Build Your Own PC
Install I/O Port ConnectorsMay 31, 1999
By David Risley
Now that the motherboard is in place, you can start connecting all the parts of the computer to it. The first step is to install the I/O connectors, such as your parallel and serial ports. Note that if you are installing an ATX motherboard, these connectors are built into the motherboard, and you do not have to do this step.
- Study the setup and determine mounting technique. AT style boards almost always come with slot inserts that have the parallel and serial ports mounted on them. These are just screwed onto a couple of your expansion slot bays on the back of the case. While this is easy, it steals the slots away from the motherboard slots, keeping you from using those slots later. You can also remove the actual ports from the metal plate and install them into the dedicated slots on the back of the case, if your case has them.
- If you are installing ports on the metal insert, you can now screw these inserts into one of the available slots on the back of the case. It is best to choose a slot near the top which will not be used for anything else and provides a short enough distance so that the I/O cables can reach the motherboard.
- If you are installing the ports into the dedicated slots on the case, you should now choose which slots you will use, making sure you choose those that fit your I/O ports, such as 9-pin or 25-pin. Then remove the cover from these slots. Some cases hold these covers on with a screw. With others, the cover is a metal punch, where you can remove it with a screwdriver and bending it until it snaps off.
- If the ports are installed in a metal insert, un-install them now. Then install them into the appropriate case slot. You can tighten them in with hexagonal nuts, just like those used on the metal insert.
- Either way you installed the ports, they are installed now. All you need to do is connect them to the motherboard. Using the board's manual, determine which connectors are for the ports, usually labeled PRNT, for printer, then COM1 and COM2. Most likely, the 9-pin connector connects to the COM 1 connector on the motherboard. Pay attention to pin 1 on the connectors. Make sure the red side of the ribbon cable is lined up with pin 1.
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