i want to make a dvd window and illuminate it w/ leds, superbright whites. i want it to eb like this (illuminated white when dvd activity is present) and when there is activity on the dvd drive have yellow super brights turn on while the whites turn off. then when there is no activity have it revert back to the white leds on and the yellow off (i'm gonna have a (silver/gold paintjob) i would probrably do the same for the hard drive. i know dvd activity is pin 8 and hdd activity is pin 39 (i have an led for that) how would i wire this?

With the DVD Activity, Pin 8 has 3-5 when active. Wiring too many LEDs to that would simply drain power from the LEDs and they would be dim. I can't remember whether you need a resistor for these or not.

You would need to setup a relay or transistor setup if you want 1 lot to turn off when the others come off. It will be a bit of work.

Running too many LEDs from the IDE pin 39 for the hard drive will kill the hard drive. 1 is ok, but any more than that is just putting ur hard drive at risk.

Give me a minute, and Ill draw you a schematic

are pins 39 and 8 grounds or power?

From what ive just read 39 is ground while 8 is 3-5v

Here you are. The chip in the middle is an LM324 (dual) or an LM741 (in which case you will need two). Check the datasheet for the chip to find out how many milliamps it will handle to know how many LEDs you can have.

insanity... your too smart for our time. go to the next generation where you will fit in.

Haha thanks man The only reason I know any of this is because my family used to take long road trips when I was really young and I had one of those 200-in-1 project labs from R-S, and I made and understood every circuit in there, so something like this seems easy. For anyone who cares, this circuit is called a 'Window Comparator" ... I think thats how you spell it

nice, i need to get me one of those lol

wow pretty fast replies, just what i was looking for thanx alot

edit: this would work for the hdd activity also??

This exact circuit wouldnt because this one changes when the input is high or low (5v or 0v). Im pretty sure the IDE activity line is floating when no activity and low when there is activity (can anyone correct me on this?). If you go to my old thread here and go to the last page, there is a schematic that will work for you. Just connect the 'trigger' wire to pin 39. Let me know if you need a better schem drawn up.

that schematic would work but i am using 2 separate led's a white and a yellow. how would i wire it into this circuit circuit

Replace the bicolour LED with the two normal leds like this:

Note that you might have to play around with the limiting resistors a bit (R1 and R2) because you are using white and yellow, not blue and yellow.

aight thnx for the help