GameCube/Software Documentation
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More information: Dolphin SDK, GameCube Boot Process, GameCube/IPL
The Nintendo-developed Dolphin SDK was used to build all officially released GameCube software.
The GameCube's capacity for preinstalled software is limited to a ROM chip attached to the EXI interface, which the CPU boots from by default. This ROM chip contains a boot program known as the "IPL"), which on retail units will initialize the system, play the boot animation and start the inserted disc or display the console menu. An XOR encryption scheme is also used on the ROM data.
The GameCube has no proper operating system; the boot program does not keep executing after it launches a game or expose any "BIOS" functions, and all code which runs once a game has been started is loaded from the game disc. The Dolphin SDK includes an "OS" library with some basic functions for system features such as thread/memory management.
