Recycling old case

[Doobies]

I've got an old (`97) case from a Dell XPS266. It's standard ATX form factor. I was wanting to reuse it for an AMD 1800+ setup I have. I've got access to a newer gutsier power supply, so that won't be a problem. I do have one issue, though. It's the one proprietary thing Dell did on the case. The front buttons and lights (pwr btn, reset, btn, pwr light, hd light)all connect to a small circuit board that has a ribbon cable that is meant to go to the specific Dell motherboard. Anyone have any experience or adapters for using this with a different motherboard where you have the little two prong setup for each of the items. Cases are cheap enough that I'll probably end up buying a new one, but if I can do this cheap and easy, I'd rather keep it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Crashman]

You have a Palo Alto case, OEM for Dell. These are great cases indeed, very sturdy and quiet. The best solution for reusing it (taking into account you're already swapping out the proprietary Dell power for a real ATX supply) is:

1. Find some dongle cables from another case...even an old AT case should have some
2. Remove the front panel and switch panel
3. Remove the clip from the back of the cable on the back of the switch panel
4. Insert the dongle cables in the proper positions
5. Replace the clip
6. Re-assemble the case

The PCB of that switch panel is only 2 sided as I recall, it's VERY easy to see which leads go to which connections, so you can figure out the wire placement visually.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>