Help Finding A Parallel Data Transfer Cable (Male And Female)

[Bowser N64]

Hi. I was looking for a cable that looks like this.

 

 

 

This is a parallel data transfer serial cable correct? Male and female I believe it is. I need this to reformat my gamesharks. The main question I have is, WHERE do I find cables like these nowadays? I wonder if stores like radio shack may have them? I know that there is the internet too, as an option, but I'd rather buy it in a store. What stores do you guys think would carry these?

Edited March 1, 2009 by Bowser N64

[nathanallan]

http://www.cablesonline.com/dbmaiedaca1.html

 

Strangely there is no price listed. Hope this helps.

[Bowser N64]

Thank you! But I was wondering what sort of stores that I can actually just go and walk into have it.

[Rybags]

Drop the "serial" bit.

 

I've got one with my old scanner - some peripherals that used the printer port didn't bother with the monstrous Centronics connector at the other end.

 

I think they've also been called "Laplink" cables... some time back they were the best low-cost way to port data between desktop and laptop machines.

Edited March 1, 2009 by Rybags

[nathanallan]

The laplink have crossed wires in them from Rx-Tx, iirc, I thought he meant he needed a straight through cable.

 

Those types of cables are pretty much special order nowadays, since it's not USB, which everyone seems to carry in stores.

[Bowser N64]

What is the proper name of the cable in the picture in my first post? What do people call it? Think Radio Shack might have it?

[Chickybaby]

*Sigh* Why not go to radioshack.com and search for parallel cable and find out for yourself?

 

I've occasionally wondered out loud if a certain store would carry something I am looking for too and I know we all have done that. *wince*

 

Bowser, You've had quite a string of luck lately, huh. Hang in there, read everything people post like for example nathanallan's post in this thread, make sure you reply with the best details you can if someone is asking you for clarification, and ask questions if you need to know. Many stores have websites you can check as well as both Google and Yahoo searches being invaluable when you are looking for things, or even the search function on here. You've been a member here for almost a year so I am sure you know how things work and the various site details nevermind the plethora of info that can be found on the internet.

Good luck.

 

What is the proper name of the cable in the picture in my first post? What do people call it? Think Radio Shack might have it?

[Bowser N64]

ok....

 

right...

 

uh huh...

 

Maybe I should just not say anything.

[nathanallan]

Don\'t take it the wrong way Bowser, just constructive criticism.

 

/edit radioshack doesn\'t have one anyway, just checked.

 

but I DID find this one

 

gotta love monoprice.

Edited March 2, 2009 by nathanallan

[gdement]

What is the proper name of the cable in the picture in my first post? What do people call it? Think Radio Shack might have it?

Not sure of the technical name, but I'd call it a Male to Female 25-pin parallel cable. It's not serial (those terms are opposites).

25-pin parallel cables are best known for use on old printers, but printers have a different connector on one end.

 

Problem is there's still 2 possibilities for how it's wired. You can't tell the difference from just looking at it, and I don't know what a gameshark is designed for.

Cables designed for a scanner or other PC peripherals are wired straight through.

You might instead need a "parallel transfer cable". That's the same kind of cable but it has some wires crossed to communicate between 2 computers. I think those are also labelled as "crossover" cables.

 

 

Almost nobody uses them anymore so major retail won't have them. Somebody huge like Fry's might, but probably not so don't drive too far.

A real electronics store (something more hardcore than Radio Shack) might carry them.

 

Your best chance locally would be to find old ones. Try Goodwill or some other thrift shop. They always have tons of old cables with the electronics.

Also try small, local computer shops. They do lots of repair/upgrade business and get old parts laying around. Many times they'll have a rummage box of old cables and other obsolete stuff for cheap.

Buying them that way would only be like $1, spend more on the gas getting there.

 

If you have to order them, you might hedge your bets and order 1 of each type (a straight-through type and a crossover/transfer type).

 

They're worthless junk to most people so you could get them on ebay for < $5 shipped. (That's about the minimum people bother to list anything for)

[Rybags]

I think you might need to verify what the GameShark port is before you go ahead.

 

I just checked - LapLink cables use crossovers. They should also have male connectors each end (since LPT: port is female)

 

Most likely your GS wants a normal peripheral (parallel) cable as I described that my scanner has.

It should have all the wires connected in a straight-through fashion (no reassignments).

 

Alternatively, it might be an old RS-232 port, although the 9-pin RS-232 became dominant way back, probably late 1980s/early 1990s.

 

IIRC, RS-232 cables for peripherals should be straight-through (no reassigned wires), but usually they don't have all of the pins populated, so probably won't be interchangable with parallel cables of that fashion.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Rybags

[Bowser N64]

Well, Thanks. I tried researching gameshark serial port, to find out what it uses. That search was fruitless. The main question, what do YOU think gameshark would use logically. I need to be able to read it into my computer. I am going to plug the cable into the PC through the serial printer port, and format my gameshark, or do what I need to fix it.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Bowser N64

[Bowser N64]

Also I must be able to upload codes to and FROM the gameshark pro 3.3, which is what I am referring to when I say Gameshark..

[keilbaca]

If you lived in PA, the store that I work at has those cables.

 

^_^

[Rybags]

What gender is the plug on the Gameshark.

 

If it's female, then it's probably RS-232. If it's male, then it probably wants a parallel cable like pictured, given that the PC end has a female plug.

[Bowser N64]

The PC has a female connection(holes), and the gameshark has a male connection (Pins).

[Rybags]

Just try an established PC outlet... those cables were used on Canon scanners, so they might have some spares.

[Prodos8]

You can use the keyboard cable off an SX-64 if you have one around.

 

Its just a D-sub 25 M/F straight thru cable, I remember them being called 'serial' since they didn't have the centronics end. They could be used for those old data switch boxes for parallel devices or older serial devices that did use a 25-pin connector for some reason. I used to have a 25-pin ribbon cable that I used with my gameshark.

 

Sorry, don't know what stores carry them, off-hand, haven't really needed one in years.

[Bowser N64]

I see. Do you guess they are easy to find?

[gdement]

I see. Do you guess they are easy to find?

 

I think you have a very good chance of finding them in a Goodwill store. I see heaps of old cables like that in those places.

Or a local computer shop (not major retail).

[Bowser N64]

We'll see today.

[Bowser N64]

I just called Mid-State Electronics. they have them but they are out of stock, and should have it by Friday.

[Bowser N64]

Well, on to plan B. Ordering Online. Any ideas what is the best dealer to get it from? No place that I went had it.

[Bowser N64]

Well I ordered my cable that I needed. It should be on its way. I ordered from www.mycablemart.com. Thanks guys for all your help! Now the question is, how do I get the cable to interact with my Gameshark? Will it automatically detect it when I plug it in, reading the gameshark through the cable, from that program that is on the www.goldeneyeforever.com site? The one for using gameshark, that is.

[nathanallan]

It's some kind of rom chip, so you'll need a program. Google is your friend here, see if you can turn up any programs made for it that you can download.

 

Curious, how much was it? I found a page that had it for cheap, up above.

 

also, here is the pinout for a IEEE 1284 cable, fyi, as per the parallel port on a PC.

Edited March 4, 2009 by nathanallan