Old EMachine mobo-new case

I'm moving an old EMachine T4200 motherboard (more info here) in to a new case. The MB has a USB header that is 12 pins with pins 5 & 6 keyed out. Pin 1 is black, pin 3 is red, 5 is keyed out. 7 is pukey yellow, 9 is blue, and 11 is white. Pin 2 is empty, pin 4 is red, pin 6 is keyed out. 8 is pukey yellow, 10 is blue, 12 is white. I'm trying to hook up the front panel USB in a new case to this header. I'm pretty sure the header is USB 1.1 but I'm not sure, and since the header isn't standard colors or a standard layout, I have no idea how to hook it up to a standard USB 2.0 header from the front panel of a new case. Any takers?

 

Hi Dlb,

I just changed the MB in an EMachine case. The USB header is 10 pins with pin 10 omitted. Sometimes only 8 Pins. The wires are 1=RED, 2=white, 3=greem, 4=black. No wire in 9 or 10 (Key). I really doubt the header in question is USB. Try their site. Sounds more like the Maybe you can get the user's manual.

EDIT: Just looked again. The header you are working may be the front audio header. My case has front USB and Audio. Colors and pins almost match your description.

Good Luck, Jim

 

The pinout you're describing is standard USB 2.0. I know the color order is Red/Wht/Grn/Blk. That isn't the problem here. Well, that's not the main problem.
Again:
I have an old motherboard from an old EMachine. The board is fine. The EMachine case was not, and the owner wanted to move the 100% functional hardware in to a modern case. The new case has a standard front panel 2port USB connector. The wires from the front panel USB connector need to be connected to the motherboard. The EMachine motherboard has a non-standard USB header. I know most motherboards have an 8pin USB header or a 10pin header with pin 9 keyed out. This is standard USB 2.0 and I know how to hook that up. The EMachine motherboard USB header has 12 pins with 2 pins in the middle keyed out (pins 5 and 6). I looked at the cable in the old EMachine case that plugged into this non-standard header and it has a non-standard color code (not Red-Wht-Grn-Blk) and the wires are in a non-standard order (see my first post). So- I'm trying to connect the front panel USB in the new case (standard USB 2.0 color coding) to the USB header on the old EMachine mobo (non-standard color coding; non-standard pinout). I hope this clears it up a bit more....

(thanks for the help jlphlp, but it wasn't quite what I'm after The header I'm working with is the USB header; it is plainly labeled 'FUSB1_2' and the Audio header is about 3.5 inches back and also plainly labeled FAUDIO1; no offense intended, but I know my way around a PC and motherboard LOL)

 

What about moving the actual plug from the old to the new unit? I've operated on a few usb's in my day and sometimes its possible to melt a little plastic to to replace with another. Even if you have to super glue the thing in or use some of that epoxy putty or resin, as long as its long enough, sometimes a physical approach can solve a mental problem. The only other thing I can think of is to destroy the old plug to identify which wire goes where on the actual plug. Since usb connections are in a straight line, if you can't get the pin placements for the old wire maybe you can get it for the case and after identifying the old figure out the order.

Another method would be to do a direct comparison using an ohm meter set to ohms or continuity and identify each wires color with that of the pin placement inside the plug. Its a sticky wicket but using an alligator clip and a piece of paper clip as a small probe
to plug into each wire in turn, then the other meter probe to test inside the plug you should be able to id the order. There are only 4 connections inside a USB female plug so excluding two wires on one pin, an eight wire setup should be for two plugs. Also since every usb I have ever seen has a metal casing the actual ouside of that case as well as the plug could be the 12v negative or ground (its never come up for me) and might be used as a shield and negative power at the same time. That would leave just one of the internal pins left for positve 12v power and the remaining three for data transfer etc. So testing any of the wires to the metal case would also be appropriate (a total of 5 connections for each plug, four internal pins and a case ground but the case ground would be common across a set of two plugs for a possible 9pins instead of 10).

Are you flollowing what I'm getting at here?
I hate proprietary. Its all about greed.

 

:celebrate PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!
I found a manual and it turns out that not only is it a non-standard USB pinout, the header also uses a non-standard numbering system :confused Headers are usually numbered with the odd numbers on one side, and the evens on the other. Not this time. It runs 1 thru 6 on one side, and 7 thru 12 on the other side, with pin 7 being opposite of pin 1. So this means that instead of pins 5 and 6 being keyed, it's actually pins 3 and 9. :hammer Wow. Without finding the manual/schematic, I probably NEVER would have got this figured out (even with a multimeter Thanks Appzalien!)
If anybody gives a :crap, this motherboard manual can be found here (direct link to PDF file).