Know How: The Mad Catz Pro Cable

Tech Talk
1

http://i.imgur.com/2BZ22fx.jpg
Hello everybody… I am making this PSA to give you the details on the Pro Cable that are used in a majority of Mad Catz high end controller and joysticks since there is not much info that I can find in the internet about them. The cable is the most vulnerable part in a joystick/controller that may fail from excessive external forces (wire trip, stressful bending, pet chew). And as we know currently, the only way to obtain a spare Pro Cable would be to either buy a joystick/controller that comes with it or find a seller online that sells the cables by itself. Oh, and Mad Catz used to sell spare Pro Cables but now only give out the cables for warranty purposes.

There are a few people in this forum that made an assumption or jumping into conclusion thinking that Mad Catz uses a “proprietary” plug on their Pro Cables for their own benefits. I would like to say that these plugs are not proprietary, nor are they unique… I know this because I was reading the TE2+ Product Guide that had a picture of the Pro Cable connectors and at that moment while servicing my soldering iron, I’ve noticed the connector on my soldering pen look striking similar to the Pro Cable connector.
http://i.imgur.com/9earHkF.jpg
A familiar connector in the soldering iron.

So after doing a quick search online, I have found out that they were using aviation connector (used in a few obscured electronic devices). The aviation connector do come in different sizes and pin count and the Mad Catz Pro Cable specifically uses a GX12 5-pin aviation connector. So, I went to eBay and bought an aviation connector for around 1 dollar and have to wait almost a month for shipping since the seller is at China.
http://i.imgur.com/dOw7vIF.jpg
Same pin count, different size.

Once the connector has arrived, it comes with a male connector and a female connector.
The male connector is mounted to the panel of your box and wires are soldered from the connector itself to the controller pcb, while the female connector clamped and solder to the usb cable end.
http://i.imgur.com/7MoMNGz.jpg
A closer look of the aviation connector.

Closer inspection on the connectors show that they are notched for correct connectivity and each individual pins are labeled with numbers.
http://i.imgur.com/i8jS06W.jpg
A macro shot of the numbering on the connector.

I have gotten a hand on the Mad Catz Pro Cable and used a multimeter to do a continuity test on each pins of the connector with the corresponding end of the usb plug. Oh, by the way, the Pro Cable does fit perfectly on the male end of the aviation connector in case you are wondering.

http://i.imgur.com/Obu6GdI.jpg
Pro Cable connector on the left and female aviation connector on the right.

http://i.imgur.com/IdsA1bi.jpg
Fits like a glove.

So, here are the results of the continuity test:
http://i.imgur.com/xhb3RpV.jpg
*Pin 1 - (Green): Data +
Pin 2 - (White): Data -
Pin 3 - (Red): +5V
Pin 4 - (Black): Ground
Pin 5 - (Black): Shield
*
Overall, the information that I have posted here is to give everyone an option on creating their own custom Pro Cable or maybe even installing the aviation connector in their own box. The benefits of installing the GX12 aviation connector over the Neutrk USB would be the size of the mounting hole (12mm vs 24mm), the cable would be screw lock into place, and the cost… while the only drawback that I see will be the soldering requirement. Now that you all know, knowing is half the battle… thank you for reading and have a nice day.

*Edit: New pic link via Imgur… Photobucket tried to break me. * :tongue:

2

Interesting write up! I assume the same applies to the Xbox One Atrox connector?

3

Yes, it is possible that the Razer Atrox Xbox One fightstick uses the same connector. I don’t have the fightstick personally, but here is a youtube video link that shows the fightstick and the cable:

Razer Atrox - Arcade Stick for Xbox One - Review
Video starts at around the 3m 48s mark to show the closeup of the connector.

Unless the reviewer’s hand are large, I would guess that they use the same size connector. Hope this helps.

4

At least for the XB1 version of the TE2, its cable worked on the XB1 Atrox and vice versa. I would be surprised if the PS4 TE2 models work differently.

5

This is great since it looks like it’s going to be hard to get replacement parts from Mad Catz in the future, and so this is going to be more and more helpful as time goes on.

6

This is gooood news…

thank you very very very fucking much

7

This is great… wonder what’s the most creative way to get an OEM look on these cables

8

What I observe, the Mad Catz Pro Cables is gold plated (barely make any difference in performance) and has ferrite chokes close on each ends (helps on reducing interference). Other than that it look like any other USB cable you see in a store, aside from their logo that is embedded on one end of their cable.

There are many different colored usb cables and some of them are even braided so there are some options to consider. Just make sure you add the ferrite chokes on there when you make your own cables.

9

Was wanting to buy a stick on ebay that didn’t have the cable. I messaged Madcatz support asking where I could buy one. The next day I got an e-mail saying they shipped one out, and two days later it arrived. Didn’t win the auction though. :expressionless:

10

thank you very much!!!

11

Mine just got damaged in a big group the other night when someone accidentally pulled it too far from the ps4 and gave it a quick yank…was hoping it would be easy to replace but :((

12

I bought a ps4 Mad Catz TE2 off a local auction site and it too was missing the cable. Emailed Mad Catz and they sent me two cables. One red and One white! Awesome!

13

Did you purchase the cables from Madcatz or did they just send it out to you for free?

14

Madcatz send out the cable for free because of warranty replacement. Considering that the PS4 TE2 was released not too long ago, I’m not surprised that they send out the cable for free without hesitation… as long as you provide them when and where you purchase the fightstick and the serial number. But I also would not be surprised if the pro cables that they send out will go bad sooner or later since they still have some of their old stock procable and there are reports from some users of said cable having issues.

For Madcatz to send out two cables tells you something about the quality of those cable.

15

I am starting to think it be easier to get your own GX12 5-pin aviation connector and make your own “PRO” cables.

16

Well, if someone is willing to make “pro” cables in custom colors to match my arcade stick, I’d definitely buy 1 or 2.

17

I can help you out with that.
PM me

18

For anyone wondering the PIN out on the Razer Pantheras cable is:

  1. VCC (Red)
  2. data - (White)
  3. data + (Green)
  4. ground (Black)
  5. Shielding
19

Wow… who’d have guessed?

: p

20

Wow, Razer is using standard colors for USB cabling.

My Rule of Thumb, use use a Multimeter.
Sometimes the colors are wrong or the manufactures used non-standard colors.