Can my mobo support an internal card reader? Pics included.

[Go Tyler]

I just bought this front panel usb thing for my comp:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811998813


It came with a cable that looks like this:
http://tinypic.com/ilwolw.jpg

It is hard to see in the pic, but it goes from the card reader to the
motherboard somewhere. It has just 4 holes and it says VCC, D-, D+, and GND.
The instructions say to connect it to "the pin header of the motherboard."

Does the MOBO specifically have to support a card reader? I can't see where
mine does, although I see all kinds of headers that seem to go with this
cable. Here is my MOBO:

http://www.baber.com/baber/411/asus_p4s533-mx.htm

 

[Bob Knowlden]

Do you have a copy of your mainboard manual? If not, it's available for
download:

http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4s533-mx/e1221_p4s533-mx.pdf

The pinouts for the USB header are given on p. 1-19. It appears that the
header is intended for an auxiliary port that fits in a disused PCI slot
opening and provides 2 more USB ports, but you should be able to use it
differently if you desire. (I don't know how your connector is wired, to see
whether it would mate properly.) As you can see, there a 4 pins for each USB
port, all in a row: +5V (=Vcc), Signal - (D-, I suppose), Signal +, and a
ground. Either side should be usable.

I've used a USB header in my own system (Asus A8V Deluxe mainboard) with
front panel USB ports of my PC case. The connections there used individual
pins, though, rather than a 4 pin connector. It was a little awkward, but
not difficult.

If that doesn't work for you, I'd guess that the unit may also be connected
using the A/B USB cable that's pictured. The connection to the USB header
would be neater, though. The A/B cable snakes out of the case (through the
PCI slot cover, with hole, that's supplied), and plugs into one of the rear
USB slots. Ugly, but serviceable.

HTH.


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Go Tyler]

Thank you for helping. The thing is I have no trouble getting the USB port
to work. I just can't get the card reader to work. I guess I am sending this
back to newegg. See you later.

 

[Bob Knowlden]

I'm confused.

I believe that the reader uses a USB interface for its card reading
function. You say that you "have no trouble getting the USB port to work".
I'm not sure which USB port you're referring to. Have you gotten the card
connected to the mainboard via the USB header, or by the A/B USB cable to an
external USB port? (I don't know whether the reader requires power as well,
but my guess is that it does, probably from one of the Molex connectors.)

Sorry that I couldn't be more helpful. I don't own such a reader myself, and
I was unable to find a downloadable copy of its manual. (I use an external
USB reader myself. It hasn't given any trouble, and it takes no knowldege to
use it.)

Thank you for helping. The thing is I have no trouble getting the USB port
to work. I just can't get the card reader to work. I guess I am sending
this back to newegg. See you later.

news:[email protected]...

(snip)

 

[Go Tyler]

Thanks for your help. I just returned the product, and I have order an IDE
card reader. Forget this usb stuff. I got plenty of room for ide devices.

See you later.

 

[Gordon Scott]

I just bought this front panel usb thing for my comp:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811998813

It came with a cable that looks like this:
http://tinypic.com/ilwolw.jpg

It is hard to see in the pic, but it goes from the card reader to the
motherboard somewhere. It has just 4 holes and it says VCC, D-, D+, and GND.
The instructions say to connect it to "the pin header of the motherboard."

Does the MOBO specifically have to support a card reader? I can't see where
mine does, although I see all kinds of headers that seem to go with this
cable. Here is my MOBO:

http://www.baber.com/baber/411/asus_p4s533-mx.htm

did you load the drivers for the card reader?
btw the newegg link doesnt seem to work.

 

[Paul]

Just as long as the mobo has USB 2 headers
and the reader is USB 2, it'll work.

All you have to do is make sure you connect the wires
to the right pins from the reader to the mobo header.

Usually, internal card reader wires go from left to right.

ie: They're coloured red,white,green,black black (only one of the black
wires are used).

The black wire always goes on the 4th/5th pin like this.

o o o o o (sometimes the 5th pin isnt on the top row)
R W G B
o o o o o (the 5th pin is also never used, and left blank).
R W G B

Thats all you have to do. XP will read it as a removable disk. No drivers
needed. Unless you want icons for the slots, in which case, you'll have to
install the icons from the manufacturer's cd.

 

[Bald Guy]

I have this usb card reader, which is usb plugged into a Syba pci card that
has two usb headers on it:
http://tinyurl.com/8scxj

I have a front panel audio USB panel connected to my USB mobo headers. The
panel looks like this:
http://tinyurl.com/a9pnx

The front panel audio and its usb ports worked fine before I put in the card
reader. Now when I plug something into the front panel USB ports the
computer freezes until I get a pop up saying the disk needs to be formatted.
If I unplug the card reader, the USB front panel starts working again.
Obviously XP is getting confused, but I sure would like to know how to fix
it so that I can use both devices.

 

[Bald Guy]

Well, if I plug my usb webcam into the front panel usb, it works fine. It is
my thumbdrive that will not work when I plug it into the front panel usb.
When I plug my thumbdrive in, I get something saying the drive has not been
formatted, do you want to format it now. Of course, when I plug the
thumbdrive up to the rear usb port, it works fine.

 

[Paul]

Whats the mobo Bald Guy?

Does the mobo have a firewire mobo header?

And have you connected the reader as
in my previous post? red, white, green black on both
USB header rows, on the mobo?

And whats the PSU in the case? 300? 400W?? or more?

 

[Paul]

I should have also said, what else is in the
case? Like hdd/cd/dvd etc, why I asked how
many watts is the power supply.

Depending on what else u have in the case, and
depending on how many watts the PSU is, the PSU
may not be enough, if the PSU is less than 400W.

 

[Bald Guy]

The psu is 420w. I have one cd writer, one dvd writer, one hdd, an AGP card,
3 fans, no firwire on the mobo but the Syba card has firewire ports that I
don't use. The front panel audio plugs into the psu, so you would think I
have enough power. The thumbdrive works fine when I plug it into the back of
the computer's usb, so if it was a power thing, you would think it wouldn't
work there either. Also, my usb webcam works when I plug it into the front
panel usb, so it really does not seem to be a power thing.

I think XP is getting confused somehow.

 

[Paul]

The front panel audio plugs into the psu, so you would think I have enough
power.

Err what do you mean by the above?

What kind of connection has the front panel audio/mic got? (if the front of
the case also has a mic input).

Usually front audio plugs into the back audio/mic sockets
(if the front panel audio has/uses 3.5mm plugs), or like the ones on these,
they've got a front panel connector on the mobo, which looks like this. (or
similar).

Bline_Out_L o o - Line Out L
o - Not used
Bline_Out_R o o - Line Out R
+5VA o o - MicPWR
AGND o o - MIC2

Even tho there are 9 pins on the mobo for front audio, only the top, the
middle, Mic2/MicPWR/AGND are used.

 

[Bald Guy]

The front panel device has audio and 4 usb ports. There is a power cable
going from the device to the psu, another cable going to the audio header on
the mobo, and two other cables going to the usb headers on the mobo..

 

[Santa]

Well, if I plug my usb webcam into the front panel usb, it works fine. It
is my thumbdrive that will not work when I plug it into the front panel
usb. When I plug my thumbdrive in, I get something saying the drive has
not been formatted, do you want to format it now. Of course, when I plug
the thumbdrive up to the rear usb port, it works fine.

Swap the White and Green connectors.

 

[Tony]

The front panel device has audio and 4 usb ports. There is a power cable
going from the device to the psu, another cable going to the audio header on
the mobo, and two other cables going to the usb headers on the mobo..

You ever get this problem solved?

 

[Bald Guy]

Yes, this is what I did.

Here is one more method to try:

Hold down windows key and hit "r". This brings up the Run command line.
Now type the following command at a command prompt with the quotation
marks, and then press ENTER:
net stop "removable storage"

After your screen flashes and the dos window closes, plug in your
thumbdrive to see if that works. With removable storage, sometimes the
registry gets confused because it is looking for a device that was once
plugged in. And in the future, always right click on the "Safely Remove
Hardware" icon in the systray. Then stop the thumbdrive before you pull it
out.







You ever get this problem solved?