Question about connectors when building new pc

[blackrain]

I have to plug in the connectors for the speaker, pw led, HD led, reset etc. How do you know which way to orient the plug? There is writing on one side of the plug for some of them, like the power led. Should that writing be facing in a certain direction? If I install it backwards could the board be damaged? The manual tells you exactly where to plug everything in....just doesn't say which way the connector should face when pluging it in

INterestingly the following site says something about this:

http://www.gen-x-pc.com/build6.htm

All motherboards group the pins that provide front panel functions at the bottom right of the board. You should find these described in the handbook that came with your motherboard. The abbreviations printed on the board itself are not particularly helpful for beginners, who may find the following short explanation of the abbreviations useful.

* SP, SPK, or SPEAK: the loudspeaker output. It has four pins.
* RS, RE, RST or RESET: connect the two-pin Reset cable here.
* PWR, PW, PW SW, PS or Power SW: power switch, the PC's on/ off switch. The plug is two-pin.
* PW LED, PWR LED or Power LED: the light-emitting diode on the front panel of the case illuminates when the computer is switched on. It is a two-pin cable.
* HD, HDD LED: these two pins connect to the cable for the hard disk activity LED.

Don't worry about polarity. The Reset and On/ Off switch will work no matter how they are connected, but the LEDs will not light up if they are connected in reverse polarity. If you can hear disk activity but the LED does not light, simply reverse the plug.

Anyone care to comment?

 

[n0cmonkey]

I've never damaged anything, and I plug them in all sorts of ways.

If you plug in something that uses multiple pins, and it doesn't work, turn it around.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I've never damaged anything, and I plug them in all sorts of ways.

If you plug in something that uses multiple pins, and it doesn't work, turn it around.

 

[blackrain]

For the speaker I am guessing the black is ground and the red is +5

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I've never damaged anything, and I plug them in all sorts of ways.

If you plug in something that uses multiple pins, and it doesn't work, turn it around.

What about usb ports?



Be happy when your case has the pins all together. Latest machine I assembled each of the pins were separate, although each was maked what they are it was a real pain plugging them in.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I've never damaged anything, and I plug them in all sorts of ways.

If you plug in something that uses multiple pins, and it doesn't work, turn it around.

What about usb ports?



Be happy when your case has the pins all together. Latest machine I assembled each of the pins were separate, although each was maked what they are it was a real pain plugging them in.

So far, USB ports have been labeled appropriately. There has always been a missing pin and a filled in pin-hole, so I can't put them on wrong.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Be happy when your case has the pins all together. Latest machine I assembled each of the pins were separate, although each was maked what they are it was a real pain plugging them in.

My current case is like that. It's horrible. :| When I switched out my last mobo, I didn't even bother to hook up the front USB ports.

Also, of all things that don't matter if you switch it, the case speaker lead really doesn't matter. At all.

 

[Varun]

you can't damage an LED by hooking it up backwards - it just won't work. So, give it a try and if it doesn't work just turn it around.

When I say you can't damage an LED by hooking it up backwards, I of course mean with the currents and voltages that would be supplied to it by the motherboard. It's quite easy to blow one up with enough voltage I guess.

 

[imported_booradley]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I've never damaged anything, and I plug them in all sorts of ways.

If you plug in something that uses multiple pins, and it doesn't work, turn it around.

What about usb ports?



Be happy when your case has the pins all together. Latest machine I assembled each of the pins were separate, although each was maked what they are it was a real pain plugging them in.

So far, USB ports have been labeled appropriately. There has always been a missing pin and a filled in pin-hole, so I can't put them on wrong.

Heh.. I misaligned my USB pins once... the fact that it blew my mobo didn't piss me off nearly as much as the fact that it blew my Logitech MOMO racing wheel. Learned from that mistake...

 

[EvilRage]

my case is of the kind that has every single connector seperate. Good for longevity, annoying for installation. I noticed each of the plugs had a colored wire and a white wire - i assumed the colored was the + and the white the - , and my assumption was correct. Everything worked the first time around.

The USB connectors, on the other hand, were a REAL pain.. 8 or so single pins, none connected, and if you plug it in wrong you blow the port and any device it's connected to. Luckily one of my motherboards came with a USB connector that was set up as a block, so I basically studied how the block would plug in, oriented the single pins the same way, then plugged it in. The manuals matched as well, so everything was a go. It all worked, it was just time consuming to get all the pins in. You learn to appreciate tweesers and thin wire cable ties. (used the cable ties to hold the pins in place as a block, then shoved all the pins onto the mobo with the tweesers)