Case connector extensions? Wire colors? 2

[jlockley]

The back story: In a fit of reverse genius I bought an ACER off the shelf, thinking if it doesn't work out, it's a neat case and I will just slap in another board and be done with it. It quit functioning due to what appeared to be bum thumb drive, but probably a power issue.

The reality: with a 250W PSU and proprietary CPU Fan which promises to short out other boards, the case is beginning to look less nifty.

The challenge: Supposing I didn't buy a new Coolermaster case with 600W PSU, and I wanted to install the new ASUS board in the now not so nifty ACER CASE, I would have to retool the case connectors. Rather than the usual pwr led, pwr, etc jumpers, the case has one solid block of female connections with the various wires sometimes sharing a post.

The twisted pairs are
white blue: (pwr)
white green: (probaly pwr led and case led)
green orange: Eh???
Red White: (don' t know)

The ASUS board comes with a very nice plastic bridge which allows plugging in outside the case (great idea). I am wondering if there are bridge wires which would address this issue. Soldering does not appeal at this time.

Question:

 

[G0AOZ]

Without a fairly detailed examination of the ACER case connector block it's difficult to offer specific advice. I have had this problem in the past and tackled it with the help of spare connectors and wires from a completely trashed case.

This can be a fiddly job. You may find that each of the wires and their little gold connectors going into the ACER block can be removed by lifting each individual very small oblong plastic "tongue" on the body of the block. Once removed, if there are spare "holes" in the block maybe you can carefully chop it up with a sharp craft knife, or whatever. This will then give you individual two or three pin blocks for your connectors.

Green/Orange wires could be the Reset button, and Red/White possibly the HDD l.e.d.

Hope that helps...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[jlockley]

Thanks. I am actually expecting a replacement board from Acer, which I guess I may just plug in. I gave up yesterday and went out and bought a new case.

What I was actually thinking about was stripping the wires (fiddly indeed) and slipping them into to other connectors. Just out of curiosity, is this also the case with Dell and other proprietary models?

I can't wait for the call to Windows to get Vista certified on the new board.

 

[BadBigBen]

Color codes as I usually find them on cases:

Green/White = Pwr switch
Blue/White = Reset
Green/Black = Power LED
Red/White = HDD LED
Yellow/Black = front speaker


Green/Orange = ? never seen it...

if the colors that share a pin are blk, then most likely they are ground...

do you know what ASUS board you are getting? most OEM boards from ASUS are still like the production versions with a few changes like BIOS locks, imprinting or proprietary connectors (PSU or front panel)...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[jlockley]

Don't have it here
Probably this

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=542&l4=0&model=1690&modelmenu=1

The connectors are not at all in the same sequence. I read somewhere where the ACER board comes from. It is not ASUS.

 

[BadBigBen]

AOpen
A division of Acer corporation that sells primarily to the OEM market. They even make a computer motherboard which has a vaccuum tube on it.[\quote]Source: compreviews.about.com

could you post here what is written on the ACER mobo, eg. anything relevant like the BIOS chip, or other markings... that way it would be easier to pin point what hardware piece is actually installed... or take a hires picture of the mainboard and case connector etc. and post it on photobucket or ImageShack...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[wahnula]

My one contribution to BBB's excellent list is that the common color is usually white, which counter-intuitively leaves white as the (-) connector on must boards I work on. They say you can tell when you're getting good at PC building when all the lights & switches work properly the first time you turn on the PC...as long as you don't anger the PC-building gods by screwing the case shut first...they hate that!

Give them their respect and never fully assemble a case without knowing everything is A-OK with a power-on test first.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[jlockley]

LOL. My cases remain open for weeks at a time. Letting the gods breathe. Thanks all.

I set up the ASUS board in a cheap Coolermaster case (I would have paid more, but it is small and light) with a 500W PSU. Coolermaster has odd USB connectors (two tabs with an extra ground, which I can't quite figure out)but I have high hopes. When the replacement ACER Board gets here, I Will just close up the pirated case and put it aside for an emergency or someone fro the neighborhood who wants one for their kids.

 

[jlockley]

I checked the Aopen site, and this is none of the boards shown. I suspect that it is created only for this particular ACER Model. One of the other annoyances is that it comes with only two dimm's --and 1gb of ram, so upgrading would mean buying the entire amount.

 

[jlockley]

btw, this would be the model as it was

http://www.thenerds.net/ACER.Acer_A...d=8&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=APFHUD4400P^~^ACER

 

[BadBigBen]

drats, my quote messed up... that's what you get when ya gotta type with a foreign keyboard...

I could not find any mention anywhere who the manufacturer of that mobo is...

so short of you taking a picture and posting it, I would have no clue where to look...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."