front panel connectors help

[kkb]

i need help with  front panel connectors on a dell xps 9100..motherboard  5dn3x

dell xps 9100 case sucks..has bad airflow.. i  just got me a  nzxt phantom 820 full tower for 115$ i could not  past that up.. so im just taking the i7 930 and the motherboard  (5dn3x ) and the ram out of the dell to put in the nzxt case with a corsair 600watt   and a gigabyte 7950

 

but how can i hook the power'  hdd led  etc all up to this dell motherboard?

since all the wirers are in one connector box  in the dell xps. and it dont say the lay out on the MB

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-XPS-Studio-9100-9000-435T-Power-Button-LED-...

so im not sure what the pinout is on the motherboard

so how can i find out how to use the nzxt front panel connectors on this  motherboard?

 

[Lil Chillbil]

idk you could try googling for like a .pdf of the instructions for the board on like dells website 

[kkb]

no manula that will show  mb layout..  ..no markings on MB

[Sors]

You could follow the cables to see where each goes,  I just had a similar problem with another Dell, they made weird connections for everything, the sound jacks, the usb ports and the power switch/led.   There should be 2 wires that go to the power led, 2 wires that go to the HDD led, and 2 wires that go to the power switch.  That's 6 wires and from the picture in that ebay page loos like they are exactly 6.

 

If you can take a good picture of both sides of the connections we could help you find where each goes.

 

If you have a multimeter, that would be the easiest way to find which 2 wires are the switch.  the other 2 pairs would be easy to deduce after that.

[kkb]

this is so not looking good

[kkb]

You could follow the cables to see where each goes,  I just had a similar problem with another Dell, they made weird connections for everything, the sound jacks, the usb ports and the power switch/led.   There should be 2 wires that go to the power led, 2 wires that go to the HDD led, and 2 wires that go to the power switch.  That's 6 wires and from the picture in that ebay page loos like they are exactly 6.

 

If you can take a good picture of both sides of the connections we could help you find where each goes.

 

If you have a multimeter, that would be the easiest way to find which 2 wires are the switch.  the other 2 pairs would be easy to deduce after that.

i did follow the cables and it went all the way up to that power switch box and thats all to it.. just that small board it plugs in to it like it does in the motherboard grrr

its all in one box.. so what now.. this is so not looking good

[Sors]

Now you can follow the circuit lines in that small board and see where everything goes, or, you can get a multimeter and measure the pins to know which is which.   You only have 6 cables, is not like you have endless possibilities. 

 

Plus they are color coded, so I would assume that all the colored ones are the cables that carry a voltage, and the black ones are the negative or ground.

 

I understand that this would look bad if you have never work in electronics before, but is really not that difficult.

 

 

looking at this picture from that same page:

 

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/1/0/3/6/0/4/webimg/632697731_o.jpg?nc=620

 

You can see the 2 lines going to the bottom yellow led, I am guessing that is the HDD led, and each side is marked as + and -,  I can't really say if the 2 cables at the bottom are both browns or 1 brown 1 black, at least from what I can see in the picture.

 

Now you only need to find out the other 4 wire.

[Night]

Why not open this fabled black box and poke around inside?

Failing that. Turn the system on, Cut a wire then see which light or button stops working, resolder that wire to the corosponding wire in the Phantoms front panel. Magic!

[kkb]

Now you can follow the circuit lines in that small board and see where everything goes, or, you can get a multimeter and measure the pins to know which is which.   You only have 6 cables, is not like you have endless possibilities. 

 

Plus they are color coded, so I would assume that all the colored ones are the cables that carry a voltage, and the black ones are the negative or ground.

 

I understand that this would look bad if you have never work in electronics before, but is really not that difficult.

 

 

looking at this picture from that same page:

 

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/1/0/3/6/0/4/webimg/632697731_o.jpg?nc=620

 

You can see the 2 lines going to the bottom yellow led, I am guessing that is the HDD led, and each side is marked as + and -,  I can't really say if the 2 cables at the bottom are both browns or 1 brown 1 black, at least from what I can see in the picture.

 

Now you only need to find out the other 4 wire.

oh ok i see what you mean now.. the tower is coming to day.. so i will look when i take this all apart again..

and what about the usbs and audio.. will the nzxt case cables plug straight up in the MB?

i see alot of F-usb on MB.. but from what i seen this this dell case has a  card reader... it is hooked up to a F-usb also..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221292331236?lpid=82

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-15-in-1-Media-Card-Reader-XPS-Studio-9000-9100-Cables-H323J-/231074126690?pt=US_Memory_Card_Readers_Adapters&hash=item35cd175b62

[kkb]

card reader aslo has 1usb on it

well i guess i can just take the card reader and put it in the new case also.. and just hook it up the same ways as it is now...

[Sors]

From that motherboard picture, the audio and usb connectors look standard.  I wouldn't worry too much about them.

 

I had another issue with the Dell pc, the back plate of the heatsink was part of the case itself, so it could not be used anywhere else. Did you check if your heatsink is removable?

[kkb]

From that motherboard picture, the audio and usb connectors look standard.  I wouldn't worry too much about them.

 

I had another issue with the Dell pc, the back plate of the heatsink was part of the case itself, so it could not be used anywhere else. Did you check if your heatsink is removable?

oh wow lol.. huum im not sure.. guess the only way to find out.. is when im about to switch it all?

[kkb]

ok i have it all set up. pin lay out worked fine

but i had to rig the usb up to get it to boot up right.

it kept saying front usb not detected and it would not load windows

 

so i had to take out the  usb drive out of the dell case and lay/stick it in the dvd tray and use that usb cable and usb drive for it to boot up right.

any way around this? so i can just use the usb from the nzxt case. i have a few of them working but when i unplug F-usb 4 or 5

 and hook the nzxt usbs up to it i get usb not detected.. but i can hook up the wire from dell and it works fine..

 

http://www.ztronics.com/desktop-parts-oem-1/dell-studio-xps-9104/dell-studio-xps-9100-usb-i-o-panel-t496j.html

[Sors]

The connector I found had a jumper wire, connecting a pin that is usually not used with a ground wire, yours must have the same thing.  And when the front panel's jumper wire was missing, still would say the USB was not connected.