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March 17th, 2025 14:30
Area 51 R2 Motherboard Swap Side Panel LED not lit automatically
in Windows 10 and 11, one of these units I tested does not have side panel LED lit automatically when powered on.
Alienhead and front Tron LEDs all light up steady blue as soon as power button is pressed.
neither side panel light up.
when either side panel is opened slightly then closed, then both LEDs light up.
this is observed before Windows OS is launched
some kind of actuator mechanism in place when the side panel is manually opened and closed
this apparently does not occur with Dell oem motherboard, which would automatically turn on all LEDs.
why is this? Is there a way to fix this?
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redxps630
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March 17th, 2025 14:34
one R5 user reported "the side panel still mostly works but sometimes won't light up after powering the computer on or with it on it will just randomly lose power, and I will have to remove the panel and reattach it to get them to come back on."
redxps630
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March 17th, 2025 15:20
more strange. if one side panel is removed, then then other side panel still attached would not light up period, even after pop open and close again.
I think I am about to figure this out.
tested a second R2 unit, all LEDs light up blue momentarily when power up, then all gone except Alienhead pulsing yellow. After OS launch and AWCC kicks in, all LEDs would resume preset blue color.
(edited)
redxps630
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March 17th, 2025 16:11
okay problem is due to my using a custom front panel cable which was modified from the stock Dell audio cable. I punched a hole in the audio connector and used it as a long enough front panel cable when I got this unit. It worked but caused the side panel not to light up automatically.
I discovered something more interesting.
If I use the original Dell front panel cable and d/c original USB1 cable, no side panel or Tron led turn on.
I have a long USB cable from another Dell that I punched a hole in its blank so it has 10 open holes, but one hole not wired. I am now using this as my new custom front panel cable, making sure the punched open N/C hole is on front panel pin #9.
redxps630
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March 17th, 2025 16:15
now a good result I got. I d/c the USB1 cable. only using the modified long USB1 cable as the new custom front pane cable. obviously, I cannot control LEDs anymore, but I do not care about it now. I want the PC to turn on side panel and Tron LEDs automatically and stay on throughout the boot process, not to turn on briefly and off for some time (with pulsing alienhead yellow eye) and finally turn on again.
and I get the result I want: all LEDs on automatically and stay on, except that the Alienhead LED does not light up any more, which I do not care much. I got 8 of the 9 LED zones to light up promptly and steady which is what I want.
Note that if you use the original front panel cable, and d/c the USB1 cable, you do not get this result.
(edited)