Sorta off-topic: Case LED leads

jamoore9 · Post by **jamoore9** » Tue May 27, 2003 12:59 pm

Okay, so I've been using my case without the hooking up all the LEDs for a while now. This is because the MOBO speaker that came with the case, the POWER_LED (ie, ATX switch), and the RESET_LED leads were all well-marked and intuitive: Red is positive, black is negative. Unfortunately, 3 other leads came with the case, including the HDD_LED, SMI_LED, and another one that I forget right now. These three aren't red and black. I feel pretty stupid asking, but I don't want to fry anything on my new MOBO (which is why I suddenly remembered that I hadn't ever connected those). All three have a white wire and one wire of another color (one is pink, the other is purple, and one is green). Now, I would assume that white, in this case, will always be ground, because white isn't usually POS. But what do I know? Any insights or advice? Votes as to whether white is ground or POS? Thanks!

aphonos · Post by **aphonos** » Tue May 27, 2003 1:04 pm

Case manufacturer and model would help with answering your question.

Might want to throw in mobo model, too.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Tue May 27, 2003 1:36 pm

Well, since they're LEDs, hooking them up one at a time can't hurt.
If it's backwards, the LED won't light. Flip it around and try again. 50/50 shot.

I once saw an old Pentium1 board that wouldn't boot if the HDD LED was in backwards but that was a decade ago.

I doubt very seriously that you'd burn something by hooking up the diode backwards.

Riffer · Post by **Riffer** » Tue May 27, 2003 3:00 pm

If they are labeled, the labels will all point in the same direction (usually down when your mobo is mounted in an ATX case).

So if you get one right, the rest should follow.

rpc180 · Post by **rpc180** » Tue May 27, 2003 6:58 pm

Usually white is ground (that's what it says in my A+ Certification Book).
But it also says that plugging in something backwards will not destroy it instantly. In fact, it says that you can even have it like that until you notice that was wrong ... could be minutes/hours, etc... That even goes for IDE cables, Floppy disk cables, well, RAM you can't really do, and PSU cables are hard to do also, but you get the idea.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Tue May 27, 2003 11:56 pm

You won't fry you board it's perfectly safe. Many motherboard manual actually tells you to to switch them around if it does not work.

Just plug them in according to the manual. If you don't have the manual just download the PDF version from their website.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed May 28, 2003 3:51 am

Mr_Smartepants wrote:Well, since they're LEDs, hooking them up one at a time can't hurt.
If it's backwards, the LED won't light. Flip it around and try again. 50/50 shot.

Mr_Smartepants get's a cookie for the first correct answer. Follow his advice and you'll be fine.

jamoore9 · Post by **jamoore9** » Thu May 29, 2003 5:36 am

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help.

For the record, its an Ahanix re-branded GMC Noblesse case. It didn't come with ANY documentation ("You Dream come true PC Case," according to the box it came in). The new mobo is a P4P800, soon to be joined by a new P4 2.4C.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Thu May 29, 2003 11:48 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:
Mr_Smartepants wrote:Well, since they're LEDs, hooking them up one at a time can't hurt.
If it's backwards, the LED won't light. Flip it around and try again. 50/50 shot.

Mr_Smartepants get's a cookie for the first correct answer. Follow his advice and you'll be fine.

Cookies are delicious delicacies!

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri May 30, 2003 4:53 am

Mr_Smartepants wrote: Cookies are delicious delicacies!

Is Mr_Smartepants a Mozilla/Firebird user?