A small observation: with the correct polarity of the LEDs, the inscriptions on the connectors will be outside. The speakers operate on alternating current, so they do not have polarity in the usual sense. However, the polarity is often marked on the speakers. The fact is that the speakers in multi-channel systems must be correctly phased, otherwise the sounds from different speakers in antiphase will cancel each other out and it will sound really wrong. Therefore, on the speakers there are conventionally plus and minus inscriptions in order to connect them correctly. If there is only one speaker, it doesn't matter. There are also buzzers with a built-in generator, polarity is important for them (but they are not used in ordinary computers). By the way, that small black buzzers are not piezoelectric. Although they have some design differences from conventional speakers, they are still dynamic, with a coil and a magnet.
Thanks for this. Not all headers have anything printed on them. :) On speakers, I was very careful to caption "The front panel speaker does not have a polarity", and this is true. This is an educational video, and it would not have improved clarity here to explain that speakers do have a polarity when fitted in stereo pairs to avoid them being out of phases. On the buzzers, I stand corrected. Thought I've certain fitted (and once opened up) one that was piezeoelectric.
+1 speaker wired in the incorrect polarity will be out phase. the way to tell is that the positive terminal should make the speaker cone move forward, use an old 1.5 volt battery.
I'm really glad that like 99% of manufacturers have the layout of these standardized nowadays, it was such a nightmare having to manually do each pin. Audio ones were the worst, because cases would commonly use different terminology than what the mobo manual said. X(
So many channels on RU-vid showing how to build your own computer but they always seem to gloss over the front header panel hookups and procedures. Nice to see this channel still provides education on topics that might be viewed as alittle outdated but yet to many of us who grew up with older desktops remember the fun(sarcasm) in getting all these lead correct. Thank you!
25 years of this rubbish and the manufacturers still haven't managed to agree on a 'standard' . Even if they had to use a proprietary dongle to a standard case connector.
The mention at 10:14 of using speakers from old electronic devices was great and adding that idea with salvaging front panel cables from discarded PC cases and soldering them together is a cheap or in many cases free way of making a PC beeper/speaker. I made one myself via that method as I like hearing those POST beeps that bring me back to the Althlon XP computer my family had when I was younger. They've been very convinent too as budget motherboards often don't have the segmented LED displays that display error codes during the POST process. Had to make a separate comment for that additional engagement for the algorithm overlords and to not lose the heart from you Chris. Keep up the nice work with these very informative videos!
These connectors are a hangover from the last century. PCs I built in the mid-90s had the same connectors. Amazing the industry has never standardized on a single large connector for these.
This has always been the most unpleasant aspect of computer building as far as I'm concerned. For the most part, I connect the power switch and call it good. But I admire you and all of those out there who take the time and effort to hook up everything.
I teach English in my own school in Minorca Spain and I have a couple of students studying I.T. Your videos are the perfect exercise for polishing their comprehension. Congratulatios Chris
This is by far the best video on the given topic. Very detailed and simplified for everyone to understand. Ytb influencers can also watch it to learn how to make an educational video
You have put a lot of effort into this very useful video. Thank you sir. You should bask in further kudos because you managed to make what could be a very mundane subject highly enjoyable.
About 3-4 months ago I performed a motherboard upgrade (the motherboard didn't work ;-;) but I remember being very stressed about the front panel connectors, and now I know that for the most part, it doesn't matter, thanks
I was dealing with this last night at like 12am as I was building my roommate's PC into the night. The timing is perfect haha! Sleep deprivation made this particular part of the build the most nerve wracking part of the process, moreso that worrying about the cpu cooler pipes colliding with the heat sinks around the CPU socket, and was compounded by the fact that I had already rested the motherboard snugly in it's new case. I got it all hooked up though after consulting the physical manual many times
Before that it was far more difficult. While you had the same front panel connectors for the most part. The switch was connected directly to the power supply. But you also had to set up the motherboard as well with jumpers and switches for things like system speed, IRQ, COM, etc. I was so glad when they finally simplified those settings and incorporated them into BIOS. Some new motherboards will supply a header for you to attach the front panel connectors to and then plug that header onto the motherboard making it even easier. Another great video and explanation of the front panel connectors.
I was so pleased when my newest board came with a small rectangular plastic plug, that you connect all the front panel wires to outside of the case, and pushed the block in all at once. That should be the standard I think.
However this is a problem. Putting an older motherboard that doesn't have that 10-1 standard plugin. The previous MOBO that I have has a 20-8 pin layout and I can't connect with out breaking up the connector pins.
Chassis intrusion is an interesting one. Once worked on a large "MoD" site with many thousands of Compaq desktops. The BIOS was configured on each to talk to a Syslog server so if any of the cases were ever opened it would be logged with the unit serial number. As asset tracking was super tight it only took a quick lookup to find out who the unit was assigned too. I think some NHS trusts also do similar.
Excellent video & well explained, loved the cgi. I was lucky in my 1st PC build (2011) the case connector (front panel) was in one complete block so no connection issues, I did consult the manual for the F-panel header first & it seemed quite straightforward. I've learnt something new & I didn't realise that the polarity of some of the connectors don't actually matter, one to remember for my next build. I've got a box of old PC components stripped down from a windows 98 machine, you never know when they'll come in handy, it must be the generation that I come from, don't throw owt away! I see Stanley the knife edging into the shot good for him!! Another happy Sunday, thanks Chris :)
Very informative upload. Always wondered what is that little "sounder" thing, so it is a speaker. Good to see that I am not the only one with problems connecting those front panel connectors.
Building a computer brings back such happy memories for me. The young gamers weren't impressed with my build, but it was cheap, it worked, and I made it myself.
I got into building when i was younger. My friends all had cars unlike me, and went to the beach one summer, leaving me alone. I read books on computer repair and building while they were gone. When they came back, i knew how to build and repair computers.
I built my 2nd PC ever last week and this was one of the most confusing part, this video would've been so helpful if I caught it earlier, very interesting educational piece.
I was also nervous about connecting up the front panel when I built my first machine. Oh how I wish we'd had the internet back then. I can't believe after all these years they haven't got around to making a better, standardized, connector for the front panel.
I miss the Turbo switch and LED we had on old AT cases, and the corresponding front panel connector pins for them, that we had on AT motherboards. :( There also used to be a key-lock switch on the cases and some front panel connector pins for that. PC cases used to have that switch so that a PC could be "locked off" by its owner. The key lock switches were usually very cheap things - and gave about as much security as a paper bag. :)
The turbo switch was desireable on the AT clones which ran at 8, 10, or 12 MHz so one could turn down the speed. Many programs wouldn't run acceptably at such high speeds.
I recall a few years ago that some motherboards came with a front panel block - a block that was fully labelled - you just had to plug all of the connectors into this block, and then plug that into the motherboard. It made plugging everything in so much easier as you didn't have to try and squeeze your hand in the case to plug the connectors in. It really is something that should be fully standardised by now however.
Thanks so much for this Chris, my nephew bought me an NEC PC and asked if I could fix it up for him for college. All of the connctors were unplugged and I was totally lost as to where to start, but with your help it is up and running (on windows 8 unfortuately) 20 years ago NEC used their own weird BIOS but the connector explanation really helped us out! though most stuff was usually from Taiwan in that era, Japanese companies liked to do things differently... the machine is now helping him with wonderful things like MS word ! (In Japanese).
Very well explained, professor. It only lacked to say, as far as I remember, that the white cables are the negative ones and the colored ones, the positive ones. Excellent video!!! 👍
@@ExplainingComputers Yes, very true. Although it is more common to see white cables as negative in electronic gadgets that were opened and sometimes repaired, I see a more common tendency for manufacturers to use this color than black. Years ago, from what I observed, I think there were more black cables as negatives than white ones. I don't know if it's because of cost. White even in paints is cheaper and more abundant. Anyway, thanks for your answer and excellent video, Professor. Sincerely. :D
Super tutorial video! When I was building my PC, I always wondered if the motherboard speaker wires had a polarity; I wish I had seen your video to learn that it does not.
Great Video! The front panel was such a problem for me years ago, when I frankenstiened some old PCs from garage sales as I couldn't afford new parts, some of the older MoBo had no labels on the FP and I couldn't find manuals online. I Still have a front panel switch from a 2004 E machine tower bc it was helpful for figuring out old pin outs. I love how you reduced the circuits to the simplest form to explain. Once again a great video.
You are the most sophisticated and informative person in techy world. When teaching these things nobody's stand a chance against 🧐you and I'm saying with 17 year's of experience if it validate my point😅. God bless you Sir🙏
When I built my first PC two years ago the old front panel connectors were the ones worrying me the most but I referred to my manual, took it one step at a time and the rest is history. I really do enjoy this channel, I learn something new every video. You take something as simple as front panel connectors and make the subject interesting. It really is fascinating to have the intimate workings of simple things explained. This is part A that goes on part B for example but why is it important? How does it do it and why do we need it? You answer those questions and make it interesting. Thank you.
The Mac had a much more pleasing "ding" sound. But a lot of us grew up with the PC's jarring "beep". I suppose that IBM thought the "beep" sounded more "businesslike". As in "BEEP. Time to go to work." But, of course, they did not know that many of us were playing King's Quest in the office, with the special "boss key" ready to bring up a spreadsheet at a moment's notice. Ahh.. The good old days of 1984 :-)
Excellent video! It explains what the front panel header(s) are and how to hook them up very well. These days, it's just about the most fiddly thing we still have to do to install a motherboard, other than installing a processor, so it's very helpful to have advice like this.
You are a genius in explaining and your explanation is so easy to understand. The reason being you speak clearly, without over complicating the terminologies and thanks to you I have a much better understanding now of the front panel pins of the motherboard than I had before.
Thank you for your good explanation of these things. I just upgraded a old PC with a new motherboard, RAM and CPU. And yes I was worried about the front-panel headers. But a bit of reading in manual and some common sense helped me and after some errors I managed to set it up properly. I wished I had watched this video before, would have saved me some time.
Thank you very much, it's been a while since I've build a new PC and now is the time... your video is very well explained and quickly reminded me how to do it properly :) Cheers
JFP1 for my Asus x570. I have been watching this channel for more than 8 years and although there are very few things talked about that I already don't know, I still enjoy them for some reason. I do wish they would standardize these pins so that a single plug can plug into them or individual connections like they currently are.
This video is a public service thank you. I have salvaged a motherboard from an OEM PC and the board does not have the print out for the front panel and since it is an OEM build no motherboard manual seems to exist either! But now I know polaritiy doesnt matter for power so hopefully i can just trial and error without too much fuss and everything should be okay.
Really enjoy computer building videos and one of the reasons I first subscribed to your channel years ago. Things have changed so much over the years that I'd love to see you do the same type of explanations for How to Choose memory, soundcards and various types of SDD and such. Thanks for the video.
A nice nostalgia trip. I only connect the power switch nowadays. My RAM has red LEDs which are more visible then a tiny front LED. My nvme SSD is never fully utilized because software can't keep up. Lastly if something goes wrong my motherboard has debug 4 LEDs to indicate the problem.
Oh, goody! What a lovely coincidence that I was just finished cleaning my old PC I left at my parents' house. Terrible food splashes, humidity, cat & human hair, dead skin, the whole deal. It has got a Gigabyte 990xa, Phenom 2 x4 and the very same Zalman cooler! I was always into strange, futuristic looking cooler designs, even though almost all of them would perform terribly and bend easily. Thankfully, this is the only cooler that survived without much damage, and it actually performs rather well.
Thanks so much for this video. I'm building a computer for the first time and I learned so much here. I'm now able to finish building with reassurance.
This brings back memories... Cannibalising old PC cases for their power and reset switches and LEDs. One non-standard feature of front panel connectors, or at least of motherboards, that irks me is how some don't support making the power LED flash when a PC is in standby. It doesn't seem to be related to the price of the board, either.
Thank you. It clears up a lot of confusion, regardless of being used to it. Even following the instructions can still be a nightmare on quirky motherboards!
Whenever I plan a new PC build, the case to mobo connectors are always the part I dread the most. In the past I've sometimes had to deal with a mobo that assumed a different standard. But I have learned that the Speaker and the Reset plugs are the ones that are important to orient correctly, if memory serves.
Another great and useful video, Chris! By the way, I quite like the collection of salvaged speakers. That reminds me of my little box of things salvaged from a couple laptops that had gone to silicone heaven.
@@ExplainingComputers Yeah! A good chunk of my box is salvaged hard drives that I'm hoping to revive someday, including the one in my beloved old Acer laptop; wrapped in bubble wrap too! I just want my old pictures and Sims 3 files back, man. 😭😅
@@Praxibetel-Ix it's been a while, I collected a lot of old floppy drives, cd rom drives, a few speakers and beepers, IDE cables, unfortunately I recently had to dispose most of them but extracted some motors from the cd rom drives
I think its astonishing that in the last 40 years PC motherboard and case manufacturers haven't got together and agreed on a standard connector/layout for this function, as every other connector on a motherboard has. Its not like its a rapidly evolving part of PC technology either, the front panel connections on a 1990's PC are pretty much the same, with the possible exception of the disappearance of the "Turbo" switch and LED!
Thank you very much for this video. I've been building PCs and tinkering with PCs for years and the front panel header still gives me tons of anxiety. I didn't know that the reset, power on and speaker have no polarity, and that's why it doesn't matter how they're plugged in!
I remember at least one case (pun intended) where I had to separate a bundled pair of switches to make them fit. I think it was the speaker that had a 4 pin connector with only two pins populated and they were next to each other while the motherboard had them separated. It is easy to change something like that with a paperclip or pin. Perhaps worth a small followup.
Hey What's Up Front, Doc? Really Enjoyed This One & I've Got Boxes Of Crap Piled Up From The Early '90's, Too. Your Sunday Morning Lectures Are Almost Therapeutic For Me, Thanks Man!
Front panel connectors have always been one of my least favorite parts of a PC build. Thank you for the information on where polarity matters and where it does not - I thought I was just on a great streak of guessing :-)
An extra thing to note that is interesting: While not necessary, the OS or program could send beep signals to the PC speaker, this could be for notifications, pop-ups or errors in standard applications (like in early windows when no soundcard was present (and sometimes (although very rare) in modern windows)), sound FX in games or even music when applicable by some games or music software. One good example of beeper music is from the recently released Area 5150 demo for the stock IBM PC 5150 (4.77 8088 CPU with CGA) which makes good use of the beeper while also having amazing visuals.
FastTracker II, a music tracker for DOS, actually has a function that lets you play the music through the PC speaker, and if you have a fast enough CPU, it actually sounds quite good, and has a decent sampling rate, even if it ends up being quiet!
Very nice and instructive as usual ! Let's now mix together your two main topics, and have a Raspberry Pi Pico (wi-fi) connected to those headers, so you can turn your computer on and off from the Internet !
Great idea, and maybe monitor the fan speed, temperature and prepare for a remote session. there is actually a dedicated device to perform such a thing (with some more advanced tasks), I think it's called IPKVM and I see it on Jeff Geerling's channel.
a super fun way to explain it the CGI is neat and clear and clean i have seen the header connectors in computers before and i was like what are these for and now i know what they are for
This part of putting a computer together has always been the bane of my existence. Spending what seems like hours trying to get these tiny jumpers that I can barely get a grip on over the pins. At least you don't have to do them on every drive or expansion card you install now. Yet some folks still swear plug and play doesn't work.
This is very informative for me. I'm using old hardware to build a retro (2007-2009) PC and I am using a MSN P7N SLI motherboard and while I know the JFP1 and JFP2 connectors to a degree from the PDF manual I downloaded, this provides a bit more of insight. Thank you.
During ancient times until earlier 2000's, it was an headache to wire the front panel even it was just for buttons and leds. Some motherboards had too many pins in a single block, some had pin headers scattered, .. and we had to check the manual or pay attention to the writings printed on the motherboard. Fortunatelly someone came up with a simple 5x2-1 header so we can group the buttons and the leds and this header was pretty much the same for all manufacturers. Usb headers were always the same. 4x2 pin headers but there a little of fear to hook the wires, we needed to pay attention to the markings or the pin 1 that meant 5v. They then added an extra pin that basically ground was next to that pin and some manufacturers used this pin as detection, such as HP. Sound header didn't change much either.10 pin block with less one. We needed to check the manual unless the pc case already had a keyed plug for audio. HDAUDIO introduced an headache cos the audio jacks needed to be compliant.
Some of the new motherboards still have a COM or LPT port on them but just as a motherboard Pin connector. I installed a back-plate onto a comp that had the ribbon cable plug running to an old 9 pin RS232 plug harvested out of an old 486 computer into a modern comp giving it a COM port to hook on a old device with a RS232 port for programming.
Excelent video !... I really appreciate the details as the color coding or the posibility the power led to be 2 pins in 2 pin array or 2 pins in a 3 pin array (with a blank intermediate)... Thank you for dealing with all those details.
Interesting, because the speaker in early days was your BIOS diagnostic tool (number of beeps indicated certain errors) but these days modern Motherboards has "Doctor Debug" Led display (showing the error number, or a flashing sequence of LED's) that now accomplish the same thing.
I've had to hook these up by feel as I'm blind, it's not easy! I wish the PC industry would come up with a better, single connector that contains all required connections. It really is about time for such a thing. :)
Very nice video... again !! Please note that some headers have a small triangle molded into them, exposing their positive attitude ;) May help sometimes to get the + from the - , even there's no consequences at all as you rightly pointed out. :)
Very useful information, especially regarding polarity. Standardization is overdue in this area of motherboard design. Add one of those speakers to the pc component section of your Amazon Storefront.
One problem I have ran into is when replacing a brand name motherboard with an aftermarket one. The layout of the front panel switch connectors are usually all one connector. Trying to decipher which wire is which can get tricky, as the wires to each switch/light are sometimes the same color. And the front panel switch unit can be self-contained. I even came across one that had a different layout for the USB connections. The missing pin was on the opposite side. Not to mention the front panel audio plugs.
Reminds me of my darkest memories One day I was making a basic upgrade for my PC, HDD to SSD and barely touched the connectors, next thing I know, PC wouldn't turn on from the case, I already knew it was these little buddies! Best thing, it was dark and I needed to install my OS before tomorrow :D
Nice video. I thought you might want to also mention that these days, motherboards (at least some of the better ones) will include a little separate pin-out plug so that you can connect all of the jumpers to it first, and then plug it onto the motherboard pin-out so you only have to plug one big thing onto the motherboard and makes the process easier. It seems pretty common these days on all the mobo’s I have used.
I had one PC with a small block all labelled that you could connect the wires to, then simply connect the block to the motherbooard. Well that worked great IF the pins on the MB matched the same layout as the block, now as mentioned below it would be great if all MB's had the same layout but not all do. It would also halp if these pins were more easily seen, because once inside the case they can be hard to see what you are doing plus harder to connect them as well.
