Internal 3.5 flash memory reader USB 2.0 installation

[ganconer]

I hope I'm not showing off all of my ignorance by posting, but I've exhausted just about all of my options and I need some help.

I purchased an internal USB flash memory drive after the one that came with my digital camera decided it was time to retire. I'm not a complete novice with computers, and I've added a lot to the Dell we picked up a couple years ago without any trouble to date, but this has me stumped.

The connectors on the back of the drive are slightly foreign to me. There are 2 cables, each with a 2x5 pin connector (neither of them are actually long enough to reach the motherboard). One is labeled Front Panel, and the other is labeled Motherboard. Otherwise they are identical.

First, I naively expected the USB 2.0 internal connection to be a USB connector. Ha ha. Nothing on my computer's motherboard resembles the 10-pin header that might match these connectors. There's one 2x4 pin header on my USB PCI card, but I would rather not mess with that unless I know for sure what I'm doing.

So I've got 2 problems. I don't know where to connect the drive, and the cables are not long enough to connect them if I did. I am hoping someone can enlighten me on the nature of the connectors and what I need to do with them, and perhaps point me in the direction of a retailer who might have longer cables...

The drive is a HP 7 in 1 USB 2.0 Internal Media Reader.

Thanks in advance!

 

[fotowca]

There is two standards for internal USB connectors. 4 and 5 pin. The 5 pin is more commonly found on motherboards, and I believe the extra pin is for some kind of current regulation. The 4 pin kind is often found on daughter cards such as a PCI USB card. Unfortunatly it doesn't sound like your mother board has another onboard USB Hub that you can plug that expansion into, and the PCI card only has the 4 pin connector as you said.

You could do some searching online and see if you can get an adapter to change from 5 pin down to 4 pin, but I haven't personaly seen any. You could also check and see if the 7-1 comes in 4 pin instead of 5 pin and try and exchange it.

Hope this helps.

 

[ganconer]

Thanks for your input. I'll try your suggestions - if the 5-pin connector will seat on the 4 pin header on my USB card that would be enough to make me happy. The cable is STILL too short though...

Thanks again!