Wii Component cable is available in the US!!!

[t0rin]

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!  

-Ru

I Tried Russ' method using his template, and it works great!! ill post some pictures later.  
Great job!  Thanks man!  

[RGB32E]

I'd really like an S-Video cable for the Wii.  I should have the Japanese released one within the next 2-3 weeks!  The US release of Nintendo's S-Video cable won't be until Feb '07.  However, I'm fortunate enough to have a TV with an awesome comb filter (KV-32XBR100), so I don't get the crummy picture that most people have (even with most HDTVs - think samsung ).  

Even the HDTV Nintendo uses in their store displays have a shitty comb filter (they are using composite video instead of component).  So, dot crawl runs rampant!  On my TV, any static graphics exhibit no dot crawl, minimal otherwise!  Its ironic that I'm one of the first consumers to obtain a Wii Component cable, yet I have to connect it through my Faroudja LD100 to use it (for another gaming setup)!  Or buy a Transcoder (for VGA ouput).  Oh well!    

[rat_brains]

first off, thanks for all the great info.

I have it all up and running using the paperclip method, but i am getting a noticeable amount of interference / static in my picture.  I know im nitpicking a bit, but if anyone has some tips on how to eliminate that interference, ill be all set!  

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

$4 and no paperclips needed

I made one last night - was browsing radioshack and they had a multiconsole av cable (gamecube,ps,xbox) on clearance for $4 - figured from among the 3 connectors I should be able to find pins that would fit adequately in the wii - the gamecube ones were to wide... but the xbox pins worked fine (a tad on the skinny size - but with a proper bend at the end - even had some already jumpered (for use with pins 8&10)
The color coding in the adapter was logical as well
red was for right audio
white was for left audio
yellow for composite
black for ground

so after putting in the pins I was able to use the composite and audio pins on the multiadapter for my Y, Pb and Pr and just a single aligator clip for the ground

so quite cheap and easy for those that can't wait for official cables

[Rabid Ferrets of DOOM!!&]

Hey. I spent like 3-4 hours reading every single post on this thread last night. I'm pretty clear on how it works, now. I do, however have a few questions.

1. If I use the paper clip method to add makeshift pins, what are my risks of destroying my wii/television/cable if I'm careful enough not to be stupid. I refuse to move pins because that means dealing with fragile, irreplacable objects and I'm bad with those kinds of things. I'll settle for composite before taking that kind of risk.

2. On the pin out there are two pins I have not heard mentioned here. +5VDC and +12VDC. What do they do, and do I have to worry about it? (Even if I don't, tell me I'm curious.) I'm new to console mods, in fact this will be my first mod/hack ever. I do, however, think I can do it but I want to know every aspect about this first.

3. WTF will this do? I understand that it makes graphics get better, but I'm not too sure how. Does it increase the poly count somehow? Anti aliasing on? Anything of that sort? (New to HDTV, too only HD device I have is my comcast box and I can't figure out how to change the resolution from 1080i.

4. Any more news on what pins 14, 15, and 16 are for? I may be able to get my hands on an official component cable is there anything I can do on that front?

5. Is there any other way I can get pins that fit? I thought it'd be pretty cool if I could get all the connections done cleanly and bring back the plastic casing stretching the very end and have a very clean looking wii component cable. Also, if there is a source of fitting pins, would I be able to make component cables by replacing the pins in a SNES or whatever the cables with the right sized plastic were? (I smell an ebay money maker.)

I had some more but I can't remember so this is plenty for now, thank you all!

[Nrvsqsr]

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

That's the exact thing I'm trying to use, actually.  Except without the official component cable.  I tried for hours last night, nothing seemed to work.  

[Indy83]

Hey, thanks for figuring those pins out guys, the paper clip method worked like a charm for me.

You guys rock.

[antitime]

Well, I tried to check out the rest of the pins, but unfortunately I couldn't get my Wii back into progressive scan mode...once I pulled out the jumper between 8 and 10 I couldn't get it jumped again.

Anyone have any opinion on whether s-video grabs the chroma info straight from the composite? It seems like a quick and dirty way to do it...but I couldn't find it otherwise. Could have been loose connections on my paperclips, though.

[dustinh2k]

MasamuneX,
Excellent diagram, that is very helpful!  Thanks!

Rabid Ferrets of DOOM!!&,
To answer your question #3, read Lawrence's excellent video primer at:
http://atarilabs.com/meat/2000/1201_videoprimer.shtml
*Reading this should be a prerequisite to entering this forum!

[Rabid Ferrets of DOOM!!&]

$4 and no paperclips needed

I made one last night - was browsing radioshack and they had a multiconsole av cable (gamecube,ps,xbox) on clearance for $4 - figured from among the 3 connectors I should be able to find pins that would fit adequately in the wii - the gamecube ones were to wide... but the xbox pins worked fine (a tad on the skinny size - but with a proper bend at the end - even had some already jumpered (for use with pins 8&10)
The color coding in the adapter was logical as well
red was for right audio
white was for left audio
yellow for composite
black for ground

so after putting in the pins I was able to use the composite and audio pins on the multiadapter for my Y, Pb and Pr and just a single aligator clip for the ground

so quite cheap and easy for those that can't wait for official cables

Can anyone confirm this?

If so, can you put up the brand that the cable was since third party cables are will have different pins than standard ones, with has pins that are proprietary to nintendo/sony/microsoft. I've been trying to find pins that are similar enough so I can have a clean build that is sturdy enough to be permanent. If a brand has a cable with pins like that I'm sure we'd all love to hear about it.

[Dormido]

I can confirm that the pins from an original Xbox would fit the bill however, the ones that I pulled out of my MadCats multi av cord were far too short to manage IMHO.  Just stick with the Acco #1 size paper clips.

[Guest]

I'll post brand of the universal cable I used from radio shack - later
I'm guessing it this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=family
as the price is right - and I don't recall it being one of the larger 3rd party names ie madcatz, pelican, or intec

course without a pic I can't confrim so the link is next to worthless

Also I don't think this makes the best permanent solution:
1st - xbox pins are on the thin side and have fair amount of "wobble" perhaps some glue/epoxy would keep 'em in line.  
2nd its a universal cable - so you still got gamecube and playstation connection hanging around - could cut'em off... I guess

But for me this works
1. cheap
2. ease of setup - fewer inter-connects to make - less aligator clips - less worry about unwanted contacts being made

longest/hardest part was getting into the xbox connector and removing the pins - these guys kept the pins in with glue/expoxy - so you gotta peal that off - but then the pins were cheap (no locking prongs) so they slid sraight back out of the xbox connector.

Looks like the gamecube av pins are best - but too wide for wii - thinking of shaving them down to size for a more permanent connection - but that would mean stop playing with my wii at 480p!
perhaps I'll experiment more when  my wii elbow starts acting up
 

[Rayholio]

I just made the paper template version..  took me about 3 hours, the wire I was using was a little too thick...    but It worked great the 1st time...    with the exception I currently only have one channel audio....   but this is a temp fix until the real cable comes out anyhow....      I admittedly gave less attention to the audio wiring...

I do believe that I can improve on this plug..  It takes patence to get it right, and THANKS A TON for the template...   what a life saver...  

for others trying this..  here are a few tips..  Remember to read the official unofficial guide..  this is a suppliment...  

I used electrical tape instead of scotch...   (that's for drink'n)

go ahead and do the plastic reinforcement before starting on lining up the wires on the template...  the flimsyness of the paper is one of the biggest problems.

depending on the wire that you're using, you may need to cut some of the braids out of it...   my wire was thick, I think about 8 braids...   I found that 3 braids of this wire lay out to exactly the size of the black lines on the template..   at any rate..  don't try to stuff more wires onto that line than will fit..  In fact, I probably would have had an easier time with just one, or two braids...  

cut very thin strips of electical tape.. tape each wire in  at least two places for stability...   I did this one wire at a time...  if you try to do all the wires at once you will fail.  once a wire is pretty much where you need it, tape it well..  you don't want to have to re-do it..

After all of your wires are in place, AND properly alligned, cover as much of the plug in electrical tape as you can, wraping it over the wires, and around the back..  the only part of the wire that needs to be exposed are the raised leads that you've created.   I suggest pressing the tape firmly down between wires with the dull side of an exacto blade, or tweasers to make sure you get a good stick.  

At this point you should be running low on scotch, and getting very anxious to plug it in, and go...   Slow down.   building the leads is time consuming...  but if you mess it up now, there won't be any saving the plug...  

Remove your Wii from its home, and take it to a bright place (unplugged) to do your test fitting..    do one side at a time, plug it in, or trim it so that it can be plugged in, and watch your audio leads (pins 1-2) if you can see the lead of top of Wii side, you can line up the bottome of your plug with that..    

once you're sure that the leads are lining up properly, go ahead and stick in both sides at once...   ensure that they're lined up perfectly, and tape it together..   (make sure that you have a way to identify the mess of wires sticking out of your newly made plug)

pull out your plug, look at the lead end of your new plug, and make sure that your leads line up..  pins 1-2 should be perfectly on top of each other, as should 7-8 & 9-10..  if all that checks out, you can be reasonably sure that the plug is good...

Lastly, hook up the cables to the new plug..  use those cool pinch connectors if you have them..  if not, then at least tape up the twisted together wires...  souder is good too  a good connection here is paramount for quality...  we have HD tvs...  quality matters.  And don't skimp on the ground.  

Plug it into your wii..  checking alignment one more time, then plug it in!  

If something isn't right at 1st, check your connections..  especially if you've done the twisted wire technique...  with proper attention, the plug should be the last thing that could go wrong...

I may make another one for a friend...  if I do, I'll take pics this time...     Next time, I will cut a "U" at the top of the folded paper template and run the wires strait out the back...

[Guest]

update for the brand of universal A/V adapter I used from radio shack
It a radio-shack branded one!  (Why they don't have a picture of their branded product...?)
anyway its in a oval shaped plastic container - the bottom of which has orange paper proudly decaling it to be a
"Universal S-AV Cable
For Playstation2, PSX,
Xbox or GameCube"
has the id # of "26-897"

[Emily]

Thanks for this hack.  I did it last night and it was actually pretty easy.  The only thing that I'm still a little confused about is grounding the Y wire, but after reading more on here and seeing a couple more pictures, I think I know what to do now.

I do have a question.  On all of the games everything looks really awesome except for the moving objects.  For instance, on zelda all of the scenery looks great, but link himself looks almost TOO high def.  anybody know what I'm saying?  he looks all jaggedy.   do I need to turn down the sharpness on my tv or is that just something that I have to deal with?  blurry link with blurry background or jaggedy link with crisp background . . . ?  hmmm.  decisions decisions.

[kendrick]

Emily, you're observing a phenomenon similar to what you might see with RGB output on a first-edition Playstation. Many games of the 32-bit era had graphics whose shortcomings were hidden or otherwise covered up by the limitations of video output. Using a sharper, more precise output method would reveal these graphical flaws very clearly (like using a mesh instead of transparency, or dithering in place of a distinct color.)

I imagine that some games on the Wii will have the same type of output. More precise doesn't always equate to better-looking. You should go to the GamesX front page and read the video and RGB primers if you're interested in the science behind color and resolution.

-KKC

[Stupid Newb]

Hey everyone,

I was trying to work on this mod last night, and ran into an issue with fitting the paperclips - now it appears I can't get any video from the system!!  When i just try using the regular cable now, it seems that I see a black signal with a little fuzz, but no picture shows.  Audio still works fine, but yeah, I'm an idiot.

My question is this - how likely is it that the problem is on the Wii itself as opposed to me botching the pins in the composite cable?  I'm wondering if I screwed up the system completely (by shorting it or something), rather than me just messing with the metal contacts, etc.  Any help, suggestions (short of calling Nintendo to get it repaired) would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Mikey2]

This is my first post to this forum, but I was able to get the paper-clip method to work on my system last night...I just had to say a sincere "thank you" to everyone who helped figure this out!

For some reason I had the toughest time with the8-10 jumper clip, but after that everything went smoothly. I'd say it took a total of about an hour to 1.5 hours...far less time than I spent looking online and calling everywhere!

[Emily]

Emily, you're observing a phenomenon similar to what you might see with RGB output on a first-edition Playstation. Many games of the 32-bit era had graphics whose shortcomings were hidden or otherwise covered up by the limitations of video output. Using a sharper, more precise output method would reveal these graphical flaws very clearly (like using a mesh instead of transparency, or dithering in place of a distinct color.)

I imagine that some games on the Wii will have the same type of output. More precise doesn't always equate to better-looking. You should go to the GamesX front page and read the video and RGB primers if you're interested in the science behind color and resolution.

-KKC

Thanks for explaining this, KKC.  I appreciate it.

Another question (just so that I'm thinking this through correctly):  when I'm grounding my wire, I am going to connect the ground wire from my component cables to an exposed part of one of the ground (black) wires in the original composite cable.  The only ground wire that I can really reach (slot 12) has a tiny soldered portion that I CAN ground, but it's difficult to do it without touching the paper clip (bridge in 8 & 10) right below it.  should I strip away some of the insulation on that wire and ground that?  I just don't want to do anything that is going to zap my wii to smithereens.    

[antitime]

Hey everyone,

I was trying to work on this mod last night, and ran into an issue with fitting the paperclips - now it appears I can't get any video from the system!!  When i just try using the regular cable now, it seems that I see a black signal with a little fuzz, but no picture shows.  Audio still works fine, but yeah, I'm an idiot.

My question is this - how likely is it that the problem is on the Wii itself as opposed to me botching the pins in the composite cable?  I'm wondering if I screwed up the system completely (by shorting it or something), rather than me just messing with the metal contacts, etc.  Any help, suggestions (short of calling Nintendo to get it repaired) would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Have you removed all of the paper clips you tried to insert? If pins 8 and 10 are connected you'll get no signal from the composite output, but still get sound.
If that's not the case, just visually inspect the pins on the composite connector and see if they're bent or otherwise damaged, shorted together, etc. If not, take a flashlight and look at the connector on the back of the wii for any damage or shorts.
If you take a look and you aren't sure, take a picture of the back of the connector (so we can see the pins) and we'll see if we can help you. It seems like it'd be difficult to actually screw up the system with this mod. I accidentally crossed two lines I wasn't supposed to and all it did was shut down the Wii, I just had to unplug it for a minute before turning it on again.

[antitime]

Another question (just so that I'm thinking this through correctly):  when I'm grounding my wire, I am going to connect the ground wire from my component cables to an exposed part of one of the ground (black) wires in the original composite cable.  The only ground wire that I can really reach (slot 12) has a tiny soldered portion that I CAN ground, but it's difficult to do it without touching the paper clip (bridge in 8 & 10) right below it.  should I strip away some of the insulation on that wire and ground that?  I just don't want to do anything that is going to zap my wii to smithereens.  

( o )
If that's an RCA adapter, the () is the round outside...you'll notice it's metal. That's what the ground is connected to...so I just took an alligator clip, clipped it to that (being sure the clip didn't touch the center lead) on the composite video that wasn't connected and attached that to ground on the Y.
Not the most elegant solution...but hey, we're using paper clips for pins, so why not?

[h8eight]

can someone post picture of their version russell's DIY wii component plug. I'm trying so hard and my colours arnt comming on properly.

P.S. 8 and 10 are working because i can select HDTV in the settings option

[Guest]

I have the gamecube componet cables,does anyone knows a way to mod it to the wii?

[Darkjedi187]

Thanks For the mod.  I did it last night only took me about 10min prep and 5 more to actually implement.  Worked like a charm first time and I was able to move the system.   Just make sure you bend you paperclips and they will fit snug.  Thanks again

[darkjedi187]

Thanx works great

[Guest]

@h8eight

I'm in the process of making Russel's connector, but mine is a bit more elaborate. I'm taking pictures as I go along and I'll post them all soon.

[h8eight]

thanks ^^^

[Guest]

GUys I've tried for like an hour with wires, paperclips and everything I can think of to jumper the 8 & 10 but no matter what I do the connection doesn't go out.

I don't even see any metal pins in there, is it possible my chord has no pins there or something? Some guy earlier in the thread posted a mine and yours pic and maybe mine is like that?

[Gameijk]

HongKong wii player

[Stupid Newb]

Hey everyone,

I was trying to work on this mod last night, and ran into an issue with fitting the paperclips - now it appears I can't get any video from the system!!  When i just try using the regular cable now, it seems that I see a black signal with a little fuzz, but no picture shows.  Audio still works fine, but yeah, I'm an idiot.

My question is this - how likely is it that the problem is on the Wii itself as opposed to me botching the pins in the composite cable?  I'm wondering if I screwed up the system completely (by shorting it or something), rather than me just messing with the metal contacts, etc.  Any help, suggestions (short of calling Nintendo to get it repaired) would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Have you removed all of the paper clips you tried to insert? If pins 8 and 10 are connected you'll get no signal from the composite output, but still get sound.
If that's not the case, just visually inspect the pins on the composite connector and see if they're bent or otherwise damaged, shorted together, etc. If not, take a flashlight and look at the connector on the back of the wii for any damage or shorts.
If you take a look and you aren't sure, take a picture of the back of the connector (so we can see the pins) and we'll see if we can help you. It seems like it'd be difficult to actually screw up the system with this mod. I accidentally crossed two lines I wasn't supposed to and all it did was shut down the Wii, I just had to unplug it for a minute before turning it on again.

Thanks for the advice - I figured out the problem...turns out the TV input got screwed up, not the Wii!!  Once I moved the cables to a different video input, it all worked fine.   Unfortunately, this means my tv is slightly busted, but I can live with that for now I guess.

Anyways, fair warning to all trying this mod - you can potentially damage your console and/or TV set!

[Guest]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the voltages are used in this manner:

+12V is used as the switching voltage in the scart connector.
At a certain voltage (below 9V I think), it makes the tv automatically switch to the AV-channel (scart socket) that the unit, in this case the Wii, is plugged into. That way you don't have to switch to it yourself. Thats why as soon as you turn on your scart-connected dvd player for example, the tv swiches to that input.
At another voltage, (a bit above 9V I believe) it makes the tv switch to either 16x9 or 4x3. The aspect ratio doesn't change if you have an old 4x3-set though but all widescreens support it.

+5V is used to notify the tv what signal its fed. RGB is one voltage, S-video is a second, composite video is a third. If this wire is cut, most tv's will refuse to show the RGB-picture and instead show the blurry composite version.

In reality, the scart usually transmits either composite or RGB video. S-video is virtually non-existant [in Europe] since RGB provides a much sharper picture through the same connector.

[nintendo wii man]

I have an original XBOX 1 cable which I can cut open. I read on another forum that the pins from this cable could be used as pins in the Wii composite cable so that no paperclips are needed. can't find the forum anymore, anyone wanna help me out?

[syzygy]

@ RGB32E

Since you live near NOA can I send you some paypal cash and you pick up a cable for me?

[Andy S2K]

I'll post brand of the universal cable I used from radio shack - later
I'm guessing it this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=family
as the price is right - and I don't recall it being one of the larger 3rd party names ie madcatz, pelican, or intec

course without a pic I can't confrim so the link is next to worthless

Also I don't think this makes the best permanent solution:
1st - xbox pins are on the thin side and have fair amount of "wobble" perhaps some glue/epoxy would keep 'em in line.  
2nd its a universal cable - so you still got gamecube and playstation connection hanging around - could cut'em off... I guess

But for me this works
1. cheap
2. ease of setup - fewer inter-connects to make - less aligator clips - less worry about unwanted contacts being made

longest/hardest part was getting into the xbox connector and removing the pins - these guys kept the pins in with glue/expoxy - so you gotta peal that off - but then the pins were cheap (no locking prongs) so they slid sraight back out of the xbox connector.

Looks like the gamecube av pins are best - but too wide for wii - thinking of shaving them down to size for a more permanent connection - but that would mean stop playing with my wii at 480p!
perhaps I'll experiment more when  my wii elbow starts acting up

can you explain me how to do please? I have the xbox connector...doew it fit perfectly in the av wii connector? it seems very strange for me....

[Guest]

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)

The S-video info is on page 2 of this thread, about 3/4 of the way down.

And people, please don't rip apart your GameCube component cables.  You can sell them for good money on Ebay to someone who needs this limited stock item, and just get some regular cables to hack apart.  The GC component cable includes a D/A converter in the plug, if you didn't know this already.

[NFG]

1. I don't see any definitive S-video info on that page, just theories and ideas.  If you want to refer to a specific post, please link directly to it instead of vaguely waving your hand and saying 'over there somewhere'.

2. I can't speak for the other people on this forum, but I sacrifice gamecube component cables all the time.  I bought 20 of them for $5 each in Japan from ToysRUs a few years ago.  As for it having a built-in DAC, believe me, we know.  =)

[dustinh2k]

I was doing some testing with my Wii the other night, connecting the Y, Pb, Pr pins to the RGB inputs on my tv in various combinations.  I discovered that with pins 8 & 10 NOT jumpered, pin 7 still outputs the Y signal, but pin 9 outputs a signal that appears to be Chroma, rather than Pb.

I don't have a TV with S-Video inputs to test this further, so perhaps someone else could try this.  Again, that is 8&10 not jumpered, 7-Y, 9-C.  Of course make sure to connect pin 12 (video ground) to the shielding on your S-video cable.

[James]

I discovered that with pins 8 & 10 NOT jumpered, pin 7 still outputs the Y signal, but pin 9 outputs a signal that appears to be Chroma, rather than Pb.

I was doing the same over the weekend and it looked like that to me too, but I didn't actually hook it up to an svideo input to be sure. I couldn't find RGB outputs though, annoyingly. I didn't get anything that looked like video from the last three pins. So either the US Wii doesn't output RGB or there are more mode select settings that we don't know about yet. Or I just wasn't making a connection.

The only thing I thought I might try was testing the remaining pins with capacitors rather than wiring them straight into the SCART plug. I wasn't sure what you'd expect to see if it needed capacitors but they weren't there. Would it just be a black screen?

[Andy S2K]

I'll post brand of the universal cable I used from radio shack - later
I'm guessing it this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=family
as the price is right - and I don't recall it being one of the larger 3rd party names ie madcatz, pelican, or intec

course without a pic I can't confrim so the link is next to worthless

Also I don't think this makes the best permanent solution:
1st - xbox pins are on the thin side and have fair amount of "wobble" perhaps some glue/epoxy would keep 'em in line. 
2nd its a universal cable - so you still got gamecube and playstation connection hanging around - could cut'em off... I guess

But for me this works
1. cheap
2. ease of setup - fewer inter-connects to make - less aligator clips - less worry about unwanted contacts being made

longest/hardest part was getting into the xbox connector and removing the pins - these guys kept the pins in with glue/expoxy - so you gotta peal that off - but then the pins were cheap (no locking prongs) so they slid sraight back out of the xbox connector.

Looks like the gamecube av pins are best - but too wide for wii - thinking of shaving them down to size for a more permanent connection - but that would mean stop playing with my wii at 480p!
perhaps I'll experiment more when  my wii elbow starts acting up

can you explain me how to do please? I have the xbox connector...doew it fit perfectly in the av wii connector? it seems very strange for me....

please can you help me....  

[RGB32E]

@ RGB32E

Since you live near NOA can I send you some paypal cash and you pick up a cable for me?

I'd need to check to see if they even have any available.  I bought mine on 11/16/06 (and created this thread)... I'm not using the one I bought...  What's your price?