# Cable Management



## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Hi,

I've just started building my pc today, I placed everything except for the video card in and I'm up to cable management, but I'm pretty confused about what I had to do here. I've been watcing Newegg TV on how to build a computer but its confusing me since I have a different build to theirs.

My build is similar to the $1000 Intel Build (recommended by the forum):

Case: Cooler Master Elite 43
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H ATX Motherboard

Above where I put my disk drive, there is a USB cable (2 cables joined to 1 plug)... and also a single cable that splits into 2 plugs which says: HD Audio and AC'97

I also got cables coming from the fan - they say:
+P Led
-P Led
H.D.D. Led

And also 2 big white plugs which don't have labels.

I'm not sure where I should connect these cables and how to connect them, can someone help me?


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Each of those marked wire pairs attaches to pins in the header marked F_PANEL. The header is color coded to show which pins go together, and the manual should tell you which of those colors corresponds to what function. Connect the female connector attached to the wires to the pins marked in the manual. If any of them do not function correctly when you power the machine up, reverse the orientation of the corresponding connector the next time you power the machine off.

You can attach the USB cable to one of the 9-pin headers next to the F_PANEL header marked USB. The cable should have a single pin blocked off (keyed) so that it can only be inserted one way. If it does not, there will likely be one connection with no wire in it. That one goes into the corner of the header missing a pin. If there is no keyed pin and all ten connector spaces have wires installed, the side of the connector with two black wires is oriented to the side of the header which is missing a pin.

There is no audio header standard, so you'll have to look for that in the manual. The audio wires for the MIC_IN and LINE_OUT is along the same edge, but opposite side, as the F_PANEL and USB headers.

I do not know what the 2 big, white, unmarked plugs are. Are they connected to the front fan on the case? If so, there are SYS_FAN1 and SYS_FAN2 connectors at either corner of the edge of the board nearest the front of the case.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

> USB cable (2 cables joined to 1 plug) - Not sure of this one - possibly USB3.0 to 2 x USB 2.0 - post a pic
> 
> a single cable that splits into 2 plugs which says: HD Audio and AC'97 Audio - Use one or the other. not both. See your motherboard manual for placement
> 
> ...


See section 1-8, Pg 22 for correct placement of these connectors.

If you require assistance identifying any particular connector(s), post a clear digital picture here.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Do I connect HD Audio or AC'97 into the F_Audio slot?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

And I connected the CPU fan, but is Sys_Fan for the fan that comes with the computer case?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Ok I think I figured most of it out. Just a few more questions which I haven't figured out yet:

1. How do I connect the SATA cables properly? There are 8 places to connect the SATA cables looking like this from birds eye view:

[_] [_] [_] [_]

Each of those square things has 2 places to connect the SATA cable. The first one is white and the last one is grey. The 2 in between are black. I connected my Disk drive to the first one and the hard drive to the first one also (the white one). Is that correct or do I need to connect to 2 different ones?

2. When connecting the psu cable to the hard disk and hard drive, do I use 1 cable which has multiple sockets to plug them both or do I have a different cable for each one?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Have you read the Mobo manual? It will explain any differences in DATA connectors as well as all other connectors on the Mobo.
In general, Hdd to Port 0 or the lowest number. 
For power connectors you can use as you prefer........ they all do the same thing.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Also here's the image of the 2 big white cables:










I'm pretty sure I did it correctly by plugging one of them into the Molex connector of the PSU... but that leaves one of the white plugs remaining - what should I do with it? Nothing?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> Have you read the Mobo manual? It will explain any differences in DATA connectors as well as all other connectors on the Mobo.
> In general, Hdd to Port 0 or the lowest number.
> For power connectors you can use as you prefer........ they all do the same thing.


Yeah I read it but it was confusing and I wasn't totally sure what it meant.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The two white connectors are standard 4-pin Molex.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> The two white connectors are standard 4-pin Molex.


So did I do it correctly by connecting it to the black one from the PSU?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

It says on the manual: Each SATA connector supports a single SATA device.

Does that mean I have to use a different SATA connector for my hard drive and disk drive?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

freezeice04 said:


> So did I do it correctly by connecting it to the black one from the PSU?


Correct, the 4 Pin Molex on the PSU can be used for any device that has the corresponding connection, i.e. case fans.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

freezeice04 said:


> It says on the manual: Each SATA connector supports a single SATA device.
> 
> Does that mean I have to use a different SATA connector for my hard drive and disk drive?


Each device requires power from the PSU. You can use a single cable that has multiple SATA power connections for more than one device.
If the single cable with multiple connections will not physically reach the devices then a different cable is required.
Most likely you are referring to a single optical and Hdd. That "usually" requires two different SATA cables because of the long distance between the two drives. 
The power cables with more than one connection are usually for multiple optical or Hdd's that are located closer.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> Each device requires power from the PSU. You can use a single cable that has multiple SATA power connections for more than one device.
> If the single cable with multiple connections will not physically reach the devices then a different cable is required.
> Most likely you are referring to a single optical and Hdd. That "usually" requires two different SATA cables because of the long distance between the two drives.
> The power cables with more than one connection are usually for multiple optical or Hdd's that are located closer.


You misunderstood my question, but you answered another question I was doubting about 

What I meant was, on the motherboard there are SATA connectors, and each SATA connector has 2 slots. I was wondering if the 2 slots were meant for 2 SATA devices (the hard drive and disk drive) or I should have them in different SATA connectors.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Each SATA slot will accept/support one SATA device.
2 slots = 2 devices supported.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> Each SATA slot will accept/support one SATA device.
> 2 slots = 2 devices supported.


Ok I connected the hard drive and disk drive separately now - there's 4 of them so I'm not sure if it will make a difference which one I put in.

But anyways, I think I'm done building my pc and will test it soon  

I would also like to know if there's anything I need to make sure I've done correctly before testing otherwise it would cause damage to the pc if I turn it on.

Thanks for everybody's help  :dance:


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Any new build should be tested on the bench but it appears you're past that point. 
If something is not properly connected it usually just won't work.
If you followed the Mobo manual instructions for connections and used one standoff, no more - no less, for each Mobo mounting hole you should be good.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Should my computer be beeping when I start it up? I just turned on the pc connected to a monitor and it goes to the normal gigabyte screen for a few seconds then it goes to a black screen which says:

press any key to startup xpress recovery2...... 
isolinux: found something at drive = 89 
isolinux: failed to locate cd-rom device; boot failed

Should I go on with xpress recovery2?


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Beeping once, or beeping multiple times? Most machines beep once during the POST process.

What are you attempting to boot, and how?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Fjandr said:


> Beeping once, or beeping multiple times? Most machines beep once during the POST process.
> 
> What are you attempting to boot, and how?


Don't know what is the POST process, but mine doesnt beep at all.

I'm booting by using the disk that I got from the gigabyte motherboard...

It firstly loads the startup screen which says press delete for BIOS SETUP / Q-FLASH
F9 for system information
F12 Boot menu
End Q-Flash

I just skipped this part by pressing nothing and I get the error above:

press any key to startup xpress recovery2...... 
isolinux: found something at drive = 89 
isolinux: failed to locate cd-rom device; boot failed


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

The beeps you hear at initial startup (usually within about 5 seconds of power on) are part of the motherboard's built-in diagnostics. You must have a motherboard speaker installed in order hear them.

A single, short beep tells you basic hardware is all OK. The system should then be transferred to the operating system (if installed)
Any other combination of short or long tones signals a problem; the system will usually halt at that point.



> press any key to startup xpress recovery2......
> isolinux: found something at drive = 89
> isolinux: failed to locate cd-rom device; boot failed


system is looking for an operating system. Are you using a new, clean drive, or one with a previous OS installed?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

gcavan said:


> The beeps you hear at initial startup (usually within about 5 seconds of power on) are part of the motherboard's built-in diagnostics. You must have a motherboard speaker installed in order hear them.
> 
> A single, short beep tells you basic hardware is all OK. The system should then be transferred to the operating system (if installed)
> Any other combination of short or long tones signals a problem; the system will usually halt at that point.
> ...


Yeh all the parts I use are brand new from the store - I have not installed anything on them although the manufacturer might of (I doubt it though).


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Also I just put in the speaker and it gives 1 short beep 

I still don't know how to fix the error, is it possibly something to do with the way I connected the CD drive? It definitely detects the gigabyte disk though, but then it says failed to locate CD-ROM device; boot failed? I don't understand that.

And what does isolinux: found something at drive = 89 mean anyways?


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

ISOLinux is a boot loader, and is the program responsible for booting whatever software is on the CD in the drive.

Why are you trying to boot off the Gigabyte CD?

Edit: As for that error, the only information on Google related to it suggests there's a problem with the drive hardware or the disc.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Fjandr said:


> ISOLinux is a boot loader, and is the program responsible for booting whatever software is on the CD in the drive.
> 
> Why are you trying to boot off the Gigabyte CD?


Just trying to install windows. It says on the disk that it has microsoft windwos XP/7
Or am I misunderstanding it?

Here's the text on the disk:

Gigabyte
Ultra durable Motherboard
Intel 7 series utility DVD
*Chipsets / Serial-ATA / RAID Network / Audio drivers
*Norton Internet Security
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
*EasyTune system enhancement utility
*Microsoft Windows XP/7


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Do you think the hardware is damaged? It's brand new :S

And just wanted to let you know that after the error message comes up, the computer won't respond to anything I type on the keyboard anymore. It firstly starts with the message:

press any key to startup xpress recovery2...... 

Then a few seconds later this pops up and it stops responding:

isolinux: found something at drive = 89 
isolinux: failed to locate cd-rom device; boot failed

If I do what the message says before the error pops up, it takes me to a page on express recovery but it stops responding there as well.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Maybe it's something to do with the Slave and Master setting? Edit: Nvm thats only for 2 hard drives...

But still is there something I could change in the BIOS settings?


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Here's some more info of the BIOS settings:
*Boot Option Priorities*
Boot Option #1 - P3: ST1000DM003-1CH162
Boot Option #2 - P1: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224BB

*ATA Port Information:*
Serial ATA Port 0 - Empty
Port 0 - Enabled
Hot plug - disabled

Serial ATA Port 1 - TSSTcorp CDDVD ATAPI
Port 1 - Enabled
Hot plug - disabled

Serial ATA Port 2 - Empty
Port 2 - Enabled
Hot plug - Disabled

Serial ATA Port 3 - ST1000DM003-1C (1000.2GB)
Port 3 - Enabled
Hot plug - Disabled

Serial ATA Port 4 - Empty
Port 4 - Enabled
Hot plug - Disabled

Serial ATA Port 5 - Empty
Port 5 - Enabled
Hot plug - Disabled


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The Mobo CD does not include an OS. 
You have to install the OS before using the Mobo CD.
Clear the CMOS, instructions are in the Mobo Manual, and boot from an OS disc.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> The Mobo CD does not include an OS.
> You have to install the OS before using the Mobo CD.
> Clear the CMOS, instructions are in the Mobo Manual, and boot from an OS disc.


Wow are you serious? This was the problem all along? Hahahaha now I feel like an idiot, but I'm happy it's nothing serious like damaged hardware which I had been worrying about. 

Just a question. How come the mobo disk says it has windows on it? Well, it didn't say it, but its mentioned alonged with programs like norton internet security and adobe acrobat reader.

Anyways, I'll try installing with an OS disk this time. Cheers!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

That reference to XP/7 is probably drivers/apps that are different for the two OS's.
I would also suggest to avoid installing using Norton.


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## freezeice04 (Oct 20, 2011)

Tyree said:


> That reference to XP/7 is probably drivers/apps that are different for the two OS's.
> I would also suggest to avoid installing using Norton.


Avoid Norton? Hmmm, people told me its one of the best anti viruses around, what makes you think I shouldn't install Norton? Is it because it can cause problems with gaming?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Norton is one the biggest system hogs out there and is known to cause more issues that it ever resolves.
MS Security Essentials is free, has a small foot print and it works.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

I'll second the statement that Norton's antivirus software is terrible, and is best avoided.


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## CubicleCowboy (Dec 4, 2012)

Stay away from Norton and Mcafee antivirus. They are garbage and I seriously question the expertise of anyone who recommends them.

Just look around tech support forums and blogs all over the internet and see how often removing Norton/Mcafee is an actual step in the troubleshooting process.


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