Dell Mobo - Ribbon Cables, Mobo to Front I/O Panel

[veemike]

I am original owner of a Dell Optiplex 745 MT. I now have a Optiplex 755 mobo (GM819) so I can run a faster processor and preferred chipset while still keeping my Dell bios options and support.

Everything swapped out fine - except for the ribbon cable running from the mobo to the front I/O panel. The 745 mobo and ribbon cable have, at the mobo, a connection with "K21" printed on the board at the connection. The 755 mobo has "K25" printed at the same connection. And of course the 745 cable will not fit the 755 mobo. The K21 and the K25 appear to have the same number of pins except the blanked pin and the corresponding dummy connector are a couple of pin positions removed from each other.

I have posted on the Dell community forum (motherboards & memory) hoping for a response.

Is there an adapter available? An aftermarket source for a Dell ribbon cable?

 

[amantonas]

There are not usually adapters for these things; they are too specific. If I were you I would just search around for a front panel pulled from a 755.
EDIT: This would work - http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-755-Mini-Tower-I-O-Panel-TP004-w-Cable-/220533478383?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3358d1d3ef

 

[veemike]

Thank you so much. I just ordered the cable from the e-bay link you provided. I'll post back if in fact that takes care of my issue. Who would have thunk that Dell is even proprietary with their cable connectivity.

 

[amantonas]

Yeah, that's just the way dell is. I just got fed up with that crap and went ahead and built my own .

 

[veemike]

Best answer selected by veemike.

 

[veemike]

Success. My e-bay $14.95 755 cable and front I/O face plate work fine. But I have another issue. Please see my post in General Mothereboard titled, "USB ports and Wireless Mouse/Keyboard Issue."