Introduction: DIY CD LPT Desktop Light + Video

In this instructable I will show how to make your own CD LPT Desktop Light .
I came to the idea of making this after I saw the Instructable of how to make an Simple music light show
I really liked the idea of controlling Led's trough an printer port. 
So it thought, 'Why not make that with some old Cd's?'. 
Here's the result, I hope you like it. 

It’s very easy to make and the materials are very easy to find.
Just follow the steps and enjoy the build.  

The Video:

Step 1: Materials

The materials you need are not so hard to find. 
Most people already got them.  

- Hot Glue Pistol
- Many old cd's
- Wires ( I've used an old internet cable, witch is perfect for this project)
- An old printer port
- Scissor 
- 8 led's 
- Soldering Iron



Step 2: Making the Stacks

Now you want to make stacks of cd's in wich you put the led's. 
Depending on how many cd's you have you are going to make stacks. 
In my case, I was having around 45 Cd's. 
So I made stacks of around 5 Cd's each.

Every Cd needs the be hot glued onto each other. 
So that at one point you are having 9 stacks of Cd's. 
Be careful with the hot glue, you don't want to bent the Cd's. 

After every 5 Cd's you glue a Cd on top with a gap in it. (See the image)
That's for the Led and the wires that are connected tot the Led. 
Simple cut it out with a scissor. 
Some Cd's may break, just pick a new one. 

Step 3: Connecting the Led's

When you're don with making the stacks you can start adding the Led's. 

Before you glue the led's in place you first need to wire them with. 
You can solder the wires, but you can also twist them around the leads of the Led. 
Glue the Led's in place and make sure they are inside the gap. 
Keep on continuing the step till you got all stacks glued on to each other. 
Make sure the wires are connected right, and they won't get pulled out easily. 




Step 4: Wiring

Now it's time to wire up everything.
It's very easy, so you are quickly ready. 
Wire everything up as shown in the schematic. 
Make sure all connections are right. 



Step 5: LPT Port / Software

The program I'm using for my LPT port LLE
You can download the software here, and it is very easy to use. 
http://modding.cz/data/software/lle.zip

If you do have any problems, or the isn't anything lighting up.
Sometimes a port doesn't work. 
There is a small program called UserPort wich allows you to us the specific port. 
 http://www.casemodgod.com/ModGuides/LEDmeter/userport.zip 

You will need to install then run UserPort and type "0x378-0x378" in the left hand box and then click "add". Then click "start" and "update". If you get a "Driver already started!" message, just click update. Now the software should work.

Solution thanks to joudas