USB card connectors

  I want to replace the USB.v.1 card in a Compaq Presario
7000CA with a USB.v.2 card.  The problem is their connectors.

The old USB card has
1.  A standard 4-wire power supply, as  used for CD drives.
2.  Nine-pin plug (of a type I have not seen before)
connecting to the two front-panel USB jacks.

The new USB card has
1.  No extra power supply;  presumably it gets power
from its PCI plug-in slot.
2.  One USB jack, presumably to connect jacks
(like the custom 9-pin connector on the old card.)

Is this 9-pin connector peculiar  to Compaq or just a
discarded standard?  I am doubtful what to do next.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

 

On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 09:04:08 -0500, "Don Phillipson"


Yes





No, any front-mounted case USB uses a similar arrangement
with a pin header.  However, your Compaq might use a ribbon
cable instead of a round USB2 capable cable, may not work so
well at USB2 speeds.  You might try it anyway with the
ribbon cable to see if it works ok but you should confirm
that it has a standard pinout, which it probably does since
it worked plugged into a separate USB card.  If you have no
documentation for the Compaq or the USB card specifying the
pinout you are then left tracing the circuit using
continuity setting on a multimeter.




Presuming you have two USB ports in front of your system not
one, you have no way you can get two from the single
internal jack on the USB card.  If you can accept having
only one work, you could get a special adapter cable or make
your own to adapt the USB male plug to the compaq USB cable,
but it would be as cost effective (since USB2 cards are
quite cheap) to just buy another USB card that has the
internal pin header instead of internal socket.
Http://www.newegg.com has some with the pin header, look
through the pictures of their USB2 cards to find them.  If
the pinout on the old card were non-standard as mentioned
above you would still need to adapt that somehow but you
have to start somewhere.

IMO, an easier solution might be to just buy a USB2 hub for
*front* USB port access, leaving it sitting on  the desk and
connected to the USB2 card's case rear port.  If you did
that I suggest getting one with it's own power supply to
support more, higher current devices than a bus-powered hub
would.  Again newegg is one place you can find these and if
the spec's don't mention the power supply you can look
through the product pictures to see if it comes with one.

 

wrote:


There is something else *possibly* important that I'd
forgotten to mention.  On some Compaqs (can't recall about
that one) some of the supporting discrete components like
resistors were on the USB daughterboard which holds the
jacks and is screwed into the front panel metal module for
mounting.  This might mean (I am not familiar enough with
USB subcircuits  to know for certain) it could be a problem
using that daughterboard connected to a USB card because the
USB card would have to be built to support jacks that are
just extensions across a length of wire(s).  I mean the USB
card might duplicate these resistors and the signals might
end up at too low a level.

Since the front USB jacks were already working with the USB1
card it seems less likely this would be a problem but it is
curious that the system had the front panel ports hooked up
to a USB card at all instead of a motherboard pin header, as
all the Compaqs I recall which had front panel USB did so in
order to support the motherboard features... an OEM usually
isn't looking to start adding addt'l cards for features like
this as it adds to the build cost, particularly when the
board would have had rear panel USB ports anyway unless it's
far far older than I think it is.

In my prior reply I'd mentioned you might be able to build
or buy a cable to adapt your present card's socket to the
existing front panel pin header.  "IF" the issue I mentioned
above is not a problem (re: redundant resistors on the
daughterboard) then here is an example of a ready-made
product you might use to connect one of the two ports to the
card though again you should confirm the pinout on the
daughterboard to be sure you have the pin socket on this
cable configured correctly (if wires needed moved, taking a
tiny knife blade or needle to barely move the cable
connector's wire retention tabs will allow moving the wire
positions as needed).  It is a bit funny that I have written
so much about USB ports as some of this is easier to do once
you have the concept in mind, that to comprehensively  write
trying to cover most possible scenarios.

You might want a shorter cable than the following, they may
offer these on their site as well but I've no idea how long
it needs be, probably about 25-30 cm but that's just a
guess.
http://www.frontx.com/cpx505.html

 
This is exactly what I need.  (Never looked at USB cards
closely enough to notice some have 9-pin connectors and
others connect via USB cable.)

(No ribbon cable:  Compact connects from USB card to
front panel jacks via all 9 separable wires.)


Noted but my wife's desk habits suggest it impractical.

I am grateful for your informed help.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

 Don Phillipson wrote:

This card is one of the few, with two internal USB2 ports
arranged on 2x5 pin header. There are also two external USB2
connectors for the back of the computer. The chip on the card
is a VT6212L from VIA, which is not the best brand of chip.
But the card does have the advantage of having two internal
ports.

Koutech USB 2.0 PCI (2xExt+2xInt Header-pin) Model IO-PU222 - Retail  $10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201008

These items from silverstonetek.com give a drive bay solution
for added connectors. I selected the black color for these two,
because there doesn't seem to be an example of a FP51 in white
on Newegg.

SILVERSTONE SST-FP32-B Aluminum USB/1394/Audio Panel ( Black ) - Retail $14
This is a 3.5" drive bay housing for USB and other ports.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813999356

Silverstone SST-FP51-B Black Aluminum front panel, steel bracket - Retail $15.40
3.5" to 5.25" adapter to hold the FP32. Slightly convex and not a
flat surface on the front.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999043

What an FP32 looks like, when stuffed in a 3.5" floppy hole, without
using the 5.25" adapter. The door that covers the ports, comes with
that particular computer case, AFAIK.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/ReviewImages/SilverStoneLC17/LC17ports2%20 (Medium).JPG

Frontx.com is another source of high quality front panel solutions.
Their solution consists of a framework, and modular assemblies you
stick in the frame. That allows a custom collection of front
panel connectors to be fitted. A bit pricey, if you fill one up.

http://www.frontx.com/detail6.jpg

A Frontx dual USB module, fitted with internal 2x5 header connector.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx108_2.html

If you're good with a Dremel tool and can hack appropriate shaped
holes in the computer case, you could buy just a cable assembly
and do the rest yourself. This particular assembly is kinda useless,
because it has two external connectors on the other end. PCI USB2 cards
generally come with just one internal connector suited for this kind
of solution. You'd need two USB cards, and I don't know how well that
works.

http://www.frontx.com/pro/p108_036.html

You could also take the cpx108_2 apart, and fit that to the computer case.

HTH,
    Paul