connecting front panel usb to motherboard

[kooftspc11]

which way do the little connectors go and the GND?

i have only 2 usb ports on the front...do i connect them both to the same set of 8 prongs on my motherboard? or do i do 4 on one and 4 on another

[Detale]

It depends on the motherboard, in the manual that came with the Mobo it will tell you what connectors go on what pins, or if you have a magnifying glass you might be able to see and make out what goes where. Why not post what type of motherboard you have and Im sure I can find it for you, but I will need the exact make and model to be accurate.

[Appzalien]

Some cases have their front usb connectors as one block to plug in and others have each wire a separate little plug. The separate little plugs can be a real pain especially if you don't have your cases manual any more. In the case manual it will tell you which are which and then looking at the motherboard manual you can kind of figure out what goes where.

First off there are pairs of + and - (like A+ and A-)(B+ and B-) and these pairs must be paired also on the mobo. The ground or grounds can go to any pin that the mobo manual says is a ground it doesn't matter which ones. But unless the mobo manual gives you a good reference point (like a missing pin in one spot) it can often be a problem just trying to figure out if the picture of the pins is right side up of upside down. Its very important to get the polarity correct with pluses on the + and minuses on the -. it is also very important that the pairs are correct.

If you get it right its easy enough to test, just plug in something and see if its recognized.

[Detale]

I think this guy is gone

[kooftspc11]

the board is abit ip35-e

the usb connectors are in blocks...they are not separated individually. i believe there are 3 pin connectors on the block and then a separate one that says gnd

[clocker]

i believe there are 3 pin connectors on the block and then a separate one that says gnd
I'll bet they're actually 4 pin blocks with a separate 'GND" pin.
The headers on your motherboard should look like this...

. . . . .
. . . .

Note that one row has five pins and the second only four.
Now look at your connector.
Connect to the motherboard header with the red wire on the left.
You needn't worry about the extra GND wire, leave it alone.

Pics here... (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.overclockers.com/articles865/Header.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.overclockers.com/articles865/index02.asp&h=274&w=450&sz=50&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=FmVyfiVuq2_rGM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dusb%2Bheader%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN)

[kooftspc11]

i believe there are 3 pin connectors on the block and then a separate one that says gnd
I'll bet they're actually 4 pin blocks with a separate 'GND" pin.
The headers on your motherboard should look like this...

. . . . .
. . . .

Note that one row has five pins and the second only four.
Now look at your connector.
Connect to the motherboard header with the red wire on the left.
You needn't worry about the extra GND wire, leave it alone.

Pics here... (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.overclockers.com/articles865/Header.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.overclockers.com/articles865/index02.asp&h=274&w=450&sz=50&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=FmVyfiVuq2_rGM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dusb%2Bheader%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN)

you are right there are 4. i was just guessing from off the top of my head