Connecting front panel ports to A7N8X-E Deluxe Board

[marshahu]

For a while I haven't been able to connect my front panel USB Ports to the motherboard which poses a huge problem. "Why not?" some people ask. They are all labelled differently and none of them correspond to the correct pin.

I have the following case:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/108280/rb/0

The USB Connectors on the front panel each have separate pins which are labelled as follows:

DATA - 1
DATA + 1
GND1
VCC1

DATA - 2
DATA + 2
GND2
VCC2

My Motherboard is an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe and the USB 2.0 is designed to accomodate ASUS's USB 2.0 bracket which provides those two extra ports which I need on the front! :lol: The pins on that board are arranged as follows:

2 USB+5V Pins Side by Side
2 GND Pins Side by Side on the second from last row of the block
USB_P5- and USB_P6- Side by Side
USB_P5+ and USB_P6+ Side by Side
NC on the bottom row next to a missing pin to represent the "key" for the USB 2.0 bracket.

Of course, PC World technicians or as they call themselves "Techboys" couldnt tell me which pin matched to which and they scared me into trying out different combinations by saying that if you plug the case connectors into the wrong pins I could kill my motherboard (now I wouldnt want to kill my Socket A beauty now would I?)

How do I go about connecting up my front panel ports to my motherboard. I don't fancy using the supplied bracket as I don't have any space to put it in my PC

 

[liquidx]

If you don't have an answer by the end of the day, repost so I get a response. I use that exact board in my system at home and I can look at how I have it setup. I have had it connected for so long I don't remember off the top of my head, but I do use the two connectors on the front/side of my case instead of their included ones that go in the back just due to ease of accessibility for stuff like my camera/iPod, stuff like that. That board is a great board for USB though, six usb's altogether. I used to have to use a Hub as well because I had so much stuff connected.

 

[liquidx]

oh yeah I am at school right now, that's why I can't look at it, but I get out at 8pm EST.

 

[marshahu]

Well Im stumped, if you could help me then that would be cool.

 

[toasty1]

marshahu,

I have to ask but are you sure you are not trying to connect the audio cord to the usb connection because they are simular in shape but one of the pin holes are blocked in another spot that is diffferent to the usb configuration. the audio cord will have the plug in the second to last hole, in one of the rows on your cord, the usb is has the plug in the last spot in one row. I have the same board and I am able to connect to my front ports. I have the Chenbro Spider case and love it, ive had it for 3yrs now. I have the black and silver one.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/chenbro.html

 

[marshahu]

I am absolutely sure - the audio connectors on my motherboard are located in a completely different location to the USB and are shorted with jumpers anyway - also I have disabled the onboard audio and am not using the Headphone and Mic sockets on the case front because I have a Platinum ZS breakout box which provides a high studio quality version of these sockets with volume controls, thus leaving the case connectors redundant. The audio connectors are grouped into one cable and are labelled Spkr L R, Mic L R, GND etc and they match up to the motherboard pins whereas the USB ones don't as they are labelled completely differently!! I have traced each cable to the correct socket an I am sure that the pin sockets I gave above are connected to the USB sockets on the front.

My main problem is that the front panel USB 2.0 pins on the motherboard are labelled completely different to the plugs on the case so I cant match them up!!!

 

[toasty1]

Ohhhhhhhhh,

ok, are you able to connect a third party connector to your case? if so find a cord you can buy that has the same type of end that we have for that usb connector that came with the board. that is the only thing i can suggest besides sitting down and figuring out the wires by cross referrence both manuals. Sorry that is all I have. I tried looking for that same cord that came with my case but couldnt find one for sale.

 

[liquidx]

OK, I got it now, Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe Manual

Click on that and go to page 44, that will show you exactly what voltages go where. I realized you have the E version of the board, mine is a earlier pre-E or non-E version. Probably still the same hookup, but just in case. Good luck, let me know if that helped.

 

[marshahu]

Thanks for your effort but I already tried the manual - I have the printed form and I still cant figure it out.

To put another way, which pins on the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe USB Connector do the following case plugs go into:

DATA - 1
DATA + 1
GND1
VCC1

DATA - 2
DATA + 2
GND2
VCC2

They are not all grouped together - each plug is by itself and they are all intertwined in an unhelpful manner. I cant match up the voltages because none of the plugs are labelled by voltages, just Data, GND or VCC and then 1 or 2?!?!

Help!!

 

[liquidx]

oh ok, do it in this order:

VCC1
DATA - 1
DATA + 1
GND1

VCC2
DATA - 2
DATA + 2
GND2

Straight front to back, not side by side. or actually back of the board to the front as the VCC1 is your voltage +5 goes first pin towards back of board then Data -1, Date +1, GND1. Then repeat for the pins right next to it.

 

[marshahu]

ok - are you sure that this wont blow my board up - I have heard many horror stories of boards being permanently damaged through wrong USB connections - how sure are you that this will work?

Did you do exactly the same connections with your case and motherboard. Sorry for the huge amount of questions its just I don't want to blow up my precious A7N8X-E Deluxe 8)

I take it that once these are connected the drivers will install in XP MCE 2005 automatically and work straight away, right?