Connect Front Panel LEDs and Switches

Step 7-How to Connect Front Panel LEDs and Switches

This article will cover the connect front panel LEDs and switches tutorial.

Consult the motherboard manual before you connect front panel LEDS and switches. Each tiny connector is labeled as to its function.

The most common connectors are speaker, reset, power, hard drive activity LED, and power on LED.

The power switch is what switches the motherboard and the computer on. If this switch is not hooked up the computer will not work.

Do not confuse the power switch with the Power LED. The first one switches the computer on while the latter indicates the computer has power(usually a green LED). The LED stays on while there is power to the computer. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and it is a tiny low current light bulb.

After consulting the motherboard documentation(the pins are also labeled on the motherboard) line up the connecter with the correct pin on the motherboard and slide it on.

Once you have connected the power and reset, it's time for the lights and the speaker.

Which wire goes where doesn't matter for the switches, but the LEDs are polarized. That means one is positive and the other is negative.

Your motherboard manual wil tell you which pin is positive on the motherboard. Regarding the wires to the lights from the front of the case, it's usually the colored wire of the pair that is positive. If you get it wrong you will know because the respective LED won't work. If it doesn't light up simply swap the wires around and that should fix it.

Check to make sure everything is working as it should and you are done.