I've got an older setup (waiting for 64bit chips to come down in price before i build a new system), Im using a Shuttle AK38n board and i want to relocate some USB ports and a firewire port to somewhere out front for easier access... problem is, i cant seem to find a USB expansion cable that has the same pin-outs as the board? i think its a 10 pin (2 rows of 5) with 1 blocked off pin... the 2 expansion cables I found in my supply have the blocked off pins in teh wrong place (both are differnt from each other as well). Anyone know if i can just punch out the hole and be ok? or should i try and find something else
The usual USB header layout is like this: That's what I've seen in most motherboards. Most USB panel headers will either have a block like that or individual pins for each connection, in which case you should consult your motherboard manual to check what goes where. If you can, try and find a pinout for the connectors on the case, so you can determine whether or not you can put them onto the headers.
Yeah i checked it over... its individual pins... and i swear i had the one that came with it but i guess not. I unfortunately cant find which color wires are what... what does NC mean? because if its nothing than i can just cut the back off one of the ones i have (my "dead" pin is where the NC is)
NC means "no connection" or "not connected". It's just there in conjunction with the missing pin to provide a key, which stops people putting the block-style connectors on incorrectly. Standard USB colours are: 5V / Red D- / White D+ / Green Ground / Black S Ground / Black Be careful though - they might be different on your connectors. If they match exactly with the diagram above and have the expected colours, it's a pretty safe bet that they use the standard configuration.
yeah i'll check it again tonight and see what the board has printed on it... i think it had some indication of which was 5v and gnd.
Have you tried RTFM? Manuals usually have mobo pinouts in them. If you don't have one, most mobo mfrs have PDFs in their driver download area. Shuttle AK38N manual - see? The diagram for the USB headers is in the lower right corner of page 16, and matches the one Hitman012 posted above.
Yeah i read the manual a few days ago, honestly i dont remember the exact details... however i do remember that it was no help determining if either of the two usb extention cables i have would work since the cables werent the same as the board. Its good to know that the NC pin isnt needed i think i should be ok... i'll test it when i get home in about an hour
Alright, i thought i'd add my final comments since i did manage to hack it apart and do what i had planned: Basicaly my goal was to modify my existing setup to have the USB ports 3,4 on the front of my case so they're easier to get to. I use a usbmouse, webcam, camera, pen tablet, scanner, zip drive.. just to name a few usb devices that get swapped a lot because im out of ports (mouse in USB1, 4port hub in USB2.. still needed more) I couldnt find the USB extention cable that came with my board so i had to find an alternative... well I had 2 old USB extention cables, neither long enough and neither with the correct pin-outs. One of the two had the correct plug, but the "blocked" pin was on the wrong side like so: According to the manual, same as the map hitman012 posted, and thanks to the color code key he provided i ended up razor blading the chunk of useless pins off the plug and flipped it around so it would work. Plugged it in, tested both ports - yay! Well i needed it to be almost 2x as long so, I spliced the two sets together. What a royal pain in the butt. peeled off the insulation, stipped the wires and soldered them to the corresponding cable. Had to rewrap the second grounding wire, and twist the signal canceling wire back around the whole thing. Wrapped each up with electrical tape and gave it a sleeve. Tested both ports - yay! Last part, making the panel itself.. i used a pair of tin snips, dremel grinder, and 16g steel 2 slots matching the size of the usb cable not the jack, basically drilled a hole and "worked" it out until it was correct. Sanded it shiny with 800grit and buffed it briefly. The clamps in the rear holding it to the plastic case front are just two holes drilled matching the usb ends and bent at 60º to press into the back so everything is clamped into place with those 4 screws. Thank you hitman for you help, everything works great now p.s. Had some extra time and figured i'd move the fan from the front onto the door... simple thing really, traced a mug i had on the desk and then traced circles from the dremel cutting disc container... then drilled em out with a carbide step bit. used a grille from an old powersupply i tossed at work. still need to use some alcohol and wipe off the marker some more oops. Came out ok i think?
