Z390 Itx/ac - two flashing red light back of MOBO
Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11594
Printed Date: 05 Aug 2025 at 2:52am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Z390 Itx/ac - two flashing red light back of MOBO
Posted By: anpanmant
Subject: Z390 Itx/ac - two flashing red light back of MOBO
Date Posted: 02 Jun 2019 at 12:30pm
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Hi all, I just cleaned up my PC yesterday and put everything back together. I realized that there are two lights at the BOTTOM of the BACK of the motherboard constantly flashing red light (even the PC is not turned on) but just with power plugged in. (maybe it was always lighting up and i never pay attention to it) I dig through the whole MOBO manual and it does not explain what this light mean. The system is running fine and the BIOS did not indicate anything wrong with the MOBO. Anyone has any clues?  
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Replies:
Posted By: Event4101
Date Posted: 03 Jun 2019 at 7:00am
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Okay, first of all let me just say for the record that I don't own one of these Z390 boards so my answer will only be an educated guess. I didn't see a mad rush to respond to your question so I thought I'd give it a try, since I was just sitting here sipping an iced green tea at my favorite coffee shop, while listening to the wonderful Thelonious Monk playing in the background. :) Your details were slightly vague since I see ASRock makes two Z390-Itx/ac boards, a Z390M-ITX/ac and a Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac, so it is a bit tough to know which one you actually own. It does appear that maybe you attempted to include a photo of your board, or of the two lights, but for some reason that photo must no longer be available. Anyway, the Phantom Gaming has on-board Wifi and one Ethernet port, while the Z390M has on-board Wifi and two Ethernet ports. Performing a close-in zoom of photos made from both boards didn't seem to easily reveal the lights (actually LEDs) of which you wrote; neither did the pc board silk-screen that I could read provide any clues. Failing to find any definitive information about these mysterious lights it is now time for an educated guess. Many desktop Ethernet ports will support a (bios) feature called Wake on LAN (WoL). When a "magic packet" is sent across the network addressed to a specific computer, and that specific computer has the WoL feature enable, the computer will power-on from either a sleep or power-off state. To support the WoL feature the Ethernet port(s) must remain powered-on at all times to await the possible arrival of the "magic packet", even when the computer is powered-off. It is possible the two LEDs you see flashing when the computer is powered-off are simply representative of the on-board Ethernet port(s) that remain powered-on and serving their intended purpose in life. Both Z390-ITX boards also have that on-board Wifi module. Just like the Ethernet port(s) and the WoL feature, the on-board Wifi module could support a similar feature called WoWLAN (Wake on Wireless LAN). Once again, if this feature were made available, it would require the on-board Wifi module to remain powered-on even when the computer is powered-off. So it is possible that one, or possibly both, flashing LEDs could be related to the on-board Wifi module. Of course it is also possible that I am completely wrong and the flashing LEDs are some type of fancy LED animation feature that are popular with gaming motherboards. :) By the way, as I was examining motherboard photos searching for LED clues, I was able to make the guess that when you wrote "bottom" you were referring to the side of the board closest to the PCIe slot. However, when you referred to the "back" of the board, I found that to be a bit more ambiguous. Would the back be the side with the rear panel I/O, or would it be the side of the board oriented deep inside the case, the side nearest to the memory slots? I'm guessing "back" meant the side with the rear panel I/O, adding some validation that my hunch that the flashing LEDs are related to the Ethernet ports and/or Wifi module. |
Posted By: ASRock_TSD
Date Posted: 04 Jun 2019 at 9:53am
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Dear Anpanmant, Thank you for choosing ASRock. Z390 Phantom Gaming ITX/ac has three LED at the back of the motherboard. Please refer to ASRock website. https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z390%20Phantom%20Gaming-ITXac/index.asp The LED can be turned off by ASRock Polychrome RGB Utility. Download link: http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Utility/RGB/PolychromeRGB(v1.0.42).zip Also, if you only want to turn off the LED at system shutdown, please disable BIOS [Turn On LED in S5] option. BIOS Path: Advanced > Chipset Configuration > Turn On LED in S5 Thank you! Yours truly, ASRock TSD |