Restoring Optiplex 260 DT

260's use 80 wire IDE cables for hard drive and for dvd.

Thanks for the information. I'll be ordering these and the RAM today. I'm just waiting to find out about the other cables.

Where can I find the system service tag on this desktop?

Service Tag and Serial Number are one and the same thing.  There are multiple labels on the back and base. The Dell service tag is a seven character identifier that is unique to your product. In addition to the service tag, there is an Express Service Code which is a 10-digit numeric version of the service tag. There is a panel on the front that opens and reveals the tag. There is also a Serial Number and FCC ID label on the bottom of the unit.  Serial Number = Service Tag.

http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/19/article/Product-Support/Self-support-Knowledgebase/locate-service-tag/Desktops

Thank you for your quick reply. The service tag number is <ADMIN NOTE: Service tag removed per privacy policy> and the express number is <ADMIN NOTE: express number removed per privacy policy>  All I need now is which cable connects the dvd drive to the MB and which cables connect the front panel usb and sound ports to the MotherBoard. Thanks.

Hi Mykel99,

Please refer to the page number 42 and 65 in the manual below for removing and replacing cables for the optical drive and I/O panel.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_optiplex_desktop/optiplex-gx260_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

Please let me know if this helps.

The Front Panel is a board and a single 34 pin ribbon cable goes from that board to the motherboard.

Which one depends on SFF Desktop or Tower Case.

OM686 is for the Tower.  The power button is on a separate 16 pin ribbon cable and board 88RXM.

33 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1
o o o o o o x o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

The 34-pin ribbon cable runs to a small sub-board for the front panel, which includes a 16-pin(2x8) header which gets another ribbon cable that goes to the "sub-sub-baord" for the actual poanel light and switches.

The table below shows the functions of the pins on the 34-pin connector, plus where they connect to on the 16-pin "sub-board" header.

34-Pin function 16-Pin
1 GND 3, 7, 15, 16
2 ?
3 ?
4 ?
5 ?
6 ?
7 ?
8 ?
9 GND
10 ? 11
11 GND
12 ?
13 ?
14 GND
15 ?
16 GND
17 ?
18 ?
19 GND
20 Pwr Switch 2
21 “KEY”
22 HD LED 4
23 PWR LED - 5
24 ? 13
25 GND
26 ?
27 PWR LED + 9
28 ? 8
29 GND
30 GND
31 ?
32 GND
33 ?
34 ?

Thank you for all of this information. I have added a picture of the inside of the Dell tower. This is all that came with it. I noticed from the manual that Ravi sent me that 2 cables connect to the front panel. One is an I/O cable and the other an I/O audio cable. I also need a DVD drive audio cable. Can these cables be bought online or do I have to go through Dell Computers? I also noticed that the battery is missing. If I am correct I need 2 ribbon cables, RAM memory, 2 I/O cables, a DVD audio cable and a battery. Is this right?

The front panel power button and ribbon are still in there. You are missing the Ribbon that goes from the front USB/Audio  and IDE hard drive and optical drive.  So you are missing 2 X  80 wire IDE cables 5F946 - Dell Cable Assembly IDE PRIMARY TSMT System board to Hard Drive (HDD) and one 33 pin ribbon cable for the control panel and audio which I think is 6N429 I/O CABLE AND 2H301 Audio Cable

0M686 BOARD is below

DVD Drive

Hard DRIVE

FLOPPY

Fantastic! Thank you for your quick reply. I'll get these last few parts this week and finish putting her together. Do you know what type of battery I need? That seems to be my last question. (At least for now).

Thanks. I'm buying that today. The rest will hopefully come in later this week. Again, thanks to everyone for their time and help.

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