Front ports for audio & firewire

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

So I built this machine for a friend. He wanted an Asus MB & a P4-3.2 blah
blah blah.....
He selected a case with front USB, Audio & Firewire. I told him that the
MB he wanted did not have Firewire on-board & he would need an add on card
which we purchased.

So I go to connect it all, the Firewire cables from the case do not have an
standard connector, only the wires that go to Firewire headers on MBs that
have them. No headers like that on the adapter card. I am unable to
locate an adapter to be able to use these loose wires with plastic
connectors on the ends & plug into a standard Firewire port. This can't be
the 1st time this ever happened to someone. Any suggestions?

The audio..... I can connect it up fine & it works, but then the back
ports do not. My friend wants to be able to use his fancy speakers & then
use the front ports for his fancy headset when it gets late. I called
Asus on this one & they told me that the case hookups do not support this
function with this MB as it requires a "loop-back" system to the case (from
the MB audio headers) to the front audio & BACK again to the "b" audio
headers on the MB. Anyone ever see a case that has that?

Thanks in advance!

regards
Joe S.
 
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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 08:16:40 -0500, "Bruin"
<bruinwarBLAH@BLAHexcite.com> wrote:

>
>So I built this machine for a friend. He wanted an Asus MB & a P4-3.2 blah
>blah blah.....
>He selected a case with front USB, Audio & Firewire. I told him that the
>MB he wanted did not have Firewire on-board & he would need an add on card
>which we purchased.
>
>So I go to connect it all, the Firewire cables from the case do not have an
>standard connector, only the wires that go to Firewire headers on MBs that
>have them. No headers like that on the adapter card. I am unable to
>locate an adapter to be able to use these loose wires with plastic
>connectors on the ends & plug into a standard Firewire port. This can't be
>the 1st time this ever happened to someone. Any suggestions?

Get a different firewire card if you can find one with
internal pin-header. Otherwise you could take a firewire
cable, cut off the end and solder the appropriate pins onto
it, or just use a bay mounted I/O panel that has firewire &
other ports, having it's own firewire connector for
connection to the card (so the case's firewire port goes
unused).

>
>The audio..... I can connect it up fine & it works, but then the back
>ports do not. My friend wants to be able to use his fancy speakers & then
>use the front ports for his fancy headset when it gets late. I called
>Asus on this one & they told me that the case hookups do not support this
>function with this MB as it requires a "loop-back" system to the case (from
>the MB audio headers) to the front audio & BACK again to the "b" audio
>headers on the MB. Anyone ever see a case that has that?
>
>Thanks in advance!

Perhaps the amp on the speakers has a phone jack that will
mute the speaker output?
It might be possible to put a different audio jack on the
case, one with a pair of normall-closed switch contacts is
what you'd need. If you're not used to hacking at PCBs and
using inventive ways of mounting non-compatible parts (like
using epoxy) then it's probably more trouble than it's
worth, opposed to using a speaker amp that does mute the
speakers when the headphones are plugged in. I don't recall
which cases do this.
 
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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Hi,
Someone already suggested this: go to frontx.com, they have the desired
cables you are looking for (connecting an internal firewire port to the
front end (4 pin) header. That's what I did.

Regarding, audio. I have the same problem with my Abit va-10. I set the
jumpers so that the back audio ports work. My solution for a front
accessible headset was to buy a usb headphone/microphone headset.

Vic
 
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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 08:16:40 -0500, "Bruin" <bruinwarBLAH@BLAHexcite.com> wrote:

> I am unable to
>locate an adapter to be able to use these loose wires with plastic
>connectors on the ends & plug into a standard Firewire port. This can't be
>the 1st time this ever happened to someone. Any suggestions?

I'm not sure exactly what you need, but take a look at http://www.frontx.com
they have plenty of connectors, and a wealth of info on the site.


--
Chris Pollard


CG Internet café, Tagum City, Philippines
http://www.cginternet.net
 
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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 17 Jan 2005 10:46:13 -0800, "victorng"
<victorngthowhing@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>Someone already suggested this: go to frontx.com, they have the desired
>cables you are looking for (connecting an internal firewire port to the
>front end (4 pin) header. That's what I did.
>
>Regarding, audio. I have the same problem with my Abit va-10. I set the
>jumpers so that the back audio ports work. My solution for a front
>accessible headset was to buy a usb headphone/microphone headset.
>
>Vic


That's how almost all motherboard audio works, a double row
of pins which needs two jumpers connected to complete the
curcuit to the rear output jack. It was unfortunate that
some case manufacturers decided to omit such a basic support
for this.