Hello
My front USB sockets recently broke and so I'm looking to replace it, I believe it's known as a USB PCB?
However, since I don't have a soldering iron (or know how to use one) I need to replace the USB PCB and the little board that it's attached to. I have absolutely no idea what it's called, so heres an (actual) picture:
This came with the case (I presume most are) which was manufactured by Akasa. I've contacted Akasa, but they have no record of the part number (BD4025-01A-G) and this was their reply once I provided pictures/description:
I will have to come back to you once I have checked with one of our engineers on Monday.
I have found one but is in his case on his testing station.
lol?
I'm guessing that this part is supplied to Akasa by a different company, since Akasa's part numbers begin with AK.
Anyway, whilst looking for a similar part without knowing it's name (in other words: wasting my time) I did find lots of internal hubs, which brought to my attention that the USB PCB that I'm about to replace is possibly taking up 1 more USB motherboard socket than is necessary.
My motherboard is an Intel D975XBX. The manual states that I have 8 USB 2.0 ports: 4 ports routed to the back and 4 ports routed to 2 USB headers, but I've only ever had 6 actual USB ports with all mobo connectors occupied. 4 are built in to the back and 2 ports were connected via a single split cable to 2 sockets at the front of the mobo.
I've found USB hubs with 4 ports which connect to 2 mobo sockets:
I found this whilst googling 'USB Header' which has confused me even more, since I thought a USB header was the connecting socket on the mobo (from what the mobo manual states).
I also found a USB hub which connects to the HDD, atleast I could of sworn I did (I lost the link and can't find it).
So, my questions are:
1. What exactly is the part that I'm looking for called?
2. Is the mobo USB connecting socket called a 'header'?
3. Why does the part that I'm looking for (2 USB ports) take up 2 USB mobo sockets, when it seems other hubs use only 1 socket per 2 ports?
4. Whats the maximum amount of ports per 1 mobo socket permittable?
5. Do I need to replace the existing cable so that 2 USB ports take only 1 mobo socket, or can I just plug one socket into the mobo for both to work? (the cable I have splits from the USB PCB to 2xmobo connectors).
6. Whats the name of the cable that connects the USB ports to the mobo?
7. Is there a hub which connects directly to the HDD rather than the mobo, and if so, does it have a specific name?
Thanks for your time.
