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RJ-45 Multi Console Guide


DarkSakul

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Forward: So yes I straight up stole a guide that I didn't write. I will leave a link here to the original thread

https://forums.shoryuken.com/t/rj-45-multi-console-cthulhu-arcade-stick-tutorial-ver-2/97185
This guide also applies to the PS360 Plus,  the Brooks Retro Board and various other boards that use RJ45 system cables.

Hopefully if SRK ever goes down again we have an archive of this valuable guide 

Quote from  rtdzign

Quote

 

I turned this into a pdf. Please download this tutorial here. Copy it, share with your friends, Host it on your website. IDGAF.

PDF version of this tutorial
https://mega.nz/file/FAt2iYSS#gnScCNKxgOSP-subKhSRLDjkmXEa25aZwZfDSyp9QdY

 

(Note from OP), This first post is all about installing RJ45 cables to the MC Cthulhu and installing a RJ45 jack to your stick.

Skip to the second post to see the cable pinouts 

Intro

This post is a rewrite of Acceptable Risk?s RJ-45 Tutorial. This was posted to include new info such as recent console support added because the pinouts are spread out in the Cthulhu thread. Also I instead uses a Pass through over a keystone punch down type jack.

The MC Cthulhu is a purpose built PCB for hooking up with arcade joystick components. To work with different consoles, you only need to solder wires from a controller extension cable to the appropriate spots. If you look at the top op the pcb there are 3 rows of solder points with columns labled “GABCDEFV”. Each extension cable wire must be soldered on to the appropriate column. When plugged in, the MC Cthulhu PCB can autodectect what system it is plugged into and then make your joystick work for that supported system. Be sure to download the latest firmware to ensure that all of the console cables you make will be compatible.
 

Originally the MC Cthulhu was able to support 5 consoles using 3 cables, therefore only 3 rows, but now it has grown to include many systems. Because there are 8 columns for system cables a Ethernet jack was a natural fit. The connecter used is typically an RJ-45. If you want to do a dual mod with Xbox 360 pad then you should check out this tutorial. https://forums.shoryuken.com/t/rj-45-mc-cthulhu-imp-xbox-360-dual-mod-tutorial-diagram/92427

Kitty info Update: If you dual modded your stick with a Kitty board, they come preinstalled with a RJ-45 jack. If you connect that to a RJ-45 pass through, then you can use the same cable pinouts for making your own custom cable.

Supplies List:
 

Spoiler

MC Cthulhu
Arcade stick case and buttons.
Soldering Iron and Soldering supplies
Digital Multimeter (Recommended feature: beeping continuity tester)
Wire stripper/cutter
Neutrik or SwitchCraft RJ-45 Jack.
Cat 5 or Cat 6 ethernet cable. For pass through you need a cable with a connector at the end.
Cat 5/6 Crimper and wire cutter/stripper.
Cat 5/6 8P8C crimp on Connectors.
Extension cables for systems you want to use
24mm drill bit (forstner or Holesaw) for mounting hole and drill.
(optional)
Ethernet boots
Neutrik ruggedized boots for use with Neutrik Jack.
Hammer


(OP) Original Tutorial Parts 1 and 2, relevant for the MC Cthulhu, but not for system cable making. 

Spoiler

 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/RJ-45_Tools_Supplies.jpg

 

 Part 1: Mounting the RJ-45.**
I think it was Robokrikit that first linked the community to these. These are Neutrik RJ-45 panel mount jacks, available at lizardlick.com

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/ne8fdp_thumb.jpg


If you have a Plastic arcade stick Like a TE or SE or Hori
You will need to find a suitable place to drill a 24mm hole. 15/16 inches is equivalent to 24mm. Make sure before you drill a hole that you have enough space inside for the internal parts and can plug in the cable to it without obstruction.

 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/Placing-Neutrik-Hole.jpg

Pictured is a Hole Saw and a Forstner bit. A hole Saw is great for plastic and metal, and will work for wood, you will have to clear out the material out of the bit with a screwdriver. Forstners are great for wood an plastic, but do not attempt to cut metal with a forstner bit.
So if you drill a 24mm hole you can then use the mounting plate to drill the 2 mounting holes.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/DrillBits.jpg 
 

For a wood case it is recommended that you use a switchcraft RJ-45. I think it was Voltech that first used these.

 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/SwitchCraftRJ-45.jpg
 

If you must mount the Neutrik in a wood case look to a post below.

 

Drill free option Update:

Recently I modded a VLX but this can also be used with a TE or any stick with a cord notch. I didn’t want to drill into my VLX case so Instead I used an Ethernet coupler and hid that away in the cord compartment. I tied a knot in my ethernet cord so that the cord would not be pulled out of the notch used for the default usb cord. For a TE, you would cut off one end of the ethernet cable and then feed it through the hole previously used by the USB cable. After it is through the hole tie a knot in it. With the cut end on the inside you can then solder to the G-V row.
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/VLX 360/th_1b827ab6.jpg
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/VLX 360/th_2cf280a1.jpg

Part 2: Soldering on the ethernet cable to the MC Cthulhu
To start you would cut off maybe a foot off a cat5 or cat6 ethernet cable. The length should be long enough to reach where the RJ-45 jack is on your arcade stick. Strip off maybe a inch or two off the outer insulation and untwist the cables.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/CutStripCat5.jpg

You want to use Ethernet Type B layout as most networking cables come in that wiring order. You need to take the 8 wires and strip off 5 mm off the ends and solder them to row 1 using the following diagram. If the are stranded like pictured above then you want to twist and tin each cable end with some solder so it goes in easier. Each of those colored wires corresponds to a letter on the GABCDEFV row.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/WiringEthernetColorsTo_GV_Row.jpg
 

It also helps if you solder on to an actual MC board instead of a picture of the board. (note pictured on the paper is a ps3 cthulhu, which is identical in appearance except for 4 diodes to the right of the G-V rows)

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/Cat5eSolderedonBoard.jpg
 

Now you just plug it into the RJ-45 pass through port.

 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45 Rewrite ver2/PlugIt_intoPort.jpg 

 

 

Edited by DarkSakul
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System Cables

USB/OG Xbox Cable

 

USB cables [typically] follow a standard for wire coloring. The ground is always Black, D- is White, D+ is Green and Voltage is Red, For USB you should insert the wire into the Ethernet plug like so. According to this pinout diagram. Original Xbox is done the same way it is a USB with a funny end. On Xbox there is a Yellow cable that is not needed and can be clipped.

Color  Purpose    RJ45 Pin
Black  Ground       1          
White  Data -       5
Green  Data +       6
Red    VCC          8

 

(OP) for the rest of the guide I am leaving out any wire colors, spoiled text will get into detail why rtdzign did this. 

I will go into detail about how to figure out the pins on a PS2 cable and using this methodology you can apply this to any system cable. For the PS2 cord we will need to take an extension cord and cut off the female end and strip about half an inch of the large insulation and expose maybe 2 mm of the small wires. Looking at the inside of the controller connector we have the following pins.

Spoiler

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45%20Rewrite%20ver2/PS2_pinout.jpg 45

 

Using your mutimeter and your third hand, you need to do a continuity test on each pin to figure out what color wire the pin corresponds to. I usually jot this down. I?ve done maybe 8 different brands of PS2 extension cables and all 8 I think where colored differently so it is best to just do this every time. In other words **Colors between different brands of PS2 extension cords are NEVER the same, even among the same brands at different times in a few cases.**Don’t ever rely on color as to what purpose or pin number the ps2 wires are, only use color as a way to label what is what after you identified what pin it goes to.
 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45%20Rewrite%20ver2/Multimeter.jpg 13
 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45%20Rewrite%20ver2/Psx_pinoutPostIT-1.jpg 12
 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45%20Rewrite%20ver2/Psx_pinoutPostIT.jpg 9
 

Sometimes instead of using the multimeter, I do it the cave man way. I go outside on some concrete and smash open the cut off female end with a hammer and just line it up to the male end and look at the wire colors that way.
 

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/RJ-45%20Rewrite%20ver2/CavemanWay.jpg 12
 

Now once I get the pin colors right I refer to the following code and arrange another post it note with how I will insert what color order the wires in the crimp on connector.

 

 

From this point on I am leaving out the Photobucket links, use https://pinouts.ru/ if you need to refence the Plugs pinout.

PS1/PS2 Cable

PSX Pin    Purpose    RJ45 Pin    Cthulhu Column
4          Ground       1          G
7          CLK          2          A
2          CMD          3          B
1          DATA         4          C
6          ATT          5          D
                        6          E
9          ACK          7          F
5          VCC          8          V

 

Gamecube

Gamecube pin    Purpose    RJ45 Pin
3               Ground      1
2               Data        7
1               VCC         8

 

NES

Purpose -Pin # - Cthulhu Column
GND       1      G
CLK       2      A
LATCH     3      F
DATA      4      C
VCC       7      V

 

SNES

SNES Pin - MC Cthulhu Column
1          G
4          C
5          F
6          A
7          V


TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine
The American TurboGrafx-16 uses has a female Din 8 port on the system while the Turbo Duo and all the Japanese systems use a Mini Din 8. I recommend that you buy a number of 6 ft monoprice Mini Din 8 cables. For an TG-16 you can buy a male Din 8 connector and solder that to an ethernet cable. 

DIN Pin # - Cthulhu Column 
1           V 
2           A 
3           B 
4           C 
5           F 
6           E 
7           D 
8           G 

 

Saturn

Pin - Cthulhu Column
1      V
2      B
3      A
4      D
5      E
7      F
8      C
9      G

 

3DO
3do will currently only work as the only controller, plugged directly into the system; trying to daisy chain off of it or use it through a daisy chain isn’t going to work.
 

Dsub Pin - Cthulhu column
1           G
2           V
6           F
7           A
9           C

Dreamcast: (no VMU support)  MC Cthulhu only works with Arcade stick compatible games (just like the Agetec) 

Pinout:
DC Pin - Cthulhu column
1      - F              
2      - V              
3      - G              
4      - B              
5      - C              

 

 

Edited by DarkSakul
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  • misterBee changed the title to RJ-45 Multi Console Guide

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