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Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting the PC Case Front Panel
With all the hardware installed correctly, follow these
steps to connect the internal cabling.
You will have noticed during the previous work, that the PC
Case itself has some cables. These are for the Front Panel
Display. These are usually labelled as the following;
-
SPK
- Speaker - Small speaker mounted in the PC Case
-
PWR SW
- Power switch - System power on/off
-
RST SW
- Reset switch - Reset system
-
PWR LED
- Power LED - Light shows when system is on (usually
green)
-
HDD LED
- HDD LED - Light shows when system is accessing HDD
(usually red)
-
SLP LED
- Sleep LED - Light shows when system is suspended (in
'sleep' mode)
Basically, these connectors slide onto a set of grouped pins
on the Motherboard. Owing to the many variations of
Motherboard, it will be necessary to refer to your
Motherboard manual for the connection method of these
cables.
Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting the Floppy Disk Drive
Use this cable to connect the Floppy Disk Drive to the
Motherboard. There should be a 'twist' in the cable next to
one of the connectors. This indicates that this connector is
for the first floppy drive in the system (Drive A:) Since we
only have one Floppy Drive, this is it. Also, the Pink
coloured wire in the 'ribbon' indicates Pin 1.
On the back of our installed Floppy Drive (use a
flashlight/torch if necessary) we can see a set of 34 pins
onto which this cable will fit. However, to ensure that it
is correctly fitted, we must locate pin 1 (the pink line),
and fit the cable such that the pink line is on the
left hand side
as we look directly at the back of the floppy drive.
Once this connection is made, locate a similar socket on the
motherboard (black, 34-pin socket) and connect the other end
of the Floppy Drive cable to this socket. The
Motherboard-end connection will be easier to make as it is
usually 'keyed' to ensure correct connection.
Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting a CD/DVD Drive
Almost exactly the same procedure is used here to connect
the CD-ROM. Take the wider, '40way Ribbon' cable and connect
one end (either will do - no twist this time) to the 40 pin
connector on your CD-ROM. Note this time that the pink line
must be next to where the CD-ROM Power connector is located.
The Power connector on the CD-ROM is a deep white socket
with 4 big pins inside.
Once the connection to the CD-ROM is made, locate the
specific connector on the Motherboard for
Secondary IDE.
Your Motherboard manual will help you find this. In this
case, the CD-ROM must be connected to the
Secondary IDE
socket. Again, the connector will be 'keyed' for correct
alignment.
Finally, if you have a sound adapter in your system, don't
forget to connect the CD-audio cable. Don't worry if you
don't have one, your local PC hardware store should have
plenty. Simply connect one end of the cable to the back of
the CD-ROM, next to the IDE cable, then connect the other
end to your soundcards 'CD-IN' connector. If your
Motherboard has on-board audio, the 'CD-IN' connector will
be located on the Motherboard somewhere. Check the
Motherboard manual for its location.
Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting a Hard Disk Drive
IDE Hard Disk Drives
If your Hard Drive is what is known as 'ATA33' type, then it
is connected in exactly the same way as the CD-ROM.
If, however, you have an 'ATA66/100' type, then the
connection procedure is still the same, but the ribbon cable
must be a special '80way' kind. '80way ATA66/100' cables
look similar to their 'ATA33' counterparts, but have 80
wires instead of 40. They often have colour-coded connectors
as follows;
-
Blue connector - to Motherboard
-
Grey connector - to 'Slave' Device
-
Black connector - to 'Master' Device
Note that connector colours may vary depending on
manufacturer.
In both cases, it is important to note that the Hard Drive
IDE cable must be connected to the
Primary IDE
connector on the Motherboard if it is to be the main/only
HDD in the PC.
S-ATA Hard Disk Drives
Alternatively, if your Hard Drive is a S-ATA type, then the
connections will be quite different. S-ATA uses a much
thinner ribbon cable. New S-ATA compatible motherboards will
usually have some S-ATA ribbon cables supplied in the box,
ready for use.
Use one of these to connect each S-ATA Hard Drive to the
motherboard connector as instructed by the motherboard
manual.
Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting the Device Power Cables
These will supply each device in the PC with its power
requirements.
Ensure that your PSUs connection to the mains socket is
switched off at the wall, and gather up the collection of
power cables from the PSU.
Each device will have its own power connector which will
receive a cable from the PSU. The HDD and CD-ROM will
generally use a
large connector each and the FDD will
usually use a
small connector.
If you have any other devices which require power, remember
to connect these also.
S-ATA Hard Drives
If you have any S-ATA Hard Drives in your PC, the you'll
need to connect power to these also. The S-ATA standard uses
a special power connector (pictured right). Newer PSUs may
already have the special S-ATA power connectors, but older
units will not.
Some S-ATA Hard drives allow you to use either a standard
large
PC connector or
special S-ATA connector (but
not both
at the same time.) If your S-ATA Hard Drive only accepts the
special power connector and your PSU doesn't have one, then
you can use an IDE to S-ATA power adapter (pictured left.)
Connecting the Internal Cables
Connecting the Main Power Cable
Once everything else is connected up, we can go ahead and
make the final connection - providing power directly to the
Motherboard itself.
Ensure that your PSU is disconnected from the mains wall
socket, and locate the main power connector cable from the
PSU.
AT Power connectors
The older of the two, this 'double' connector is found on
AT-type power supplies
In the case of the
AT-type
connector, make
sure that the four black wires go
side-by-side in the centre of the two connectors as they are
fitted to the socket.
ATX Power connectors
Newer type of power connector found on ATX power supplies
The ATX-style
connector is 'keyed' and should 'clip' into place when
correctly seated.
Congratulations!
If you have successfully completed the steps so far, you
have built your own PC! All that remains is to connect it up
and test it...
Connecting the External Cables
Connecting the Monitor and Speakers
Having completed your new PC, take some time to go back over
your work in the previous steps, and check that all your
connections are correctly aligned and secure, and that your
CPU, RAM and cards are all secure in their fixings. A
thorough check here can save a lot of frustration later on.
Proceed now by connecting the remaining devices, such that
you can power up and test the new machine. Position the PC
case such that you have clear access the sockets/connectors
at the back.
Monitor signal cable
Take the Monitor display cable, and connect it to the
suitable connector on the Video Card backplate. Use the
cable screws if necessary to fully secure the cable. Do not
worry about other connectors on the Video card at this
stage.
Speakers (if you have them)
Connect this to the 'SPK' socket. It can be found either on
your sound card, or if your Motherboard has a sound card
built-in, refer to its manual for the correct method of
connection.
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