Fractal Design Refine 7 missing HDD LED connectors

[Ravenger]

Has anyone encountered this before?

Just built a new PC in a new Fractal Design Refine 7 case, but the front panel wiring is missing the hard disk LED connectors.
Not only that, the PWR LED connectors are wired up to the HDD LED!

I've put in a ticket with Fractal Design, but was wondering if I've got something wrong here, or if anyone else has seen a similar issue.

It looks like to me the wiring harness for the front panel has been wired up wrong. This seems to plug in via a connector so hopefully it's user replicable.

 

[Ravenger]

A reply from Fractal Design says this is intentional, as apparently few people want a HDD indicator light these days! Their previous case I had has one.

As it's a completely black case with no window, you can't see inside to see if it's on, and it's almost completely silent.

I'll see if I can get an LED light to attach to a fan header so I can get some light to spill out of the side vent, or replace the front fans with LED lit ones.

 

[Tetras]

A reply from Fractal Design says this is intentional, as apparently few people want a HDD indicator light these days! Their previous case I had has one.

Yeah, they have been dropped on many cases. I don't have the power/HDD LEDs connected, on any of mine.

 

[Ravenger]

First time I've encountered that. Bought some cheap magnetic LED strips and stuck them near the front vents so I can see light shining out when it's on and hooked up the front LED to the HDD.

 

[nelbert]

A reply from Fractal Design says this is intentional, as apparently few people want a HDD indicator light these days!

I guess I fall into one of those few. I'm also one of those odd ones who prefers no lights/displays unless the device needs to give me information. I have my AVR set to an off display when it is on and one of these days I'm going to put tape over the Apple TV light. I know it's on, I don't need a mini white ultra bright led to tell me

I have had no use for a power light for years, but find a hdd indicator is useful especially with no noisy hard disks in my systems and inaudible cpu/gpu fans. Between my display and peripherals I know if my PC is on without needing any extra lights. HDD lights are useful for things like status bars pausing while doing heavy disk access or games bulk loading assets.

I also get a feel for what is normal access patterns on devices. I deliberately wired the hdd to the power button led on my headless server, so when the hdd light goes nuts unexpectedly is suggests something isn't quite right and the regular disk access works as a "I'm switched on" led.

 

[Ravenger]

With the case I have it's difficult to tell if it's on without a power light, as it's not got any windows and has a door on the front. It's also silent except under load.

I also like a HDD light as I can see if it's being trashed, or if it's safe to turn off the machine if it's hung.