Glossary

Glossary

Homebrew discussions are full of shorthand. Here are the terms you will meet most often while setting up a GameCube.

Core terms

• Swiss — the all-in-one open-source loader that runs games, homebrew, and tools from FAT32 storage.
• Entry point — the method that first gets unsigned code (usually Swiss) running on the console.
• IPL — the console's built-in boot program. PicoBoot replaces it with a custom version that auto-loads homebrew.
• DOL — the executable format GameCube programs use; also the prefix of the console's model numbers.
• ODE — optical drive emulator, hardware that replaces the disc drive and loads games from storage, such as GCLoader.

Hardware and storage

• Serial Port 2 (SP2) — a small expansion port under most DOL-001 consoles, used by the SD2SP2 adapter.
• SD Gecko — an adapter that fits the memory-card slot to read an SD card.
• PicoBoot — a modchip built from a Raspberry Pi Pico that flashes a custom IPL.
• GCMM — GameCube Memory Manager, a tool for backing up and restoring save data.
• FAT32 — the filesystem Swiss expects on SD cards and similar media.