Adding card reader question?

Sarah Winchester

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Nov 6, 2004
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186
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Michigan
I just got a Bay one Extreme card reader and it wants me to find certain pins on my motherboard to install it. It needs a USB1, and USB2, and a J1(audion jack) to connect the cable to. My motherboard is a P3V133 from Asustek. I can't find any labeled USB pins. I'm wondering if my motherboard is too old, or if I'm not seeing what I'm looking for. Any suggestions?
 
That's a strange one!

You should normally just plug in the card reader into a USB1 or USB2 port on your PC, not into the motherboard directly (which requires you to open the PC case).

The USB ports are located either on the front or the back of the PC (some of them are even on the side, but rarely). Can you see any USB ports on your PC??

How old is the PC?? Any PC that is less than 4-5 years old should have a USB port.
 
It sounds like you're installing an internal card reader that occupies a drive bay. That would require internal connections and a certain level of expertise. It would also require a PC that supports USB-1 and USB-2.

Usually that would mean Windows XP.
 
Is this your motherboard?
p3v320.jpg

If so, your USB ports are on the back of the pc and above the pink thingy :D (Parallel Port)
 
It is an internal card reader to be installed in a bay. I do have USB ports on the back of the computer, but they don't work, for some reason. Actually the USB ports are a separate card installed on the motherboard, with the ports through the back of the PC. And David, I don't have one of those pink thingys on mine. The instruction for the card reader say it will work with Windows 98, which I have. Internal cables are provided, I just need to find the USB pins to connect them too. Thanks for the quick replies.
 
Sarah........the 9 in 1 media reader you are intending to install is USB 2.0 and backward to USB 1.1.
Your motherboard is for a Pentium 2 or 3....... although it should work..........who knows.
 
Card readers are troublesome devices. Bent pins inside the device are the biggest problem. After replacing two internal readers I swore them off and now only use external readers that plug into the USB port.

Doug.
 
Slot 1 P3V133 from Asus:
p3v133.gif


User's manual: http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/slot1/pro133/p3v133/p3v133-102.pdf

Page 14 gives a nice diagram that shows them beside the parallel port. Some motherboards have pins soldered on at this location, and others may not. If it doesn't have the pins soldered on, it's probably best to return the device and get an external unit that plugs into a regular USB 2.x slot.

Mike
 
Hi Sarah,
You may need to unplug the usb socket/s from the mother board, to give you the pins you need. Older mother boards only had 1 or 2 usb points.
 
Ahh
Mikes post came up as I was typing. The USB ports on the motherboard look to be hard wired which means they cannot be removed. The designation USB 1&2 in this case are socket designations,and the actual type could be USB1 or 2 for both sockets.Cant find it stated in the specs.
 
Okay, Mike and Mick, you are helping alot. The card reader only cost $6, (got it from Woot) but still would like to use it because it accepts all the different types media. It looks like my current USB ports, the ones up where that pink thing is (they are through the back of the case) could be removed. Then I would probably be able to get at the pins. However, right now I have my printer and my wireless router plugged into those two ports. There is another double USB port card plugged into those white-ist looking vertical slots in the picture above (thanks, Mike). They don't work. My device manager says they are there, but anything I plug into them doesn't work. I wonder if I need to activate a driver for those. I'll go look for their manual. If I could get those to accept my printer and wireless router, then I could plug my card reader into the pins that would be available, where the current USB ports are.
 
Hi Sarah,
You should be able to tell in device manager if drivers are installed. Also check that they are enabled. Double click on them and there should be a driver tab.On the general tab there should be a check box. It should say "disable" if they are enabled.
 
How did you make out?
 
Hi Mike,
Just hope she hasn't fried it, the silence is ominous
 
Thanks guys, I got called away for an emergency Monday, so now I'm back. It does look like the original USB ports (that pink thingy) are hard wired. Haven't really tried to get them out yet. A teen-ager suggested that the USB card that is in one of the white-ish vertical slots needs to have a driver activated for the printer to work there. In other words, he said while I have the driver installed for the printer where it is now is fine, if I want to move the printer, the driver has to be re-installed with the printer at it's new location. Of course, I should check first in the current USB ports are hard wired or not. That will make a big difference.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how my next step goes.
 
Hi Sarah,
That pink thingy is not the USB sockets. It is the two silver coloured ones above it on the diagram,(might be 2 sockets in one unit). If they don't have a plug on them they are hard wired. If that is the case you will not be able to connect your card reader to the mother board
 
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