Dell Auxiliary 6-pin Adapter Not Fitting

[Ryder252]

Good evening!

I own a Dell Dimension 4100, and many of you may already be familiar with Dell's genius inclusion of an additional auxiliary 6-pin psu connector alongside the standard ATX 20-pin, severely limiting psu upgrade options - if any at all. I just received an "AUX Motherboard AUX ATX 6 20-Pin to Dell ATX 20-Pin & AUX 6-Pin Cable" from Ebay, as the original listing put it. Lo' and behold, the aux connector is keyed slightly differently on the side from my motherboard. I certainly hope this doesn't mean that it's completely incompatible, as in a different wiring layout on it requiring electronics skills I don't have😂. If it is, is there a chance I could find an adapter that does fit? Or is it as simple as clipping the bits of plastic off blocking the connector? I can provide pictures if need be.

[D.Draker]

Yes, we need to see the pics.

[D.Draker]

Oh, and good evening to you too! Are the wires thin? If they are, maybe not worth the hassle. Need to be at least AWG18 (2mm).

[Goodmaneuver]

The Codegen X or XA or XX models had a 6pin inline connector but I am still not sure if it is compatible with 4100 due to lack of pinout connection diagrams for 4100. Also the 4100 would have a different 20pin assignment than a standard ATX PSU see picture. You might be able to shift the 20pin plug along as shown here. https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=668990#p668990

The old Pentium11 power supplies had 2 x 6pin inline connectors. They had different keyed little tabs on the side so that they were not made interchangeable. All indications for the Dimension 4100 point to a proprietary made power supply. Dimension 4200 used the standard ATX 20pin.

Example of a X model Codegen.

https://www.ebay.com

[jaclaz]

Generally speaking, connectors like those can be re-mapped, using two thin steel nails or a couple of small "spectacles" screwdrivers it is possible to bend a little the little wings that hold the single connector inside the plastic one, then the brass terminal can be re-inserted in the "right" position, as well with a small cutter it is possible to carve a little the plastic of the plugs to make them "round" and fit in a "square" receptacle.

The real issue is to have a reliable source for the wiring/pinout.

Maybe, it is this one:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8940-ATX-6-pinout/td-p/7779556

the colour of wires on the original might help.

jaclaz

[Ryder252]

Thanks for all your replies! Here's those pictures, including the Dell aux connector on the motherboard alongside the ATX 20-pin, the same on the original Dell psu, and the adapter connectors. I've also provided a side-by-side comparison of the 20 and 6-pin connectors between the psu and adapter. As stated, a proper pinout diagram may be difficult to source, but I hope that these help. I'm not sure if Dell used different colored wires than the adapter does or if the positions of the pinouts really are different. Other pictures can be provided though it may be a bit later today. I appreciate you guys!

[Tripredacus]

If the situation is that you are faced with keying differences on the connector vs the socket, then there are three ways to handle that.
1. Buying the correct power supply
2. swap the connectors. This will be tricky because you need small tools, steady hands and to do it right. It can be hard to do this and if you've never done it you'd want to practice on something that didn't matter. Issues that may occur is that the pins can be deformed so that they do not go into the connector properly and do not make contact with the board properly. Obviously the potential for ruining the new thing is high here. If a pin gets damaged, it can be replaced, but again you'd need the tools to do that.
3. cut the tabs as required to get the connector to fit. Obviously this is purposeful damage and you should first verify that the pins are actually at the correct values so that you do not start a fire. A multimeter could be used to verify the pinout.

[jaclaz]

I see, those are not the (more common) two rows Molex type connectors, they are the linear 6 pin ones that some (old) ATX power supplies had., these ones:

https://allpinouts.org/pinouts/connectors/power_supply/atx-aux-power/

https://pinoutguide.com/Power/atxaux_pinout.shtml

https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=31105&seqNum=4

The colour coding of the adapter seems right, black for 0/COM, Orange for 3.3V and Red for 5V.

The notch(es) on both the original and the adapter seem "wrong" compared to the reference above, but yes, they can normally be removed with a cutter.

The colour coding of the (original) connector seems (even if different) coherent, black for 0/COM, Blue for 3.3V and white/blue for 5 V, but it would be nice to find a reference DELL pinout to make sure.

Anyway this adapter is mapped similar to yours and it is explicitly mentioned as being compatible with Dimension 4100:

https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/Dell-P10-connector-adapter.php

what is "strange is that it is called "P10" whilst your original one is marked "P7" (but with DELL anything non-standard or confusing is to be considered "normal").

It is likely given the blue and white/blue cables (but remember it is a DELL) that your particular machine has an auxiliary connector which is compatible, some (earlier?) models had only 3.3V on that connector.

Also I believe you need to check also the actual 20 Pin connector, some DELL's had something different in them, see:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=59959

 

jaclaz

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by jaclaz

[D.Draker]

Do you have a tester? Any simple tester would do just fine.

[Goodmaneuver]

I see you have an original 4100 power supply does it work? All you need is a multimeter to measure the voltages. A paper clip bridged from pin 11 Grey to pin 12 Black will power it up.

On 6/23/2023 at 9:39 AM, Ryder252 said:

Or is it as simple as clipping the bits of plastic off blocking the connector? I can provide pictures if need be.

I would not do that until you know what voltage is what on the motherboard. Most motherboards had an optional 6pin inline connector but the 4100 they say will not work with out the 6pin aux power connector. The P10 connector adapter in the link is not correct because of the tab assignment on the outer side of the 6pin not fitting. I am fairly sure that the P10 adapter in the link is not going to be compatible and also not compatible with all the proclaimed Dell models in the link. You just need to do the optical check of the wiring to know if it lines up with the Dell Pentium 11 and 111 picture I sent in.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Goodmaneuver
Colors are non conforming but wiring correct.

[Goodmaneuver]

If your original PSU is OK then it will have enough power for what you need. The video card will probably need to be AGP 2x compatible. If AGP 4x card works then you could always add another separate 12V power supply just to the video card if it has an external power connector.

[jaclaz]

Re-checking, the link I posted:

https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/Dell-P10-connector-adapter.php

and other pictures of the specific for Dell adapter:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235000267788

 

seem to have ALL the same colour and thus be ALL 3.3V (besides some re-mapping of the 20 pin connector), on the same page:

https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/Dell-P10-connector-adapter.php

there is a warning/foot note that this is NOT the "standard" 6 pin AUX connector (which is what you have since definitely the one in your photos has orange-orange-red).

IF the original one you have has three wires white-blue those should be all at the same voltage (3.3V) and it would be compatible with this pinout info (which is NOT the "standard" aux one):

https://old.pinouts.ru/Power/dell_atxaux_pinout.shtml

So DO NOT use the adapter you have "as is", you need to either re-map it or procure yourself a "proper" one,

jaclaz

[Goodmaneuver]

I checked the wiring and it is indeed correct for the Dimension 4100 so forget about my second last post here.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235000267788

https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/Dell-P10-connector-adapter.php

[Ryder252]

For reference, the model number of my original Dell psu is PS-5201-7D. Should've included that from the get-go but didn't think to lol. I tried to search for a pinout diagram specific to this model but I've been striking out - there just seems to be no information for it short of some old unhelpful forums from the early 2000's. The P7 connector on that psu is indeed "3 black, 3 blue/white", although the blue/white wire on the end is accompanied by a solid blue wire going into the same pin. One more thing: I've seen reports of Dell motherboards like mine not being able to handle just any adapted psu with 'power factor control' - and fires/explosions can result. Does anyone have more info on this?

The help you all have provided so far has been huge, btw.

[jaclaz]

Never heard of non-original PSU's catching fire or exploding though (surely the old AT ones but I seem to remember also early ATX ones) some old ones didn't "like" to be powered on without a load (in the good ol' times we used a tail light bulb 21/5 W connected to the 12V and to the 5V rails to give it a minimal load when testing).

In those cases the PSU would "whine" loudly and if you didn't power it off/disconnect from mains quickly it would let out the magic smoke.

Again, with Dell everything is possible, but if there are (besides the el-cheapo ones) specific adapters by reputable suppliers for the specific Dimension models, such as the one I posted a link earlier:

https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/Dell-P10-connector-adapter.php

it should mean that the reports you found were for other models.

jaclaz