Xbox 360 VGA Cable

MatrixHead · 01-15-2006, 04:30 PM

Hi, friendly Tech Support guys! I just got my shiny new Xbox 360 premium only to find out that no VGA cable was included. So, I checked around on some websites and found that the most dependable/cheapest cable available is provided by Mad Catz. Everything looks great except for one thing: the vga cable appears to be Male, rather than Female. Since my CRT's cable is Male, how the 'ell am I supposed to hook the two up? Maybe it's just a misunderstanding, but I can't find any websites that specify what 'gender' this cable is. Here's a link for a picture showing this cable... maybe one of you will know by experience or just be able to tell. Thanks! -Jeffrey

http://www.madcatz.com/Default.asp?P...box_360_Cables

**Fox** · 01-15-2006, 04:40 PM

Looks like it's a male Xbox proprietary connector to male VGA and RCA audio.

Looks to me like you just plug the one end into the xbox and the other end into the VGA connector and the audio inputs.

MatrixHead · 01-23-2006, 06:33 PM

Well, I'm sorry to say that I've ordered the Pelican Xbox 360 VGA Cable (which is cheaper), and sure enough it's a male output just like the kind that my monitor's cable is, so there's no way to connect the two.

Why the heck are Mad Catz and Pelican selling Xbox 360 VGA cables that aren't even the proper output?? Do you know where I can find a converter that will allow me to connect two identical male VGA outputs together? It's a little bit confusing to me, but I think that the converter would have to be 'female to female'.

Thanks for the help, Fox!

-Jeffrey

**JeremyC** · 01-24-2006, 08:49 AM

Wait, I thought that the plug on the monitor was female? they way you type it sounds like your trying to put the two cables together.........

MatrixHead · 01-24-2006, 12:44 PM

Sorry to sound confusing. What I mean is that I'm trying to hook together two male ends. Imagine if I got two identical monitors and cut the ends off, well I'm trying to plug both of those [male] ends into each other. Thanks in advance!

MatrixHead · 01-24-2006, 12:45 PM

CORRECTION:

Sorry to sound confusing. What I mean is that I'm trying to hook together two male ends. Imagine if I got two identical monitors and cut the cable's ends off, well I'm trying to plug both of those [male] cable ends into each other. Thanks in advance!

Ventis · 01-25-2006, 05:56 PM

Hi there, i too had the same problem with 2 male vga ends. However a quick search on ebay found me this. A VGA gender changer.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

just to ;et you know there is a solution and i bought one and it works perfectly, hope this info helped!

**DumberDrummer** · 01-25-2006, 06:42 PM

That is messed up, it should be a female port, like the one you would normally hook a monitor up to.

MatrixHead · 01-27-2006, 11:11 AM

Yeah... it sucks. I've been searching around, and finally found a 'female to female' connector that should solve my entire problem. The tiny adapter is about 1/10 of a pound in weight, but costs me $10 for shipping(!!) from Newegg. sigh. Thanks for the help, everybody.

neomaine · 02-27-2006, 01:31 PM

Actually, I bought the Microsoft cable. The package came with both the VGA gender bender and an RCA to mini audio adapter in the package.

Now for my experience. I've got a Sceptre X9 Gamer 19" LCD monitor. I've picked up a VGA A/B switch ($10 w/ shipping) to easily toggle between the PC and the 360. For about two weeks this worked fine.

However, this weekend, we started to get a flicker on the monitor every now and then. All PC output has been fine.

Now, its to the point that it flickers for 10 to 15 minutes but will completely black out for a minute. I've tried different ports on the switch (its actaully and a/b/c/d switch). I'm thinking that it the 360 vga cable. Why?

- All PC output is fine. No issues at any resolution even with high graphics games like Doom3.
- Happens regardless of the port on the switch box.
- Still happens if connected directly to the monitor.

If I find out whats happening, I'll post back. In the meantine, I'd love to continue hearing about everyone else's experience with the VGA adapter.

MatrixHead · 02-27-2006, 11:20 PM

UPDATE: Well, it's been a while since I posted on this site, but it's just because everything has been going [mostly] fine. If you ask me, Pelican made a damn f$*#^& mistake by releasing an Xbox 360 cable that doesn't even work for most people's pc monitor setup! I'm never buying anything from this el' cheapo company again! I highly advise all readers to AVOID PELICAN at all costs! Mad Catz is known to be a far better brand for 3rd party Xbox/X360 accessories. Neomaine, my brother had a very similar problem when trying to use a monitor switch for 2 PCs hooked up to one monitor. Are you sure it isn't just your switch? Either way, my Xbox 360 does the same thing, but only when it has been turned off for a while and I try to turn it back on. The monitor simply has no signal, and I have to turn everything off and wiggle the connector. If I were you, I'd try turning the resolution to something lower (maybe the monitor doesn't accept the default refresh rates that go with certain resolutions... that happens to me on my PC). Also, try just wiggling all the cables to make sure they're as tight as secure as possible. Thanks for helping me, everybody!

neomaine · 02-28-2006, 09:14 AM

MH,

Actually, I did just that. Reading on some other sites about frame drops at the higher resolutions. To them it was simply flickering or stuttering of the video. Mine was a little more pronounced having complete black out. Maybe they're all symptoms of the same problem.

Though it still could be the switch, I have a hard time believing it. The same type of graphic activity at 1280x1024 from the PC doesn't even get close to a hiccup. I've been using these types switches for years and don't recall ever having a problem.

Anyway, I dropped the resolution to 1024x768 and played Kameo for a couple of hours and then my son played NHL 2k6 for a couple more hours without any reoccurance.

Looks like MS should give us manual control over the refresh rates or at least tell us what they are for the given resolutions. I'd love to be able to keep the resolution at my monitor's default of 1280x1024. Though my monitor seems to handle switching between the 360 (at 1024x768) and my PC (at 1280x1024) just fine I'd rather not have to switch at all.

I'm guessing that anything past 720p is too much for the 360s graphics subsystem or at a minimum has a uncommon refresh rate.

scott.may@gmail · 08-28-2006, 04:58 AM

Actualy it was designed, by MS and other companies have to follow what MS says for specs on ANY 360 part or accesory, to be hooked DIRECTLY to a monitor... or TV that has the Female end...
Here is a link that of a company that I use for all my inexpensive parts and cables... www.gocna.com and the part number 85-435 for a gender changer so that when your monitors cable cant be removed from the monitor you have a solution. and for the audio... the part number is 88-044.

01-15-2006, 04:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	Xbox 360 VGA Cable Hi, friendly Tech Support guys! I just got my shiny new Xbox 360 premium only to find out that no VGA cable was included. So, I checked around on some websites and found that the most dependable/cheapest cable available is provided by Mad Catz. Everything looks great except for one thing: the vga cable appears to be Male, rather than Female. Since my CRT's cable is Male, how the 'ell am I supposed to hook the two up? Maybe it's just a misunderstanding, but I can't find any websites that specify what 'gender' this cable is. Here's a link for a picture showing this cable... maybe one of you will know by experience or just be able to tell. Thanks! -Jeffrey http://www.madcatz.com/Default.asp?P...box_360_Cables __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

01-15-2006, 04:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
Fox TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,752 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Looks like it's a male Xbox proprietary connector to male VGA and RCA audio. Looks to me like you just plug the one end into the xbox and the other end into the VGA connector and the audio inputs. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!

01-23-2006, 06:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	Well, I'm sorry to say that I've ordered the Pelican Xbox 360 VGA Cable (which is cheaper), and sure enough it's a male output just like the kind that my monitor's cable is, so there's no way to connect the two. Why the heck are Mad Catz and Pelican selling Xbox 360 VGA cables that aren't even the proper output?? Do you know where I can find a converter that will allow me to connect two identical male VGA outputs together? It's a little bit confusing to me, but I think that the converter would have to be 'female to female'. Thanks for the help, Fox! -Jeffrey __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

01-24-2006, 08:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
JeremyC Resident Alchemist Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,148 OS: SuSE 10.0/XP Pro	Wait, I thought that the plug on the monitor was female? they way you type it sounds like your trying to put the two cables together......... __________________

01-24-2006, 12:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	Sorry to sound confusing. What I mean is that I'm trying to hook together two male ends. Imagine if I got two identical monitors and cut the ends off, well I'm trying to plug both of those [male] ends into each other. Thanks in advance! __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

01-24-2006, 12:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	CORRECTION: Sorry to sound confusing. What I mean is that I'm trying to hook together two male ends. Imagine if I got two identical monitors and cut the cable's ends off, well I'm trying to plug both of those [male] cable ends into each other. Thanks in advance! __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

01-25-2006, 05:56 PM	#7 (permalink)
Ventis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1 OS: win98	VGA cable Hi there, i too had the same problem with 2 male vga ends. However a quick search on ebay found me this. A VGA gender changer. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1 just to ;et you know there is a solution and i bought one and it works perfectly, hope this info helped!

01-25-2006, 06:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
DumberDrummer Cymru am byth Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 5,385 OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 My System	That is messed up, it should be a female port, like the one you would normally hook a monitor up to. __________________ Living with Louie dog's the only way to stay sane _____________________________________________ ... and with those words so begins my lifetime of longing for the devil's warm embrace

01-27-2006, 11:11 AM	#9 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	Yeah... it sucks. I've been searching around, and finally found a 'female to female' connector that should solve my entire problem. The tiny adapter is about 1/10 of a pound in weight, but costs me $10 for shipping(!!) from Newegg. sigh. Thanks for the help, everybody. __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

02-27-2006, 01:31 PM	#10 (permalink)
neomaine Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Actually, I bought the Microsoft cable. The package came with both the VGA gender bender and an RCA to mini audio adapter in the package. Now for my experience. I've got a Sceptre X9 Gamer 19" LCD monitor. I've picked up a VGA A/B switch ($10 w/ shipping) to easily toggle between the PC and the 360. For about two weeks this worked fine. However, this weekend, we started to get a flicker on the monitor every now and then. All PC output has been fine. Now, its to the point that it flickers for 10 to 15 minutes but will completely black out for a minute. I've tried different ports on the switch (its actaully and a/b/c/d switch). I'm thinking that it the 360 vga cable. Why? - All PC output is fine. No issues at any resolution even with high graphics games like Doom3. - Happens regardless of the port on the switch box. - Still happens if connected directly to the monitor. If I find out whats happening, I'll post back. In the meantine, I'd love to continue hearing about everyone else's experience with the VGA adapter. Last edited by neomaine; 02-27-2006 at 01:44 PM.

02-27-2006, 11:20 PM	#11 (permalink)
MatrixHead Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Washington State Posts: 31 OS: Windows eXPerience Pro	UPDATE: Well, it's been a while since I posted on this site, but it's just because everything has been going [mostly] fine. If you ask me, Pelican made a damn f$#^& mistake by releasing an Xbox 360 cable that doesn't even work for most people's pc monitor setup! I'm never buying anything from this el' cheapo company again! I highly advise all readers to AVOID PELICAN* at all costs! Mad Catz is known to be a far better brand for 3rd party Xbox/X360 accessories. Neomaine, my brother had a very similar problem when trying to use a monitor switch for 2 PCs hooked up to one monitor. Are you sure it isn't just your switch? Either way, my Xbox 360 does the same thing, but only when it has been turned off for a while and I try to turn it back on. The monitor simply has no signal, and I have to turn everything off and wiggle the connector. If I were you, I'd try turning the resolution to something lower (maybe the monitor doesn't accept the default refresh rates that go with certain resolutions... that happens to me on my PC). Also, try just wiggling all the cables to make sure they're as tight as secure as possible. Thanks for helping me, everybody! __________________ - AMD Athlon XP 2800+ - 1.5 GB PC3200 RAM (Dual Channel) - AsRock K7 Upgrade-880 Motherboard - Nvidia Geforce FX5900 Ultra

02-28-2006, 09:14 AM	#12 (permalink)
neomaine Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2 OS: xp	MH, Actually, I did just that. Reading on some other sites about frame drops at the higher resolutions. To them it was simply flickering or stuttering of the video. Mine was a little more pronounced having complete black out. Maybe they're all symptoms of the same problem. Though it still could be the switch, I have a hard time believing it. The same type of graphic activity at 1280x1024 from the PC doesn't even get close to a hiccup. I've been using these types switches for years and don't recall ever having a problem. Anyway, I dropped the resolution to 1024x768 and played Kameo for a couple of hours and then my son played NHL 2k6 for a couple more hours without any reoccurance. Looks like MS should give us manual control over the refresh rates or at least tell us what they are for the given resolutions. I'd love to be able to keep the resolution at my monitor's default of 1280x1024. Though my monitor seems to handle switching between the 360 (at 1024x768) and my PC (at 1280x1024) just fine I'd rather not have to switch at all. I'm guessing that anything past 720p is too much for the 360s graphics subsystem or at a minimum has a uncommon refresh rate.

08-28-2006, 04:58 AM	#13 (permalink)
scott.may@gmail Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 3 OS: Win XP	Actualy it was designed, by MS and other companies have to follow what MS says for specs on ANY 360 part or accesory, to be hooked DIRECTLY to a monitor... or TV that has the Female end... Here is a link that of a company that I use for all my inexpensive parts and cables... www.gocna.com and the part number 85-435 for a gender changer so that when your monitors cable cant be removed from the monitor you have a solution. and for the audio... the part number is 88-044.