# Question on Front Panel Connections



## jcreel63 (Jan 20, 2008)

Had to replace my Asus p4b-lx mobo in my old Sony and got a BioStar P4M900-M4; the p4b had a 20 pin front panel connector but the P4M900 has a 16 pin. Have the power button (no ground needed?) the Power Led and the hard drive led (the cdrom shows on the same light as the hard drive but no biggie. My Question is can the mobo's speaker be simply jumped from the +5v connector to the speaker connector, i've read this twice now (one topic concerning notebooks. I've tried every other combination and still no BEEP at post! I'd rather have the speaker than the lights, anyway is makes sense that jumping the connections would work to complete the loop. Any advice would be appreciated, I've been at this since Jan 1st.


----------



## PuMA (Jan 20, 2008)

what i see on ur mobo's manual u have 4 pin speaker connection. first pin on the left being +5V
and the fourth being the ground. if u have only 2 pin speaker connector u can cut it half and connect it to the headers (nomatter wich way u connect the pins)  every connector needs ground and positive pins


----------



## Namslas90 (Jan 20, 2008)

If you have an unused 2 pin connector you can switch the wires by gently lifting the stop above the metal clip on the side and slide the wiire out and install it on a 2 pin connector.


----------



## PuMA (Jan 20, 2008)

or  cut the wires and re-attach them accordingly.


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 20, 2008)

*Thanks for the Responce*



PuMA said:


> what i see on ur mobo's manual u have 4 pin speaker connection. first pin on the left being +5V
> and the fourth being the ground. if u have only 2 pin speaker connector u can cut it half and connect it to the headers (nomatter wich way u connect the pins)  every connector needs ground and positive pins



Appreciate the responce! I've got the mobo's manual and the downloaded one also, the pin assignments are very clear. The problem comes from the translation of Sony's OEM version of Asus P4B-LX, I've downloaded the P4B's manual from Asus to compare (it's 20 pin). Per all info the PC should not boot without a power button and ground;  (Quick ref connector has 8 wires 4 red & 4 black alternating red/black/red/black, ect) Sony has only Red #1 to power button. When I connect this to Power button + ,PC boots right up. The next wire is Black #1 they have to IDE Led -, I connected to HLed -. Next wire is Red #2 they have to Power Led -, I connected to Power Led -. Next wire is Black #2 they have to SUS Led +, I connected to SLP +. Next is Red #3 (Unsure of this) they have connected to SUS -, when I connect to SLP - the machine acts like its receiving a signal from the modem and makes the Suspend lite blink and holds the boot process until I hit a key. I think this might be +5v but when connected to this the Lan line stay's active (light on mobo's lan stays lit when power is off, my other computers lights go off) so I connected to Speaker right pin. Anyway Next is Black #3, they have this to IDE Led 2 +5v (this is under IDE Led 2 on old mobo the +5v and next pin are not in the speaker catagory, speaker only has 2 pins left being ground per manual), when I connect B#3 to +5v all leds light when I plug the comp in and all go off when I power on. B #3 seems to ground the Power and H leds when I plug it into Hled + or Power Led +, no other wire will ground these so I guess they have a common ground, I connected to Power Led +.  Red #4 they have to IDE Led 2 right pin (N/C per manual) this I have connected to HLed +. This is because when it gets a signal the Drive light lights up. (the front panel connector has a power light and a hard drive light and a drive light) No matter how I connect both the drive and the cd drive both signal the Hard drives light. And lastly Black #4 they have to Speaker ground, I have to Speaker, #1 +5v(left) pin under speaker, no Beep. I've tried different combos for the speaker R3 & B3/ R3 & B4/ R3 & R4/ R3 & B2/ R4 & B4, ect. Any thoughts or reference material would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again

Oh yea, do you know the location of the mobo's speaker? I can easily find it on the old P4B and my new Sony's mobo but can find no reference to Buzzer or Speaker on the BioStar mobo or in manual diagrams.


----------



## Namslas90 (Jan 20, 2008)

Maybe this will help;


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 21, 2008)

*You're Awesome*



Namslas90 said:


> Maybe this will help;



Thanks Again! This may help. The old connection didn't have wires connected to RST or EXTSMI, they were to SUSLED & IDELED2 but this gives me more ideas on possible variations to figure out what Sony did.


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 21, 2008)

*Additional Info*

Attatched is the original connection layout (How the wires were connected to the motherboard) from the Front Panel Connector Switch (Sony SWX-66) to the Asus P4B-LX motherboard. As you can see they have no ground to power button and no + to the (2 pin) speaker. The +5v pin is located in the IDELED2's + position? And with the Red 4 going to IEDLED2 - that would make 3 wires between the IDELED connections or am I not grasing the concept? I thought each "catagory" should have a + & -, but AH Sony. Anyway just thought I'd provide a little more info for anyone who likes puzzles. It just drives me crazy I can't crack this! Oh yea, If anyone knows the location of the speaker module on the BioStar P4M900-M4 mobo let me know please. Thanks again!


----------



## PuMA (Jan 21, 2008)

honestly i have no idea ,what that sony thing could be. we usually just connect the case frontpanel wires to the mobo´s front panel connector


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 22, 2008)

*Sony Thing*



PuMA said:


> honestly i have no idea ,what that sony thing could be. we usually just connect the case frontpanel wires to the mobo´s front panel connector



The sony thing "is" the case front panel! Sony just makes it and it's model is swx-66. I don't understand the confusion, ALL front panels are made by someone. They are a button or buttons, Leds (lights) on a "circuit board" with wires from it to the mobo. I'm not trying to be smart here, you say  "we usually just connect the case frontpanel wires to the mobo´s front panel connector" , that path in reverse = from the mobo's front panel connection pins  to the front panel board (or switch). Both ends of the wire connect somewere, one on the mobo the other on the the switch (front panel). I just took the time to find out who made my front panel and its model #, I just thought this might be helpful so lets forget the make and model and just call it front panel switch.


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 22, 2008)

Guess this is dead


----------



## Namslas90 (Jan 22, 2008)

jcreel63 said:


> Guess this is dead



Not yet, just took a while, here ya go;


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 22, 2008)

*Thanks Again*



Namslas90 said:


> Not yet, just took a while, here ya go;



Can't wait to test this! I can't believe you wen't to all this trouble, it Is Appreciated. I've seen at leat 4 people (while trying to research) who can use this info and I'm sharing if it's Ok? Will report back w/results, again thanks!


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 23, 2008)

*Front Panel Picture*

This is a scan of the front panel off the computer w/its wires (loose ends connect to mobo)


----------



## Namslas90 (Jan 27, 2008)

Here's the final solution jcreel63 and I came up with;


----------



## jcreel63 (Jan 27, 2008)

*Above and Beyond*



Namslas90 said:


> Here's the final solution jcreel63 and I came up with;



Thanks for going above and beyond for this! Could not have done it without you.!


----------



## Cold Storm (Jan 28, 2008)

I know if I had that system I would be able to work that out nicely! great job man!


----------



## newbee88 (Dec 10, 2008)

*Please help me with same switch but different mobo*

im installing a ASUS P4T-M in place of the ASUS WMT-LX OEM sony mobo, that came in my PCV-RX370DS, the switch is a SWX-66 rev.101, looks the same as posted above, if anyone knows the proper wiring for this switch on this mobo, please help me out

thanks in advance for the help!!!!


----------



## hobbyhandle (May 21, 2009)

Wish I had seen this before I spent $70 on a new case and new PSU!
I was facing the exact same issue with a new Biostar motherboard and a VAIO RS600N case.
It is a beautiful case, perfect for a light duty PC for my kids, so I decided to just swap the slow/hot Pentium 4 it with a Dual Core, which of course needs a new 775 socket motherboard. Everything was going smoothly until the non-standard Sony front panel PCB threw me off. I even went out and bought some header/wire kits to build a adapter. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get power to the board. After reading this thread, I can see that the reason might be that I took the front panel PCB off the case (for convenience of connecting the wires) therefore the PCB was not grounded to the case anymore!


----------



## PlanetCyborg (May 21, 2009)

thats why i havent built my own rig the front panel stuff gets my so confused!!! maybe one day i will figure it out and build my own rig!!


----------

