Mac Pro Front Panel Audio

[iDVD]

Hello, I'm doing a small project. I bought Mac Pro case from ebay and already modded it. And last thing that left to do is connecting front panel audio, but I'm having problem connecting all 5 pins. I can't find which pin goes where. Maybe someone knows how to connect it?

 

My FP audio pins on MB is:

Line-out_L

Front to Sence

Line-out_R

Mic_R

Mic_L(1)

GND

VCC5

Mic2_JD

Line_JD

[pirloui]

Bumping the thread as I'd like to know aswell.

 

This was posted over at aquamac forum, but I only get audio on the left. (could be me of course)

 

2 - GND (black)

5 - line out R (Purple)

9 - line out L (brown)

 

edit: mine is connected to mobo minijack, but same problem when connected to powerbook.

[markcf105]

Bump... Did we find the answer?

[pirloui]

Not really, I ended up routing the sound back on the PCI brackets.

However, there seem to be a difference between the Mac Pro front pannel from 2008; it's the elder one that got pin mapped over at aquamac.

The USB doesn't work for me, nor one audio channel.

See:

http://aquamac.proboards.com/index.cgi?boa...&thread=973

[Jedric]

Not really, I ended up routing the sound back on the PCI brackets.

However, there seem to be a difference between the Mac Pro front pannel from 2008; it's the elder one that got pin mapped over at aquamac.

The USB doesn't work for me, nor one audio channel.

See:

http://aquamac.proboards.com/index.cgi?boa...&thread=973

 

Pirloui did you wire the Front Panel Board to the PSU? I believe Front Panel USB needs power.

 

For Audio here you go. Search is your friend.

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...pro+front+panel

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...45381&st=20

 

MACPRO FRONTPANEL AUDIO

1 Sense

 

2 GND

 

3 Left Channel

 

4 Right Channel

 

5 (Cable Shielding) GND.

[pirloui]

Thanks Jedric, but those are for Mac pro FP 2006-2007; not 2008.

I followed these instructions from aquamac forum (they are more Mac Pro oriented than here) , and the result is that it doesn't work. At least one other person with a 2008+ FP has the same problem.

The FP is powered by the way, power button and LED working.

When I have time, I will test various pin combinations.

 

Thanks for looking at it though

[Jedric]

Thanks Jedric, but those are for Mac pro FP 2006-2007; not 2008.

I followed these instructions from aquamac forum (they are more Mac Pro oriented than here) , and the result is that it doesn't work. At least one other person with a 2008+ FP has the same problem.

The FP is powered by the way, power button and LED working.

When I have time, I will test various pin combinations.

 

Thanks for looking at it though

 

I just pulled out my FPB. look like I have the 2008 FPB as well. I bought this seperately from my MP case. I have not tried the FP audio and the USB yet. I will work on this one with you guys.

[Jedric]

I just pulled out my FP. look like I have the 2008 FP as well. I bought this seperately from my MP case. I have not tried the FP audio and the USB yet. I will work on this one with you guys.

 

iDVD

 

Did you hook up your USB in FrontPanel? did you just follow aquamacs diagram? Can you share the pinouts.

 

Pirloui

 

FrontPanel.

 

SATA header from top going down,

 

1. NC

2. top usb pin 3 + DAT

3. top usb pin 2 - DATA

4. NC

5. bottom usb pin 3 + DATA

6. bottom usb pin 2 - DATA

7. NC

 

Not sure why aquas diagram for the usb header says NO CONNECTION on the top there but for mine those were the +5V

 

EDIT: It says NO CONNECTION as the actual USB port in front gets the +5V directly from the FPB supplied power.

 

I havent tested this yet, i will post results once tested.

[pirloui]

Great, that's nice. I will try it tomorrow or so.

THere was another guy over at aquamac forum who had this problem; I'll refer to your post if you haven't yet.

[Jedric]

OK folks I tested this and its working. My setting was left on(HD-Audio) Azalia-compliant in the BIOS. I tested first in Windows and I get sound on both left and right channels. Then I tested in SL(10.6.2) its also working both left and right channel.

 

Below is a pic of my FPB which I believe is 2008.

 

From left - indicated by an arrow - V

 

MACPRO FRONTPANELBOARD AUDIO

1 Sense -

2 GND -

3 Right Channel - Connected to HP_R pin header in MB

4 Left Channel - Connected to HP_L pin header in MB

5 (Cable Shielding) GND. Connected to AGDN

 

Still working on Jack Sensing.

 

When you test do it in windows first so you know its working proplerly since your MB will have the proper driver, If you get no sound in osx you know its the audio kext that you are probably using is the one that is causing the problem.

 

UPDATE: Spent a full day on this. Jack Sensing will not work.

 

Looks like 2008 FPB is AC97 design(pin 1 and 2) on the headphone jack is closed(connected) by default(Diagram D in the wiki below), when a jack is connected pins 1 & 2 becomes open. AC97 does not support jack sensing.

 

Though my MB supports both HD-Audio and AC97 on the front Panel audio header. The FPB headphone jack needs to be change to a headphone jack that has pins 1 & 2 open(Diagram C in the wiki) and gets closed when then jack get plugged in for HD Audio jack sensing to work properly otherwise its reversed and the sensor will think there's something plugged in due to pin 1 and 2 being closed.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS_connector - Configurations and schematic symbols

 

 

See diagrams for HD-Audio and AC97

 

http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/A2928604-005.pdf

 

In OSX you manually have to choose your output anyway.

 

Front Panel Jack sensing would be nice if you will be running VM or have another HD with Windows on it.

[pirloui]

Nice job with the audio. Will try that. My alternative with audio would be to use it for an internal speaker, just as backup, a bit like real Macs have inbuilt audio. I just bought a small amp less speaker, but the sound is just too low.

Will probably have to do with a powered solution, but that would waste current.

 

I tested the USB pinout you proposed two posts above, but no luck.

There isn't USB power (USB lamp test) and self powered devices won't work either. Will test around with it.

[Jedric]

I tested for continuity, from pin 1 of the USB top and bottom connects to pins 5 AND 7 of the power header of FPB so looks like 5 and 7 will need 5v.

 

Now I dont trust pin 2, 3 and would be the same for 2006/2007. The problem is how will we figure this out without a real 2008 macpro to measure it out.

 

POWER PIN HEADER PIN 1 INDICATED BY AND ARROW - V

 

1 GRD

2 ?

3 ?

4 +5v LED

5 +5v /USB BOTTOM

6 POWER BOTTON

7 +5v /USB TOP

8 LED (NEGATIVE)

 

Also there is no need to connect the ground on the SATA cable to USB header. USB picks up the GRND from the power header on the FPB.

 

Those of us who have 2008 FPB and have followed the FPB power pin outs from aqua, have big chance that we have burnt the Firewire chip because of pin 2, 3 and

 

Im disconnecting these wires from the power.

 

EDIT: Tested this and front panel usb's are working.

 

EDIT: July 20, 2010 Revisiting this, there seem USB and sleep issue. In SL if there is something that is plugged in into my FPB USB when I put my computer to sleep it wakes up right away. If I just use my USB at the back of my MB and put my computer to sleep it sleeps and wakes up fine.

 

EDIT: OCT 30, 2010 I have recabled the FP USB but still have the same issue.

[pirloui]

Great; will try to get time to do it, congratulations and thanks for sharing!

[pirloui]

So basically there is no more 3.3V and 12V going to the front panel?

Would the USB & LED 5V be connected in parallel?

The pin numbers you mention corresponds to this diagram right? (for everyone, this is pre-2008)

Thanks so much!

[Jedric]

3.3v and 12v are still probably used for firewire, hopefully its still the same as the diagram, but I have disconnected it on mine since im not sure . No way for me to tell unless somebody with real 2008 MacPro measures them with a voltmeter. Firewire power is a little complicated, I believe the 3.3v powers the firewire chip and the 12v powers the firewire but its not as simple to trace. Didnt spend much time on it since im not going to use it.

 

I connected the usb 5v pin 5 and 7 and the LED 5v pin 4 from the FP power header to the same wire on the power cable extender. You can split this if you want, I just didnt feel like cutting another wire on the power cable extender.

 

Hopefully its still the same diagram with pins 5 and 7 now used as 5v to supply power to the USB.

[ejlml]

I think it is very easy to have an answer, just use a multimeter to chk it, if the 12v link to the fw power pins or not.

[Jonta]

So, anyone measured it? I also have a 2008 model and Im thinking of buying the 2006 front board if there is no solution out there.

 

What about 2009 models with 44pin connector, anyone been able to figure out the connections?

[mattunlv]

If anyone still cares - I have both front USB ports working with the following diagram:

 

Also note, I grabbed power from one of the SATA power connectors. I felt that was a better

place to tap into the PSU rather than the 20/24 pin MOBO cable.

 

Haven't tested the audio out yet, and gave up on the original fans and replaced

them with regular 3-pin PC fans ;-( It would have been sweet, but oh well!

 

I am working on a step by step tutorial for the following system:

 

-Mac Pro Case (not sure what year, but with the FP that was listed as 'good' on

some other page on this site, which I can't find right now ;-( )

- Gigabyte P55A-UD3

- Intel i7 870 CPU

- 4 Gb ram

- Corsair modded PSU in original mac pro housing

- Intel X25 120GB SSD

- 1TB SATA regular HD

 

If anyone wants the instructions please email me at matt (dot) pedersen (at) unlv (dot) edu

[Jedric]

I used to connect the +data and -data only but was having issues with SL. If I connect anything in the FP USB SL and tried to put SL to sleep it wakes up right away. I have since connected the USB GND's as well but did not help.

[EEMark]

So basically there is no more 3.3V and 12V going to the front panel?

Would the USB & LED 5V be connected in parallel?

The pin numbers you mention corresponds to this diagram right? (for everyone, this is pre-2008)

Thanks so much!

 

On my 2008? system, the diagram shown above was helpful, but just didn't quite work right. After a lot of troubleshooting, most of the front panel board quirks have been diagnosed.

 

The first item was to ensure that the front panel 5V line (red) was obtained from a non-switched source. That way, the power light would still blink, even when the machine is sleeping. I took the 5V power from the ASUS MB display/switch header, not directly from the ATX power connector.

 

Second, after following the instructions for using a spliced SATA cable to connect to the USB data lines, my system still would not recognize USB thumb drives. After much probing, it became apparent that the USB ports didn't have any power. The key is in the main front panel power connector, which shows pins 7 and 5 as NC (Not Connected). In actuality, those wires must have a switched 5V source attached. Shutdown timing is important as well, otherwise you'll have mounting errors when you attempt to sleep/restart. The USB diagram shows the 5V power line as being NC. Instead, connect the 5V power lead from your MB USB connector to the front panel pins 5 & 7. Your USB should now work and will permit proper functionality when put into sleep mode.

 

The 12V and 3.3V connectors power the Firewire hub. My system uses a small conversion circuit between the Firewire 800 cable and the IEE1394a MB connector. Some older Firewire drives and iPod all test and work well from the front port.

 

I'm in the process of writing up and photographing my entire build process. Hopefully when it's complete I'll upload all of the solutions that I've run across.

 

System build: ASUS P67Pro-m, i7 2600K

[Jedric]

Looking forward. I have not touched the front usb for a while as i was having issues. I have not tested on Lion hopefully it works better.

[EEMark]

Looking forward. I have not touched the front usb for a while as i was having issues. I have not tested on Lion hopefully it works better.

 

A special thanks to you. It was one of your earlier posts that triggered the action to trace pins 5 & 7. Before that the USB problem had fallen onto my back burner. Previous investigation indicated that it was a power problem, but tracing the front board isn't easy. Taking meter readings is very difficult since most of the contact points need to be scraped clean. It seems like there is a clear coating applied on the board.

 

My rig is running the latest Snow Leopard (10.6.8?) . Most everything is stable, so I'll wait a while before making another software leap.

 

A current project is adding front panel HD audio support. I want a fully functional sensing operation and correct presence indications. My system can run either OSX or Win7, and the audio should work correctly for both. After reading all of the data sheets, it would appear that a true solution is close at hand.

 

Mark

[neil43]

In my Mac Pro hack the front panel diagram that worked for me is by mooner on TonyMacX86 at

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=...85&start=10

 

Then I brought up the fire wire ports and audio as described here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=32353

 

Try to locate an Apple front panel audio cable to mate with the FP connector.

Looking down on the assembly; Left most pin Sense, next Ground, next Left channel, next Right channel, right most pin is shield ground. Cable the ground and Left and Right to your PC Audio header (see your MB manual for that pin-out). Mine worked first try.

 

And note that the front panel audio done this way is not audio detected... you need to go into the Sound preferences and select the front head phones (assumes you have the correct kext loaded).

 

neil

[EEMark]

Thanks. My case came with an original FoxConn audio cable, so it was a matter of getting the MB socket adapter side to work correctly.

 

My audio is working under OSX now. The sensing wire-up is ready as well. I'll test that under Win7 to verify correct operation.

 

With that done, it seems like all of the front panel connections are working correctly on my box.

 

BTW, the Mooner diagram shows the top 5V supply coming from a SATA power connector. During sleep, that power source will turn off, so you won't get a blinking LED indicator. The diagram also seems to leave off the 3.3V connector. Does that affect any of the Firewire operations?

 

Mark

[neil43]

Well I wired in the 3.3VDC and have never tested without it. And I don't test sleep on my Power Mac or Mac Pro hacks as they are either running 24/7 or powered off.

 

I do not own Win 7 by choice so can not share anything in that area.

 

neil