Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
connector. This is unfortunate because it enables a USB front panel cable to be plugged into a
FireWire connector, and vice versa. Either situation could cause a short circuit.
Caution
You must not plug a USB cable into a FireWire header connector or a FireWire cable into a
USB header connector. Doing so causes a short circuit that can damage the motherboard, as
well as any peripherals you plug into the front panel connectors. Higher-quality motherboards
usually have self-healing fuses on the power signals, which can prevent damage if such a
situation occurs.
Motherboards that have integrated audio hardware usually feature a front panel audio header
connector. The pinout of the industry-standard front panel audio header connector is shown in
Figure
4.39
and
Table 4.44
.
Figure 4.39. Front panel audio header connector configuration.
Table 4.44. Front Panel Audio Connector Pinout
Some motherboards include an infrared data connector that connects to an infrared optical transceiver
on the chassis front panel. This enables communication via infrared with cell phones, PDAs, laptops,
printers, or other IrDA devices. The industry-standard pinout for IrDA connections on a motherboard
is shown in
Figure 4.40
and
Table 4.44
.
Figure 4.40. Infrared data front panel header connector configuration.
