LED not lighting up

I got a new motherboard, chip and graphics card and someone noticed that the LED isn't lighting up on the front of the computer when it's on and wondered if I have the cables plugged in correctly.

On the motherboard I have two of the cables plugged in, a blue and white one in PWRBTN, and one with two gray wires in RESET.

There are two other places in this double row of pins called PLED and HOLED where I don't have anything plugged in.

The row of pins looks like this: ::::.

Under the first four to the left it says PLED with HOLED directly under it.
And the next two are PWRBTN and under that it says RESET.

The last pin on the right with the empty above it doesn't have anything written under it.

First I want to ask about the blue and white cable and the grey cable. Does it matter which side the blue wire is on or can that plug be turned around either way? Is there only one way for that plug to go into those two pins, or does each wire go to a specific pin?

Second, I want to ask if the PLED and HOLED have anything to do with the LED that lights up on the front of the computer?

 

So the power led is not hooked up & the HD led isn't either. Yes those ends do have something to do with the light on the front of the PC not being on.
Best bet is to get the manual for the motherboard and check there.
If the connectors at the base on the pins on the motherboard are marked with a "+" and the one next to it is not marked then the colored wire goes on the "+" side and the white on the unmarked side (-).
The cables should have black plastic ends with "Pwbtn", "Rst","HDD", "Spkr" that you need to match to the pins on the mobo.. not all mobos are the same, some don't have speaker or sleep connections.

 

Thanks for your help foogoo,

I got the LED's to work. Someone showed me that the MB manuals have a page where there's a little map for those pins.

While we're on the subject of cables, I moved my old MB to a comp with an older but adequate PSU. The MB has a long socket for its power with 24 holes, but the cable coming out of the PSU has a cable with only 20 points. I was able to get the comp to run using the existing cable, but it leaves four of the holes without anything in them. I found an adapter plug that would switch the 20-point cable to a 24-end cable.

Would this make any difference in how my MB runs or in how much power goes to it? Do you know why these were expanded from 20 to 24?

 

The 24-pins were originally for Xeon server boards, and the standard has advanced as the necessity for more diverse power sources has developed.
There are also some proprietary considerations: for instance, some Dell PSUs will not plug into some motherboards.
If everything's up and running, then you must have connected properly, and you've met all of your requirements.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

Hi Norgates,

The four extra pins in the MB connector are paralleled with similiar pins in the rest of the connector. Probably all +12 Volts. You can run like that but if you were a high power gamer or Over Clocker you may have problems. Extras are to divide the current into more leads to beat the IR losses that occur in the leads. An adaptor would place short jumpers from the original pins to the extras and do very little for a board that is running OK. Hope this helps a little.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Thanks guys!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. "

Ain't that the truth!! That's how I get into this mess!