Hardware Analysis - Questions on mobo connections

Re: Questions on mobo connections

john albrich — 2008-01-23T07:19:54-05:00

Raynor said:

I read speakers are not polarized... can anyone give me a second? (I figured out the rest of the wiring... gonna go finish up and just curious about the speaker)

Again, it depends on the mobo and the "speaker". The "speaker" can be an

1) actual audio speaker
2) a piezo "element"
3) a piezo "beeper"

A piezo single-frequency "beeper" actually contains circuitry inside the "speaker" module, and is definitely polarity sensitive.

If you don't know which type you have, then observing polarity is the way to go, even if you find out later that you didn't have to.

Re: Questions on mobo connections

Raynor — 2008-01-23T03:12:23-05:00

My SPEAKER connection has only two wires, while on the mobo there is three pins. What is the orientation?
+5VAC
Empty
NC
SPKJ
is what the mobo lists and the SPEAKER line I have is just the two outer connections, wires are yellow and black.

I read speakers are not polarized... can anyone give me a second? (I figured out the rest of the wiring... gonna go finish up and just curious about the speaker)

Re: Questions on mobo connections

Raynor — 2008-01-23T03:05:53-05:00

I apologize. Last time I posted I had three responses in 5 minutes. You guys set the bar too high

Also my puter is sitting in pieces and it looks so sad... need juice but I can't give it any till the cables are hooked up proper.

john albrich said:

Raynor said:

Come on guys... I need your help!

Only waiting 30 minutes before insisting on a response tends to turn some people away from helping.

You can also Google search for just about any arbitrary online manual for other motherboards. Each manufacturer has its own way of labeling things.

If you can't find an online manual for your mobo and/or case, then find one that does.

For example, go to the Gigabyte webiste for this mobo and you'll be able to see how they do it.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Manual_Model.as...uctID=1766

Since each vendor may have an unusual and unique method of identifying the pins/connectors, it's usually best to get the info direct from the manufacturer website or via their support (if they have support)

Re: Questions on mobo connections

john albrich — 2008-01-22T17:28:17-05:00

Some GENERAL observations. Note: each manufacturer can deviate from convention. These connections do NOT follow a standard..they follow a convention which is much less strict.

NC
Generally means "No Connection". Such a pin is usually not connected to any active circuitry. They are often used to "polarize" the connector by blocking a specific socket or some other manner. This helps ensure you don't plug in the connector upside-down, or 1 pin offset, etc. It basically performs the same function as the physical "notch" on a hard drive IDE connector. However, because this is "convention" you should verify how the manufacturer is using this pin.

"Speaker" connector
The "speaker" connector often contains more pins on the mobo than wires on the actual "speaker" connector (e.g. 3 pins, 2 wires) Again, this is a polarization scheme intended to ensure the speaker connector isn't connected with reverse polarity. So, even though the mobo connector may contain 3 pins, only 2 of them actually apply to the speaker circuit. Again, because of convention, the case speaker connector may or may not have a 'plug' that blocks the 3rd polarizing pin...so it is up to the user to ensure the connector polarity is correct.

Individual-single pins/connectors
Here, the user should trace back the wires to the device. For example, if you want to verify some connector is for the "power" LED, you have to trace the wire back to the "power" LED on the case panel. LEDs are polarity sensitive.

Re: Questions on mobo connections

BoT — 2008-01-22T08:28:57-05:00

the manual for the mobo is easy to find on foxconn's website but the labeling for the case
is not as clear to me

Re: Questions on mobo connections

john albrich — 2008-01-22T07:18:46-05:00

Raynor said:

Come on guys... I need your help!

Re: Questions on mobo connections

Rory Witham — 2008-01-22T03:34:42-05:00

I WILL REPLY INLINE, But before I do.. read the manual. I know cases dont have them but still the motherboard should have a install lable and which pin dose what and give a reference to it. - so you should see them twice in the book..

Foxconn Mars lists the F_AUDIO connectors as:
MIC_IN ||||| MIC_GND
MIC_POWER ||||| +5VAC
AUD_OUT_R ||||| AUD_RET_R
NC ||||| EMPTY
AUD_OUT_L ||||| AUD_RET_L

The connectors I have are:
MIC_IN ( if you have audio in/mic jack on the case it goes in here.)
MIC_POWER Not required for most mic's
GROUND The black wire
L-OUT The manual should tell you which is the + and which is the - they normally follow the ground as -, These are for the front speaker sockets of the case.
L-OUT
R-OUT
R-OUT

The repeats are daisy chained on the same wire.

MY questions: What is the NC and should I put L-OUT into AUD_OUT_L & AUD_RET_L or just OUT_L (the same for R-OUT) Dont know.. Earth/ground, Negative current?

Second question: My SPEAKER connection has only two wires, while on the mobo there is three pins. What is the orientation?
The boards 3 or four pins are normally for the optical drives. they have a white outer mount. the speakers go on the back. the case speaker goes below by the looks of it.

+5VAC
Empty
NC (blk)
SPKJ (yellow)
is what the mobo lists and the SPEAKER line I have is just the two outer connections, wires are yellow and black.

ANOTHER QUESTION:

Front panel connection on mobo lists:
HDD LED (HDD LED)
PWR LED (+)
RESET SW (RESET SW)
PWR SW (PWR SW)
NC (-)
EMPTY

I have:

and two 1 pin connectors labelled + and -.
I'm guessing those are the PWR LED wires. Anyone confirm?
As above

FINAL QUESTION:

Fan connectors: Is there any reason to use one over another? (I have my PSU fan wire and three choices:NB FAN, FAN1/2, and SYS_FAN). Should I just pick the most convinent?

No, the fans will fun with Bios, so the CPU fan must onnect to the CPU fan or a fan with a speed line on it. If you dont the mobo will not start as you will have cpu fan failure.. if the board talks it will tell you that. so use the right one, it should be quite close. Should be fan 1. case fans are SYS fans... NB is the north bridge chip. if its not got a fan then dont worry about putting one on it.

Re: Questions on mobo connections

Raynor — 2008-01-22T02:59:25-05:00

Come on guys... I need your help!

Questions on mobo connections

Raynor — 2008-01-22T02:21:34-05:00

Foxconn Mars lists the F_AUDIO connectors as:
MIC_IN ||||| MIC_GND
MIC_POWER ||||| +5VAC
AUD_OUT_R ||||| AUD_RET_R
NC ||||| EMPTY
AUD_OUT_L ||||| AUD_RET_L

The connectors I have are:
MIC_IN
MIC_POWER
GROUND
L-OUT
L-OUT
R-OUT
R-OUT

The repeats are daisy chained on the same wire.

MY questions: What is the NC and should I put L-OUT into AUD_OUT_L & AUD_RET_L or just OUT_L (the same for R-OUT)

Second question: My SPEAKER connection has only two wires, while on the mobo there is three pins. What is the orientation?
+5VAC
Empty
NC
SPKJ
is what the mobo lists and the SPEAKER line I have is just the two outer connections, wires are yellow and black.

ANOTHER QUESTION:

Front panel connection on mobo lists:
HDD LED | PWR LED
RESET SW | PWR SW
NC | EMPTY

I have:
HDD LED
RESET SW
PWR SW
and two 1 pin connectors labelled + and -.
I'm guessing those are the PWR LED wires. Anyone confirm?

FINAL QUESTION:

Fan connectors: Is there any reason to use one over another? (I have my PSU fan wire and three choices:NB FAN, FAN1/2, and SYS_FAN). Should I just pick the most convinent?

Thanks for all your help guys