to Ashen's statement on GameCube IPL (the information below is based just on our test results):

NSTC-U/J GameCubes:

Dol-CPU-10: IPL 1.0....Had a Red Start Menu
Dol-CPU-11: 50/50 chance of IPL 1.0 or 1.1....Both had Red and Purple Start Menus
Dol-CPU-20/30= IPL 1.1+....Had Purple Start Menus
Dol-101 (Rev C)= IPL 1.1+....Had Purple Start Menus

So this information shows that Red Start Menus indicate IPL 1.0. Now I am not saying this Theory is true, but the evidence above is leaning toward validation. If you guys have anything to add feel free to post it. Thanks for reading.

Credit:
zeldaxpro
Ashen (for his statement on IPL)
zack (for GameCube testing and Photos)

 

[master801]

I Kinda already knew this..... If you read my post on a thread here, wiikey problems I mention this. So this theory is correct and right.

 

[zack]

I Kinda already knew this..... If you read my post on a thread here, wiikey problems I mention this. So this theory is correct and right.

By browsing all other forums, (very well) we have both never found a single mention of the menu color being related to the IPL. Even if a confirmation does exist in replies, this thread is a way of starting an entire discussion about it.

 

[Mr. Hooker]

So, in short;
all of the "Made in China" Game Cubes are compatible with the Wiikey Fusion?
and vary few (if any) of the "Made in Japan" Game Cubes are compatible ?

would the "Made in ____" only be found on the motherboard, or on the outside of the console as well?

 

[SonyQrio]

ShockSlayer figured this out when wiring up a new mobo for his SL-GC. Pink menu is IPL 1.0 and purple menu is IPL 1.1.

 

[zeldaxpro]

Thank you guys for the information. The only reason why I posted this as a new topic because I have not found any other topics relating the Start Menu Color to IPL. I just wanted to document it for other modders who do not know about this or are unaware of the variation of the Start Menu Color. I'm glad this theory is correct though. Thanks again.

 

[ttsgeb]

This is a helpful write up and should be added to the mega-sticky.

I applaud you for knowing something that wasn't in the sticky, and putting forth the effort to write it up into a thread. More people should be like you instead of holding on to info until they get a chance to call it old news.

 

[Ashen]

Agreed. This has been mentioned before as a possibility, but never laid out, tested and documented like this. Awesome work! Would you mind if I quote this over on GC Forever? Or mind posting it over there yourself?

 

[Abyss]

By far one of the best first posts ever. Great work!

 

[zeldaxpro]

Thanks guys for all your good compliments. I really appreciate it and could not of done it without Ashen and zack. If this could be added to the mega-sticky to help out new or existing modders that would be great. Also, Ashen if you want to quote me on this at GC Forever I have no problem with that. Feel free to ask anymore questions or suggestions. I look forward to completing my GameCube Portable and will have a worklog up as soon as I get more progress done. Thanks again.

 

[Falo]

This just saved me a GCN and a lot of trouble, the one I was going to use was donated to me and has the red menu.

Thanks a lot!

 

[zeldaxpro]

No problem man I'm glad I could help

 

[Tchay]

Went ahead and stickied this. Super useful.

I had 3 cubes shipped in this week, and one of them has the red start menu. So I'm ganna do Ashen's IPL swapout and see if the menu color changes to purple. Would be pretty cool if it did. I'll post the results.

 

[zeldaxpro]

Ok thanks Tchay really appreciate it. I'm glad to see people are using this topic to their advantage

 

[jonthedit]

Went ahead and stickied this. Super useful.

I had 3 cubes shipped in this week, and one of them has the red start menu. So I'm ganna do Ashen's IPL swapout and see if the menu color changes to purple. Would be pretty cool if it did. I'll post the results.

IPL Swapout? So there's hope then?

I recently bought two cubes off ebay [NTSC-USA](since GC's aren't easy to find anymore)

One was a DOL-001 REV A and the other was a DOL-101 REV C.
Unfortunately I also just bought a WKF with Swiss Autoboot and now I found out my REV A is a Red Menu (IPL 1.0)

The Rev C isn't in good condition but the Rev A is near perfect.
Is there any hope for me to get my WKF onto my REV A IPL 1 board?
[Sorry for Necro-bumping, just looking for some help]

 

[megalomaniac]

with swiss on WKF flash, WKF is compatible with all gamecube IPLs

 

[The Magic Man]

Can I use this theory in my app?