Need help connecting the frontal USB ports to the mainboard

RockinX

Yo, my newest mainboard brought a manual, but it didn't come with instructions that allow me to use the USB ports that are located in the front of my case. Can anyone help me with this?

Ego

Look in the manual for the board layout and where the USB panel headers are (a block of pins onto which the cable from the front USB panel will be plugged in.) They'll usually be marked on the motherboard as well with silk-screening. There'll be a connection from the front USB ports that plugs into these headers on the motherboard. There are a couple different connectors in use but the more popular one is, IIRC, 2 pins by 5 pins (maybe six) with one pin blocked out as a key (so it only plugs in one way.)

RockinX

Does it make a difference in which way I plug the connectors? I saw the part where the manual indicates it, but I don't know the way they have to be facing.

Mordrack

No it doesn't matter which direction the connector is facing. All that matters is that the correct connector is on the matching pin.

wunderbar

Mordrack wrote: »

No it doesn't matter which direction the connector is facing. All that matters is that the correct connector is on the matching pin.

Gah that's nto really true. the USB connector is 9 pins. a row of 5 and a row of 4. Just look at the head on the cable in the case, and line it up properly with the USB connector. dont' try to force it in backwards.

Mordrack

I was going on the assumption that the pins he is asking about are the singular connectors like thus,
.
Not the brick style.

wunderbar

Mordrack wrote: »

I was going on the assumption that the pins he is asking about are the singular connectors like thus,
.
Not the brick style.

I haven't seen a case with singlular pins like that in probably 6-7 years.

My dad's previous computer had it. I swore every time I accidentally pulled those out.

RockinX

Nice, thanks. I haven't had time to do it yet, but I appreciate the help.

RockinX

Mordrack wrote: »

I was going on the assumption that the pins he is asking about are the singular connectors like thus,
.
Not the brick style.

Alright. I opened the case and the connectors look exactly like that. How do I know which connector goes where? The manual doesn't specify that, and it only labels the part as being USB 2.0 in different languages.

The mainboard is a Biostar 945GC-M7 TE if it helps.

Mordrack

Page 14 of the manual, if it's the same as the Biostar website download, has the pinout.

RockinX

So that's why I couldn't find it. My mainboard didn't bring more than the easy setup guide and I thought that was the manual.

Thanks.

Synthesis

wunderbar wrote: »

Mordrack wrote: »

I was going on the assumption that the pins he is asking about are the singular connectors like thus,
.
Not the brick style.

I haven't seen a case with singlular pins like that in probably 6-7 years.

My dad's previous computer had it. I swore every time I accidentally pulled those out.

I had those on the desktop I built about 5 years ago. God, I hated those pins with every element of my being.

I think they were one of the things that convinced me to buy a pre-made gaming machine. The interface might have changed, but they still leave a bad taste in my mouth.

tsmvengy

Mordrack wrote: »

I was going on the assumption that the pins he is asking about are the singular connectors like thus,
.
Not the brick style.

For the love of all that is holy why would someone design this?!

cyphr

You mean they're doing bricks now, not single pins? Holy shit that's amazing. I haven't built a computer for 5 years; back then, we earned our chops with needle-nose pliers damnit.

Kids these days.

Mordrack

Well the brick style USB connector is, in my experience, the oddity not the norm. I still see far more new cases with the single connectors.

Synthesis

cyphr wrote: »

You mean they're doing bricks now, not single pins? Holy shit that's amazing. I haven't built a computer for 5 years; back then, we earned our chops with needle-nose pliers damnit.

Kids these days.

Yeah. And if you had normal pliers, have fun giving yourself arthritis in your hands trying to put those things in. Man, I'd never do that again if I could help it.

Dissociater

I bought a case about 3-4 years ago and it had the single pins. I didn't have a manual either as I was transferring an HP computer into a bigger case (one thing led to another as I upgraded my video card, turned out I needed a bigger power supply to run it, the bigger power supply didn't fit in the stock HP case so I needed a new one).

I just said fuck it, I'll just get by without usb connectors in my case.

wunderbar

yea, I'm pretty sure that if I bought a case and it came with the single connectors, I'd return it. in 2009 that's inexcusable. It was awful in 2005. Today, there is no reason for it.

Synthesis

I imagine a lot of old cases (and a lot of old motherboards) are still wired that way (not just for USB, but for other annoying crap like the power and reset switches--crucial things). You'd have to be very careful in your shopping, since I don't think it's something they'd come out and say.

bent

The PC I built around last summer had those connector pins too.