What is IDE-LED?

Priva

Honorable
Nov 21, 2013
150
0
10,690
Out of curiosity, what is the IDE-LED for on my case? I was reading my motherboards manual because I had to reconnect the on/off switch, reset button, power indicator led, etc. Because I was installing a new I/O panel for my case. While reading the motherboard manual to reconnect all the buttons / lights correctly on my motherboard, (asus p8z68-v le) I stumbled across "IDE-LED 1 & IDE-LED 2" on the manual. But my case didn't have any wire that was labeled IDE-LED but instead it said HDD LED so I hooked the HDD LED there. It turns out that the second light on the panel (which never worked before) I actually got working again. (Must have never been hooked up right in the first place) What exactly is this for? It seems to blink a lot or even stays lit when my hard drive is under high load (installing applications, booting windows, etc.) but while I'm browsing the internet, it blinks a lot less (because the hard drive isn't under heavy load?) I tried looking up information about IDE-LED and couldn't find many results.
 

oxiide

Distinguished
Its just your hard drive activity light, as the others said. IDE is an older interface, and its pretty rare to find a new motherboard with an IDE interface. Hard drives today use SATA instead, so it sounds like your case manufacturer just opted to call it "HDD LED" to be more precise.