Using the FlippyDrive

SD Card

You can use any SDHC/SDXC card with FlippyDrive. We do not suggest using SD Cards with a capacity less than 4GB as those may have compatibility issues.

SD Card Setup

In order to use the FlippyDrive you must first format the SD card or configure Wi-Fi to target a desktop machine.

Make sure your SD card is formatted with exFAT or FAT32. We suggest using exFAT as it is a more modern standard.

SD Card Files

Once your SD card is formatted you can place supported files in the root of the SD card.

Supported files are:
  • .iso

  • .fdi

  • .gcm

  • .dol

  • .dol+cli

Note

If you have a .nkit file, just rename it to .iso.

.rvz will be supported in the future but only through Wi-Fi or Ethernet due to hardware limitations.

Usage

Now that you have your SD card setup you can insert it into the FlippyDrive and power on your GameCube.

Startup

When booting the GameCube using FlippyDrive you have three options:

Bootloader menu

If you hold down the X button on the P1 controller it will start the FlippyDrive Bootloader menu.

Disc Mode

Changed in version 1.5.0: In version 1.4.3 and below, the L and R triggers were used for Disc Mode and Enhanced Disc mode (also called passthrough/bypass - as it lets all of the disc drive information pass through the FlippyDrive). It was moved to the +Control Pad to avoid controller calibration issues while powering on the system.

Two disc modes are provided by the FlippyDrive to launch games in the physical disc drive.

Hold Left (←) on the +Control Pad (Player 1) when powering up the console to enter Disc Mode.

Control is handed completely to the physical disc drive and the disc will load as if no FlippyDrive is installed. That means your disc and console must match regions and no additional features are available as this is stock GameCube behavior.

Once control is handed off to the drive in Disc Mode, it is not possible to exit unless you power off the GameCube.

Enhanced Disc Mode

Hold Right (→) on the +Control Pad (Player 1) when powering up the console to enter Enhanced Disc Mode.

This process uses your physical disc loaded via cubeboot with the config.ini file with read with appropriate video and region-free settings applied.

Normal Mode

If you do not hold down any buttons while the GameCube is turning on, it will boot directly into Cubeboot. However if you have placed a boot.dol file in the root of your SD card it will boot that program instead.

Cubeboot will play the GameCube startup animation and then jump directly into the Cubeboot Loader which allows you to select a game to play.

You can navigate the loader with the analog stick and press A to select a game. If you do not want to start that game simply press B to get back to the list of games.

Once you are ready to play, press START on the game select screen and it will immediately boot the game.

Multi-disc games

When a game requests another game disc to be loaded, as long as the disc image is available from the current source (SD or network) it will load the disc within a few seconds.

See also

  • If you experience any issues during gameplay please reference the Game Compatibility page and submit a bug report using the form.

  • For FlippyDrive bugs go to Troubleshooting.

  • For Game related issues while using FlippyDrive check Game Compatibility and submit a bug report.

  • For more information on configuring the FlippyDrive check the Configuration Files page.