Author Topic: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?  (Read 9848 times)

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Offline AJMansfieldTopic starter

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Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« on: July 17, 2020, 01:38:54 pm »
I'm currently in the process of designing a product that will need to have USB type C ports on its panel, and due to physical constraints with the design it would be convenient to use the USB "type E" connector commonly used on computer motherboards for connecting a front panel cable like this one.
However, despite extensive searching, I have been totally unable to find even a single manufacturer or supplier who actually sells these connectors, or even a whiff of a part number I could search.

Here are some images of the connector I'm trying to find, for reference:


The closest I've been able to come are these "IDC 20 pin to A-key 20 pin" adapter boards, so clearly someone is making these connectors available to more than just major motherboard vendors, and there's definitely multiple different designs for such a board on the market (e.g. this this cheaper $11 one is shorter and has different/fewer passives on it).

While a large number of online vendors that sell the front panel cables and adapter boards have taken to calling this a "USB Type E" connector, I haven't been able to find any official provenance for this terminology.
The Official USB-IF Specification (PCMCIA Proposal 279, section 2.1.1) for this connector calls it either a "USB 3.1 Front-Panel Internal Connector" or an "Key-A 20-pin Shielded Header".
The manual for the ROG strix B550-E "gaming" motherboard (selected at random from newegg) calls it a "USB 3.2 Gen 2 Front Panel" connector.
I was also able to find one seller that called the cable end a "USB 3.1 type-c MINI 20 pin Front Panel Header" but this "type-c mini" terminology doesn't appear anywhere else that I've been able to find.

And with all of this, none of these terms have turned up anything remotely close to BOM-able for this connector.
Right now, the best strategy I've been able to come up with if I want to implement this connector is to just buy a bunch of the cheapest "type E" adapter boards I can find and salvage the connectors off of them, but that's a stupid, expensive solution and I hate it.

If anyone has any information at all about this connector, which manufacturers are actually making this connector, where I can buy it, or (the holy grail) a BOM-able part number for the thing, I would be immensely grateful for whatever it is you know.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2020, 01:44:06 pm by AJMansfield »
 


Offline AJMansfieldTopic starter

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2020, 02:48:19 pm »
No, that is not at all what I am trying to get. I am trying to get the surface-mount connector that those cables connect to, so I can use it in my own custom PCB design. (Although if you are able to find the bare cable end-connector without any of the rest of the cable assembly, that would be helpful since the same manufacturer would probably also make the surface-mount connector.)
 

Offline amyk

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2020, 02:11:41 am »
C8656-20CFDSAQR
WU3IR-20A1L1PHW5

http://conshare.com.cn/pro_view-143.html

When the manufacturers themselves nor the official specs don't call them "type E" connectors, it's not surprising you won't find anything useful. ;)
 
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Offline Sceptre

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2020, 03:03:12 am »
Amy FTW!

Delock has an M2 to USB 3.1 adapter that has a name/logo stamped on the connector, but I can't make it out:

https://www.delock.com/produkt/63998/merkmale.html

Here's the USB Implementers Forum spec for that connector and front-panel interconnect:
https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/USB3p1_Front_Panel_CabCon_Implment_Doc_Rev1p1.pdf
Lots of details, but no connector manufacturer or part number listed that I could see.
 

Offline amyk

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2020, 03:47:47 am »
That says LOTES, who calls them "ICC3.1" in their cables, https://www.lotes.cc/en/product.php?act=list&cid=17&act=list&cid=17 but I can't find the female part.
 

Offline wizard69

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2020, 10:06:26 pm »
Talk about Google Fu failing me; I couldn't find these sockets at all.   
 

Offline AJMansfieldTopic starter

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2020, 11:38:56 pm »
Thank you so much amyk, now just to see if I'll actually be able to get any of them from them at an anywhere-reasonable price.
 

Offline coromonadalix

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2020, 12:28:08 pm »
why not send an email at Delock   for this item ???  you may get some answers ??

https://www.delock.com/produkte/S_89801/merkmale.html
 

Offline AJMansfieldTopic starter

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Re: Where to get a USB 3.1 "type E" front panel header?
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2020, 05:12:33 pm »
Success!
WinWin has responded to my inquiry, and will indeed sell me the part - in fact, they're even sending me a free sample.

Although if anyone else decides they also want this connector for something, message me: I may end up having a few extra reels of it in the not-too-distant future.
 


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