There are no stupid 846TQ questions

[AVB]

But I'm going to push the envelope here. I just got a brand new 846TQ barebones ridiculously cheap and I came across a internal USB connection cable in the box with the other cables and DVD frame etc etc. While there are USB connections on my MB I don't have a clue where the other end of this would connect to. Is this just an extra that they toss in or does it actually go somewhere?

I've looked at the chassis manual and came up empty. If there is a place it goes I can use it, if not its really no big deal but curiosity got the best of me.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Can you be more specific? For example, is one end of the cable capable of connecting to a USB header on the mobo, and the other end has an inline Type A socket? If so, then what they've provided is a way to keep a USB boot device inside the case.

 

[AVB]

Can you be more specific? For example, is one end of the cable capable of connecting to a USB header on the mobo, and the other end has an inline Type A socket? If so, then what they've provided is a way to keep a USB boot device inside the case.

No, both ends are the same - 8 pin female. The cable is 16" long.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

8 pin female

Motherboard connectors? Strange.

 

[Spearfoot]

Probably designed to connect a header on the motherboard to a header on the chassis faceplate? Or backplate?

 

[AVB]

Probably designed to connect a header on the motherboard to a header on the chassis faceplate? Or backplate?

Backplate hummm. Somewhere I think I have seen an adapter that goes into the back slot where the DVD ROM or dual SSDs went. I wonder if I can find that again. There is no place on the faceplate on an 846 that I could find which is why I was asking as that would seem to be the best place for a wireless mouse and keyboard connection. Good call.

 

[Ericloewe]

Didn't the chassis come with a parts list? It should say what that cable is for.

 

[AVB]

Maybe some pictures will help for the USB cable. Plus there is a 4 wire connector that comes out of the power supply what I don't know what it is supposed to go to. If anybody has this hooked up LMK what MB you have and I should be able to figure out what connector it goes to which, in turn, will tell me what it does. One of the difficulties of hooking up a non-supermicro MB in a supermicro chassis.

 

[AVB]

Didn't the chassis come with a parts list? It should say what that cable is for.

No parts list that I found.

 

[danb35]

The cable out of the PSU is probably for PMBUS, which will let you monitor things like power consumption using IPMI on a Supermicro motherboard. The other cable, at a quick glance, doesn't look like a USB cable--what makes you think it is? My guess would be along the lines of @Spearfoot's, that it connects to the chassis for switches/lights.

In fact, the parts list on Supermicro's product page for that chassis (or at least for some 846TQ) gives you the answer--it's a SGPIO cable, whose purpose I'm not really familiar with. However, the manual for that chassis (available from the same page) should indicate its function.

Edit: Page B-5 of the manual suggests it's for sideband communication with the backplane--perhaps things like signaling failed drives.

 

[AVB]

I thought it was a USB because it looks exactly like the double USB connector I have in another machine. Good job on tracking it down. It turns out it is for and SES-2 backplane so I won't need it unless I upgrade someday. I was thinking that the power cable was PMBus but I couldn't find the correct connector just looking at a pdf of a Supermicro MB. I guess my questions are answered. Thanks again.

 

[Ericloewe]

I thought it was a USB because it looks exactly like the double USB connector I have in another machine.

USB headers are supposed to be 2x5, with one pin not connected and one pin missing.

 

[danb35]

I thought it was a USB because it looks exactly like the double USB connector I have in another machine.

I'll bet if you take a closer look at those USB headers you'll see that they're 9-pin jobs--two rows of five pins each, with one pin blocked.

I'm not sure about the PMBus, but it seems reasonably likely. The manual doesn't seem to make it clear what that cable's for, though.

 

[AVB]

I'll bet if you take a closer look at those USB headers you'll see that they're 9-pin jobs--two rows of five pins each, with one pin blocked.

I'm not sure about the PMBus, but it seems reasonably likely. The manual doesn't seem to make it clear what that cable's for, though.

I'll have a look the next time I have to crack open that case but you're probably right. I found another person questioning the use of that power cable and the answer given was for the PM bus. Good thing I don't absolutely need it since it won't reach the connector on my Intel board.