Hat in hand, I come for help

[quakerboy]

I was given a computer. Somehow, in the midst of examining this computer (way too many cords. Never seen a PS with so many plugs for drives and whatnot. Plus a modern computer with a floppy drive? That had to go.) I managed to disconnect the front panel. Power switch and all.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what goes where. I cannot identify a motherboard model, other than its Intel and Dual CPU (supposedly dual quadcores, but I cant get it on to check that), so getting a manual, if one is even available, is not an option at present. There are way more pins there for things to plug into than I have ever seen before.

Specifically, a block 2 rows by 12 long, with second from left, bottom row pin absent. a hair to the right of that, toward the corner of the board there is a line of 4 pins, and slightly above that and further right, a block of 4 in a square.

[canetoad]

1. At a guess

The 2x12 pin (minus one) is likely the front panel header and you will die wishing you had never disconnected it :)
The row of 4 pins to the right of it could be a system fan.

Why not take a picture of the board and upload here. Someone might recognise it.

[quakerboy]

2. not a system fan

There are numerous connectors for those, and they are slightly different in style. The thing was delivered to my possession with 5 case fans, massive fans and heat sinks all over, and the suggestion I get more. Ive never seen one quite like this, short of water cooled systems online and way out of my price range. If I can get it running again, I will need to replace these fans, the thing is louder than my vacuum. I am used to tinkering with low end hardware, and this is... not that.

I plugged a few things in, and trial and error has found only one spot that works for the power switch. Unfortunately, now its perma on. If the power is plugged in, the computer is on. Cant turn off, cant reset. I dropped in a new video card, and tried the old one on my other system. the video card checks our fine, and the new system actually booted into windows, but no mouse or keyboard control. I swapped cards back, and now nothing on the screen.

I was really hoping that there is some way to read the numbers on the board by the pins or a logical intel setup for the pin bank.

[ChromeFoundry]

3. Does the case have a manufacturer name on it?

Compaq, HP, Bob's wiz-bang computers... Is there a serial or model number anywhere on the case? A picture would be very helpful with a description of any numbers and any revision markings found on the board. Usually there is a barcode and number near one of the edges of the board.

[canetoad]

4. I thought it was still in pieces

If it's running, download free Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It will tell you the Mb model.

[struggle4progress]

5. if you can boot to an appropriate linux distro on cd/dvd or on a usb flash, you can

try running dmidecode in terminal

[Jazzgirl]

6. Chrome Foundry has the right solution.

If you can find the manufacturer of the case you should be able to get a manual that can guide you through reconnecting the panel.