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Custom or readymade atx frontpanel board?

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First post, by oh2ftu

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Hi,
It's seems like it's the time of the month were I have all those ideas that never get done.
As I look around my workspace I have quite a few (half a dozen or so) motherboards with a CPU and RAM installed to be used as some sort of test bench.

Powering on and debugging these would benefit from using pushbuttons, leds and buzzers instead of just a screwdriver to whack the two pins together.

Also, as we know, our beloved retrohardware didn't standardize any sort of front panel pinout on the mobo.

I was thinking of a small PCB that would house two leds, two buttons and a buzzer.
This would connect to the motherboard with either soldered or via a pin-header connected dupont-cables.
Cheap to make, make one for every motherboard I have and leave it connected.
It would also have an output header that would be of "modern standard". This could be used to connect to any case easily - and detach if needed.

Has anyone ever come across something like this?
I'm thinking a pcb with smd components (less risk for shorts) and/or a 3d-printed small case.

I might be out there again, and need to regulate my caffein-input. Let me know.

Reply 1 of 3, by paradigital

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This is exactly what Lian Li did in the early 2000s. A front panel with a pigtail leading to a large multi-pin connector. Then another pigtail from large multi-pin connector to individual female pin headers.

You could easily connect any motherboard up, slide the motherboard into the case and then only have a single plug to connect to the case for front-panel duties.

Reply 2 of 3, by SScorpio

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I haven't seen this as a PCB, but there are cables which do the switches and LEDs.

https://www.amazon.com/Warmstor-2-Pack-Comput … h/dp/B074XDTVN1

You then just need to connect your own speaker.

https://www.amazon.com/SoundOriginal-Motherbo … r/dp/B01DM56TFY

Edit:
Re-reading that's not quite what you are asking. But you could take the same idea and require those into a small block with the same pinout as the modern atx f_panel connector.

Then create a bunch of smaller f_panel male connectors that terminate out to the separate wires which you can connect and leave on the motherboards. You could even adapt older cases to convert convert their individual wires to the f_panel connector. But I guess that depends on how often you are switching cases. It's really on the test bench that would be get the most use, and since everything is non-standard, it's better to stick with the individual wires IMO.

Reply 3 of 3, by oh2ftu

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Finally had a small moment to show what I meant.

The pinout on the header (on the right) matches that of "modern" cases.

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