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Wiring a button for PC

post #1 of 7
1/25/10 at 5:45am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys I am making a PC with a custom enclosure but the only thing I don't know is how to connect a push button to the motherboard. Could I use this button: Illuminated Vandal Resistant switches - Stainless steel switches by Bulgin Components to connect to motherboard?

I appreciate any help
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post #2 of 7
1/25/10 at 6:07am
Is this for the power button, or something else?

If it's for the power button, sure, it will work fine; I've actually used those very switches as power buttons for PC motherboards before; they work great (if overkill.) The motherboard header just has two pins for the switch itself and two for the LED; you just connect these to the corresponding pins on the switch.

Some low-power motherboards (Atom) I've worked with assume a red or green LED for the power indicator. I used one of the Bulgin switches with a blue LED indicator and it's a bit dim (the forward voltage of blue LEDs is a little higher than red or green, which changes the resistor value you need for a given current.) So, if you use blue or white, it might be a bit dim, depending on your motherboard (I've gotten pretty good brightness with blue LEDs on standard desktop boards, though.)

You'll probably want some 100-mil 2-position sockets to actually plug in properly to the headers on the motherboard.

If you want to wire up a button for something other than power or reset, then those buttons will still work, but you'd need some way to actually interface it to the PC (such as through the parallel port or via a USB interface.) Or, some USB DAC chips (such as the BB PCM270x chips) have a few extra pins for wiring up play/pause/skip/volume buttons, which appear on the PC side as a USB HID device.
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post #3 of 7
1/25/10 at 6:22am
Thread Starter 
Thanks so much Brifi and yes I will use it for power and reset button. Its fine if its dim because I don't really like very bright LEDs, I just need the light to be visible so I know if the PC is off or on. I will be buying one of Zotac's mini itx ion motherboards with dual core Atoms and I will probably use the sockets from an old case.
wow I have found them prewired: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=4056
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post #4 of 7
1/25/10 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by .Sup View Post
Its fine if its dim because I don't really like very bright LEDs,
This. So much this. If I could lift my CoolerMaster case, I could use the Power LED as a flashlight.
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post #5 of 7
1/25/10 at 6:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juaquin View Post
This. So much this. If I could lift my CoolerMaster case, I could use the Power LED as a flashlight.
Heh, yeah. I actually have both the power and the drive LEDs disconnected on my PC that's in a CoolerMaster case because they are way too bright.
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post #6 of 7
1/25/10 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juaquin View Post
This. So much this. If I could lift my CoolerMaster case, I could use the Power LED as a flashlight.
same. My Stacker's LEDs flash so bright it annoys me
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post #7 of 7
1/25/10 at 10:31pm
Yep, mine's a Stacker too. I'm probably going to downsize soon. Hopefully the next one has a reasonable LED in it.
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