Loose I/O Shield, OK?

[QZ]

I got my Asus P4P800S-X (socket 478) mb and the provided I/O Shield is loose
on the case.

The case is ATX, bought nearly five years ago, from a custom PC OEM. They
never revealed who made their cases from that time, but it is marked 'ADD.',
so it must be Addtronics, considered very good at the time.

The I/O sits in place, but a silght push and it falls inward.

Won't the force of the mb ports keep the I/O from falling inwards?

And also, is there any importance for the I/O to be tight?

thanks,
QZ

 

[Paul]

I got my Asus P4P800S-X (socket 478) mb and the provided I/O Shield is loose
on the case.

The case is ATX, bought nearly five years ago, from a custom PC OEM. They
never revealed who made their cases from that time, but it is marked 'ADD.',
so it must be Addtronics, considered very good at the time.

The I/O sits in place, but a silght push and it falls inward.

Won't the force of the mb ports keep the I/O from falling inwards?

And also, is there any importance for the I/O to be tight?

thanks,
QZ

The I/O shield is a force fit. The gasket around the edge of
the metal acts as a compressible spring, and should give a
tight fit. Assuming your computer case has a standard size
hole for it.

As long as the I/O shield cannot be pushed right through the
hole, your motherboard I/O connectors should hold the shield
in place. The shield is shiny, and is supposed to be a good
conductor, allowing static discharge into an I/O shell to be
conducted to the rest of the computer case. In principle, it
could also function to reduce EMI emissions from the computer,
but I think that is just wishful thinking, considering the
gaping apertures in most computer cases.

For more info, try page 5 of this doc:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030310...mfactors.org/developer/specs/atx/atxio_11.pdf

HTH,
Paul

 

[QZ]

The I/O shield is a force fit. The gasket around the edge of
the metal acts as a compressible spring, and should give a
tight fit. Assuming your computer case has a standard size
hole for it.

<snip>
Thanks for the info.
Before I read this, though, I was able to fit the I/O shield tightly in the
case. Indeed, the gasket needed to be pushed all the way passed the edge of
the case opening.

 

[QZ]

As long as the I/O shield cannot be pushed right through the
hole, your motherboard I/O connectors should hold the shield
in place.

The shield came loose again!
Two of the sides are somewhat tight, but the others are only slightly tight.

What do you mean, as long as the shield can't be pushed through the opening?
It can't be pushed out of the case.
It is fairly easy to push it into the case, as I described before; but there
is no mb in place.

Looking at the port housings, they are indeed bigger
than the port openings in the shield, so they should hold the shield in
place, as you say.

So, I think I should go ahead and install the mb anyway, right?

Apparently, either the case or the shield is incorrect, unless, I am missing
something.

 

[abc]

The shield came loose again!
Two of the sides are somewhat tight, but the others are only slightly
tight.

What do you mean, as long as the shield can't be pushed through the
opening?
It can't be pushed out of the case.
It is fairly easy to push it into the case, as I described before; but
there
is no mb in place.

Looking at the port housings, they are indeed bigger
than the port openings in the shield, so they should hold the shield in
place, as you say.

So, I think I should go ahead and install the mb anyway, right?

Apparently, either the case or the shield is incorrect, unless, I am
missing
something.

The shield needs to be pressed into the hole from the inside of the case.
There are symbols on the shield indicating where the mouse etc.. goes. This
should be facing outwards. It kind of clips into place

Usually there are small metal fingers bent up from the IO shield. These face
inwards and provide an earth by contacting the metal parts around the USB
and serial ports on the motherboard.

I assume the shield came with the motherboard?

If it is so loose it falls out, you may be able to drill a small hole near
the edge of where the case and shield overlap and use a very small screw.
Shouldn't need much.

 

[Mike Foss]

The shield needs to be pressed into the hole from the inside of the case.
There are symbols on the shield indicating where the mouse etc.. goes. This
should be facing outwards. It kind of clips into place

Usually there are small metal fingers bent up from the IO shield. These face
inwards and provide an earth by contacting the metal parts around the USB
and serial ports on the motherboard.

I assume the shield came with the motherboard?

If it is so loose it falls out, you may be able to drill a small hole near
the edge of where the case and shield overlap and use a very small screw.
Shouldn't need much.

Compare ports on your motherboard with the cutouts on
the I/O shield. Sometimes there will be one or more blanks
on the shield that must be removed before you can get a
tight fit on all sides.

 

[Paul]

The shield came loose again!
Two of the sides are somewhat tight, but the others are only slightly tight.

What do you mean, as long as the shield can't be pushed through the opening?
It can't be pushed out of the case.
It is fairly easy to push it into the case, as I described before; but there
is no mb in place.

Looking at the port housings, they are indeed bigger
than the port openings in the shield, so they should hold the shield in
place, as you say.

So, I think I should go ahead and install the mb anyway, right?

Apparently, either the case or the shield is incorrect, unless, I am missing
something.

The shield installs from the inside.

outside | inside
|
| <---- push shield into place
|
+-------------


|
|
| <---- Motherboard will push against shield and
| prevent it from falling back into the case.
+-------------

The reason I gave you the document reference, was to check
the dimensions of the hole in your computer case. Just to
see if the hole is the standard size or not. The springy
edges of the shield should compress down to meet the
standard dimensions of the hole 1.75" x 6.25".

Paul

 

[abc]

The shield installs from the inside.

outside | inside
|
| <---- push shield into place
|
+-------------


|
|
| <---- Motherboard will push against shield and
| prevent it from falling back into the case.
+-------------

The reason I gave you the document reference, was to check
the dimensions of the hole in your computer case. Just to
see if the hole is the standard size or not. The springy
edges of the shield should compress down to meet the
standard dimensions of the hole 1.75" x 6.25".

Paul

I really wouldn't say it fitted properly if you are relying on the
motherboard to hold it into place.
There is contact between the motherboard and the IO shield, but as someone
said this would be to form an earth.

On the shield there are (probably) four small bumps along a raised section
(the border where the shield fits the hole in the case). The shield flexes
when you push it into place, and these bumps push against the edges of the
case to hold it in. You need to press the shield quite firmly sometimes.

 

[QZ]

I really wouldn't say it fitted properly if you are relying on the
motherboard to hold it into place.
There is contact between the motherboard and the IO shield, but as someone
said this would be to form an earth.

On the shield there are (probably) four small bumps along a raised section
(the border where the shield fits the hole in the case). The shield flexes
when you push it into place, and these bumps push against the edges of the
case to hold it in. You need to press the shield quite firmly sometimes.

That was the problem, it wasn't that difficult to get the shield in place.
One or the other must be a mm, or less, off spec.

Funny though, that I was able to carry the case, even turn
it from side to standing, and the shield never fell, w/o a mb.

So, I fitted the mb in place and the shield now stays put. If I press one
side of it in, it flexs in slightly, then back out, so its fine.

Just for laughs, I wonder if anybody ever saw a shield *set* like the
following, (almost identical ATX case to the other one, but from over eight
years ago):
One shield is aluminum with six tabs on one long side, which fit into six
slots on the inner side of a steel shield; the steel shield has three screw
holes, on that same long side, that connect to the case.

First, I tried that case, and obviously it didn't work. But, I am glad I got
the other case to work.

Thanks for all the info.,
QZ