Gamecube to Game Boy Micro Cable - Instructions in here

Troz1820

Troz1820

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Frustrated with the lack of Gamecube connectivity for the GameBoy Micro? This thread will show you how to restore that functionality. No modifications on the GameBoy Micro itself are necessary, only of the cable to link the Micro and the Gamecube. For this you will need:

1) An Official Nintendo Game Boy Micro Game Link Cable.
2) Any Gameboy Advance to Gamecube Link Cable. The directions below show how to use the following link cables:
- Official Nintendo Gamecube to Game Boy Advance Connector Cable
- Nyko CubeLink cable (No longer available)
- MadCatz SystemLink cable (For both GCN & GBA connectivity via the GBM)
3) Soldering skills


Cable Service Information​
I offer a cable building service if you do not feel you have the soldering skills necessary to build a cable. Unfortunately I cannot supply the cables myself. For the service you must send me the official Nintendo Gameboy Micro Link Cable and any GC->GBA Link Cable. I charge $20 for the service, which includes return shipping. The final cable will have the electronics enclosed in a small project box, the same box you can see in the photos here. I am sorry but I cannot source the cables for international orders anymore. Send me a Private Message if you are interested.


Official Nintendo Gamecube to Game Boy Advance Connector Cable Directions
(My preferred method)​

First step is to cut the GameBoy Micro Link Cable next to the connector box, strip the shielding, and strip/tin the wires. Only the RED, BLUE, and ORANGE wires are necessary, along with the ground shield. You should be left with something like this:
gbm_nin_wires.jpg

Please note that I've only stripped the wires a tiny bit. You'll see why in the next photo.

Now, solder the wires onto the GC->GBA cables as shown, taking great care not to short any pins together. When I do these cables, I connect the ground shield to the left "post" on the circuitboard, then bridge it to pin 6 with some solder as you can see in the photo.
gbm_nin_soldered.jpg


After you've finished this, you can try to stuff it back into the GC connector housing. If you do, be sure to cover your work with electrical tape and provide some strain relief on the cable. I end up using a small project box to enclose the electronics.


Nyko CubeLink Directions
microfinal.jpg

​

I don't have any fancy pictures for this method but it should be self-explanatory. The completed cable is shown above.

First, cut the GBA end from the Nyko cable and cut one of the two Micro cables at the central "hub". Strip the wires so you can wrap them and make a nice solid connection. The wires link like this:

Nyko Cable -> Micro Cable
Black -> Wire shielding
Orange -> Green
Brown -> Brown
Green -> Orange
Blue -> Red
White -> Blue

Wrap everything up with electrical tape making sure that none of the wires touch another, or use heat-shrink tubing. I wrapped each individual wire with electrical tape and then carefully placed all of them in the shielding that I grabbed from the Nyko cable. I used small zip ties on the cables to decrease the stress on the solder joints in case the cable is pulled. Everything is contained in the shield on the right.

It's been a very long time since I've come across this cable. It's possible that only the RED, BLUE, ORANGE, and ground shielding wires are needed from the GameBoy Micro Link Cable. If I ever run into one of these again, I'll test it and post the results


MadCatz System Link
gbm_madcatz.jpg

​
This method is very similar to using the Official Nintendo GBA->GC cable except it uses more wires to provide the additional GBA connectivity.

The rest will be coming soon...



Old method for the Official Nintendo Cable
First step is to procure the cable you’ll use to connect the two Nintendo cables we’re going to hack. You need a cable with at least 6 wires in it. I ended up cutting an old Playstation controller extension cord I had lying around. I was never using it since I use mostly wireless controllers now, plus it was cheap.

Next step is to open up both of the Nintendo cables. The Gamecube cable has two screws to unscrew and then needs to be pulled apart carefully. You don’t want to break the tabs holding the casing together so be careful. The same goes for the GB Micro cable. You need to unscrew the two screws then carefully pry apart the two sides.

cablediagram.jpg


Follow the diagram above for the connection points. These are fairly tiny spots that you need to solder to so take your time and plan ahead. I’ll admit that my solder jobs aren’t the greatest, as you can see, but they get the job done.

gamecube_soldered_done2.jpg

micro_link_soldered_done.jpg


I needed to scrape away some of the plastic on the Gamecube connector as shown here:

gamecube_connector.jpg


When putting the connector back together I used a few cable ties, as you can see in the bottom of the picture above, to prevent stress on the solder joints from when the cable gets pulled. I also wrapped two on the cable as seen below.

gamecube_newcable.jpg


For the GB Micro cable, I needed to drill a new hole in the plastic case. I drilled it just a little smaller than the new cable since I needed the cable held by friction. There is no extra room here for cable ties so the friction will have to do to help prevent the solder joints from being stressed.

micro_hole.jpg

micro_newcable

Thanks to UncleBob for pushing me to start this and CheapyD for locating supplies for the first batch of cables back when I started this.
 
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Very cool, thanks! Got my micro on x-mas, and i havent put it down since. I also got Sonic Adventure 2 so this would help with transfering Chao data from Sonic Pinball.
 
I thought about selling them but I think the cost of the final product would scare people away. You have to think that it's $10x2 for the Official Nintendo cables + $5 for shipping from them. I'd want to add at least $15 to transaction for myself to cover my time and the supplies needed. Add shipping onto that and you've got a cable that ends up around $45! Unless there is very high demand I simply can't see people paying for that (although I guess I did).

I'm hoping that someone can find a better or cheaper way to do this. It really is a shame that Nintendo doesn't seem to be supporting the Micro very much. Obviousily the demand for a Gamecube->Micro cable is the same as the demand for the Gamecube Component cable in their eyes, as unfortunate as that is.
 
Hey, CheapyD! In Japan, does Nintendo talk about the Micro being limited edition and not support it?

I always thought it would have been cool if the Micro had a wireless adapter that could work with the Gamecube and other Gameboys.
 
I've made a poll to gauge potential interest in making these cables. I think I can get the cost down to $25 shipped per link cable and would be willing to make them for the CAG community with little to no profit. The price would be even cheaper if I could find a large number of used Official Nintendo Gamecube->GBA link cables. The cables would be a Gamecube->Micro/GBA link ONLY and not a Micro->Micro link cable as I've made above.

Over the next few days I'm going to try to get my hands on some of the third-party link cables to see if I could do the same thing with them.
 
If you have a gamerush nearby, they have the link cables as low as 2.99 (official ones to boot). That may make it at least a bit cheaper for ya
 
Thanks, I'll check the shops around me for those. I figure the price could be around $17-20 depending on the price of the used cable.
 
To lower your price, you could offer an option to have people send you the 2 cables, then you could just charge for the labor and shipping. That way, you could offer a lower price option, plus people could send in their own cables so you wouldn't have to go buy them yourself.

Just a thought.
 
^Yeah, I think that's going to be part of my plan. I've searched high and low around here for used link cables and haven't found a single one yet. My next step is to grab one of the MadCatz All-in-One link cables to try hacking with.
 
It's cool that you took the time to make the link cable, but does the Game Boy micro Converter Connector also available on Nintendo's website not work with a GC/GBA link cable to get the same job done for cheaper and without any soldering? From the pics, it looks like you patched the link cable directly into the micro cable so if that works, I'd guess the adapter would too. Anyone tried it?
 
[quote name='hooo']...does the Game Boy micro Converter Connector also available on Nintendo's website not work with a GC/GBA link cable to get the same job done for cheaper and without any soldering? [/QUOTE]

I purchased that converter and its only purpose is to convert the GB Micro Link Cable connection to a GBA connection. It can't be used for the Gamecube link cable.
 
[quote name='Troz1820']I purchased that converter and its only purpose is to convert the GB Micro Link Cable connection to a GBA connection. It can't be used for the Gamecube link cable.[/QUOTE]

Do the adapters just not fit? or does it just not work? If it doesn't work, it's pretty worthless since it won't even support one cart play with other gba's. I have to wonder what that adapter is good for at all then.
 
[quote name='hooo']Do the adapters just not fit? or does it just not work? If it doesn't work, it's pretty worthless since it won't even support one cart play with other gba's. I have to wonder what that adapter is good for at all then.[/QUOTE]
The adapters work in conjunction with the GB Micro Link cable. They allow a GBM->GBASP connection. So currently if you want to play multiplayer with one GBA and one GBM you need to fork over $18 + tax + shipping to Nintendo for the Micro Link Cable and Micro Convertor Adapter.
 
I'm confused.

Pelican makes a link cable to go from the GBA to the Gamecube without the annoying "lock-on" design the official one has. Can't you just use that and put the nintendo GBA>Micro adapter? on the end?
 
OK, first of all, I always planned on making a premium cable for the original GBA which could power it off the controller port but I never got around to doing it or figuring it out. The GCN has 3.3v & 5v on the controller ports but I don't know a thing about voltage regulation. Anyway, if these cables could also power the GBm then I believe they would be just interesting enough (And exclusive) to justify a higher price. If you've got the technical know-how, DO IT!

Also, instead of hacking apart two cables to make something that can be used for only one purpose, why not make a general adapter with a GBA port on one end for the original GCN cable OR a wireless adapter OR and original GBA link cable to plug in? Heck, you may even be able to make a way for the original accessories to clip in for a perfect mount!
 
[quote name='CZroe']OK, first of all, I always planned on making a premium cable for the original GBA which could power it off the controller port but I never got around to doing it or figuring it out. The GCN has 3.3v & 5v on the controller ports but I don't know a thing about voltage regulation. Anyway, if these cables could also power the GBm then I believe they would be just interesting enough (And exclusive) to justify a higher price. If you've got the technical know-how, DO IT![/QUOTE]

I wish I knew how but I don't have the technical know-how for that kind of stuff. If anyone else does I'd love to talk with them. The link cables have all 8 wires running through them so this could be a possibility. I'll take a look around online and see what I can find out...

[quote name='CZroe']Also, instead of hacking apart two cables to make something that can be used for only one purpose, why not make a general adapter with a GBA port on one end for the original GCN cable OR a wireless adapter OR and original GBA link cable to plug in? Heck, you may even be able to make a way for the original accessories to clip in for a perfect mount![/QUOTE]

This was my first thought as well (apart for the wireless adapter). The problem is that I cannot find a source for the GBA link plugs, female ends I believe, in order to make an adapter cable. I need the same plug that resides inside the GBA. I found that the Official GBA link cables have one but purchasing a bunch of cables for the sole purpose of robbing the plug from them is not worth it.

I'm still working on making this as cheap as possible so that it can be accessible to anyone on here that wants one.
 
I matched the micro pins up with the GBA pins using the Micro->GBA Adapter Nintendo sells. Also, the colors Nintendo used for the link cable wiring was consistant between the GBA link cable and Micro link cable making it a little easier.
 
Wow, awesome. I don't have a Micro, nor do I plan on it, but if I did, I would definitely pay for this. Well done!
 
First post updated with new information regarding a successful test using a cheaper Nyko Gamecube->GBA cable.

Also, I found that powering the Micro through the Gamecube port won't be possible. None of the GBA link cables have the 7th & 8th wire required to hook into the 5V line coming from the GC controller port.
 
Damn, I wish I knew how to do this sort of stuff. Maybe I'll invest in one of those cold heat solder machines from Thinkgeek and learn how to do this. Killer job, Troz, this is amazing stuff.

Maybe this is a good place to ask this (slightly offtopic):

How safe is it, generally, to use third party power adapters/chargers? For example, if you get a card adapter from Nyko or Mad Katz or Intec for the DS or something. I tend to only go with first party stuff, but I always wonder if it's safe to use a third party component.
 
Ive never had a shorting problems with 3rd party adapters, but they always seem to be made shitty.

Also, coldheat is shitty, get a regular soldering machine.

...
shitty.
 
Looks real solid man, I like it. Be sure to let us all know when the plans are finalized and you are gonna start taking orders for selling or trading or whatever.
 
[quote name='Strell']Damn, I wish I knew how to do this sort of stuff. Maybe I'll invest in one of those cold heat solder machines from Thinkgeek and learn how to do this. Killer job, Troz, this is amazing stuff.
[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't bother with that cold heat thing. My dad picked up one of those awhile back and he found out that it was crap. Just get a regular soldering iron from radio shack.
 
[quote name='erehwon']I wouldn't bother with that cold heat thing. My dad picked up one of those awhile back and he found out that it was crap. Just get a regular soldering iron from radio shack.[/QUOTE]

I only considered it because it ended up on Thinkgeek, and I'd suspect their site to be fairly good and picking nerd gadgets to play with.

Oh well, good to know before I got one.
 
Nintendo has been pretty stupid in not releasing a link cable for GC->GBM and if they werent going to bring out all the proper accessories, why the hell did they launch a new version of the gba anyway? Regardless, I adore my special edition famicom micro and I applaud what you've done. Very badass.
 
1/17 update: I've decided to make these in batches of 10. The first batch will hopefully be available by late next week. I'm using the Nyko cable to pair up the Micro link with. It allows for a much cleaner looking cable than hacking the Nintendo one. Price will still be $25. I'll have a photo of the final product early next week.

I will only begin to take orders once I have finished the first batch. I'll be updating the first post with that information when the time comes so keep an eye out next week on this thread if you want one of the first 10.
 
Hey Troz - I have a sealed Metroid Fusion. Would you do that + some cash for a trade? I want one of these cables. No, I need one. Need.

Psssst neeeeeeeeeed.
 
Final version of the cable:

microfinal.jpg


The spliced wires are contained within the box on the rightmost side of the image. As you can see, it is a straight Gamecube->GB Micro cable.
 
I'm sure we can figure something out. I don't have any experience with international shipping so I'll need some recommendations.

First batch of Micro link cables arrives today from Nintendo. I'll be posting ordering information for the first batch of 10 late Sunday at the earliest, assuming I find the time over the weekend to build them.
 
Haha, I also joined the forums just to get a chance to order one of these. I really hope this works out, the Micro would be great for Four Swords and Crystal Chronicles.
 
I'm gonna try it the do-it-yourself way first, and then after that crshes and burs, probably throw some $ your way :)

Been playing Wind Waker with the Tingle Tuner and damn the old SP looks dark as hell.
 
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