Multi Game Doctor 2 Link Cable Pinout?

[ido8bit]

I bought a box of assorted old console bits at an auction (real physical one, not ebay).  In that box I found a Multi Game Doctor 2 Megadrive/Genesis adapter
with a 16Mb card in it, but no link cables or disk drive unit.  

I know there was a link cable available to connect this unit to the PC rather than use the 3.5" floppy drive it should have came with.  
 
Does anybody have the pinout for the cable?    
I've  already found the link software.  

[Vertigo]

Didn't the MGD series of machines use a standard parallel printer cable? I have 3 copiers I mean... backup machines, and they all use standard parallels on the back, though I don't actually have one for MegaDrive but if anyone knows where I can find one....
Anyway, If that's what you've got, you may want to try that, otherwise give us a bit of a description, how many pins in what configuration etc.

[ido8bit]

The MGD 2 (at least the one I have) doesn't have a standard parallel port.  It has a 6 pin RJ connector (like a network cable, but narrower).  

Strange I know... My other backup units (Wildcard, Super Magic Drive) use standard 25 pin connectors.

[Vertigo]

No parallel. Interesting. Are you able to take a picture or draw it?

[ido8bit]

No real need to take a picture.  It looks exactly like an RJ45 network connector, but with only 6 pins instead of 8.

[NFG]

Wouldn't that make it an RJ-11 connector?  Like your telephone?  =)

[Vertigo]

So that would mean you have a super rare networkable Megadrive
No but seriously, could that be some sort of network connection for sending files to it, like a parallel port is on others then?

[dumdum]

sometimes people used those 6pin telephone plugs for serial ports, you might be able to look up a pinout for them if it actualy was a standardised connector... any baud rate settings and the like on the device or in its software?

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I was under the impression that rj11 was 4 pins... but I could be wrong.

[NFG]

The RJ-11 connector has slots for six pins, but usually only four (or for cheap cables, 2) are used.  Only 2 are needed for a phoneline, the other pair is for a second line.  You'll often see six in business installations where the outside pair is used for intercom or signalling.

[acem77]

i have made this cable for some one before. it has one ic in it. i have a lot of info for the mgd2. here is a link to my web site.
http://home.adelphia.net/~acem77/

this site sells them
http://www.gamechoice.com.hk/search.asp?ca...egory=Accessory

[The_RandomMan]

no rj-11 is 4 pins usable, but only 2 are used.

[NFG]

no rj-11 is 4 pins usable, but only 2 are used.

This is incorrect.  Please do your research before you attempt to tell someone else they're wrong.  RJ11 connectors are normally used for phones, and each phoneline (in North America + Japan anyway) needs only two wires.  Two lines requires four wires.  For three you can use six wires, and the RJ11 spec allows up to six wires per cable/connector.  More than four is rare, but it IS part of the spec.

[ido8bit]

i have made this cable for some one before. it has one ic in it. i have a lot of info for the mgd2. here is a link to my web site.
http://home.adelphia.net/~acem77/

this site sells them
http://www.gamechoice.com.hk/search.asp?ca...egory=Accessory

Do you still have the schematic diagram for the cable?  If so I'd really appreciate a copy.

By the time I add shipping charges it would probably cost me AU$100 to buy a cable from them.  That cable would end up costing me more than I paid for the MGD2, Super Magic Drive, and Super Wildcard DX combined.

[acem77]

there is no public schematic. i took my original cable apart to copy it. i only have a sloppy drawing i made. i have to remake it so the average human can understand all my chicken scratch. i was making a nice drawing of it but my paint shop program crashed after i got near the end. after that i gave up.

[ido8bit]

If you could post a scan of your sloppy drawing I may be able to follow it.  At least it would give me something to go on.  

Thanks...

[Guest]

good luck!

[ido8bit]

Thanks...

Is the chip number 74hct44b, 74hct446 or something else?

I haven't been able to find the IC in any of catalogs I've checked so far..

[NFG]

You can just shorten it to 7444, the letters in the center refer to the type of process used inside the chip.  the 74* family of chips refers to a series of very common and often-used chips produced by many manufacturers.

[ido8bit]

I thought of that, but a 7444 is listed as an "excess-3-gray to decimal decoder" which doesn't seem to make sense in this application.  

[acem77]

74hct44d should be the chip number