Make a Wii component cable

by Zack Stern { Nov 22nd 2006 at 9:30AM }

Mere hours after the Wii launched with underpowered composite cables -- not even Y/C -- the distributed minds of the internet have figured out how to mod that connection into component; members of the NFG Games forum pulled off this smooth hack. Nintendo says its component cables are on the way, but can you just sit patiently and hope to buy them soon? 480p waits for no one.

The Wii end of the in-the-box cable doesn't have the full pin-outs that make the Xbox 360 cable a delight to mod. But, Macgyver it up a bit -- "acem77" on the NFG Forums used paper clips -- to add new pins. Follow the forum thread or wiki for signal and construction details.

See also: Add VGA to standard Xbox 360 cable

[Thanks, Vince Vu]

Tags: cable, component, launch06, mod

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

wigglesxjr @ Nov 22nd 2006 9:45AM

Haha, I was actually thinking about this last night. woot.

rrenna @ Nov 22nd 2006 9:52AM

I have no engineering experience, (although I put together computers regularly) and I'm seriously considering trying this. I'm desperate

SyphonBlue @ Nov 22nd 2006 9:52AM

Just how many times are we going to make fun of a non-HD machine not shipping with HD cables while the machine that's shoving HD down your throat-yet not shipping with anything but composite gets away clean? Cause it's getting a little old.

fester @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:14AM

Component is not a HD only cable, it works on many things as is a big improvement over composite.

As for the BS3, I don't think anyone cares except e-bay resellers.

Mike McLin @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:15AM

Syphon,
Because Sony supports a universal cable (HDMI) which can be picked up anywhere. Nintendo only offers a proprietary solution, that they aren't currently offering yet. Thats why. Also, I don't see anyone making fun of the Wii in this post.

I understand hardware shortages. They take time and resources to make. I don't understand however how there can be a shortage (and basically non-existence of component video cables). There seems to be no excuse for that, in my opinion. Hell, it isn't like they are going to be giving them away either ($40).

CcntMnky @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:22AM

I used this info last night to mod my cable. Didn't hack it to pieces like the pictures, there are much more graceful ways.

Skwurl @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:32AM

"480p waits for no one." - priceless.

RUSKULL @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:53AM

Just got my official cables in the mail a few minutes ago! WooHoo!

john doe @ Nov 22nd 2006 10:54AM

Bah! I still use an RF modulator for my wii!
And i should add, it looks fine

4orty2wo @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:10AM

Is the connector for the video cable on the Wii the same as the GameCube? I have an S-Video already and was wondering if it would work.

Dracula Jones @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:05PM

They've been shipping the backordered cables. I wouldn't go too crazy with this if you already ordered the cables. My order never went from backordered to processing, but I got a shipping notification Friday and they were delivered Monday, so if you've got an order in, hang in there. If you haven't ordered cables and are this desperate, wtf man?

Mike McLin @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:23PM

edit - they are $30.

OtakuCODE @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:23PM

To everyone saying "just order one and wait"... first, let me say that your lack of enthusiasm for the resolve and efforts of your fellow gamers is disheartening. Secondly, the Nintendo site is now claiming that more cables will not ship until December 18th. Supplies in retail outlets will be limited and will disappear before any of us are likely to snatch them up. They're going for $150+ on eBay, so I would expect the eBay vultures to descend quite quickly and deliver them into the hands of those with more money than myself and others. If I can substitute effort for cash, I am certainly willing in this case.

One should appreciate extravagance and do-it-yourself attitudes, not balk at it. Would you suck all the fun out of the universe if you could?

4orty2wo: No, sorry.

mdaria @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:31PM

I didnt have the right size paper clips on hand, but did manage to hack something together with smaller ones just for proof of concept. Right now, I have just the Y/luminance connected because I have to jiggle it to make contact - I connected all 3 of the grounds for the new cables to the ground for the right audio...think it'll be a problem? Should I bother separately grounding all of the comp cables?

Mephistopheles @ Nov 22nd 2006 12:55PM

I don't see why it is so hard to ship consoles with composite and component cables.

JCA @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:13PM

All,

What that guy is doing will work but:

- In their WIKI, they have 3 pins unidentified. I am betting that they are GROUND pins for the Y, PB, an PR signals. I am not sure, of course.

- Removing two of the ground pins and moving them to the Y,PB and PR slots will work but you risk degredation in the audio/video signals. The reason why there are multiple grounds is because without it, you have no isolation. Without isolation, their is a good chance that the ground signal can "bounce". Bottom line, I wouldn't remove the grounds. It'll work but its not a long term solution.

Find something to use as the contacts for the Y, Pb, Pr. You CAN move the composite video connection so bingo there's one. Like he said, try using a paperclip for the other two pins. If that works, now all you need to do is connect the ground signals for these two new connections.

Unless you can confirm that those other 3 unidentified pins are GROUND, I would say to take the ground signals from the 2 new connections you made and connect them to the ground signal for the composite video connection. That probably would be the cleanest solution.

mdaria @ Nov 22nd 2006 1:47PM

JCA-

I could move the composite pin, but I really dont want to - the pins are VERY delicate, and I smiply don't want to risk screwing that connection up. Wii in composite is better than no Wii at all.

As of right now, I'm not actually removing the stock grounds - I'm splicing into them. I have all three spliced into right audio right now IIRC. I'm trying to keep it as stock as possible, just in case, and I also don't want to screw around with adding new grounds if I can avoid it.

You say to move the two new connections onto the composite ground...but theres THREE new connections, when you consider that the old composite becomes one of the new components. I was thinking it'd be better to splice them all separately IE - Y with composite video, Pb with right audio, Pr with left audio.

You're saying it's better to just connect the grounds for Y, Pb and Pr all to the single ground that used to be composite video? Theres three unknown pins, but all that is needed is 5 grounds technically - one of the three mystery pins has got to be the chroma signal for s-video (Y/C)...assuming the Y signal is the same for s-video and component?

Spinfusor @ Nov 22nd 2006 2:03PM

I ordered component cables from Nintendo on the 16th and they shipped on the 18th.

kingoscar @ Nov 22nd 2006 5:29PM

Uh, Spinfusor...Component cables are now backordered from Nintendo. Its cool you got yours but a lot of us are SOL right now and want to play Zelda with the best picture possible.

GeeT @ Nov 22nd 2006 6:40PM

It's tempting, but I'm inclined to wait until they finally start getting them in stores rather than wait AND pay S&H, though I still don't know why they're $30...$25 would be a little easier to swallow.

...and when will people understand that component looks better on all TVs. Though my Wii is looking particularly "ishty" on my HDTV...it's not flattering. You can choose not to participate in the HD era, but at this point, you should hope to make your product look as good as possible out of the box.

Sonnet @ Nov 24th 2006 12:05PM

I just ordered one myself.
Check this out

http://www.workint.com/wiicable.htm

Secret Squirrel @ Nov 24th 2006 12:06PM

This is nothing new, the component cables were hard to obtain before the launch of the Wii, and was used for the Gamecube. They were expensive then and they still are now... anyone remember the SCART/RGB cables of the N64 and SNES days??? Same thing.

fluffy @ Nov 26th 2006 12:25AM

On consumer electronics, you usually have one shared ground for everything. Multiple isolated signal paths make things MUCH more expensive to produce.

My guess for the unused pins is that one's for s-video chroma (like mdaria said, and I bet one's for S/PDIF audio. The last one could be VGA sync or something (does the Wii have an option to put out RGB instead of YPbPr?)

SydneyBlue120d @ Nov 29th 2006 3:43AM

I want VGA for Wii!!!!

frog @ Dec 9th 2006 12:16PM

Help me out you guys, I'm a bit long in the tooth for this caper... have only just taken delivery of my Wii as I am based in the UK. I have always run everything through a Vivanco Scart switcher as my TV only has one Scart input but the Wii doesn"t want to know, it only works if plugged direct into the TV. As soon as I plug the comp output of the Wii into the switcher it freaks out. What's all that about?