Table of Contents

Sega Cabinet Pinouts

Sega's Astro City, Blast City, Net City and Naomi Universal cabinets use a connector system that's common between them. More or less. They use the AMP/TE Universal Power family of connectors.

On all connectors, there is a key that indicates the location of pin #1. For this reason, no attempt has been made below to indicate plug or socket because it doesn't matter. Pin 1 is always pin 1.

Gender, Pins, Tabs & Sockets

⚠️ The TE series plastic plug uses a socket inner connector, and vice versa. This nomenclature is sort of backwards to what you might expect. The arrows in the table below indicate the proper connectors for both types.

For all of these connectors, the part codes are listed. The pins come in two gauges, typically the large gauge (lower numbers) are used for power, the smaller gauge (higher numbers) are used for everything else. The last number indicates the alloy type, but for our purposes this isn't important. The cheaper parts have been listed here.

Function Pins Plug Socket
Controller 12 176278-1 176289-1
Extra Buttons 10 176277-1 176288-1
Analogue 8 176275-1 176286-1
Video 15 176279-1 176290-1
Audio 4 176273-1 176284-1
Coin 3 176272-1 176283-1
Power Supply
AC Input 15 176279-1 176290-1
176300-1
AC Output 9 176276-1 176287-1
176297-1
Primary DC 18 176280-9 176291-1
176301-1
Secondary DC 12 176280-1 176289-1
176299-1
Inner Connectors Receptacle Pin
26-22 AWG 175151-2 175149-2
20-16 AWG 175152-2 175150-2

For the power supply sockets, the second part number indicates the panel-mount part. The first number is for cables.

ProTip: A very expensive special tool is needed when pins are removed from these connectors. You can file down a small screwdriver (a tiny allen tip is a good start) or use a spare pin instead. The pins are the perfect width and length to reach the clasp inside the connector housing.

The last digit of every plug or socket is the colour. Most of these colours are no longer available, but maybe you'll get lucky. The colours are:

Digit Colour
1 Natural
2 Red
4 Yellow
6 Blue
9 Black

Control Input

Primary Controls

The 12-pin connector carries most of the player's necessary control inputs. Start, stick and buttons 1-3. On Net City and Naomi cabinets, it carries buttons 1-5.

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 Start 5 Down 9 Button 4
2 Right 6 Button 1 10 Button 5
3 Left 7 Button 2 11 +5V
4 Up 8 Button 3 12 Ground

Buttons 4-6 (4-7 for Net City & Naomi) can be found on the extra buttons connector (aka kick harness).

Extra Buttons

The extra button connector changed when the Net City, New Net City and Naomi Universal cabinets came out. The ground pin was moved from 4 to 5, and button 7 was added on pin 4. And in order to prevent confusion, the connector was changed from 10 to 15 pins. The third row is unused.

Note that, at least on a New Astro City, it seems the connector is fully populated in the cabinet, and runs straight through from panel to board. Based on the wire colours, 14 is supposed to be +5V and 15 is Ground. However the intent of each wire isn't relevant: all 10 pins run straight through from end to end.

Astro & Blast City

Pin Function Pin Function
1 P1 Button 4 6 P2 Button 5
2 P1 Button 5 7 P2 Button 6
3 P1 Button 6 8 Ground
4 Ground 9 N/C
5 P2 Button 4 10 N/C

Net City & Naomi Universal

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 P1 Button 4 6 P2 Button 4 11 +12V
2 P1 Button 5 7 P2 Button 5 12 +5V
3 P1 Button 6 8 P2 Button 6 13 +5V
4 P1 Button 7 9 P2 Button 7 14 Ground
5 Ground 10 Ground 15 Ground

Analogue Input

There are two of these connectors, one for each player.

Pin Function Pin Function
1 V-Ref 5 Channel 2
2 V-Ref 6 Channel 3
3 Channel 0 7 Ground
4 Channel 1 8 Ground

Video

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 Red 6 AC Live 11 N/C
2 Green 7 AC Neutral 12 N/C
3 Blue 8 N/C 13 N/C
4 Sync 9 Demag 14 N/C
5 Ground 10 Demag 15 N/C

Audio

Sega used the same connector with two different pinouts, depending on the audio function. It seems that most Astro and Blast City cabinets used the same pinout, some Astro City cabs had stereo amps that used an alternate arrangement. Both are shown, but for your own sanity, you should check the wiring in your cab.

Pin Function Pin Function
Speaker
1 Left + 3 Right +
2 Left - 4 Right -
Amplifier
1 Left + 3 Left -
2 Right - 4 Right +

Though every *City cab had stereo speakers, the default audio arrangement supported only monaural sound. The audio from the PSU to the speakers had a jumper wire from pin 3 to pin 4. This connected both speakers in series.

Mono Jumper
1 Left + 3 to pin 2
2 to pin 3 4 Right -

Power Supply

For the Astro and Blast City cabs, the power supplies didn't change much. The Net City and Naomi cabs were very different.

AC Input

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 Frame Ground 6 N/C 11 Demag
2 Frame Ground 7 N/C 12 N/C
3 Frame Ground 8 N/C 13 Demag
4 N/C 9 N/C 14 N/C
5 AC Neutral 10 N/C 15 AC Live

AC Output

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 AC Live 4 N/C 7 AC Neutral
2 AC Live 5 N/C 8 AC Neutral
3 AC Live 6 N/C 9 AC Neutral

Primary DC

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 +12V 7 +12V 13 +12V
2 Ground 8 Ground 14 Ground
3 +5V 9 Ground 15 Test
4 +5V 10 +5V 16 +Speaker In
5 -5V 11 +5V 17 +Speaker Out
6 Service 12 -Speaker In 18 -Speaker Out

Secondary DC

Pin Function Pin Function Pin Function
1 +5V 5 +5V 9 +5V
2 +5V 6 +5V 10 +5V
3 Ground 7 Ground 11 Ground
4 Ground 8 Ground 12 +12V

Coin Counter

For some reason the coin counter must be connected in order for the coin slot/coin input to work, because the ground line to the coin slot goes through the counter. Seems like a security issue, making it harder to ring in credits without triggering the counter as well? In any case, if you unplug the counter, you can't trigger a coin input.

Pin Function Pin Function
1 +5V 3 Coin Counter
2 GND in 4 GND to coin

Coin Input

These 3-pin coin input connectors are found in the Naomi and Net City series of cabinets.

Pin Function
1 Coin Switch
2 +12V
2 GND

JVS Power

Sega's JVS board, found in the New Net City and Naomi Universal cabs, uses both 5V and 12V. If you're putting one in an Astro City, the standard PSU has an unused output connector that provides an easy source for both. The 8-pin power plug pinout for the JVS is:

Pin Function Pin Function
1 5V 5 Ground
2 5V 6 Ground
3 12V 7 Ground
4 12V 8 Ground