Beware: Neo Geo Extender Cables!

[Kef9]

Wasn't sure whether to post it here or under tech support but I wanted to make you all aware of dodgy extenstion cables for your neo geo controller. I bought these of ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Exte...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

In short they caused some form of short on the console when pressing up on the joystick making the AES reset itself. I have a video of this which can be seen here.

https://youtu.be/QmE1ftSFAEw

Extension cables were tested on 2 AES consoles and 2 joysticks all with the same result. Unfortunately the up fuction on the joystick in the video no longer works

 

[traveno]

In short they caused some form of short on the console when pressing up on the joystick making the AES reset itself.

Sounds like a feature to me. But in all seriousness, I hope it hadn't fried anything.

 

[titchgamer]

Wasn't sure whether to post it here or under tech support but I wanted to make you all aware of dodgy extenstion cables for your neo geo controller. I bought these of ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Exte...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

In short they caused some form of short on the console when pressing up on the joystick making the AES reset itself. I have a video of this which can be seen here.

https://youtu.be/QmE1ftSFAEw

Extension cables were tested on 2 AES consoles and 2 joysticks all with the same result. Unfortunately the up fuction on the joystick in the video no longer works

Sounds like you had a bad cable.

I have brought the same cables before and had no issues.

You should contact the seller though.

 

[Bratwurst]

I have gone through hundreds of these cables hacking the Neo Mini pads and making a few joysticks for myself and friends. They come in bags of fifty, at about a rate of three or so per bag being faulty in some way by my personal experience. Most of the time you just need to pop open the hard plastic end pieces with a razor blade and undo a short where two wires overlap one another before they go into the pin headers. Chinese quality control.

In my opinion the big reason to avoid using these (as an extension cable) is the socket end is pure crap. Just straight metal rods with no beveling to the pins. They're fine if you're just plugging another Chinese cable into them, but are hard on original SNK plugs, potentially damaging them.

 

[Heinz]

This thread should read "Beware: of chinese crap"

 

[traveno]

In my opinion the big reason to avoid using these (as an extension cable) is the socket end is pure crap. Just straight metal rods with no beveling to the pins. They're fine if you're just plugging another Chinese cable into them, but are hard on original SNK plugs, potentially damaging them.

I’ve noticed that from pictures. I opted to pick up a DB15 cable from monoprice rather than one of these extension cables. While it doesn’t match the factory cable of the AES joy sticks, I feel much more comfortable hooking everything up.

 

[Neo Alec]

I have 4 of these. One problem is the death grip on the console side. Worried I'm going to rip my controller sockets loose.

Maybe I should stick with the old hacked up DB15 PC extensions I used before.

 

[Kef9]

Both cables were the same. I’ll have to open them up as advised and see if there are any crossed wires. To be honest though I’m a bit wary of even testing them again as I am worried they may cause more damage.

Anybody have any clues how to potentially repair the joystick?

 

[yagamikun]

I grabbed a couple extenders from castlemania games last year - these work great. I think they were mfd by RetroBit.

 

[Dr. Meat]

The ones with those big connectors are garbage. The male end definitely has the potential to damage whatever you plug into it because the pins are over-sized and not chamfered. You can potentially push the female pins back into the controller plug and ruin the connector with them.

These are the ones I use for all of my arcade stick builds: https://console5.com/store/neo-geo-...troller-joystick-extension-cables-6-1-8m.html

They're much better and the pins have at least some bevel to them to give you a fighting chance. The fit is still slightly tight but not worryingly so like the ones with the large connectors.

 

[traveno]

Anybody have any clues how to potentially repair the joystick?

I’d start with replacing the micro switch. I can’t think of any other point of failure. Check the pins of the controller’s plug too, in case they were damaged by the extension cable.

 

[titchgamer]

More likely the plug to of got damaged if anything, You would have to seriously go some to fuck up a micro switch.

Easy to check with a multimeter though.

Even though I have used several of these cables I have always ended up chopping off the socket end. I have only ever needed the plug end to make joysticks up and I used one for a Famicom controller adapter so never noticed the quality of the pins.

 

[DragonmasterDan]

The ones with those big connectors are garbage. The male end definitely has the potential to damage whatever you plug into it because the pins are over-sized and not chamfered. You can potentially push the female pins back into the controller plug and ruin the connector with them.

These are the ones I use for all of my arcade stick builds: https://console5.com/store/neo-geo-...troller-joystick-extension-cables-6-1-8m.html

They're much better and the pins have at least some bevel to them to give you a fighting chance. The fit is still slightly tight but not worryingly so like the ones with the large connectors.

Yeah, I have a couple I bought from someone on here and after filing down the connector to the AES they work fine and I can use my Hori and MAS sticks with it and have no problems. I've since bought a few of the same cables you linked to via console 5 for my Neo CD and consolized MVS.

 

[Neo Alec]

The ones with those big connectors are garbage. The male end definitely has the potential to damage whatever you plug into it because the pins are over-sized and not chamfered. You can potentially push the female pins back into the controller plug and ruin the connector with them.

You're right, they're junk. I edited my previous post.

 

[Kef9]

Guys thanks for the posts. Opened up the DB15 plug to find the oversized male pins on the extender had pushed 2 of the female pins back.

Wouldn’t of thought to have checked without the posts.

 

[traveno]

Yikes. I bet that’s what’s causing the joystick to not function. I’d toss those extension cables.

 

[Kef9]

Yikes. I bet that’s what’s causing the joystick to not function. I’d toss those extension cables.

Yes. I forgot to say I pushed them back in and the controller works again

 

[Evan]

Yeah mine ended up destroying my snk cable, so I had to buy another extension cable and solder it to the joystick, and had to throw out the original cable.

 

[prof]

Are there any quality extension cables that people have had good luck with? I'll probably buy those ones that Dr. Meat linked in post 10. But if there are some better ones out there now, I'd like to check them out.

 

[Neodogg]

Are there any quality extension cables that people have had good luck with? I'll probably buy those ones that Dr. Meat linked in post 10. But if there are some better ones out there now, I'd like to check them out.

Make your own...

 

[Neo Alec]

Are there any quality extension cables that people have had good luck with? I'll probably buy those ones that Dr. Meat linked in post 10. But if there are some better ones out there now, I'd like to check them out.

Get those. Those are the good ones, and I'm happy with them. I made my own originally, but they aren't as nice.

 

[awbacon]

This thread should read "Beware: of chinese crap"

it's always cheap for a reason lol

 

[prof]

I bought the set from Console5 that were posted above, and have been using them for a few days now. No issues thus far. The male port is a slightly tighter fit than the standard controller male, but not a vice grip or anything that bad. And I haven't had any dropouts or noticeable lag. So, recommended if anyone's in the market.

 

[Kef9]

Long time since last post but after having these crappy cables sit around I took these apart and noticed the ‘down‘ and the +5v line were wired the wrong way round which explains why the console rebooted when pressing down. Shocking QA.

I have now correctly wired up them up and replaced the receptacles with d sub pc parts which have compressible pins and won’t damage the controller. Result