raspberry pi zero activity led

[Avi]

I have A raspberry pi zero W, and would like to put it in this official case https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61SH0gSIFSL._SL1000_.jpg
I would like to be able to see the activity LED so I can tell:

• when it has completed booting up
• that things are even running or it's just sitting idle
• when it has competed shutting down so I know it is safe to remove power

The issue is that this LED is nowhere near the lid hole (its near the bottom right screw hole) and it is a sideways emitting (towards the bottom edge) surface mount LED.
I would rather not do any soldering or desoldering if at all possible.
I don't want to waste an IO pin, and also muck around with recompiling the kernel.
as far as I can tell the circuit is 3.3v -> 470 ohm -> LED -> somewhere. None of the test pads seem to go to the other side of the LED so that not an option.

Is anyone aware of a suitable lightpipe I could use? otherwise, an alternate solution? (not involving a light sensor!)

[Jeroen3]

Glue on a bit of fiber from those lights.
You can get the fiber at lighting stores or ebay for "star sky ceilings".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber#/media/File:Use_of_optical_fiber_in_a_lamp..JPG

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[X]

For AU$12, you can drive over to the greatest electronics store in the history of the universe and find LED light guides.

Alternatively perhaps bending some acrylic rods may work, but I've found this technique to depend on the actual material/colour of the rod itself. Try and get one that you can see through end-to-end, maybe even coat the rod in silver paint to improve total internal reflection.