For the lights thing, can you just get an image to appear on screen? Whether its in a corner or full screen. I've seen images appear during Intro's (alot/all of the BAS missions have that). You could have 2 images, they both look exactley the same but in one the green light is on, but the other the red light is on. the images would appear for 2-3 seconds, just long enough for you to recognise what it is.