I have recently 'built' a computer. When I mean built I mean replaced every component from my old computer except for the case and the RAM, which in retrospect was a dumb idea, but I am short of cash and working on a budget. Problem is, after assembling everything I turned it on only to find my computer would not boot. I have traced the 'bug' to my front panel connector cable on the motherboard. Because I am using a case that was made for a specific motherboard and has proprietary coming out of its butt(thanks HP), the front panel connector is all bundled together and is arranged in a plastic connector but its arranged in a way that is not compatible with the motherboard connector. So my question is, should I cut off the connector on the wire and directly wrap the individual wires around the motherboard pins, should I try and pull the wires out of the connector and rewire it, or should I just buy a new front panel connector. Thanks in advanced if you need any more clarification I am happy to answer.
I wouldn't buy that kit at that price but it should do the job nicer than any cutting and patching of existing cables. Go routing around inside some old PC's and steal the reset switch if its got the proper standard layout compatible with your the new motherboard (leave the power switch alone if you can especially if its a working PC) for a quick and 100% cheaper option.
Can you give us a photo of the front panel connector cable head from a couple angles? Its sometimes possible with the right tweezers to get the contacts free from the plastic block and rearrange the layout. The plastic tabs holding the contacts in place are really easy to break but it sometimes you can free them without destroying the plastic.
So I managed to rewire the front panel connector by popping up the small plastic tabs as Kromsligo said but the computer still won't boot. I even went as far as taking out the entire front panel wire and tracing each wire until I was completely sure which wire was what. I also made sure that every connector connected to the motherboard is in tight, the outlet was working, etc. So either I have overlooked something incredibly stupid or my motherboard or psu are dead.
if you disconnect all front pannel wires from the mobo header, and just short the powerswitch pins on the board for a second,(with a screw driver, offcourse dont toutch other pins be carefull with that..!!!) does it boots then?
Ok Yes I have indeed done something stupid... So I jump started it like you said and it did not turn on and by chance I flipped open the motherboard manual and the page happened to be the motherboard layout. I looked at the panel connector for kicks and giggles I guess and what did I see? The correct wire arrangement. Long story short I was plugging in the power ground to the reset ground which was directly adjacent to the power terminal. The actual power ground was below it right next to the reset terminal so I flipped them because the diagram did not specify which ground was which. So by jump starting the wrong terminals did I just short-circuit my mobo?
well switches don´t have polarity, only leds do HDD led and power led.
if you check your manual, then you see which pin is which, you probably did not short out your mobo. i guess. a switch is a switch it has no polarity.
If i was you i would take everything out of your case, lay the mobo on its boy, instal 1 stick of ram, reseat the cpu + cooler, install gpu, connect the 24 pin atx power connector to the board and connect the 8 pin cpu power connector to the board. and fire it up outside your case. by shorting the power SW pins for a second.
If there is totaly nothing happen, then you could check if there is maybe a bios reset jumper which is placed in the wrong direction. you can find that in the manual aswell.
If still nothing happens big chance of a doa mobo, or dead psu. but probably mobo.
Sorry for such a late reply but I have been doing finals all week. The mobo in question is an asrock FM2A88M extreme4+. And for the test bench would using the box it came in be a good idea? I think I might have heard Logan talk about doing that. And also could I place the psu on a regular wood table?
