HELP! Mounting a PC inside a cabinet

[Magnet_Eye]

I mounted my PC components into my cab, attaching the motherboard, etc to a pressboard piece in there. The BIOS of the MB is set to power on by power button only. So, now I cannot get this thing to power on. Anyone know how to bypass this? Once I get it on I can change BIOS to power on by keyboard or mouse movement.

Also, is it necessary to ground the Motherboard in anyway since it isnt in a case now?

Lastly, I will plug everything into a power strip...then what? How do you set it up? Can i somehow use the existing switch in the back of the cab to turn on the power? What have others done to make this simple?

Any help or advice is appreciated!  

Thanks!  

[2slk]

 You can make a temporary power button if you like by using an arcade button, rigged to the power switch connectors on the MB. Regardless, I would suggest having a power button accessible just the same. Win XP supports a shutdown by the power button so why not install one? You could mount in on the top or back of the cab to keep it out of the way.

 You don't have to ground your MB.

 As for the power strip, there are a few options. You can hack an external power switch. I think there are some previous posts on that. I saw one cab that had a rack mount type power strip mounted on the back of the cabinet. The user just reached around the back of the cab and flipped the switch.

 There are also 'switched' power strips. You can get some good ones at Sears. They have 1 switched outlet and I think 2 always on outlets. Pretty useful.  

[Magnet_Eye]

Can you give me an example of how to connect a button to the MB? There are two prongs/pins to connect to. Which prong goes to what part of the microswitch of the button?

this is frustrating! I need to power this bastard up!

[2slk]

If you have a molex connector it will be easier. If not, you'll have to get creative. Essentially one wire goes to ground and one goes to normally open on the microswitch, just like you were wiring up a regular arcade button. You should consult your MB manual to find out which is which on the MB but you could try both. You won't fry anything.

[meddo]

The power connector will probably be two pins on your motherboard. If you dont have your mb handbook to find it. 99% of the time it is also marked on the board itself with 'pwr' or similar, so just look closely. For the pins just  grab an old connector from any junk case you might have lying around, old cd-rom audio cables work well also. Dont worry about which pin is what, as the pins only need to be shorted to power up.