How to connect front panel connectors to front panel headers on a imperial GL VE 20021218 motherboard

1. Identify the headers: Locate the front panel headers on the new case and on the motherboard. Make sure that you have identified the correct headers and that they are compatible with each other.
2. Check the pinout: Refer to the manual for the new case to determine the pinout for the front panel headers. Make sure that it matches the pinout listed for the motherboard, as mentioned above.
3. Connect the wires: Use the pinout information to connect the wires from the new case to the appropriate pins on the motherboard. Make sure that each wire is securely connected and that there are no loose wires that could cause a short circuit.
4. Connect the HDD LED: The HDD LED can be connected to pins 13 and 14 of the front header (LEDH1).
5. Connect the power LED: The power LED can be connected to pins 3 and 4 of the front header (LEDH1).
6. Connect the reset switch: The reset switch can be connected to pins 7 and 8 of the front header (LEDH1).
7. Connect the power switch: The power switch can be connected to pins 10 and 11 of the front header (LEDH1).

Make sure that you connect the wires correctly and securely, as an incorrect connection can cause damage to the motherboard or the front panel components.

Good luck. Used to be you could get a mobo manual from e4allupgraders.

The Imperial board is made by TriGem
Started out as TriGem Sambo, is now TG Sambo

The Imperial models were Imperial G, Imperial GL, Imperial GV, and Imperial GLVE, if memory serves.

TriGem Imperial GV - 143159 -20030812

http://www.ebay.com/itm/gateway-emachine-mother-board-imperial-gv-20030812-/111025938736?pt=Motherboards&hash=item19d9a96130

Bad photo, but it does have the mouse Zoom In feature.

CMOS jumper and Clear BIOS Password jumper, down by the Front Panel header; is the same as used on the TriGem Imperial GLVE -129504,

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07540&lc=en&cc=us&product=83481

Scroll down to Motherboard Layout (Illustration), and Photo; then down to jumper info.

(By the way.........the BIOS chipset is removable, therefore replaceable)

The front of your computer is the Front Panel.

The area of contact pins on the motherboard, that the Main wires from the Front Panel go to; is the Front Panel header.

This is PANEL in the illustration. Bottom/Right corner. Uses the same Front Panel pinout, as your Imperial GV uses.

8 pins along in a row.
Starting on the LEFT side going towards the Right;
Pins 1, 2, 3, NO pin 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

A) Pin 1 is N/C. Not Connected
(May not even be there for all I know)

B) Pins 2 and 3 are for the Power On LED.
Pin 3 is for the Positive wire.
If the PWR LED is dim when the computer is on, switch the wires around.

C) There is NO Pin 4. At least that is what I make, looking at the Front Panel header pinout. Indicate Pin 1 is N/C, and Pin 4 is N/C.

D) Pins 5 and 6 are for the HarDDrive activity LED light.
Pin 5 is for the Positive ( + ) wire.
If the HDD LED is dim when the Harddrive is active, switch the wires around.

E) Pins 7 and 8 are for the Power On switch.

HOWEVER, since the motherboard photo on HP Support, and Ebay; is as clear as mud; suggest you do this,

Connect your Power On switch to Pins 7 and 8;
OR,
touch across them briefly with a small flat tip screwdriver.
(Power plugged in)

See if that is correct for the Power On switch. What will happen if it isn't? Nothing. Pressing the Power On button just won't turn the computer on; is all.

Turned the Power Supply (Computer) on?
Good. We can assume the rest of the pinout is correct also.
Want to make sure? Easy.

Take an LED bulb (Power On, or HDD), and touch it's two wires to the Power On LED pins, in the Front panel header.
Stays on? Yep. Power On LED pins.

Blinks? Whoops.
Those are the Harddrive activity LED pins.
Just that easy to check it. With using an LED, you won't harm anything even if the pinout is wrong.

Moving on.........

Using the HP Support page, for that TriGem Imperial GLVE motherboard, the Motherboard Layout is the same as the Imperial GV.
(So is photo, 'natch)

Referring to the layout, and photo;

A) Power cables:
Two
20-pin ATX main power cable, and 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power cable.

General example of a 20-pin ATX main power cable, and it's respective connector on the motherboard,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atxmain20

Note* Color of power cable connector does NOT matter.
Can be Whitish, Yellowish, Black, Sea Foam Blue, or Lactating Mammary Gland Pink. (Made the last two up)

Goes to the motherboard connector immediately above PCI slot 1.
Note the LOCK on the side of the power cable, and corresponding TAB on the motherboard connector.

General example of 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power cable, and connector on motherboard,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#atx12v4

Power for the Processor
Looking at the motherboard illustration, look at the Northbridge chip; -> Intel 845GL in the middle.

ATX 12V to the left, is where the 4-pin ATX +12 Volt power cable plugs in.
See the aluminum finned Heatsink, sitting on the Northbridge chip?
The whitish/yellowish 4-socket hole square connector, to the Left.

Moving on............

See where it states Primary IDE to the bottom/right in the illustration? Blue IDE connector?
That is where the Harddrive plugs in.

This is a general example of the connector,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PATA-cable.jpg

Note the Locating Lug on the top/middle. This particular style uses two ribs. Some are just a solid block.

The reason I brought it up, is if there is NO Locating Lug on the connector; let me know in a Comment.
I'll tell you how to use the faint Red stripe, on the side of the flat cable; in order to plug it in correctly.

The optical drive (CD/DVD drive) plugs into Secondary IDE.
You can see where a Floppy Drive plugs in.

Above the Processor (CPU) socket to the Right, is where a computer case fan plugs in. PS_FAN.
To the upper Left, is where the Processor fan plugs in.
CPU_FAN

To the left of the ATX Power Connector, (20-pin ATX main power cable; motherboard connector), is the connector for the small audio cable; coming from the optical drive. (CD/DVD drive)

Optical Drive In.

Right next to the round CMOS battery, is the Front Panel USB header.
-> TWO USB ports connect to this header.
(USB)

A 4-pin Peripheral power cable is used for the Harddrive, and Optical Drive.
Misnomered as 'Molex' power cable,

http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#peripheral

Note the rounded corners. When plugging the power cable in, these rounded corners always go UP.

[Molex was the first maker of the power cable connector.
The name stuck.
Kind of like calling an adjustable open-end wrench a 'Crescent wrench' ]

The motherboard chipset is an Intel 845GV.
This is what Processors (CPU), and Ram Memory are supported,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intel_chipsets#Pentium_4_chipsets

Single-Core processors.
Use a Socket 478 processor socket.
Intel Pentium 4, Celeron, or Celeron D.
(Celeron D is NOT a dual core processor)

400 to 533MegaHertz Front Side Bus processor support.
(400/533MHz FSB)

DDR Sdram ram memory that is either 266MegaHertz, or 333MHz.
(PC2100 and PC2700, respectively)

2GB's of it.
1GB for EACH ram memory slot.

For additional questions please post in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

Get all information about the motherboard from here...
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07813&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=307585

best of luck!

I would suggest this generic Power On switch,

1) http://www.directron.com/atxswitch.html,

and the Red, and Black twisted pair of wires go to the Power On switch.

Your statement of ,"....don't know which of the colored pairs of wires go.....", leads me to believe you may have all of the Front Panel wires disconnected.

How about information as to where ALL the Front Panel wires go?
(Provided I have correctly interpreted your statement)

Back in the time that the eMachines T2542 was made, TriGem was the motherboard manufacturer.

The Model Name of the motherboard is Imperial, and the Model Number of the motherboard, could have been one of four variations offered.

Model Name: Imperial
Model numbers could be G, GL, GV, or GLVE
(Imperial G, Imperial GL, Imperial GV, or Imperial GLVE)

ALL four variations used the same Front Panel header.
(The connector on the motherboard the Front Panel wires connect to, is named the Front Panel header)

I would like you to view this page,

http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1/ecase/support/front_panel_header_support.shtml

Scroll down to the heading -
Trigem Imperial Front Panel Header Pinout.

A) Pins 1, 2, and 3 are for the Power On LED light.

B) Pins 5 and 6 are for the HarDDrive activity LED light.
(Pin 4 is not used. NC. No Connection)

C) Pins 7 and 8 are for the Power On switch

D) I wouldn't connect any wires to Pins 9 and 10, nor Pins 11 and 12

E) Pins 14 and 15 are for the Reset switch. (The button you press to restart your computer.
If the T2542 doesn't have a Reset switch, don't worry about it. There are many other ways to restart your computer)

F) Pins 17 18, and 20 are for an internal speaker.
This speaker is used for BIOS Beep Codes.

In the chart to the right, you will see GRD used many times.
GRD stands for Ground.
ANY Black wire in the twisted pair of wires, is a Ground wire.

Most of the eMachines I have worked on, use a Red, and Black pair of twisted wires for the Power On switch.
I could be mistaken on the T2542.

Best method, is to follow the color code of the wires that come from Pins 7 and 8, and be sure.

Hello.

The Compaq Presario SR1703WM desktop computer, uses an Asus A9AE-LE motherboard.
HP/Compaq's name is AmberineM - GL6E

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00496280&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=1815742

1) I would like to start with the Front Panel wires.
The Front panel, is the plastic front on your computer tower, where the Power On button, Power On LED, and so on is located.

The Front Panel header is the connector on the motherboard, where the cables, (Wires), from the Front Panel connect to.

Looking at the HP Support link above, I would like you to scroll down the page to the illustration of the motherboard, and the photo of the motherboard under the illustration.

Looking at the illustration observe the bottom Right corner.
F_PANEL1 indicates the Front Panel header.

Note there are 4 pins going across the Top, and 5 pins going across the Bottom.

Looking inside your computer, the motherboard will be located in a different position, compared to the illustration.

The Front Panel header will be located Vertically, (Up, and down)

Note that there is a twisted pair of Black, and Red wires.
These wires form the Power On cable.
They come directly from the Power on switch.

There is a twisted pair of Yellow, and Black wires.
These wires form the Harddrive Activity LED light cable.
(HDD)
When the harddrive is active, this LED flashes.

There is a twisted pair of Green, and Black wires.
These wires form the Power On LED light cable.

The wires, (Cables), should be in one Black connector.

Looking at the Front Panel header in your computer, align the Black plastic connector's socket holes, with the pins sticking up out of the Front Panel header, on the motherboard.

Note that the Front Panel header is rectangular in shape. There is 1 pin missing.
The Black connector coming from the Front Panel of the computer, has one socket hole blocked off, to match.

Align the four socket holes in the Black connector, to match the 4 pins sticking up out of the Front Panel header, on the motherboard.

The other 5 socket holes in the Black connector, will match up to the 5 pins sticking up, automatically.

Use care, and you may need a bright light to assist.
These pins can be bent quite easily.
(Also watch your fingers, as the ends of the pins are S-H-A-R-P!)

2) Where it states CLRTC (CLPWD under it), is the Clear CMOS jumper.
Suggest you leave it alone.

3) Where it states F_ USB1, and F_USB2, is where the USB cables from the front of the computer connect to.

(The USB ports on the front of the computer's Front Panel.
F_USB1, and F_USB2 headers on the motherboard, are shown on the illustration to the Left, of the Front Panel header. F_PANEL1)

The plastic connector on a USB cable coming from the Front Panel, has an orientation just like the Front Panel header cable does.

There is 1 pin missing on the USB header on the motherboard.
There is a blocked socket hole in the USB cable's connector.
Align the connector to match the pins.

Doesn't matter which USB cable from the Front Panel, that you connect to the USB headers on the motherboard.
BIOS will find them, and assign an IRQ to each, once you turn the computer on.

All you will see at a first glance is a series of thick Gray insulated cables, coming from the Front Panel of your computer.

If you follow the cables by eye, you can see where the USB cables are connected to the back of the USB ports, on the Front Panel.

You may, or may not, have to remove the Front Panel to see more clearly.

Computer case open, look inside towards the Front Panel.
There is a Green plastic tab towards the Top.

This locking tab is depressed Towards the Inside of the computer, to START to unlock the Front Panel.

Towards the bottom in the same plane, is a Black locking tab. This tab is pulled Towards the Outside of the computer.
There is another Black plastic tab on the opposite side.

At the Bottom are two more Black plastic locking tabs. These are depressed down, towards the Bottom of the computer case.
One on one side, one on the opposite side.

Start by depressing the plastic Green tab, and gently easing the Top of the Front Panel, slightly out.
Then go to the two Black plastic locking tabs located towards the Middle, and depress them.

Ease the top of the Front Panel out a little more.
Finally go to the two Black plastic locking tabs located at the Bottom, and depress them.
Ease the Front Panel off.

(NOTE*
Your computer's Front Panel may not have locking tabs located at the bottom.
Just locking tabs located up from the bottom, more towards the middle)

It's no picnic for your first time, but once you have done it, it becomes easy. (Ummm, Easier!)

4) The Firewire (a1394) cable on the Front Panel, connects to the F_1394 header on the motherboard.
In the motherboard illustration the F_1394 header is located to the Left, of PCI2

Need any further cable connections, post in a Comment.

Save all your important files , then reformat your operating system

If its in an HP machine go to HP site and download from there.

This MB is very similar to Intel 845 boards. The info is similar & if you had mentioned which jumper's, then maybe.. otherwise this is the specs of imperial:
143159 Imperial GV 20030812
Mat,no:143XXX IMPERIAL-GV200XXXXX E-Machines Socket 478 Processor Socket Type: mPGA478 Memory Type: Unbuffered DDR Synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM) Memory Speed: PC2100/PC1600 Memory Sockets: Two 184-pin 2.5 V DIMM sockets Maximum Memory: 2 GB 256Mbit Memory Support: Yes Front Side Bus: 400MHz Intel: Extreme Graphics (845) AGP Manufacturer: Intel Bus: AGP Chipset: Intel 845 Video RAM Type: Uses system memory Onboard Audio Configuration: Intel ICH AC 97 CODEC AC'97 Codec Device: AD1886 Audio Jacks: M, LI, LO, (Header) SO Speaker CD-In Connector: 1 Internal Spkr-Out/Line-Out/Headphone-Out/Mic-In Header: Yes Onboard LAN Onboard 10/100Mbps Ethernet LAN Supplier: Realtek RTL8100(B) Ethernet Configuration: Down(PCI) Wake-on-LAN, Wake-on-Ring: via PME#(PCI) .....................sodeep

http://www.e4allupgraders.info/

Normally on the board there is silk printing to state what connection goes where. Also on the black connector i.e. power LED there is a small arrow that goes to pin 1 of the POWER LED pins.

Hope that was any help thanks J