P4P800 Deluxe USB Header connection

  • Thread starter Thread starter cpliu
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cpliu

According to the manual, there are two USB headers: USB_56 and USB_78.
What is the difference between the 2? Which one should I connect it to for
the front panel? Can I connect it while the computer is running? I would
not risk frying my PC but just wonder if it's OK theoretically.
Supposedly, USB and Firewire is hot-swappable. I don't know if it applies
to connection on motherboard. It may be fine, but I won't do it.

TIA,

cpliu
 
cpliu said:
According to the manual, there are two USB headers: USB_56 and USB_78.
What is the difference between the 2? Which one should I connect it to for
the front panel? Can I connect it while the computer is running? I would
not risk frying my PC but just wonder if it's OK theoretically.
Supposedly, USB and Firewire is hot-swappable. I don't know if it applies
to connection on motherboard. It may be fine, but I won't do it.

TIA,

cpliu
Click to expand...

1) They will be all the same.
2) Connect which ever one you want.
3) Do NOT wire a computer with the power on. If a power pin gets shorted,
your PS can deliver 100's of watts of power to burn the wire and a
copper track on the mobo instantly. Always double check your wiring
before applying the power. (I have seen some spectacular electrical
meltdowns in my time...)

In fact, if you plan on removing or inserting a DIMM, PCI card,
AGP card etc., a good practice is to switch off the computer and
_pull_ the power plug. This is to guarantee that +5VSB is not
operating. At least, you should check that the green LED that
monitors +5VSB is not glowing, before adding hardware or doing
any wiring. For me, seeing the plug pulled out of the PS, is
quick and easy to do.

One person in this group had a power supply switch on the back
of the computer, fail in the "ON" position. Pulling the plug
protects you from such faults.

Switch off the power and pull the plug, before doing the "clear
CMOS" operation, for the same reasons. (That is even stated in
the manual.)

You will never have to ask yourself later, "Why doesn't this
thing work any more ?"

Paul
 
3) Do NOT wire a computer with the power on. If a power pin gets
shorted,
your PS can deliver 100's of watts of power to burn the wire and a
Click to expand...
....

Paul, thanks for the advice. Do you know what are the peripherals you
can connect or disconnect while the computer is on? I'm little confused
because I have seen people doing things that are not supposed to do but
it went OK, eg. connect external video source to laptop while it is on.

Here is a list of peripherals and what I think if it's OK to
connect/disconnect while the computer is on:

OK USB
OK Firewire
OK Ethernet
OK connections on a sound card
No VGA video
No PS2 keyboard
No PS2 mouse
No SCSI
No Serial port
No Parallel port

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

cpliu
 
cpliu said:
...

Paul, thanks for the advice. Do you know what are the peripherals you
can connect or disconnect while the computer is on? I'm little confused
because I have seen people doing things that are not supposed to do but
it went OK, eg. connect external video source to laptop while it is on.

Here is a list of peripherals and what I think if it's OK to
connect/disconnect while the computer is on:

OK USB
OK Firewire
OK Ethernet
OK connections on a sound card
No VGA video
No PS2 keyboard
No PS2 mouse
No SCSI
No Serial port
No Parallel port

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

cpliu
Click to expand...

I've done all of those (except scsi) with the system on. Some needed a
reboot to be recognized, but never any problems. Somebody will say I'm nuts,
and they might not be wring. ;)
 
cpliu said:
...

Paul, thanks for the advice. Do you know what are the peripherals you
can connect or disconnect while the computer is on? I'm little confused
because I have seen people doing things that are not supposed to do but
it went OK, eg. connect external video source to laptop while it is on.

Here is a list of peripherals and what I think if it's OK to
connect/disconnect while the computer is on:

OK USB
OK Firewire
OK Ethernet
OK connections on a sound card
No VGA video
No PS2 keyboard
No PS2 mouse
No SCSI
No Serial port
No Parallel port

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

cpliu
Click to expand...

OK USB - Never heard of any issues. This is definitely OK.
OK Firewire - Occasional interface failures. Standards say it should work.
Safer with the four pin than the six pin interface.
OK Ethernet - Never heard of any issues.
OK connections on a sound card - No problem
No VGA video - I move this cable all the time, between two computers.
I don't know if this is really healthy, but I've been
doing it for at least three years. KVM boxes switch
VGA cables as well. Really old monitors may not tolerate
moving cables.
No PS2 keyboard - No. Connector is not designed for it.
No PS2 mouse - No. Connector is not designed for it.
No SCSI - Definitely not, as it upsets the termination.
No Serial port - Not recommended. Many ESD failures in the past.
No Parallel port - Definitely not. Connector is not designed for it.

Paul
 
,;> 3) Do NOT wire a computer with the power on. If a power pin gets
,;> shorted,
,;> your PS can deliver 100's of watts of power to burn the wire and a
,;...
,;
,;Paul, thanks for the advice. Do you know what are the peripherals you
,;can connect or disconnect while the computer is on? I'm little confused
,;because I have seen people doing things that are not supposed to do but
,;it went OK, eg. connect external video source to laptop while it is on.
,;
,;Here is a list of peripherals and what I think if it's OK to
,;connect/disconnect while the computer is on:
Click to expand...
I am currently taking a college computer repair course at age 77
(second childhood).

In a recent lab we were instructed to connect and disconnect stuff
that I would not have done on my computer.
,;
,;OK USB
Click to expand...
Not done in class but definitely ok. Done this many times at home.
,;OK Firewire
Click to expand...
Same as USB
,;OK Ethernet
Click to expand...
Done this many times on my home computer. No problem.
,;OK connections on a sound card
Click to expand...
No problem.
,;No VGA video
Click to expand...
This one scared me but the instructor said it was ok. He was right. We
booted a computer with the monitor disconnected. Once it was booted we
connected the monitor. This was done to show that the monitor was not
necessary to complete the boot.
,;No PS2 keyboard
Click to expand...
No problem.
,;No PS2 mouse
Click to expand...
No problem.
,;No SCSI
Click to expand...
Not done in the course. Don't know.
,;No Serial port
Click to expand...
I think this is ok but not done.
,;No Parallel port
Click to expand...
I have disconnected the printer end many times. no problem.
 
PS2 Keyboard:
No way ever: you can blow a fuse on the mobo if you mess around with PS2 /
keyboard at run time.

SATA: Read the manual. Some controllers say Yes, some say No.
IDE: Never.
Floppy: Never.
SCSI: Unless designed for Host Swap and in a hot swap case, never, otherwise
yes IE SCA.
( You can do this with Windows Server with hot swap cases and without SCA,
but I do not know if it is supported or even recommended. All you need to do
is rescan the scsi bus and the drive comes up at run time. )

CPU: No, never unless the mobo vendor documents how to (some intel boards
support this).
Memory: No, unless the mobo vendor documents how to "".
PCI: "" "".

Oddly some Intel server boards seem to support hot swap CPU, but apparently,
no OS supports this yet.

There is ever increasing support for hot swap of system components including
PCI devices. If you ever are to specify a server class system for 24 x 7
then consider and check out these options... otherwise forget it.

- Tim
 
I am currently taking a college computer repair course at age 77
(second childhood).

In a recent lab we were instructed to connect and disconnect stuff
that I would not have done on my computer.
Not done in class but definitely ok. Done this many times at home.

Same as USB

Done this many times on my home computer. No problem.

No problem.

This one scared me but the instructor said it was ok. He was right. We
booted a computer with the monitor disconnected. Once it was booted we
connected the monitor. This was done to show that the monitor was not
necessary to complete the boot.

No problem.

No problem.

Not done in the course. Don't know.

I think this is ok but not done.

I have disconnected the printer end many times. no problem.
Click to expand...

Tim and Unknown are very brave. Except maybe video connection, I won't
try others I believe to be no-no.

Here is another one:
Would it be OK if you disconnect/connect the power of internal IDE device
(eg. IDE HD, IDE CD-ROM) while the computer is on?
How about connecting or disconnecting the IDE cable while the computer is
on?

I think the first one might be OK, but the second one is probably very
unsafe.

What are your experiences on these 2 issues? I have not tried either and
I probably won't either.

cpliu
 
Here is another one:
Would it be OK if you disconnect/connect the power of internal IDE device
(eg. IDE HD, IDE CD-ROM) while the computer is on?
How about connecting or disconnecting the IDE cable while the computer is
on?

I think the first one might be OK, but the second one is probably very
unsafe.

What are your experiences on these 2 issues? I have not tried either and
I probably won't either.

cpliu
Click to expand...

Disconnecting an IDE cable from a floppy is a nono, it caused my
power supply to shut off asap. I was not using the drive at the time.
I reattached the cable and the system booted up OK.

Locust
 
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