Front Panel Cables

Question 1

What system panel connectors are there?

Answer 1

Power Button.
Reset Button.
Power LED.
Drive Activity LEDs.
System Speaker.
Audio.

Question 2

What does the power button do?

Answer 2

Turns the computer on or off. If it does not turn off the computer hold the button down for 5 seconds or longer.

Question 3

What does the reset button do?

Answer 3

It resets the button without turning the computer off.

Question 4

What does the power LED do?

Answer 4

Remains lit whilst the computer is on and typically blinks whilst in sleep mode.

Question 5

What do Drive Activity LEDs do?

Answer 5

Remains lit or blinks whilst the computer is reading or writing data.

Question 6

What do system speakers do?

Answer 6

They indicate a computers status.

If there is a hardware issue a series of diagnostic beeps are used to indicate the type of issue.

Question 7

Are system speakers the same as the type used to play music and audio?

Answer 7

No, they are their own thing.

Question 8

How many pins does the system speaker cable typically use?

Answer 8

Four.

Question 9

What do audio ports do?

Answer 9

Allow for the connecting to external audio equipment such as signal processors, mixing boards and instruments. Microphone also fall under this.

Question 10

How are USB pins often arranged?

Answer 10

9 or 10 pins across two rows.

Individual groups of four or five pins.