in retrospect i coulda ran 12v from the drive and put a 7805 on the other side and had that switch light up normal :<
i did my second gamecube today. i tried to install the chip as close to how it was intended as possible, just leaving the ground unconnected and running it to a switch. it was tons faster but it's really hard to tell looking at it from above if it's really connected to the contact below so i was nervous :o seems to be fine though.
if anyone around here wants any of this stuff let me know, i'm gonna be selling them off later.