17 Aug 2003, 20:01, Roy J. Tellason (1:270/615), wrote to Matt Mc_Carthy:

Hi Roy.

 RJT>>> I'm looking at adding USB here,  somewhere.  I'll probably have 
...................

 MMC>> The last two (farthest from Pin #1) are both grounds. 

 RJT> There doesn't seem to be any indication as to which is pin 1 
 RJT> near that.  I guess if maybe I assume that the orientation is 
 RJT> the same as all of the other ribbon cables there I won't do too 
 RJT> badly?  Feel free to elaborate on which way that's supposed to 
 RJT> go...

I don't trust orientation at all any more!  The newer boards are all
screwy, pin #1 in anything can be in any direction.  As noted below though,
pin #1 is +5, and the far pins, #4 and #5 are both ground, but not
necessarily direct connected to each other.

 MMC>> Very few cables are made up with _both_ grounds, so that leaves 
 MMC>> you with a four-pin connector to plug onto a five-pin header.  
 MMC>> In all cases Pin #1 should be +5V, and it is current limited by 
 MMC>> a micro fuse just like the one the keyboard uses, smaller value 
 MMC>> though.
............................

 MMC>> If you have anything other than an Intel chipset, it just might
 MMC>> work!  The first two generations of Intel chipsets simply fail 
 MMC>> to function.

 RJT> This is an Intel VX chipset,  is that good or bad?

I don't recall exactly when USB hit the streets.  Could be that the FX was
the first chipset, then the HX, then the VX.  I _know_ the HX chipset fails
USB.  My dealer did sell a hell of a lot of VX chipset boards, so there IS
a chance yours would work correctly.

 RJT> In any case,  I can go with a plug-in card to add USB to the box 
 RJT> for not very much,  and not have to worry about wiring,  which 
 RJT> way the connectors go on the pins,  etc. and also be sure of 
 RJT> having the later version of it,  which seems to be important for 
 RJT> some stuff...

Also a good idea since there was already a serial port cable plugged onto
one of those.  The fuse may already be blown for the +5V.   :-((


     Good luck...  M.

--- Msged/386 TE 06 (pre)