front panel wiring

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 7 May 2005 00:46:16 +0000 (UTC), "abcd"
<nonotme@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I have a 4 year old Gateway computer with a dead motherboard and I have
>replaced the m/board with a Matsonic MS8137C+ so that I can re-use the old
>processor and SDRAM. The Gateway had an MSI MS-6330 Oxnard m/board which
>used a 16 pin (2x8) connector for the front panel connections but the
>Matsonic m/board has the Intel standard 10 pin front panel connector. Can
>anyone tell me how the pins correspond?
>
>The Gateway has blue/white wires from the front panel power switch and they
>clearly go to pins 6 & 8 of the 10 pin block. The front panel also has one
>LED with 3 wires (green/orange/black) and I am not at all sure where they
>connect to on the 10 pin block.
>
>Has anyone else come across this and can tell me which wires connect where?
>
>John E
>


Easiest way to do OEM cases isn't necessarily to try to
match the old vs new board pinouts per se (since data may be
unavailable for the old board- but you could check Gateway's
website) but rather just look at the wire functions and
match as appropriate.

For example, the power switch wires are obvious enough.
Does the case even have a reset switch? Many Gateways
didn't, if not we skip onto next wires, else plug in the
reset- it too can be oriented either way presuming the wires
each to to their respective component rather than a
harness-ribbon arrangement that plugs into a small circuit
board in the front.

The IDE LED is again obvious enough, if it doesn't light
connected one way then reverse the leads.

The power LED is typically a dual-color LED, it can light up
(I forget the colors but for the example let's say green and
orange) 2 colors with each color being an anode on the LED
(which needs a positive lead) and the center wire (as
connected to the LED) being the cathode which is the ground
or "-" connection. The 2nd color is for sleep mode, if your
board doesn't have a sleep/power-management positive pin
then simply leave that 3rd wire disconnected and connect
only either side (depending on which color you prefer) of
that LED's leads and the center ground lead. It may be
easier to print out a picture of the Matsonic board's pinout
to reference while you're hooking it up.

If the plastic connector shells from the Gateway case don't
allow plugging in where they need to be due to number of
pins, you may need use a needle or similar to slip wire(s)
out of some connector shells and swap them around, and/or
use a razor knife to cut a position off of a shell or two.
If you dislike the idea of cutting up any shells you could
grab another shell(s) off of an old case's leads at a
computer shop.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thank you for your very helpful response.

> unavailable for the old board- but you could check Gateway's
> website) but rather just look at the wire functions and
> match as appropriate.

I did that so I am now able to identify the front panel wires.

From the Front Panel Switch:
The white wire is described as "FPBUT_IN, In, Power switch"
The blue wire is described as "GND, , Ground".

From the LED:
The black wire is described as "GND, , Ground".
The green wire is described as "HDR_BLNK_GRN, Out, Front panel green LED"
The orange wire is described as "HDR_BLNK_YEL, Out, Front panel yellow LED"

On the 10 pin m/board block, the pins are described as
pin 1 is HD_LED+ pin 2 is PWR_LED_GRN+
pin 3 is HD_LED- pin 4 is PWR_LED_YEL+
pin 5 is GND_RESET pin 6 is FP_PWR
pin 7 is FP_RESET pin 8 is GND_PWR
pin 9 is +5V PWR pin 10 is Not Connected

So I think I should connect the white wire to pin 6 and the blue wire to pin
8. Do you agree? Does it matter which way round the power switch is wired?

I am not at all sure how to connect the black/green/orange wires from these
descriptions. What would you suggest with this additional information?

Thanks for any extra help you can give.

John E

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 7 May 2005 11:17:11 +0000 (UTC), "abcd"
<nonotme@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Thank you for your very helpful response.
>
>> unavailable for the old board- but you could check Gateway's
>> website) but rather just look at the wire functions and
>> match as appropriate.
>
>I did that so I am now able to identify the front panel wires.
>
>From the Front Panel Switch:
>The white wire is described as "FPBUT_IN, In, Power switch"
>The blue wire is described as "GND, , Ground".
>
>From the LED:
>The black wire is described as "GND, , Ground".
>The green wire is described as "HDR_BLNK_GRN, Out, Front panel green LED"
>The orange wire is described as "HDR_BLNK_YEL, Out, Front panel yellow LED"
>
>On the 10 pin m/board block, the pins are described as
>pin 1 is HD_LED+ pin 2 is PWR_LED_GRN+
>pin 3 is HD_LED- pin 4 is PWR_LED_YEL+
>pin 5 is GND_RESET pin 6 is FP_PWR
>pin 7 is FP_RESET pin 8 is GND_PWR
>pin 9 is +5V PWR pin 10 is Not Connected
>
>So I think I should connect the white wire to pin 6 and the blue wire to pin
>8. Do you agree?

Yes based on info provided that seems right.


>Does it matter which way round the power switch is wired?

Usually no, but if all the wires were coming from a small
circuit board in the front to which all parts were then
connected, it could be important to have the polarity, PWR &
GND correct.

>
>I am not at all sure how to connect the black/green/orange wires from these
>descriptions. What would you suggest with this additional information?

Green and orange are each for 1/2 of the dual-led. Hook the
green up to pin 2 (PWR_LED), the black up to any ground.

The remaining orange wire is then the issue. You didn't
mention any HDD LED in the case, is there none? If not,
hook the orange to the HDD LED+ pin 1. If there is, hook
orange wire to Pin 4.

Accidentally hooking the wires up wrong is not a problem,
you'll simply have to move them around again if all
functions aren't (functional). _EXCEPT_, don't hook any
wires up to the Pin 9, +5V PWR. Hooking anything up to that
incorrectly could damage the board or fry an LED, plus you
shouldn't need to use that pin 9 at all.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Grab a multimeter and physically chech what wires do what when each
button is pushed.

I have several remmnant wiring harnesses from old systems that have
the LED's and switches with the later version smaller wiring plugs,
most PC shops would have an old PC with the switches that could be
used somehow with some small mods.

If ya live close you can have them for postage only.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thank you for the kind offer. I will check out the fixing points for the
LEDs.


"digisol" <digisol@bigpond.net-dot-au.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:2d4d0$42871d41$455da0d2$10254@allthenewsgroups.com...
> Grab a multimeter and physically chech what wires do what when each
> button is pushed.
>
> I have several remmnant wiring harnesses from old systems that have
> the LED's and switches with the later version smaller wiring plugs,
> most PC shops would have an old PC with the switches that could be
> used somehow with some small mods.
>
> If ya live close you can have them for postage only.
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

hi all, i have a similar problem, i recently upgraded my mobo to a msi
km4am-v, looked at the manual to put all the front panel back in but
the f/p USB is confusing. In the manual it just tells me what each
pin is :

1 VCC
2 VCC
3 USB 0-
4 USB 1-
5 USB 0+
6 USB 1+
7 GND
8 GND
9 KEY
10 USBOC

and shows where each pin is on the connector on the mobo:

[02][04][06][08][10]
[01][03][05][07][09]

But the connectors from my case are simply 8 individual pin
connectors
im guessing 4 for each usb port and there are 2 red, 2 white 2 black
and 2 green.

Any help much appreciated and thanks in advance to all replies.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 26 May 2005 01:31:55 -0400,
xchaotix@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (harrydaomin)
wrote:

>hi all, i have a similar problem, i recently upgraded my mobo to a msi
>km4am-v, looked at the manual to put all the front panel back in but
>the f/p USB is confusing. In the manual it just tells me what each
>pin is :
>
>1 VCC
>2 VCC
>3 USB 0-
>4 USB 1-
>5 USB 0+
>6 USB 1+
>7 GND
>8 GND
>9 KEY
>10 USBOC
>
>and shows where each pin is on the connector on the mobo:
>
> [02][04][06][08][10]
> [01][03][05][07][09]
>
>But the connectors from my case are simply 8 individual pin
>connectors
>im guessing 4 for each usb port and there are 2 red, 2 white 2 black
>and 2 green.
>
>Any help much appreciated and thanks in advance to all replies.

To be 100% certain, you would need to Google the USB port
pinout and use a continuity tester (like a multimeter) to
verify the case wiring adheres to the standard conventions.

Odds are it does and I'll run with those odds but you can
check this yourself if you like- we can't check it since the
case is there not here.

WIre colors:

Black - ground
Red - positive (5V)
Green - Data +
White - Data -

Here's a lovely pic:
http://www.starmount.co.uk/usb_skta.gif

The pinout you listed for the board itself looks right, but
might be easier to understand if translated:

VCC = positive 5V
USB0- = USB port 0 (first port out of two) Data -
USB1- = USB port 1 (second port out of two) Data -
USB0+ = USB port 0, Data +
USB1+ = USB port 1, Data +
GND = Ground

You do not need pins 9 & 10 connected.
Since the mobo has one of the most common arrangements for
pins on the same row in series, ie:

VCC | Data - | Data + | GND

Then if the case has the connector colors in this sequence:

Red | White | Green | Black

Then you can just plug them in, with red wire on pin 1 for
one port, and red wire on pin 2 for the other.
If your connectors don't match this color scheme, you can
swap the wire positions so they do match, but at that point
it might be more prudent to confirm the functions of the
wires using the continuity meter and consulting the linked
picture.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks a lot for that Kony tried that and it all works now, will keep
a note of it for future reference

I have a problem hooking up the front panel leds and switch light.
I unhooked them thinking they were a single plug but is's three plugs.
I have the off on button figured out but can't seem to get the G in Gateway to light up nor the yellow hard drive light to light up when the hard drive is running.