# [SOLVED] USB Header Question



## sturpe (Mar 27, 2009)

My Motherboard USB headers have 9 pins. I think that is standard. The case I am using has two front panel USB ports mounted on a PCB board. Each of these ports have four wires attached to the PCB board.

If I connect the four wires to the appropriate pins on the USB headers, the USB ports work fine, but I get a boot up error message about the front panel usb ports.

What are the other 5 pins on the USB headers for? Do they need to be jumpered in some fashion in order to turn off the USB error message?


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: USB Header Question*

The odd pin of the 5 (pin 10) is not connected; it and the blank position (9) serve only to 'key' the header. The other four pins (pins 2,4,6, and 8) are laid out, pin for pin exactly as pins 1,3,5, and 7.


----------



## sturpe (Mar 27, 2009)

*Re: USB Header Question*

Thanks for that information. During boot up I am getting a "front USB cable error" message. What senses that or how do I turn it off?


----------



## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: USB Header Question*

It's likely an assumption based on the USB header that was used.

Also, front panels USB ports (at least in the cases that I have used) use a cable which uses the entire header. Meaning pins 1,3,5,7 are used for one port and pins 2,4,6,8 are used for the other port.


----------



## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

*Re: USB Header Question*

It sounds like you may have an HP machine. HPs use the 9th pin as a sense pin, and spit out an error if there isn't a ground wire connected to it.

You may or may not be able to turn off the error reporting message in the BIOS.


----------



## sturpe (Mar 27, 2009)

*Re: USB Header Question*

I found the answer to my query. My Dell Vostro 420 requires pins 8 and 10 to be connected in order to turn off the "front usb cable error".

Thanks for everyone's input.


----------

