Safely remove hardware on usb stick not working

[clidx]

since i got my new mobo and case, i can't use the safely remove hardware feature when i plug my stick into the front ports. the ports connect to the mobo via brackets and that's all i can think of that might not allow the stick to safely eject.

or do i really need to safely eject, since write caching is off?

and also my case has front audio i/o ports. after connecting the audio cable to the mobo, the front speaker port works but not the microphone port. what do i have to do to make it work?

Thanks