Front panel connectors

The motherboard User's Manual will contain a layout diagram showing its various components and connectors. In this case, the pin header for electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs is identified as J2.

This comprises two rows of up to 11 pins.

Front Panel Connectors

The jumper definition is shown in the following table:

Switch Jumper setting
GN
(Green Switch)		 Open: Normal operation
Close: Entering green mode
GD
(Green LED)		 Pin 1: LED anode(+)
Pin 2: LED cathode(-)
HD
(IDE hard disk active LED)		 Pin 1: LED anode(+)
Pin 2: LED cathode(-)
SPK
(Speaker connector)		 Pin 1: VCC(+)
Pin 2 - Pin 3: NC
Pin 4: Data(-)
RE
(Reset switch)		 Open: Normal operation
Close: Reset hardware system
P+P-P-
(Power LED)		 Pin 1: LED anode(+)
Pin 2: LED cathode(-)
Pin 3: LED cathode(-)
PW
(Soft power connector)		 Open: Normal operation
Close: Power on/off

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Power Connectors

The power switch, reset switch and speaker connectors should occupy the SPK, PW and RE jumper positions of pin header J2, respectively.


These connectors can be installed without worrying about the polarity.

LED Connectors

Connect the first two of these connectors to the P+P-P- and HD jumper positions of pin header J2, respectively.


Unlike the other front panel connectors, LED jumpers have to be installed with the correct polarity. This generally means that the pin designated as + is connected to the non-black connector.

The Intel Front Panel Connectivity Guide recommends the following design for electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs. If your motherboard is a recent design, it's likely it will be identical, or at least similar, to this:

IFPCG Front Panel Connectors
Item Pins Description
A 5 and 7 Reset switch
B 1 and 3 Hard drive activity LED
C 2 and 4 Power/sleep/message waiting LED
D 6 and 8 Power switch

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Last Update: Mon May 12th 2003