Wii Component cable is available in the US!!!

[Soundfx4]

Never mind everything I've been asking about!  I got it to work!  WHOOHOOO!  and the thing is stable!  It doesn't flicker or anything!  I don't know if anyone else thought about this, but I flattened the paper clips with a hammer and then bent them so that they would make contact.


Btw, Would the picture be better if I grounded each signal cable to different grounds?  Right now I'm just using the ground for the composite signal cable and it is working, but I don't know if it would be a better picture if I grounded them separately.

Regardless, here are some pictures of my final work!

http://70.47.107.196/files/yay01.jpg

http://70.47.107.196/files/yay02.jpg

Thank you all!  I'm so glad I gave this another shot

[Rakien]

Umm...Could anyone please help me with the drawing I posted above?

Why?  You've taking a known good pinout and, what, redrawn it?  Why can't you check your own work?  What part is confusing you?

You're asking random people to pull up two webpages and double-check the work of a stranger.  Normally around here we don't do your work for you, without a good reason.  Offer one up, or get to checking it yourself.  =)

Unfortunately, I do not have a Wii yet so I can't try anything out myself. I just want to make sure that by the time I get one I'll be able to use it at its full capabilities by making myself some component cables.

As for the pin out, what's so bad about redrawing it? I'm just trying to make things look clear. Why are you saying that I'm asking people to do my work? I would just like it if someone commented my drawing, by telling me if its right or wrong.

I never asked anyone to double check the work of a stranger or to pull up random web pages... What are you talking about?

Anyways, here's another drawing I made. Hope this one is correct (if the other one wasn't).



Thanks

[antitime]

I performed the mod on mine just a little while ago. The hardest part for me was getting the friggin cable opened up..after that it was smooth sailing. One slightly loose connection but I don't move things around much anyway, so no problem. One thing, though, I seem to have a bit of a shadow, it's easily noticable when you look at the "2006" at the bottom of the title screen. I didn't ground any of the 3 outputs, would grounding them help, or is it noise that I'm just going to have to live with until I get the real thing?

[tkamen]

Wow,

Rakien that's a sweet little drawing you did. Looks like it's correct to me. Would you allow me to use this on my site for my tutorial?

[Rakien]

Wow,

Rakien that's a sweet little drawing you did. Looks like it's correct to me. Would you allow me to use this on my site for my tutorial?

Sure, here's an updated version:



You can use it as long as you give me some recognition .

[coolbho3000]

Hey All,

After trying to modify the composite cable and only getting b&w images, and generally worrying about screwing up my Wii or cable completely, I decided to figure out a way to create my own composite plug to insert into the video socket instead.

I got it working last night, so I created a little print-out template and some basic instructions that you can read here.

Thanks to the guys who figured out all the details!  

-Russ

Russel, I tried making your plug. Just to check that the audio was going right, I inserted the plug in with only the Audio Left wire in (plus grounded) and it created a bunch of static. I tried moving my plug but the Wii mysteriously shut off.  

Good thing everything was still working, but I threw my plug in the trash to avoid any damage.

I think I'll settle for buying the component cables instead.

[NFG]

As for the pin out, what's so bad about redrawing it?

Nothing, it's very good work.

Why are you saying that I'm asking people to do my work?

'cause you are.

I would just like it if someone commented my drawing, by telling me if its right or wrong.

That's the part where you asked other people to do your work.

I never asked anyone to double check the work of a stranger or to pull up random web pages... What are you talking about?

It's exactly what you did.  If anyone wanted to check it (And I can only assume you wanted people to check its accuracy) they'd have to pull up the wiki page or another forum page to see the pinout we have here and compare it against yours to check your connections.

I'm not sure why this is so complicated.  

I'm also not sure why you ignored pins 15 and 16.

[Rakien]

massive quote deleted

Ok, well I'm sorry then.

[NFG]

Your post count has to reach at least 200 before you're allowed to be lazy.  

When you reach my post count you can pretty much turn your brain off and ride on the accomplishments of others.  

It's pretty sweet.

[Guest]

Lawrence, you gave Rakien a hard time for asking a few questions? What a good Administrator you are......

[NFG]

Lawrence, you gave Rakien a hard time for asking a few questions? What a good Administrator you are......

zOMFG, an unregistered newb has a critique!  I must quickly give his comment the weight it deserves!

We have had, historically speaking, a massive problem with people who would rather ask than think.  Rakien did some great work with his image, but asked what I considered to be a silly question, so I called him on it.

You, on the other hand, appear to have nothing to offer the conversation.  Thanks though for gracing us with your thoughts.

Actually, now that I think about it, I have no idea what your point is.  Was your first question rhetorical, or are you just an idiot and you're not sure?  Sarcasm doesn't travel well on forums, so I dunno about the second statement either - are you actually telling me I'm a good admin?  If so, thanks!  I'll give your comment the weight it deserves.

[dustinh2k]

To all the people asking whether or not they should connect the grounds...  YES, connecting the shielding grounds on your video cables can only improve image quality and reduce interference.  Quit being lazy and just do it!

[Griff]

So if we just get the info on the other pins then maybe i can make myself a s-video cabel by using my old gamecube one?


I live in a PAL country but i have ordered a us-wii.

What i really want is to have a RGB-scart because i have no component in on my television. I made the gamecube-rgbscart mod and its so sweet, im hoping something similar will happen on the wii.

As soon as the rgb-scart is released here i will get it and open it up and see what i can find out. (because i dont think it will work right away) Is there someway i could damage the wii if the cable out of the box doesnt work?

In the meantime im waiting for my wii to clear customs and im hoping the get it to work with s-video soon, i just dont know where to start.

[Lee Swain]

I just wanted to post a thank you to everyone who worked on the pinout and guides for this.

I created mine last night and it was VERY EASY, thanks to the great work of others. With my $4 worth of crocodile clips and paper clips I was able to complete the entire mod in about 20 minutes and it works perfectly. It's really nice to see Zelda in 480p on my 42inch widescreen HDTV ;-D

Also for those attempting this, please note that I found that grounding the Y cable to one of the exisiting grounds GREATLY improves the picture quality, before I did that I was a little disspointed with it. But thankfully that lasted about 30 seconds until a remembered that I hadn't grounded the cables yet. I grounded all of them but it only seemed to matter that the Y was grounded.

Here's my personal guide to make things easier for newbies, use this as a basic outline along with the other awesome guides.

First get the wires ready and take the back off the Wii composite cable. Make your paperclips ready for inserting into the Wii cable connector and plug it into the back of the Wii. Turn the Wii on.

1. With the composite cables in attempt to get your bridge connected first. Once it's connected the image will drop out and you will know it's working, then you can plug it into a component in on your TV.

2. Next attempt to do the Y cable, that way you will know the connection is working right away because you will get a black and white image.

3. Then attempt your CR and CB cables, you will see the colours come in as soon as you get each one in right.

4. Now add a connection to the ground and connect the ground from at least the Y cable.

DONE!

For those still unsure about attempting this, let me say that it's a LOT easier than you probably think. Don't be scared away by the pictures that make it look really messy.

It's essentially as easy as sticking a paperclip in a hole and attaching a wire to it and then repeat X 3.

Good luck!

Parabolee
www.flat-life.com

[tequilawithmilk]

Here's my final Wii CC. No paperclips, No alligator clips. Just rearranged all I used pins from an old gamecube s-video cable to jump 8 and 10, and it's red and white for audio. The rest of the pins are straight from the Wii composite cable. I may have wired the audio part wrong, I wasn't getting any sound trying to ground the red and white but when I attached both the red and white sire to the corner pin, I got sound left and right...it maybe mono, though still sound good. So I just cut off the audio ground wires, didn't need them.

As I said before in my previous post under name "RP", I only needed a flat head screwdriver to pry off the casing, and used a sewing needle to poke the Wii cable pins out without breaking them, keeping the locking tabs in place. And a soldering iron.

Overall I think it's cleaner and more stable than the paperclip method. If you have the 3 tools mentioned above, you can do this too.

[tequilawithmilk]

And here's a closer pic.

[Kirby]

Nice looking mod, tequila.  Looks a lot better than the mess of the other pictures.

Now that the component cabling is out of the way, it's been figured out, what I want to know is this:

Is it possible to get VGA?  That would be the pinnacle of video, and I wonder if it's even possible.

There's still quite a few pins that have no apparent use at the moment, I'm sure they're used for something.  Maybe a similar design like the Gamecube VGA box can be used?

Just some things to think about, my component cables are coming some time this week

[Scott Cameron]

So if we just get the info on the other pins then maybe i can make myself a s-video cabel by using my old gamecube one?


I live in a PAL country but i have ordered a us-wii.

What i really want is to have a RGB-scart because i have no component in on my television. I made the gamecube-rgbscart mod and its so sweet, im hoping something similar will happen on the wii.

As soon as the rgb-scart is released here i will get it and open it up and see what i can find out. (because i dont think it will work right away) Is there someway i could damage the wii if the cable out of the box doesnt work?

In the meantime im waiting for my wii to clear customs and im hoping the get it to work with s-video soon, i just dont know where to start.

Does anyone who understands the pin output on the American Wii know if it supports RGB natively like the PAL GC? I'm thinking about importing an American Wii too, and it would be handy if the cable worked by default. Of course, I'll be coming here if it doesn't...

[syzygy]

I think you should ground all cables. Even if you don't, the signal will find its way to ground, but it's no good that way. If you just connect the hot wire on your component cables, the signal will make its way to your TV and pick up earth-ground there. That leaves is susceptible to all sorts of noise and attenuation. So it's best to ground each wire individually, even if you tie them all to the same ground on the Wii A/V connector.

[Scott Cameron]

Does anyone who understands the pin output on the American Wii know if it supports RGB natively like the PAL GC? I'm thinking about importing an American Wii too, and it would be handy if the cable worked by default. Of course, I'll be coming here if it doesn't...

[Guest]

Hey guys, quick question. Somebody earlier suggested that somebody try using the pins from the RF adaptor for post-NES Nintendo systems. I happen to have one on hand... However, I've never really done any complicated mods before. So here's the question. The pins go into the PCB, and come out through the other side, where they are soldered in. So if I want to get to the pins, do I just use a soldering gun and... well, de-solder the solder until the pins get loose?

[syzygy]

I just tried this mod right now and it didn't go so well. Instead of a paperclip, I used thick buswire and some pins I salvaged off a solder-cup connector I had lying around. I soldered the buswire into the pin and connected a multimeter to it. I went to pin 4 (+5V) of the Wii cable. It was a sketchy connection at best. The 5V was fading in and out as I moved the wire around and I was never able to get a solid connection.

I'm giving up for the night and I'll see if I can find some viable paperclips at work tomorrow  :ph34r:  

[syzygy]

Hey guys, quick question. Somebody earlier suggested that somebody try using the pins from the RF adaptor for post-NES Nintendo systems. I happen to have one on hand... However, I've never really done any complicated mods before. So here's the question. The pins go into the PCB, and come out through the other side, where they are soldered in. So if I want to get to the pins, do I just use a soldering gun and... well, de-solder the solder until the pins get loose?

Yeah, you can grab one end of the pin with some needlenose pliers and just apply heat until the solder starts to flow.. then just pull the pin out. Let us know how those pins work out.


---

Oh, I forgot to as in my previous post .. How far do you push the staple in? Each slot in the Wii connector has a small recess then it slants up. Do your paperclips just sit in the recess or do they come up and stick out a bit? Do they line up with the real pins in there?

[RARusk]

"Hey guys, quick question. Somebody earlier suggested that somebody try using the pins from the RF adaptor for post-NES Nintendo systems. I happen to have one on hand... However, I've never really done any complicated mods before. So here's the question. The pins go into the PCB, and come out through the other side, where they are soldered in. So if I want to get to the pins, do I just use a soldering gun and... well, de-solder the solder until the pins get loose?"

Yes, you need to desolder the plug from the board in order to get at the pins. You use the same method to remove these pins as you would the pins out of the standard Nintendo Composite Video cables.

[RGB32E]

Wow,

Rakien that's a sweet little drawing you did. Looks like it's correct to me. Would you allow me to use this on my site for my tutorial?

Sure, here's an updated version:



You can use it as long as you give me some recognition .

Hey Rakien and tkamen,

How about you give ME the recognition!!  I'm the one who posted the info in the first place!  AND created the pin out diagram that you so blatantly ripped off!

[TallgeeseIV]

hey everyone, i've been trying this mod for a few hours without success and i realized.... i don't think the cable you all are showing is the one shipped with my system, i got a us release wii on launch day at a very trusted gamestop (i worked there for 2 years) on the east coast. anyway, i made a diagram showing how my cable compares to the one shown in the picture on page 1.



i would have just taken a picture but everything i took was too blurry.

[Rakien]

Wow,

Rakien that's a sweet little drawing you did. Looks like it's correct to me. Would you allow me to use this on my site for my tutorial?

Sure, here's an updated version:



You can use it as long as you give me some recognition .

Hey Rakien and tkamen,

How about you give ME the recognition!!  I'm the one who posted the info in the first place!  AND created the pin out diagram that you so blatantly ripped off!

Actualy, I got the pin out from this site here. If it belongs to you fine, if not well I guess you're out of luck...

[NFG]

Yeah, that site rips the pinout from my wiki, which is based on info from RGB32E and dustinh2k.

You're still missing 15/16 from your diagram, BTW.  

[RGB32E]

Yeah, that site rips the pinout from my wiki, which is based on info from RGB32E.

You're still missing 15/16 from your diagram, BTW.  

Rakien, nope, I'm not out of luck... you are just mistaken...!  :rolleyes:  

[antitime]

hey everyone, i've been trying this mod for a few hours without success and i realized.... i don't think the cable you all are showing is the one shipped with my system, i got a us release wii on launch day at a very trusted gamestop (i worked there for 2 years) on the east coast. anyway, i made a diagram showing how my cable compares to the one shown in the picture on page 1.



i would have just taken a picture but everything i took was too blurry.

The connector you're referring to as "yours" is actually the official component cable, not the composite cable that shipped with the system. RGB32E was trying to pass along the information since they're hard to come by right now. Your composite cable matches the composite cable pinout posted by dustinh2k further down the first page (only having pins 1-3, 5, 6, and 12).

On another note, Nintendo finally decided to ship my component cable a day after I got the mod working...figures.  <_<  

[antitime]

Corrected me if I'm wrong, but Y (luminance) is the same for both component and s-video, right? So all we need for s-video is to figure out which of the unknown pins is C (chrominance). Anyone checked the rest of the pins yet? If not I might could.
Also, since the Wii only outputs Y when 8 and 10 are jumpered...couldn't that mean that when they aren't jumpered, those same pins are being used for something else (such as RGBS)? Any ideas on how to determine which pins are which other than just random trial and error?
I'm really tempted to try and figure out VGA now

[NFG]

As long as you avoid the pins known to output crazy voltages (5V/12V) you should be save to just start probing around to see what you get.

I look forward to your results!!

[Nrvsqsr]

Alright, I'm REALLY having trouble getting this to work on my monitor.  When you turn on prog scan, is there a confirmation screen? (I can't see until it's on :/)

[Nrvsqsr]

Alright, I'm getting SOMETHING now, instead of the monitor just staying in sleep mode I'm getting an 'out of range' message.

[syzygy]

I can take the Wii to work and use a scope to start looking for the chrominance pin. Anyone know what the signal should look like or will it just be random data?

[MasamuneX]

I figured I would help out with the people who are trying to achieve a component connection. Though this may not be an issue for most of you that are posting. The lurkers on the other hand are probably not aware. At first I, like most people was having trouble depinning the Wii A/V connector. RP mention this method but really didn't explain exactly how to do it so I decided there needs to be an end all be all diagram.  So here is my contribution to the thread.

[antitime]

First thing: the Y pin works whether 8-10 are jumpered or not, I don't know if that's already been said. So, 8-10 ONLY have to be connected for progressive scan enabling.

Anyway, I tried different pins this morning and the only way I could get color is to connect the C pin to the composite pin. Perhaps they meant to do it this way for s-video?
From here: http://lyberty.com/encyc/articles/svideo.html
"While the luminance performance of S-Video compares favorably to analog component video, the chrominance performance�aside from reduced crosstalk�does not show notable improvement over composite video."
I could have missed something, so someone may want to double check those extra pins if you're hoping for a dedicated C channel.

Pin 10 shows 3.3 volts (just noting this in case anyone was wondering which of the mode pins has voltage).

Pins 4 and 13 both showed voltage corresponding to the pinout posted on the wiki (just confirming - I checked those to see if my paper clips were connecting well).

Still don't know what 14-16 are, though. Still hoping they're RGB. If I steal the sync signals from a computer's video port (set at the right res, of course) and use RGB from the Wii, would that give me VGA output? I googled it but haven't seen it done.

[RGB32E]

Still don't know what 14-16 are, though. Still hoping they're RGB. If I steal the sync signals from a computer's video port (set at the right res, of course) and use RGB from the Wii, would that give me VGA output? I googled it but haven't seen it done.

I'd highly recommend ordering a Component cable from Nintendo, and a VDigi VD-Z3 component to vga transcoder.  No modding involved!!!  That way you'll have VGA output (assuming the system is running in 480p mode).

Nintendo Component Cable:
http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/store...rencyPreference

RGB Transcoder:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VDigi-VD-Z3-component-...1QQcmdZViewItem

[antitime]

Well, yeah, I *could* do that...but that wouldn't be any fun!

My official component cable should be here tomorrow. I only want to see if VGA is possible because I like poking around.

[blackevilweredragon]

if it's indeed 480p, and has RGB out, it will be VGA spec...

has no one found the "C" for Svideo yet?  I still think it's active somewhere in Composite mode..  (why the Y is still active)