A7N8X Deluxe Front Panel Audio

**Increvateur** · July 18th, 2004, 02:29 PM

I am trying to get the front panel audio for my A7N8X Deluxe motherboard working correctly and I just can't seem to get it correct. I just picked up an Antec Super Lanboy case and connected the FPA (Front Panel Audio). Problem is, when I booted up my machine everything seemed to work fine except the Left and Right audio channels were swapped. So I went and swapped the connectors on the motherboard. Problem is, my speakers that are connected to the rear audio jack on my motherboard sound really quiet now. I get sound but it isn't coming out as loud as it should normally. Then when I plug in my headphones into the FPA jack in the front, my ears bleed because it is so loud. If anyone else has run into this issue, or has figured out how to correctly connect the FPA without swapped channels, please let me know. I would really like to get this working properly if I could. Thanks.

**houseisland** · July 18th, 2004, 02:48 PM

Hi,

This might help you:

http://www.formfactors.org/developer..._guideline.pdf

Right click on link and choose save as.

You will need Acrobat reader installed to view the file.

Good luck.

**Increvateur** · July 18th, 2004, 03:36 PM

I installed the pins as it said to in the manuals for my case and my motherboard but doing that gives me the swapped channels. That's where I initially ran into the problem. I don't know if it is due to wiring for my case or the layout of pins on my motherboard but it is very frustrating.

**houseisland** · July 18th, 2004, 06:33 PM

Hi,

Perhaps your case is wired incorrectly. It is unlikely that this would happen with a a good quality case by Antec, but.....

Make yourself a test tool by chopping up a mini-stereo cable.

Strip the wires leading to the male connector so that you can use a multimeter to test continuity to the plugs that go to the motherboard headers.

Pin out map for mini-stereo jack here:

http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/epreb...iniStereo.html

Standard pin assignments for the motherboard header are in the PDF file in the link above a couple of entries in this thread.

If the leads are in the wrong places in the plug/female socket for the motherboard header, you can often move them around by gently bending up the plastic retaining clips with a pin and pulling leads free and then reinserting them in the correct places.

Ooops. Forgot to say that you have to plug the chopped mini-stereo plug into the front panel jack and then test continuity from the stripped wires to the pins in the case's connector to the motherboard. It was probably obvious anyway. Oh well.

**houseisland** · July 18th, 2004, 06:53 PM

Another thought to follow up here: if your front panel connectors conform to the Intel standards in the PDF file, the speaker jacks at the back of your motherboard should turn off when you plug your head phones in. The motherboard probably came with some jumpers on the front panel header which closed a circuit so that jacks at the back of the motherboard would work; you probably had to take these off to attach the front panel connector. When you plug in the front panel connector, the mini-stero jack takes the place of these jumpers. When there is nothing plugged into the jack, the circuit is closed, and the rear audio jacks work. When you plug in a male mini-stereo plug, it opens a set of contacts and the jacks at the back of the motherboard are turned off.