Dell Dimension FP Pinouts J9G1 - Revisited

Hello Folks,

I found this site by way of an internet search, seeking a way to mount a Dell Dimension 1100 or 3000 motherboard into a standard (e.g. non-Dell) computer case (easy) and hook the front panel USB wires to the Dell motherboard (very difficult).

Thus far the online Dell documentation has been completely opaque when it comes to wedding one of their products to a non-Dell product.

While Dell does provide a pdf manual to its Dimension 1100
http://www.andovercg.com/datasheets/...-1100-b110.pdf

and does refer to the front panel USB board connector as J9G1, it does NOT provide a key to it's proprietary / non-standard USB pinouts / pin assignments. Check CVS Ad on WeeklyAds2.

For a discussion on just what I mean by standard USB pinouts or pin assignments, please turn your hymnals to DIRECTRON
http://www.directron.com/installusb.html


DELL's cable coming from the 2 front USB ports terminates to a 10-pin connector:

(Looking INTO female Front Panel USB, board connector)

TOP = Green, Black, Orange, Red, Brown

BOTTOM = NULL, Black, Gray, Yellow, White

Not being officially trained in electronics, I have ventured to use a multimeter to test the connections in the hope that someone who IS trained in electronics can use the results to give us all the answer that Dell seems to have been hiding from us:

how do we hook up their boards to regular front panel USB connectors?

First, here is the proprietary cable that comes with the Dell Dimension 1100.

Methodology:

A salvaged USB cable with an exposed set of wires on one end, was plugged into what would be the front port USB sockets. A standard safety pin placed inside the board-end pin socket (see figure ).

The connection between the salvaged USB cable and the board-end of the Dell Front Panel Connector was tested at the 20K Ohm range.

One end of the circuit consisted of a standard set of USB wires: Red, White, Green, Black and Black.

The other end of the circuit consisted of the different colored wires representing the proprietary DELL Front USB board connectors. As you can see by the photo, this was a keyed, 10-pin connector, with the lower, left-hand pin socket filled in, from the perspective of looking into the connector with the key located at the bottom.

Not being learned in electronics, I did at least compile a list of results of Multimeter readings, comparing the standard USB connections versus the proprietary DELL USB connections and placed the results in two matrices. One for the Top USB connector, and the second for the lower USB connector.


Digital Multimeter Readings

Generally, the Multimeter gave one of three kind of readings when the leads were placed across the ends of the circuit: Erratic (E) by which I mean the numbers on the multimeter would constantly change; a simple, steady reading of the number one (1) or an Erratic reading with a Negative symbol (-E).

I placed the results in the two matrices, hoping that someone more schooled than I in electronics can interpret the results and provide a determination as to how a Dell Dimension 1100 or 3000 board should be connected to the Front USB panel wires of a non-Dell case.

Here are the Digital Multimeter test results, placed into two matrices, comparing connections between a standard 5-wire USB connector (2 black wires) and the multicolored wires used in the Dell Dimensions' J9G1:

I am certain that DELL case modders everywhere will thank whoever solves this mystery.

Thanks in advance.

J.R.

this is inspiring me to rip apart one of the dells i have at home this weekend. i don't know what mobo's are in them, but i'll compare the FP board with what you have there. i've been thinking about using the mobo's in something else and obviously would need to know that pinout for sure.

I have had a slew of Dells and they generally seem to be a hybrid of Intel boards, but with proprietary connectors, such as front panel button boards, sound cards with unusual connectors to the main board and the same for the USB connectors.

Another appears to work with drivers for an Imperial GL_VE or a variation thereof.

The machine described above is almost ready to go but the front panel media readers and USB ports cannot be safely connected until those USB pinout question is resolved.

I had hoped that some company would come up with a digital or even LED type USB port tester, which you could plug in to any port tested without fear of damaging the board or the device.

I do know from past experience that the standard USB pinout => Red - >White -> Green-> Black (->Black) is ignored by Gigabyte, which uses a completely different pattern (see the DIRECTRON link above).

That DELL would do this is vexing, but not surprising. At one time at least, they had been doing something like this with their power supplies. Even though the power supplies and their connectors looked like any standard PC PSU or connector, mixing a non-DELL PSU with a board would kill one or both, since the pinouts were different.

Evidently, they did NOT want folks to mod their cases -- at all. Just use it they way you bought it, then throw it away.

I may have stumbled onto the answer to my own question. I will start off with the Standard USB pin-outs, and add the known exception (Gigabyte) and then arrive at what may be the answer to DELL's proprietary USB pin assignment format.


Standard Pinouts

http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml


http://www.directron.com/installusb.html

DELL MANUALS OMIT PINOUTS!

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...ut.htm#1189371





Old Dell Pinouts from Pinouts.RU

http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/usb_internal_pinout.shtml




And this MAY be the answer..

(the internal Dell FP USB / Sound connector cables)



And this, found on the really cool Russian site, PINOUTS.RU:

Dell Dimension 2350, 2400 internal USB & Speaker connector pinout
20 Pin Front panel USB, Speaker (Optional MIC) Proprietary

2..................20
1..................19

Viewed from the top (connector) side of the motherboard.

http://pinouts.ru/Motherboard/dell_d...b_pinout.shtml

Further explication of the Dell proprietary 20 pin connector and mods needed to make it work with Non-Dell gear. NOTE CAUTIONS!

Jumpering needed.

Success.


CAUTION: - Double check your own work with your own continuity tester, and double-check the pinout for your particular board. Make this modification at your own risk.


Here is a different, but similar Dell front USB header, along with front panel to internal sound card connector.

The original Dell colors for the USB header were, as described above, non-standard.

Working from the front ports, which are standard - R / W / G / B - , I used a simple continuity tester to establish which Front USB port contact corresponded with the Dell-proprietary colored wires.

Since the board being installed was made by Gigabyte, I had to make sure the translation took into account the Gigabyte layout, which, while not standard, is at least widely documented, also see above.


The modified, Dell-to-Gigabyte color key was as follows:


[From top, Left to right, key at the bottom]


Top Row

BLACK NULL ORANGE RED BROWN


Bottom Row


GREEN YELLOW GRAY NULL BLACK

NOTE: if you keep the keyed DELL connector you will have to drill out the filled-in number-10 position connector slot. Also, the White DELL USB wire seemed like it was also a power (VCC or Red) wire. Rather than cut the contact off as surplusage, I folded it back, covering it with electrician's tape for safekeeping.


The modified internal connector was double-checked against the Gigabyte layout and then installed.

It functions normally.


For a STANDARD USB connection, the translation key was as follows:


TOP ROW - STANDARD

RED (VCC1) WHITE (D-1) GREEN (D+1) BLACK (GND1)


TOP ROW - DELL*

BROWN YELLOW GRAY BLACK





BOTTOM ROW - STANDARD

RED (VCC2) WHITE (D-2) GREEN (D+2) BLACK (GND2)



BOTTOM ROW - DELL*

GREEN ** RED ORANGE BLACK



* DELL does not keep it's connectors separate, top and bottom, but mixes them. For simplicities' sake, I have just listed the colors as they ended up. The pattern seems to be one connector top, the other three, bottom, and then reversed for the other USB port.



** The WHITE, GREEN and BROWN wires all corresponded to the Red VCC wire.