64Copy Central

Parts needed:

• (1) 6-pin DIN male plug with cover (1541 serial port)
• (1) DB25 male plug + hood
• (1) 6' or 1.8 meters (max) 4 conductor shielded cable (for serial connection)

Visit the ports, parts & pinouts page for a descriptions of all the above parts.

Tools needed:

• Multi-meter with DIODE checker
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• Wire cutters
• Wire strippers
• Various screw drivers
• Small vice
• A lighted magnifier is very handy

The X1541 serial cable is the original PC-to-1541 transfer cable, dating back to 1992. It was designed for parallel ports of the day, which were standard (normal) or PS/2. It utilized the bidirectional nature of the control lines which present-day ECP and EPP ports don't have. Present day ports, even though they claim to be able to emulate PS/2 or standard, simply won't work due to hardware-level implimentation problems. This restricts the cable to vintage systems of 486 and older.

Even though this cable is the easiest to build, requires no extra components like diodes (XE/XEP, XM/XMP) or transistor/resistor modules (XA/XAP) and has the most software support, it is very dated and only works under DOS. This cable is meant for very old hardware, and I do not recommend building one unless you also have such hardware. This cable works with Star Commander and 64HDD, but not MNIB/NIBTOOLS.

If you're not sure this is the right cable for you, see my cable picking guide to check.

Cable copyright Leopoldo Ghielmetti, 1992

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Step 1: Prep the DIN6 plug and attach the wires

• Pre-solder pins 2 to 6 on the DIN6 so that the wires will solder better
• Strip off one end of the 4 conductor cable about 1/2" (1.2 cm) back.
• Strip the individual wires back about 1/8" (3 mm) to expose bare wire.
• Twist and tin the wires and ground shield wire
• Solder these 5 conductors into the cups on pins 2 to 6 of the 6-pin round DIN plug, making sure the outer ground shield goes to pin 2 (GND). Mark down the wire colors going to each DIN post for later. Pin 1 on the DIN6 is not used.
• Fit the completed DIN end into its shield, crimp the cable into the tail clamp, and put the outer sheath over the shield, completing the DIN end.

Wires attached to the DIN plug.

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Step 2: Prep the DB25 connector and attach the DIN6 wires

• Strip the other end of the 4 conductor cable back about 3/4" (2 cm)
• Strip each wire back about 1/4" (5 mm) to expose bare wires
• Twist and tin the wires and ground shield wire
• Solder bridge pins 18 to 25 on the DB25 connector to make the ground strip. It may help to cut and bend a wire so it fits from pin 18 to 25 and solder it to the cups.
• Pre-solder DB25 cups 1, 14, 16 & 17 so that DIN6 wire insertion will be easier.
• Attach the wires from the 4 conductor cable to the DB25 pins, using the previous color code as a guide.
  • DIN6 to DB25 pins...
  • 2 to 18
  • 3 to 1
  • 4 to 14
  • 5 to 17
  • 6 to 16

The solder bridge on the DB25 from pins 18 to 25.	The DIN6 wires attached to the DB25. Note that this is an old photo and it is not completely correct so don't compare your cable to this one.

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Step 3: Check the cable

• Using a multi-meter on DIODE (continuity) check, measure between the pins on the chart below. There should be a short between each of the pins from one connector to the other.
  • DIN6 to DB25 wires
• Verify that pins 18 through 25 on the DB25 are shorted together.

Cable pinout chart

DIN6 (male)	DB25 (male)
2 (GND)	18-25 (GND)
3 (ATN)	1 (STROBE)
4 (CLK)	14 (AUTO FEED)
5 (DATA)	17 (SELECT IN)
6 (RESET)	16 (INIT)
	18 to 25 shorted

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Step 4: Finish the cable. Mount the DB25 end into the hood

• Mount the DB25 connector into its hood. If the wires need to be squished a bit to fit, it should be OK to do so.
• Test the cable to make sure it works.

The DB25 mounted in the hood. (Once again, this is an old photo and is not correct.)	The completed X cable.

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Schematics drawn using ExpressPCB, a free and excellent solution which also supports PC board layout editing.

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Email the author: Peter Schepers | Last updated: Sept 12, 2011