You’re just testing for continuity… so set it to resistance. You can figure out which pins in the plug correspond to which wires on the end of the cord by touching a lead to a contact and then touching the other to each wire until you get a reading of 0 ohms.
General question about using rj45 cables: what prevents the wires from being pulled from the crimped plug? From this http://www.neutrik.com/client/neutrik/media/downloads/Media_157454614.pdf I don’t see a stress relief in the housing.
I just put that housing on my PS2 and Gamecube extension cords, and I can assure you that with how much of a pain in the ass it was to get those tight fitting parts on, there is no way those cords are moving anywhere, assuming you aren’t planning on using it to dangle a dog or pull a trailer.
Plus, as long as you crimp them tight, the wires are pretty secure in an RJ45 head, and if for whatever reason they did get ripped out, the housing can easily be disasembled and reassembled, and setting the wires into a RJ45 head is actually pretty easy. I found checking continuity with the multimeter to be the most tedious and difficult part of the process.
Thanks, just made my GC cable. Getting the wires into the RJ45s is so annoying. Trying to the PS2 one now and it’s driving me crazy!
EDIT: Tweezers are very useful for this, didn’t have a needle nose pliers around. If you solder to MC Cthulhu as mentioned in the first post, will a USB cable work on PS3/PC this way with the RJ45?
That’s what I’m wondering, too.
Is it necessary to have a separate USB port for PS3/Mac/PC operations, or can everything operate from the RJ45/Neutrik port assuming you can make a cable that’s RJ45 at one end and USB the other?
I’ve read the thread two times but that point still doesn’t seem clear.
Also checked Home Depot last night for parts and they have an RJ45 crimper for $17, RJ45 enclosures (for wiring) for $8-$10 per 25, and the RJ45 data ports (receptors) for $4.91 per individual or $29.90 for 25 data port/receptors. Obviously much cheaper buying these in bulk. My concerns as are most people about the durability of the RJ45 plug-in but it appears Neutrik has the solution for that.
Emmett: No prob. And yeah, seating the wires of the PS2 cable drove me crazy too - so many wires. O.x USB was pretty tough as well, since my cable had different sized wires inside, so I ended up crimping down on 2 wires still with insulation but the other 2 were stripped/tinned to fit.
To answer your and GeorgeC’s question: yes, one USB cable will work for both PS3 and PC. It works just the same as if you were using the USB-B jack on the board.
Hmmm…
Maybe I should restate myself.
Do I need a separate port (two entries) for RJ45 and USB, or just the RJ45 port by its lonesome?
My other question is about the Cthulu itself. If I were to mount a USB port on the stick exterior base (assuming I needed to or wanted to do this), do I need to put the Cthulu right by the whole, or can I run a short cable between the USB B port of the Cthulu and an exterior port mount? IE, does the built-in Cthulu USB port have to be my exterior USB port?
Sorry if this sounds like I’m running in circles repeating myself but I am a bit confused by some of the FAQs and threads I’ve been reading on the Cthulu.
I do however, understand, that all non-USB cables can be run from RJ45 once the main connection is made for PS2/PS1 since those connections pretty much use all the slots other cables might use (but in different or lesser signal line combinations).
P.S. – I’m asking all this well in advance of a possible stick mod.
I recently lost a PCB due to a soldering incident (bad solder tip, poorly made, really weak PCB contacts) and have an excuse to experiment with a multi-console PCB. Right now, it’s just the Cthulu and its MC spin-off. Next year, we could be seeing 2-3 more competitors with a blow-out in options for everyone.
But this post concerns the (MC) Cthulu for the time being and not non-existent or prototype hardware.
Your choice; you can do either.
The USB jack on the cthulhu doesn’t have to to be the exterior one. A large number of people use a short USB cable to connect the cthulhu usb jack to a neutrik USB jack on the case itself. (before you ask, this answer applies to both PS3 and MC versions)
so, with the whole RJ45+Cthulhu thing, I’ve been thinking about one aspect that makes it seem like the Imp board/manual switches could be made obsolete in most cases.
The way I see it, the 8-pin connection also will recognize the normal USB connection through pins D and E, so one could easily run USB straight from that point via a USB->RJ45 cable. From there, any other boards (IE 360 PCB), would have it’s independent USB connector either way.
As it stands, the typical multiboard setup is typically:
USB RJ-45
| |
Imp-------Cthulhu
| |
|________360PCB
Where, provided you don’t require power (not using a P360, for example), connect the power and ground of the 360PCB direct to USB, connecting only the ground to the Cthulhu’s extension port. The circuit is never complete between the 360PCB and the Cthulhu regarding power, so each side has its own power source via the respective cables. RJ-45 should never be able to power the 360 and USB should never power the Cthulhu. The signals between the stick and buttons should still work fine, however.
USB RJ-45
| |
360PCB----Cthulhu
This sound about right? Or is there something missing in this regard that might risk frying or otherwise potentially causing dead stick besides a universal power req?
The first way drawn will give you PS3 or 360 via the USB jack, and ONLY PS3 if you make an RJ-45->USB cable. The second way will give you PS3 only via the RJ-45->USB cable, and 360 only via the USB jack.
Both ways are perfectly valid and can work. I think it would be better to have the D+/D- wires going to both the RJ-45 and USB jacks to come from the Imp, so that 360 or PS3 are available to both jacks, but that’s just me.
Going to make a USB cable now. I hope I have everything finally finished by next week and I can actually play PS3/2/GC games!
Thanks Toodles!
That answered all my questions…
Now I have to figure out WHERE to drill in an HRAP case to make this installation as clean as possible! Figuring it will still have to be on the right side to avoid clearance issues with the JLF/Seimitsu gates.
Guess I’ll need to get a multimeter, too.
And also- if you look really close there IS a method it uses to keep them in there (and grab the signal from the wire). There are two little prongs that slice vertically through the wire, holding it in place and providing the contact point to the pins in the head. I always wondered the same thing and I noticed that back when I first started making these.
One final question from me (I think). I’ve got one of those Neutrik Jacks, so I just need to plug an ethernet cable in to the rear of that and solder the wires to the Cthulhu. Is it the same process as using the keystone jack from the first post? I just used the multimeter to figure out which colours were which pins on the RJ45 going into the Neutrik jack and then solder them the same way as the first post?
Yep, the order of the wires soldered into the Cthulhu should be:
G - White/Orange
A - Orange
B - White/Green
C - Blue
D - White/Blue
E - Green
F - White/Brown
V - Brown
This is the same order as the keystone jack in the OP.
So if I were to solder the D+/D- wires from the IMP to one row of the MC Cthulhu, would that enable me to use both 360 and ps3 on the rj45 jack or would that just fry something?
Bump to top.
This thread is gold.
The D+ and D- output on the imp must go directly to the RJ45. The the D+ and D- from the MC Cthulhu should be going to either D+ or D- inputs on the Imp.
I see, so would it work if i solder the cat5 wire to the MC and solder the D+/D- wires to the same row on the MC where the D+/D- should be?
If you want both 360 and PS3 support through the RJ45 port, you need to wire the D and E ports on the Cthulhu to the IMP’s input, then you’d connect RJ45 wires 5 and 6 to the Imp’s Output. (Wires 2, 3, 4, and 7 would be connected to their corresponding ports on the Cthulhu)
Wires 1 and 8 on the CAT5 can be connected to either the MC Cthulhu or the IMP. Doesn’t matter which so long as everything (The Cthulhu, 360 PCB, and Imp) is connected together via +5V and GND. (Since Wires 1 and 8 in the CAT5 will be providing the ground and power to the entire stick)
Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. I’m currently working on this mod for my own stick, and while i’m pretty sure I have the wiring correct in my head I’d hate to give someone the wrong advice.