Interactive Connector Diagram
Click or tap any pin in the diagram below to inspect its signal assignment, electrical specification, and wire colour standard.
Supported Systems / Found On — Retro Machine Hubs
This connector is used on the following retro computer systems. Click any colour-coded badge below to open its full board-level repair, diagnostic, and schematic Machine Hub:
Connector Specifications
Full Pin Assignment & Wiring Reference
| Pin | Signal Name | Direction | Electrical Spec / Role | Wire Colour / SCART / Adapter Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +5V DC (VCC) | Pwr | +5.0 V DC Regulated Supply (Flat end of connector) | White |
| 2 | CLOCK (Data Clock) | Out | Shift Register Clock Output from S-CPU ($4016/$4017) | Yellow |
| 3 | LATCH (Parallel Strobe) | Out | 12 µs Latch Pulse Output from S-CPU (freezes 16 button states) | Orange |
| 4 | DATA1 (Serial Data In) | In | Primary 16-Bit Serial Data Stream from Gamepad / SNES Mouse | Red |
| 5 | DATA2 (Aux / Multitap) | In | Secondary Serial Data Input (Super Scope / Multitap) | NC on standard gamepad |
| 6 | IOBIT (Lightgun / Latch) | I/O | Bidirectional I/O Bit connected to S-PPU2 Counter Latch & Multitap | NC on standard gamepad |
| 7 | GND (0 V Ground) | GND | 0 V Common Ground Return (Rounded D-shaped end of connector) | Brown |
SNES Wire Colour Warning & Dead Button / CPU Fault Diagnosis
The Super Nintendo (SNES / Super Famicom) uses a sleek 7-pin single-row connector (4 pins in the rectangular section, 3 pins in the D-curved end) that is protocol-compatible with the 8-bit NES controller! Inside the SNS-005 / SHVC-005 gamepad sits a custom 16-bit serial shift register IC (or two cascaded 8-bit 4021 shift registers) that clocks out 16 bits on every Latch pulse: the first 8 bits match the NES (with B and Y in place of A and B), followed by A, X, L, R, and four trailing 1s (used by the SNES Mouse and Konami Justifier to identify peripheral type).
- WATCH OUT FOR NINTENDO WIRE COLOURS: On an official SNES controller cord, White is +5V (Pin 1), Red is Serial Data (Pin 4), and Brown is Ground (Pin 7)! Never assume Red is +5V when splicing an official Nintendo cable — always verify continuity to Pin 1 (flat end) and Pin 7 (rounded end).
- Game Boots Fine, But Controller Buttons Do Nothing (or Trigger Random Inputs): Clean the 11-pin ribbon cable connecting the front controller PCB to the mainboard. If a known-good controller still fails or thinks buttons are stuck, the internal Joypad Auto-Read hardware inside the S-CPU (5A22) may have been damaged by static electricity!
- PAL vs NTSC SNES Controller Region Lock (Early PAL Consoles): Early PAL SNSP-CPU-01 consoles have Schottky diodes on the front daughterboard that block controllers without internal pull-up resistors. Soldering jumper wires across the diode array on the front controller PCB makes the PAL SNES region-free for all Super Famicom and US accessories.