Topic summary
Intel HD Audio
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Intel High Definition Audio.
Front panel connector
It is strongly recommended that motherboard designers only use Intel HD Audio analog front panel dongles with the Intel HD Audio analog front panel header to ensure that the jack detection and dynamic retasking capability are preserved. Passive AC'97 analog front panel dongles (ones that leave the 5V Analog pin-7 line unconnected on the dongle) may be used with the Intel HD Audio analog front panel header. But note that the front panel jack detection and re-tasking functionality will be lost as the AC'97 jacks cannot support connection to the SENSE line. In addition, software must be aware that an AC'97 dongle is being used with an Intel HD Audio analog header since the software might need to dedicate codec ports that are connected to the header to meet the product's intended functionality.