matching wires from connector to aux.usb header on motherboard.

[wayward]

This is my first visit to any forum so I hope I do'nt seem to much the fool. My problem is this. I recently purchased an ECS ( elitegroup ) K7VZA ver 1. motherboard from a local computer store. I wanted to use the additional usb2 aux. header on the board. So I purchased the Belkin usb port adapter, part number F3U001, because it has the 2 connectors with 5 pins each which = 10 pins, that seemed to be the right configuration that I needed. But I had no referance point to go by on the board as to which pin was what, so I called the store where I got the motherboard from and ask the tech how I should connect the Belkin connectors and he said to try them on one way and if it did'nt work to turn them around and try them the other way. I also ask if this would harm the board or the unit I was going to install on those aux. usb ports too, (That is if I got the connectors wrong then tryed them the other way ), and he said no it would not harm anything. So I followed his tech advice . I ended up with a burnt board! Amazingly it still works. Just not the usb aux.header. So I took my business elswhere an purchased my replacment K7VZA from an online source and I'm still in need of some help on the aux. usb header connections. I got the aux. usb pin assinments from the motherboards web site at, (www.ecsusa.com/usbk7vza.cfm ), which I wish I had done in the first place, but did'nt know it was there. And then I got info. from the Belkin web site, (www.belkin.co.uk/support/faq/f3u001.html), on which wires are for which pins. The aux. usb header pin out assinment on my motherboard is as follows: 1st row of five pins from the top, down = pin 1 VCC. pin 2 OC. pin 3 DATA0-. pin 4 DATA0+. pin 5 GRND. 2nd row of five pins from the top, down = pin 6 GRND. pin 7 DATA+. pin 8 DATA-. pin 9 OC. pin 10 VCC. Both rows are the same, just reversed. And I know which pin starts row 1 thur 5 and which pin starts row 6 thur 10. Now for the layout of the Belkin connectors, and remember, 2 connectors with 5 pins each, first connector = pin 1, red wire, +5vdc. pin 2, white wire, DATA-. pin 3, green wire, DATA+. pin 4, small black wire, GROUND. pin 5, larger black wire, GROUND. The second connector is the same layout, red,white,green,small black,larger black wire, in that order. So my goal is to shift the wires on the Belkin connectors to match the correct pins on the motherboard, which is no great feat in it's self, it's just knowing what order they go in. And I do know not to cross the wires from one connector to the other. In other words keep the same five wires together on the same connector. Now, it's only common sense that the red wires, +5vdc, on the Belkin connectors, go to pin 1VCC and pin 10VCC on the motherboard header. And that the white wires, DATA-, go to pin 3 and pin 8 DATA- on the motherboard header. And that the green wires, DATA+, go to pin 4 and pin 7 DATA+ on the motherboard header. But now here's where I get a little unsure of which wire goes where, probably because I've already burnt one board and do'nt wish to make it two. I'm left with the GROUND wires. One small black ground wire, and one larger black ground wire on one of the Belkin 5 pin connectors and the same two wires on the other Belkin 5 pin connector. I do know this much because I cheked with an ohm meter. The larger black ground wire ends or grounds to the Belkin bracket shell which in turns grounds to the computer case when it is installed and screwed into place. And the smaller black ground wire follows the usb cabling all the way thur to whatever device there is pluged in at the other end, printer,scanner,ect.ect.. I know that one of the Belkin ground wires needs to go to pins 5 and 6 GROUND on the motherboard, but is it the small blak wire, or the larger black wire. Plus I believe that whichever black wire is left over may need to go to pins 2 and 9, which are marked OC, or do they? Maybe you just leave it hangin? So I called Belkin tech and they said they could not tell me, that I should call the motherboard manufacturer. Which I did and they said I needed to call Belkin and ask them. So now I know when I'm getting the runaround and decide to see if I could find the information on my own. So I go back to the motherboard web site and look at the other boards they have and found that on other boards that are marked with OC on the aux. usb pins it is discribed as being the (over current detect) which =OC. And I found in the knowledgebase at the same web site that this question had been floating around awhile and that one person, not tech support, just another guy from Germany, discribed the OC as being the cable shield and it was the larger black ground wire in his computer case. But is this right?, I say to myself. So I call back to the tech line at ECS and finaly after no returned calls and no e-mails for a month I finaly got to speak with a real tech at ECS. And he agreed that the OC is for the over current detect. So I ask him which black wire goes on pin 2 and pin 9 =OC, the small black ground wire or the larger black ground wire and he says he ca'nt tell me which because there is no standard for the wires, which I find hard to believe. So I ask him which ground wire should go on the pins marked GROUND, pin 5 and pin 6. Which I believe to be the system or some say the signal ground and he says he ca'nt say. Then just when I think he's got it. He says the larger black wire goes on the OC pin 2 and pin 9, then he says no if it's for over current detect then you would want to put the smaller black ground wire on the OC pin 2 and pin 9 so if there is a over current the smaller wire would pick it up quicker.( confused yet? Check this out ) And he says put the other wires vcc,data-,data+ where they should be and to try just the black ground wires one way and to switch them the other way if they do'nt work. And that it should be alright since they are just the ground wires and not the voltage wire or the data wires that i'm swicthing. Sound familiar! Thats the same advice that already burnt one board. Well, maybe not the same but simular enough. Do you think I'm going to do that? NO SIR! Thats what brings me here. Maybe someone here has already solved this problem or maybe someone might have an ECS board with the same Belkin braket I have and they might look inside there case and tell me which way it works for them. Or maybe there might be someone from a motherboard manufacture or usb cable manufacture who knows the answer to my questions which is which ground wire goes to which pin assinment. Does the larger ground wire, that stops at the braket shell go to pin 2 and 9 thats marked OC= over current detect or do'es it go to pins 5 and 6 thats just marked ground. Where do'es the smaller ground wire go, pin 2 and 9 =OC, or pins 5 and 6 ground. Maybe one of them is just left hangin. Who knows? I sure do'nt. Niether do some Motherboard manufatures or usb cable makers and some computer store techs. Now that, I do know for sure! Been there,done that. SO! TO AUX. USB,OR NOT TO AUX. USB. That is the question. Are there any takers. Do you have the answers that I seek. Than please fill free to speak up. I'm always willing to listen. P.S. Sorry for the lenghty short story. I just figured this was the only way to completly discribe the problem in full. P.S.S. I can only type 14 words a minute, so you can see this was no fun for me and not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening. But if I can get the correct answer, then it was worth it. Thanks in advance to all who try to help.

[morriswindgate]

I do not know if this will help you or not. You can remove the wires from the plastic connector by using a pin to lift the retainer (the flat plastic piece on the plug) and then arrange them according to the connector map you got for the board.

[BlindFish]

I had a similar problem to you but with an Abit KG7 motherboard...

Look at this thread:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=27134

(sorry don't know if there's a better way to link to threads... maybe I should check a FAQ somewhere?)

Obviously it's a different mobo and not a Belkin USB port adapter but you may find something here that helps... I did manage to get it sorted thanks to help I received here so at least it should reassure you that you're in the right place!

[wayward]

I want to thank morriswindgate and blindfish for there input to my aux. usb problem, but alas, my quest continues. Moveing the pins on the connector is really no problem. It's just knowing where to put the larger black ground wire and the small black ground wire. And true the Abit board has similar pin arrangment, it's knowing where on my board that I should use the larger black ground wire, that grounds to the computer case, and then connects to pin 2 marked OC, which is suppost to be the Over Current Detect pin and then put the smaller black ground wire on pin 5 marked ground. Or is it the reversal. Or, maybe I just hook up one ground wire up and leave the other one hangin. But I do agree that I think that this is probably the place to find the answer to this puzzle. If anything, my typing is diffently improving. I think I'm up to 15 words a minute. Oh well, I still appreciate anyone who takes the time to read all of the info. that I could provide in the original posting and then try to help me out. I know it looks like alot to read but if you click on the links and look at picture for the motherboard usb pin arrangment and there assinments and then click on the link to the picture for the belkin braket and it's discription of the wires, it pretty much narrows it down to where you can see the problem. It's just getting the right information in order to proceed with the modification to the Belkin braket for it to mate up to the Aux. usb header pins on the motherboard. So thanks and keep tryin. And if I find the answer I'll be sure to pass it on to you guys, and gals, here at PC MECHANIC.Later

[bailey]

on my motherboard the two headers connectors also have a extra black ground wire and no place to connect it, so I just left it free space, not connected, no effect detected, all works fine.

[wayward]

Good Day Bailey. O.K. Lets see, Hmmm, I'll need alittle more . What board do you have? How many pins on the usb header? How many connector pins on usb port braket? What type of usb braket? What are the pin assignments? Are any of the usb header pins marked OC? Do'es the wire that you left off ground to the braket or do'es it follow the cableing all the way thur from the usb header to the device it is attached to, like mouse,camera,keyboard ect.ect..? Do you use those usb ports for high speed or low speed devices? My apologies if all this sounds alittle foward. But this information is necessary. It's important to get specifics. Like how many pins on the header and connector. If there is four header pins and five connector pins, then there would be an extra wire. And which ground wire is it, the power ground or the shell ground. Plus I found some info. on this web site and it has a PDF file on Unversal Serial Bus Specifications. And it shows two diagrams of usb wiring, but only on the cables, not on header pins or there discriptions. Which is what I really need. But, it do'es have some useful info. Like those two diagrams I spoke of. One shows a diagram for low speed cabling and the other is for high speed cabling and the low speed works with just four wires and the high speed works with four wires and a extra drain wire. That makes five wires. Which is what I think I'm looking at. Go here: ( www.usb-by-example.com/ ). Click on REVIEW USB DOCUMENTATION. You will need Adobe AcroBat Reader to continue from here. Click on USB SPECIFICATION V1.1. From there acrobat takes over. When it says, DONE, you will need to page down to see it or it will just look like a blank page. Plus the pages load in at a time. But if you use the navigation pane bookmarks you can go alittle quicker to these pages. I printed them out for future referance. Go to these pages. Chapter 4.2 document page 17, Chapter 6 document pages 73 thur 82, Chapter 6.6 document page 90 and Chapter 6.7.1 document page 102. The rest of the 300 or so pages are alittle to deep for what I'm looking for right now. But the pages that I refered to do help in my search alittle bit. Anyway, thanks bailey. If you can provide some of the details of your board and some of the other specifcates above, well like I said before, I'm always willing to listen to someone trying to help out. Thanks, Wayward

[wayward]

Well, seems that I have stumped the band. Lets try a different appoach under a new thread. Look under FORUM, PC HARDWARE, ECS K7VZA MOTHERBOARD OWNERS. Let talk AUX. USB2 connections.