Rewiring Motherboard Header Connections

3.3

POWER SWITCH / RESET SWITCH / HARD DISK DRIVE LED CONNECTORS

Connected to your front panel are LED and switch leads for power, reset, and HDD LED activity. Attach these to the corresponding connectors on your motherboard. Consult your motherboard manual for specific pin header locations. For LEDs, colored wires are positive ( + ). White or black wires are negative ( – ). If the LED does not light up when the system is powered on, try reversing the connection. For more information on connecting LEDs to your motherboard, see your motherboard user’s manual.

Front Panel switch leads

Note: Polarity (positive and negative) does not matter for switches.

3.4

There may come a time when you need to reconfigure the pin-out of a motherboard header connector. Examples could be for your USB header, audio input header, or some other front panel connector such as the Power Button connector.

Before performing any work, please refer to your motherboard user’s manual or your motherboard manufacturer's website to confirm the pin-out needed for your connector. We strongly recommend making a notated drawing before beginning work so that you can recover if your work gets disturbed.

Front panel headers

1.Determine which wires you need to remove in order to rewire your plug to match the USB pin-outs on your motherboard (refer to your motherboard user’s manual). Working on one connector at a time, use a very small flathead screwdriver or similar tool to lift up on the black tab located beside the gold posts (squares). This will allow you to easily slide out the pins from the USB plug.

2.Working carefully so as not to damage the wires, connectors, or pins, slowly remove the pin from the connector. Repeat these steps for each wire you need to change.

3.Working carefully so as not to damage the wires, connectors or pins, slowly reinsert the pin into the correct slot of the connector then snap closed the black tab that was lifted in step 1. Repeat these steps for each wire you need to change.