Nintendo GameCube Modem Adapter Instruction Manual

Nintendo GameCubeTM Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
Version 1.41
Table of Contents
1. Overview ..................................................................................................................... 4
2. About the Game Discs .............................................................................................. 4
2.1 Game Disc structure...........................................................................................................................4
2.2 Game Disc ID......................................................................................................................................4
3. Guidelines for Error-handling................................................................................... 5
3.1 Error-Handling Policy with Optical Disc Drive Device Driver.............................................................5
3.2 Error Types that Developers Need to Resolve ..................................................................................5
3.2.1 Disc Cover Open Error............................................................................................................5
3.2.2 No disk Error ...........................................................................................................................5
3.2.3 Wrong Game Disc Error .........................................................................................................6
3.2.4 Retry Error ...............................................................................................................................6
3.2.5 Fatal Error................................................................................................................................6
3.3 Changing Error Messages..................................................................................................................6
3.4 How to Get the Error Type .................................................................................................................7
3.5 State Diagram.....................................................................................................................................8
3.6 Error-handling During Audio Streaming.............................................................................................8
3.7 How to Emulate Errors .......................................................................................................................9
4. Games with Multiple Game Discs .......................................................................... 10
4.1 Game Disc exchange process patterns...........................................................................................10
4.2 Specifying Game Discs at time of exchange ...................................................................................11
4.2.1 Wild Card Usage Restrictions (Non-Game Versions)..........................................................11
4.2.2 Wild Card Usage Restrictions (Game Versions)..................................................................12
4.3 The Game Disc exchange procedure..............................................................................................12
4.4 Messages and Error Processing when Switching Game Discs......................................................13
4.5 Multi-disc Emulation..........................................................................................................................13
4.6 APIs for multi-disc games.................................................................................................................13
4.7 Cautions regarding multi-disc games...............................................................................................13
4.7.1 Every Game Disc should boot on its own ............................................................................13
4.7.2 Provide support for the exchange with any Game Disc.......................................................13
4.7.3 Display for Game Disc exchanges .......................................................................................13
4.7.4 Use labels and banners to distinguish Game Discs ............................................................13
4.7.5 Secure memory for FST .......................................................................................................14
© 2001-2002 Nintendo of America Inc. 1DOL-06-0026-001-A5
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Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
5. Other Guidelines Regarding Accessing the Optical Disc Drive..........................14
5.1 Game Startup Screen ...................................................................................................................... 14
5.2 Various Causes of Changes in Game Disc Access Time .............................................................. 14
5.3 dol File Restrictions .......................................................................................................................... 14
5.4 Banner File for Game Disc Information and Displaying it in IPL Main Menu ................................. 15
5.5 Avoid Infinite Loop of Hardware/Audio Streaming Under the Following Conditions...................... 16
5.5.1 Example of Problem and How to Solve It ............................................................................ 16
List of Figures
Figure 1: State Changes .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 2: An example of Game Disc information display ................................................................................. 15
Example Code
Code 1: Pseudo-code for Error-handling.................................................................................................................... 7
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Revision History
Version Revision Date Description of Revisions
1.41 3/29/02 - Changed recommended message for Disc Cover Open error.
1.4 2/20/02 - Added sections related to the multi-disc function
1.3 12/3/01 - Added paragraph 3.6.
1.2.2 8/31/01 - Added notes to paragraphs 2.2 and 2.4,
- Revised paragraph 2.6
1.2.1 8/3/01 - Revised messages in paragraphs 2.2.4 and 2.2.5
- Added paragraph 2.3
- Changed Game Disc to song at end of paragraph 2.6
- Revised paragraph 3.1
- Added paragraph 3.5
1.01 7/13/01 - Released by NOA
© 2001-2002 Nintendo of America Inc. 3DOL-06-0026-001-A5
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Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
1. Overview
This document offers guidelines when using the Nintendo GameCubeTM optical disc drive to design
games that are user-friendly with regard to Game Disc access. This document differs from the "Disc
Drive (DVD.us.pdf)" document, in that it is meant not only for the programmers, but also for the
designers who design the screen layout for error messages and the like, and for the bug testers. For
information that is more specific to programming, see this section in the Nintendo GameCubeTM
Programmer’s Guide.
2. About the Game Discs
2.1 Game Disc structure
The structure of each Game Disc can be broadly divided into two components:
• The program part (the dol file)
• The user file part
The dol file is the game program itself, converted from the elf file when loadrun/odrun is executed.
Because the format of the elf file built by the program will differ slightly depending on the linker, the elf
file is converted into a custom format called dol for storage on the Game Disc. The dol file is loaded
and executed by the IPL.
The user file part is the part that is treated as files by the program part of the Game Disc. It does not
matter how these files are used (for data, for re-locatable modules, etc.).
2.2 Game Disc ID
Each Game Disc has a region for storing its unique ID. This unique ID is comprised of the following
four elements:
• Game code
Each game has its own specific code. The code is set by the NOA Lot Check Department.
• Company code
Each publisher has their own specific code. This code is also set by the NOA Lot Check
Department.
• Game Disc number
Every Game Disc for each game is allocated a Game Disc number. The first Game Disc of a
game is numbered "0" and subsequent Game Discs are numbered 1, 2, 3…
• Game version
Every version of the game is allocated a game version. It does not matter whether the game has
been released or not.
The Optical Disc Driver uses the Game Disc ID to determine whether the Game Disc is a correct
Game Disc.Note:
You may use any numbering scheme to distinguish Game Discs. (For example; Game Disc 1 and
Game Disc 2, Game Disc A and Game Disc B, Chapter Blue and Chapter Red, and so on.) The
Game Disc to be used when starting the game should be described in the Instruction Booklet, when it
is not obvious (such as with Chapter Blue and Chapter Red). Only in the Game Disc Number portion
of the Game Disc ID, is the first Game Disc of a set to be numbered “0”.
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Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
3. Guidelines for Error-handling
3.1 Error-Handling Policy with Optical Disc Drive Device Driver
The error-handling policy of our optical disc drive device driver is “polling”. No complicated error-
handling routine is needed. All the game developer needs to do is to poll the “error type” and show the
proper message on the screen.
For example, when the Nintendo GameCubeTM Disc Cover is open, the optical disc drive device driver
will wait for the Disc Cover to be closed, make sure the Nintendo GameCubeTM Game Disc is an
authorized Game Disc, and then perform the requested command. These processes are carried out
automatically. The programmer does not need to create a Disc Cover close wait routine or Game Disc
identification routine.
3.2 Error Types that Developers Need to Resolve
There are five “error types” that developers need to resolve.
• Disc Cover Open Error
• No disk Error
• Wrong disk Error
• Retry Error
• Fatal Error
A description of each error type follows.
Note: These errors are generated when the issued command cannot be processed normally for
some reason. They will not occur unless a command is issued. For example, even if the Disc
Cover is opened when no command has been issued, a “Disc Cover Open error” will not occur.
Additionally, the developer does not need to inform the game player about these status
changes when they do not generate errors.
3.2.1 Disc Cover Open Error
When the game player opens the Disc Cover of the optical disc drive, this error will occur. Display the
following message instructing the user to close the Disc Cover:
“The Disc Cover is open. If you want to continue the game, please close the Disc Cover.”
3.2.2 No disk Error
This error occurs when the Disc Cover is closed, but the optical disc drive cannot find a
Nintendo GameCubeTM Game Disc. Display the following message and instruct the user to insert the
appropriate Game Disc:
“Please insert the <Game Title> Game Disc.”
Display a message like the above, and instruct the user to set a (proper) Game Disc. (Replace
“Luigi’s Mansion” with a proper game name according to actual game name. Same applies to the
following.)
This error may also occur in the following situations:
- The Game Disc is inserted upside down.
- A game disc that is not a Nintendo GameCubeTM Game Disc, like an 8cm CD, is inserted.
- An extremely dirty Game Disc is inserted.
If the game has multiple Game Discs, please display some message like:
"Please insert <Game Title> Game Disc 1"
to clearly indicate which Game Disc must be inserted.
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Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
3.2.3 Wrong Game Disc Error
This error occurs when the wrong Game Disc has been placed in the drive. Display the following
message and instruct the user to insert the correct Game Disc:
“This is not the <Game Title> Game Disc. Please insert the <Game Title> Game Disc.”
Please be explicit when specifying which Game Disc to insert, when there are several discs in a set.
For example:
“Please insert <Game Title> Game Disc 1.”
3.2.4 Retry Error
This error occurs when there is dust, fingerprints, etc. on the Game Disc and it cannot be accessed.
Display the following message instructing the user to read the Instruction Booklet. (The Instruction
Booklet tells the user to wipe the surface of the Game Disc with a soft cloth and then restart the
game.)
“The Game Disc could not be read. Please read the Nintendo GameCubeTM Instruction Booklet for
more information.”
If the Disc Cover is closed after it has been opened once, the device driver automatically performs a
retry.
3.2.5 Fatal Error
This error occurs when a problem is detected that may make it impossible for the optical disc drive to
recover. Display the following message instructing the user to read the Instruction Booklet (The
Instruction Booklet instructs the user to contact Nintendo Customer Service).
“An error has occurred. Turn the power off and refer to the Nintendo GameCubeTM Instruction Booklet
for further instructions.”
There may be a problem with the optical disc drive or the Game Disc, so you need to stop the game
after displaying an error message.
3.3 Changing Error Messages
The error messages in Section 3.2 “Error Types that Developers Need to Resolve” are just one
example of messages. You may revise these messages, as long as the meaning is accurately
conveyed to the user.
However, messages like Retry error and Fatal error reference the Instruction Booklet for procedures to
handle their associated errors. In order to avoid user confusion, do not make any major alterations to
these messages.
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3.4 How to Get the Error Type
This section explains how to get the error type in applications.
The error type shows the device driver’s status. The device driver status can be obtained by calling
the function DVDGetDriveStatus.
Note: As mentioned in Section 3.2 “Error Types that Developers Need to Resolve”, errors only occur
when commands cannot be processed properly. So, no errors will occur if no commands have
been executed. For example, even if the Disc Cover is opened, the function
DVDGetDriveStatus will not return DVD_STATE_COVER_OPEN (described below) if there
is no command being executed. The functions DVDGetFileInfoStatus and
DVDGetCommandBlockStatus behave in the same manner.
The following list indicates states the function will return when an error has occurred.
- DVD_STATE_COVER_OPEN
- DVD_STATE_NO_DISK
- DVD_STATE_WRONG_DISK
- DVD_STATE_RETRY
- DVD_STATE_FATAL_ERROR
There are other states that can be returned from the function DVDGetDriveStatus(). They are not
mentioned here because they do not indicate errors, and this document focuses on error handling.
Refer to the Nintendo GameCubeTM Function Reference Manual for details on other states.
Note: For a game that has multiple Game Discs, DVD_STATE_MOTOR_STOPPED is returned when
Game Discs are exchanged. See Section 4 “Games with Multiple Game Discs” for details.
Below is pseudo-code for handling errors. See “errorhandling.c” in Patch 2, dated 5/22/01, or later of
the Nintendo GameCubeTM Software Development Kit for an operational demo.
DVDReadAsync();
do{ status = DVDGetDriveStatus();
switch (status){
case DVD_STATE_COVER_OPEN:
show_message_for_cover_open_on_screen();
break;
case DVD_STATE_NO_DISK:
show_message_for_no_disk_on_screen();
break;
case DVD_STATE_WRONG_DISK:
show_message_for_wrong_disk_on_screen();
break;
case DVD_STATE_RETRY:
show_message_for_retry_on_screen();
break;
case DVD_STATE_FATAL_ERROR:
show_message_for_fatal_error_on_screen();
break;
}
} while (status != DVD_STATE_END) && (status != DVD_STATE_FATAL_ERROR);
Code 1: Pseudo-code for Error-handling
In order to display an appropriate error message when a problem occurs, this routine calls the function
DVDGetDriveStatus every frame and polls the state.
The APIs that access the optical disc drive only return when processing is completed or if a fatal error
occurs. “Return” here means that callback is called (callback is specified with an asynchronous
function), or API ends processing and returns a value (with a synchronous function).
You can also use the function DVDGetFileInfoStatus or DVDGetCommandBlockStatus to get
the error state. These return the states of the designated file info and command block. The function
DVDGetDriveStatus returns the state of the currently executing request.
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3.5 State Diagram
The following diagram shows how the state (error type) changes.
Busy
Retry
Disc Cover open
No disk
Wrong disk
Issue
Command
End Fatal error
Figure 1: State Changes
An explanation of Figure 1 follows:
* From {Disc Cover Open, No disk, Wrong disk, Retry} to Busy
This state change occurs when the Disc Cover is closed. Note that the state does not change when
the Disc Cover is open. For example, in the No disk state, when the Disc Cover is open the state does
not change to Disc Cover open (there is no direct path from No disk to Disc Cover open as you can
see in the diagram).
* High-speed Change of Status due to Interrupt
For example, if the Disc Cover is closed, the interrupt will take place and be processed internally. The
device driver changes states so polling is not required, making the processing minimal.
* Calibration Time when Disc Cover is Closed
Please note that when the Disc Cover is closed, the calibration processing of the optical disc drive
takes time. For example, if in Wrong disk state, it takes time to change Game Discs and then a driver
checks the Game Disc ID. However, it does not take as long if no Game Disc is inserted.
3.6 Error-handling During Audio Streaming
You do not need to do anything in particular. If the Disc Cover is open when you call the function
DVDPrepareStream, the function DVDPrepareStream waits for the game player to close the Disc
Cover like the function DVDRead does.
However, as stated in Section 3.4 “How to Get the Error Type”, you must check the state of the device
driver using the DVDGetDriveStatus function and send a correct message to the game player.
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If the function DVDPrepareStream is called, and if the game player opens the Disc Cover after audio
streaming has begun, audio streaming will be halted. However, even if the game player closes the
Disc Cover at this point, be aware that audio streaming will not restart. Additionally, there is no way to
know if the Disc Cover is open or not at this point (the function DVDGetDriveStatus will not return a
Disc Cover open error). In order to detect if the Disc Cover has been opened during audio streaming,
the best way is to periodically call a DVD function (i.e.- the function DVDGetStreamErrorStatus).
The function DVDGetStreamErrorStatus waits internally until a normal end or a fatal error occurs,
as does the function DVDRead. Therefore it is possible to acquire a Disc Cover open or No disk status
with the function DVDGetDriveStatus
The DTK library is set up to run DVDGetStreamErrorStatus once a second by default.
When you want to resume the track, first check if the function DVDGetStreamErrorStatus is in
Disc Cover close wait state. If it is, you have to call the function DVDPrepareStream again, after the
end of the function DVDGetStreamErrorStatus. However, you cannot tell at what point the Game
Disc was being played when the Disc Cover was opened (although to a certain extent it is possible to
tell at what point the Game Disc was being played last by periodically polling the function
DVDGetStreamPlayAddr). The most a developer can do at this point is to start playing from the
beginning of the song.
3.7 How to Emulate Errors
During development, it is very important to make sure the game can handle errors properly (i.e. can
show proper message on the TV). You will be able to use the Game Disc emulator (DDH/GDEV) to
emulate all kinds of errors, including wrong Game Disc error, retry error and fatal error.
Currently, DDH and NPDP-GDEV have the following emulation capabilities.
Emulation possible on DDH:
We are planning to be able to emulate all errors since AMCDDK Version. 3.0.2 patch #2. Please see
the AMCDDK manual for more details.
NPDP-GDEV:
With Version 1.01 or later, all errors can be emulated. Please see the NPDP-GDEV manual for more
details.
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Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
4. Games with Multiple Game Discs
Please contact the NOA Licensing Department in advance, when considering games with several
Game Discs.
At the present time, such discussions are only for two-disc games, for which both discs are sold at the
same time. Please hold separate discussions with the Nintendo Licensing Department for games with
three or more Game Discs, or for the separate marketing of Game Discs.
If more than one Game Disc is needed for a single game, then the Game Discs must be exchanged at
some appropriate place in the game. The exchange is done by specifying the Game Disc ID for the
next Game Disc (see Section 2.2 “Game Disc ID”).
The rest of this chapter explains the different types of exchange patterns for multi-disc games and how
to specify Game Discs. It provides a broad description of the procedure for exchanging Game Discs,
and gives an example of a message displayed to instruct the player to exchange Game Discs.
4.1 Game Disc exchange process patterns
With multi-disc games, the Game Disc exchange process can be broadly classified into two patterns,
depending on whether or not the dol program part (Section 2.1 “Game Disc structure”) of the newly
inserted Game Disc is loaded and executed after Game Discs are exchanged. As an example,
consider the case where Game Disc 1 is removed and replaced with Game Disc 2.
A When loading/running a Game Disc 2 dol file
After the switch from Game Disc 1 to Game Disc 2 is complete, please run the restart process.
Restarting will start the dol program on Game Disc 2.
B When not loading/running a Game Disc 2 dol file
After the switch from Game Disc 1 to Game Disc 2 is complete, it will be possible to access the Game
Disc 2 user files (Section 2.1 “Game Disc structure”). There is nothing particular that has to be done
after the switch.
In this case, the system can be classified in two ways: to allow Game Disc 2 to start up by itself or not.
B1 When allowing individual start up by Game Disc 2
It is conceivable that the programs on Game Disc 1 and Game Disc 2 could be the same, and only
the user file sections would be different. There may be a prompt to return to Game Disc 1,
depending upon the state of progress of the game in the Memory Card.
B2 When not allowing individual start up by Game Disc 2
It is conceivable that Game Disc 2 could be a data only file. In this case, please display a
message like "This is a data only Game Disc. Please insert the <Game Title> Game Disc 1," and
give the user appropriate instructions when in individual start-up mode.
We don't really recommend B2 above. That's because it is possible that there could be Game Disc
switching all the time, when a game is being run. Unless there is a particular reason for needing a
data-only Game Disc, we feel it is nicer to the user to have the same dol file on the second Game Disc
as on the first Game Disc, and make it possible to start-up on the second Game Disc by itself.
Comparing A and B1, B1 requires no loading of the dol program section on Game Disc 2, and the shift
to the second Game Disc will be somewhat faster. If the dol program portion of the first and second
Game Discs can be made the same, it would probably be better to choose B1.
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Note that in either case, we recommend making it possible to save data before switching Game Discs,
for the following reasons.
• Data loss can be avoided if there is a Game Disc read error after the switch.
• It will make debugging easier by saving the data to the Memory Card before exchanging the
Game Discs. When you have a bug either during or after the Game Disc exchange, you can easily
reproduce the bug using the saved data. If you don't save the data before the Game Disc
exchange, you will have to begin game play from the Game Disc 1 again, to reproduce the bug.
Caution
File structures that were open prior to the exchange will contain old data, so please do not use such
data after the exchange. Even if Game Disc 1 and Game Disc 2 have files with the same name,
please be sure to re-open them. To be safe, we recommend closing all open files before switching.
4.2 Specifying Game Discs at time of exchange
The Game Disc ID (see Section 2.2 “Game Disc ID”) is used for specifying Game Discs at the time of
an exchange. For details, refer to the DVDChangeDisk* function in the Nintendo GameCube Dolphin
Reference Manual.
With the DVDChangeDisk* function, wildcards can be specified for Game Disc ID components.
Thus, if 0xff is specified for the Game Disc Number, then no matter which numbered Game Disc is
inserted during the exchange it will be treated as a correct Game Disc and the exchange will be
approved, when the other three Game Disc ID components (i.e., the Game Code, Company Code
and Version Number) are correct.
In the following section, we offer some precautionary statements concerning wild cards.
4.2.1 Wild Card Usage Restrictions (Non-Game Versions)
Wild cards can only be used on game versions (not on Game Codes, Company Codes or Game Disc
numbers). The reason is that if wild cards are used, the operation check combinations become
enormous and cause a lot of problems.
If you are nevertheless considering the use of wild cards for the following elements, be certain to
discuss the matter with Nintendo in advance.
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4.2.2 Wild Card Usage Restrictions (Game Versions)
When using wild cards for game versions, there are advantages and disadvantages to using and not
using them (when given explicit instructions). The following are some examples. Please review them
and select one or the other for use.
A When the Game Version is Explicitly Specified
Advantages
• The corresponding Game Disc versions have a one-to-one correspondence, so it is sufficient
to debug in that particular combination.
Disadvantages
• When there are future version changes, it will be necessary to upgrade the version on both
Game Discs. In other words, if Game Disc 1 specifies Game Disc 2 version 0, and Game Disc
2 was modified to version 1 after it was sold, then once Game Disc 1 had been modified, the
versions on both Game Discs would have to be upgraded and resubmitted.
• When a group of friends have their own copies of the same game and the versions are
different and two friends switch Game Discs, they will not work properly when Game Disc 1
and Game Disc 2 are exchanged.
• An identifying mark will be required on the label so that the version can be identified.
B When a Wild Card is Used in a Game Version
Advantages
• Independent version upgrades can be released at future dates on their own Game Discs.
• Game Discs with different versions will keep running when they are used together, so friends
can switch Game Discs without any problems.
Disadvantages
• Care is required when releasing future version upgrades. In other words, when upgrading for
example, Game Disc 2, it will be necessary to assure that it can be switched with all of the
Game Disc 1 versions that are out circulating in the market.
4.3 The Game Disc exchange procedure
Below is an outline of the procedure that takes place from the time the player exchanges Game Discs
until the Nintendo GameCube can access the new Game Disc.
1. The Optical Disc Drive motor is stopped.
2. The optical disc drive motor is confirmed to be stopped, and a message is displayed telling the
game player to exchange Game Discs (see Section 4.4 “
”).
Messages and Error Processing when
Switching Game Discs
3. The system waits until the Disc Cover is opened by the player and then closed.
4. After the exchange, the Game Disc ID is checked to determine whether it is the proper Game
Disc.
5. The Game Disc's File Symbol Table (FST) is loaded and access is enabled.
All of these procedures, except for the message display performed in (2), are processed by the
DVDChangeDisk function (See Section 4.6 “APIs for multi-disc games”).
You can determine the duration of the message displayed in Step 2, by using the DVDGetDriveStatus
function to check the status of the Device Driver. You check the status of the Device Driver using the
same method you use for error handling (see Section 3.4 “How to get the error type”). When the
optical disc drive motor is stopped, the optical disc driver's status is
DVD_STATE_MOTOR_STOPPED. Only display the message in Step 2 when the optical disc driver is
in this state.
If the exchanged Game Disc is not the proper Game Disc, or if there is no Game Disc in the optical
disc drive, then display an appropriate message like those shown in Section 4.4 “
”. The DVDChangeDisk* function can cancel the Game Disc
exchange process by calling the DVDCancel function.
Messages and Error
Processing when Switching Game Discs
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4.4 Messages and Error Processing when Switching Game Discs
This section provides an example of a message to be displayed to the game player when Game Discs
are being exchanged. These sample displays are like the ones in Section 3.3 "
," and they may be modified to communicate their intent to the game player.
Changing Error
Messages
• Instructing the player to exchange Game Discs
While the Device Driver is in the DVD_STATE_MOTOR_STOPPED state, display this message,
instructing the game player to insert the next appropriate Game Disc:
“Press the OPEN Button to open the Disc Cover and replace Game Disc 1 with Game Disc 2.
After you have exchanged the Game Discs, close the Disc Cover”
If the game is a multi-disc game, be sure to provide clear instructions about which Game Disc
should be inserted next.
When you issue the DVDChangeDisk function, perform the same error handling that you would with
the DVDRead function. For details, see Section 3.2 “Error Types that Developers Need to Resolve” (If
the specified Game Disc is not inserted, then a Wrong Disk error should be generated.)
4.5 Multi-disc Emulation
At the present time, multi-disc emulation can only be executed on the GDEV. Support for DDH is
expected to come soon, with the release of the AMCDDK Version 3.0.2, along with patch 2.
4.6 APIs for multi-disc games
The following APIs apply to mult-disc games. For details about each API refer to the
Nintendo GameCube Dolphin Reference Manual.
• DVDChangeDisk* (DVDChangeDisk as well as DVDChangeDiskAsync)
• DVDCompareDiskID
• DVDGenerateDiskID
• DVDGetCurrentDiskID
4.7 Cautions regarding multi-disc games
4.7.1 Every Game Disc should boot on its own
Please design every Game Disc so it can boot up on its own when inserted in the
Nintendo GameCube. Have the Game Disc boot on its own -- even if the game's execution program
cannot start up without the execution program that is on some other Game Disc -- and then display a
message instructing the game player to exchange Game Discs (see Section 4.7.3 “
”)
Display for Game
Disc exchanges
4.7.2 Provide support for the exchange with any Game Disc
Make sure the system does not lock up, no matter what Game Disc is exchanged. For example, if
Game Disc 3 is only supposed to operate when it is booted after Game Disc 2, do not let the system
lock up if it is exchanged after Game Disc 1 instead.
4.7.3 Display for Game Disc exchanges
If an exchange of Game Discs is necessary, please display instructions to this effect on the screen.
See Section 4.4 “Messages and Error Processing when Switching Game Discs” to read about the
contents of this screen message.
4.7.4 Use labels and banners to distinguish Game Discs
Print a label for each Game Disc, so game players can differentiate Game Discs and exchange them
properly when instructed to do so. Also, please use different banner image data, titles or comments
on each Game Disc to make it possible to distinguish the Game Discs on the IPL game play menu, so
that the game players will be able to tell which number Game Disc they are using. (See Section 5.4
“Banner File for Game Disc Information and Displaying it in IPL Main Menu”.)
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4.7.5 Secure memory for FST
When a normal Game Disc is exchanged, the File Symbol Table (FST) is overwritten by what is on the
new Game Disc. If the FST of the new Game Disc is smaller than the FST of the Game Disc that was
swapped out, then there is no problem. But if the new FST is larger, then it cannot be loaded. An
ASSERT message will be output, and the system will lock up.
To prevent this from happening, either specify a large memory size when securing memory for the
FST, or use the MultiDisk function, in the latest version of GDEV, to store the settings to a mdf file.
(When multiple Game Discs are registered with mdf, the memory for the FST will be set automatically
to the appropriate size.)
5. Other Guidelines Regarding Accessing the Optical Disc Drive
5.1 Game Startup Screen
After the dol file is loaded by the boot program, data and program files are read from the Game Disc.
At this time, in order to shorten the time the screen is blank as much as possible, do not read any data
files. Use only the dol file to display the first screen.
Also, the dol file should use the error-handling routines described in Section 3.4 “
”. If there are no error-handling routines, there is no way to notify the user if some kind of
problem occurs with the read before the error-handling routine.
How to Get the Error
Type
5.2 Various Causes of Changes in Game Disc Access Time
If a problem occurs with Game Disc access, the hardware will carry out a retry internally. This means
that even if a read has succeeded, it may have been the result of going through several retries.
Also, the calibration process requires a large amount of time, as mentioned in Section 3.5 “
”. Therefore, when a game player opens the Disc Cover while reading, much longer time is
required than just one read.
State
Diagram
Furthermore, due to individual differences, the access may be completed slightly faster than with the
particular optical disc drive the developer is using.
Because Game Disc access time can vary for all of these various reasons, do not design processes
that depend on access time.
5.3 dol File Restrictions
Be aware that following two restrictions apply to the dol file (see Section 2.1 “Game Disc structure”).
- The total section size must be less than 4 Mbytes.
In order to shorten the read time during startup, the total size excluding the BSS section (data
area for uninitialized variables) is limited to less than 4 Mbytes.
- Addresses that can be used by dol files are below 0x8070_0000
Addresses from 0x8070_0000 and on are reserved by the system so dol files can only use
addresses below this. Note that this restriction also applies to BSS section.
DOL-06-0026-001-A5 14 © 2001-2002 Nintendo of America Inc.
Released: 4/18/02

Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
5.4 Banner File for Game Disc Information and Displaying it in IPL Main Menu
On the Nintendo GameCubeTM, when the game is not started immediately and is started after going
into the IPL Main Menu once, disc information is displayed on the screen. Banner files are used in this
situation.
In order to display disc information, the following information must be specified in the banner file:
u8 image[2 * DVD_BANNER_WIDTH * DVD_BANNER_HEIGHT]
(DVD_BANNER_WIDTH＝96; DVD_BANNER_HEIGHT=32)
Banner-format image data.
The size is 96x32 (the same as the memory card banner), but the only format that can be used is RGB5A3.
Identical data is used on the menu screen and on the gameplay screen.
There is no problem if the data does not match the memory card banner (although you can use the same data).
u8 shortTitle[32]
The title of the game displayed on the Main Menu screen.
u8 shortMaker[32]
The name of the maker displayed on the Main Menu screen.
You can include just the maker name, or the maker name and the production date (the year).
u8 longTitle[64]
The title of the game displayed during gameplay.
u8 longMaker[64]
The name of the maker displayed on the gameplay screen.
You can include just the maker name, or the maker name and the production date (the year).
u8 comment[128]
Comments displayed on the game play screen.
Example: Luigi’s Mansion
shortTitle Luigi’s Mansion
shortMaker 2001 Nintendo
longTitle Luigi’s Mansion: Lugi’s Big Adventure
longMaker 2001 Nintendo
comment The house Luigi won in a sweepstakes is a haunted mansion!
To find his brother Mario, he must explore the big mansion!
banner PRESS
START
commentlongMaker
shortTitle
shortMaker
longTitle
Menu Screen
Game Play
Luigi's Mansion
2001 Nintendo
Game P lay Screen
Press START/PAUSE to begin.
Luigi's Mansion: Luigi 's Big Adventure
2001 Nintendo
The house Luigi won in a sweepstakes is a
haunted mansion! To find his brother
Mario, he must explore the big mansion!
Figure 2: An example of Game Disc information display
The characters that can be used are the same as those that can be used by the FONT API. Game
Discs intended for the Japanese market can accommodate Level 1 Shift-JIS characters as well as
ASCII and single-byte (“hankaku”) katakana characters. Discs intended for the non-Japanese market
can accommodate ANSI 8-bit (WinLatin1) characters. Line feed codes can also be used in comments.
However, if you use many line breaks and characters with wide character widths, there is a possibility
that the comment will not be displayed completely within the frame. In such cases, you would need to
revise your text to make it fit completely within the frame.
© 2001-2002 Nintendo of America Inc. 15 DOL-06-0026-001-A5
Released: 4/18/02

Optical Disc Drive Guidelines
On development tools, the Nintendo GameCubeTM startup program displays the information in the
opening.bnr file stored in the Game Disc’s root directory. You can create opening.bnr by using
the makebanner.exe tool included with the Nintendo GameCubeTM SDK in the /X86/bin directory.
To use this tool, execute makebanner.exe. The structure of banner files is defined in
include/dolphin/dvd/DVDBanner.h.
You can use the listdemo program (located in build/demos/carddemo) to check the Game Disc
banner and game information located in the opening.bnr file.
5.5 Avoid Infinite Loop of Hardware/Audio Streaming Under the Following
Conditions
Avoid an infinite loop in the following situations:
1. Hardware/Audio Streaming while Data Streaming
2. Synchronous Playback of more than one data stream
Note: The necessary data is read from the Game Disc all at once and then used as required. This
method is defined as Burst Transfer. The data is read when required, one by one in order, and
is not read all at once. This method is defined as Data Streaming. A typical example of data
streaming transfer would be the playback of a movie.
The reason that we need to avoid the infinite loop is because the player may leave the
Nintendo GameCube with such condition. Nintendo GameCube's optical disc drive moves the head
with high frequency to access the Game Disc. There is a possibility that this may cause bad effects on
the optical disc drive. Also, it is meaningless to have optical disc drive access without the player
present, so please avoid this situation.
Other than "1" and "2" above, if there is a need for prolonged access that is not sequential with high
frequency, either make the access sequential or prevent it from entering an infinite loop.
You can reduce the seek noise that is generated during synchronous playback considerably, by
placing those files that are played back synchronously close to each other. Place these files close to
each other, as much as possible.
5.5.1 Example of Problem and How to Solve It
[1] There is a demo that plays different audio files as BGM while playing back a movie file. It is
possible that this demo will enter an infinite loop.
Solution 1: Compile the movie file and the audio file into one file by interleaving them, and playback
the audio portion using software. After this is done, access to the optical disc drive will
be sequential.
Solution 2: Stop BGM after the fade-out of the third loop. By doing this, only the movie is played
back, and access to the optical disc drive will be sequential.
Solution 3: Switch the movie to a static image after three loops. By doing this, it will be only
hardware/audio streaming, and the access to the optical disc drive will be sequential.
[2] If two movies are played back synchronously there is a possibility that the program will enter an
infinite loop.
Solution 1: Compile the two movie files into one file by interleaving them. By doing this, access to
the optical disc drive will be sequential.
Solution 2: Switch both movies to a static image after three loops. This will prevent an infinite loop.
[3] There is an artificial intelligence type dialog game. There is a portion of this game in which voice
data is read consecutively, while the audio file is played as BGM. This might continue infinitely,
unless there is an input to the Controller.
Solution: If there is no input to the Controller for 5 minutes, make characters in the game go to
sleep, so that they will no longer talk. By doing this, access to the optical disc drive will
be only for playing back BGM.
DOL-06-0026-001-A5 16 © 2001-2002 Nintendo of America Inc.
Released: 4/18/02