Need help rearranging USB wires

justlnluck

Senior member
Jul 13, 2004
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Nothing in life can be easy it seems.

I just bought an internal USB card reader for a computer that has an Epox VIA KT333 motherboard. Connecting the usb wires to the USB header on the motherboard should be easy, right? Wrong. The card reader has 9 pins which I found out is the Intel standard USB layout. But the motherboard has 10 pins with two 5 pin rows, one row for each USB port...and they are in reverse order!!

So the only way I am going to be able to make this work is if I rearrange all the wires on the connector. Problem is, I don't see an easy way of pulling out the wires and pushing them back in. I don't want to break the wires or the connector, so does anyone here know from experience how to do this?? Thanks for any suggestions!
 

cryptonomicon

Senior member
Oct 20, 2004
467
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ive done this before. i had to cut out each connector end to separate it from the square block (scissors work). then i arranged them in two rows, according to how the pins are supposed to go to the mobo. then i taped the wire square ends back together in the right order to make a rectangular block. then each block plugged in to the mobo. worked.

hmm more in depth:

the connector will be a 5-pin plastic block. but you should be able to actually cut out individual connector squares out of the block with some sharp scissors. yes, it is ghetto.
 

justlnluck

Senior member
Jul 13, 2004
261
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0
Nevermind. I figured out how to pull the wires out of the connector with a special trick I learned when I was playing with another cable while watching American Idol. All is good now :)

More detail for those who care: If you look carefully, you will notice that there are plastic tabs holding each wire into the block connector. When you bend these small tabs out a little, the individual wires can be pulled out with ease. I used a small pocket knife to bend the tabs, but anything that is thin enough will do. Then, the put the wires into their new postions, all you have to do is push them back in until the tabs snap back to hold them in place. I couldn't find any instructions on how to do this on Google, but it was an easy enough job once I sat back down and looked at the darn thing. :)