I have an emachines t2385 and cant figure out what order the pwr switch pwr led and hdd led wires plug into the motherboard. On the motherboard, there are 4 sets of 2 pins and 1 set with 1 pin. Can any one help how do i determine what order the 3 plug into the board, starting with the single pin?

Usually it is in very small print right on the motherboard next to the pins, use a flashlight and/or a magnifier to see what order the pins go in. The hard drive light will say HDD, power will say PWR, etc.

their should be some abrevations like pwr led, pwr sw, hdd led by some metal pins in one of the corner of the motherboard

The manual for your computer is available from emachines, p.168 shows the info you need (replacing the front I/O panel)
http://downloads.emachines.com/userguides/8511279_eM_NG3_chassis_HW_ref_en.pdf

The good news is that you can't harm the computer by connecting the wires wrong and the bad news is they just won't work the way they are supposed too if not connected properly. The LED's must have the correct polarity to work.
In general, if you look real close (as in magnifying glass and flash light) you will see the ID for each set of pins is printed on the motherboard (pwr,rst,HDD,pwr sw,speaker) Just match what it says on the motherboard to what it says on the wires. Don't worry if you get the polarity wrong. If a light doesn't work just swap the two wires. The colored wires should be positve (+), though. The reset (rst) and power switch (pwr sw) wires don't require polarity.
These instructions are for most computers in general, YMMV.

There are may motherboards, but most have writing on them as to what is suppose to plug where. For example, for the power switch, the lettering might be "Pwr" or "Power" or "Pwr sw". The pins are usually together and should fit the plug on the end of the wire.

Here is a link to the manual,It is in PDF format

need wiring for a fc motherboard old p3 board

You should be able to see the words/letters that go with the jumpers on the motherboard itself. look around the jumper settings area for power, pwr etc. and match them up with your jumpers which should have what the go to on them.

If you look at the motherboard there is usually a diagram labeled "FRONT PANEL HDR" that will tell you which pins are for: HDD LED, PWR LED, RESET, PWR ON. etc.
The chart / diagram may be a few inches away from front panel header.
the following example is from my emachine T2893 that I had opened because it won't power up.

the motherboard at the header connector labels pin #2 and with that you can figure out the other
pin numbers

example of diagram on motherboard (Confirm the pin numbers on your motherboard)


J9G1 PINS
| HD LED | 1 - 3 |
| PWR LED | 2 - 4 |
| RESET | 5 - 7 |
| PWR ON | 6 - 8 |

Hope this helps you figure which pins to hook you switch up to.

i'm guessing your talking about your power LED, HDD LED, reset button etc.? Look closely on the board, there are small hints printed on it. eg... pwr, reset, spkr etc. and on the colored wires, there ought to be printed reset, power etc. just match them and plug them in. you can't do too much damage if they are wrong.

The header connections that you are looking for are on the edge of the motherboard near the battery. Look for a group of gold contacts sticking straight up at you. The silkscreen tells you which header are for what light or switch. You will see one that says "PWR LED". Another says "PWR SW" Another says "HDD LED". They are printed very small. You will see others in that vicinity that say "SAST1" and "SPKR". Ignore them.Look along the edge where the battery is mounted some are located around the nearby corner but still along the edge. All should be on the edge nearst the front of your machine. Others may be along the edge facing the bottom of your machine.