Area-51 R2, AWCC + Dell's Lack of Finesse

Hi @jk4dell,

Additional 3rd party hardware cannot be officially supported. We understand your concern in terms of the development of the software, but with the amount of 3rd party upgrades that can be made and the variety of hardware out there, it becomes very difficult to englobe all possibilities in a software. Dell's got this site:

http://www.ideastorm.com

In which you can submit your ideas about possible solutions or new developments that can be made on current or newer systems. I believe that's the best way to communicate your concern to the developers of the Alienware Command Center software.

Have you searched the forum?

I could be mistaken, but I thought a couple of Area51-R2 users successfully added another fan to the front. Not sure what motherboard fan header they used, if they used add-on controller, or maybe just let it run on low/medium always. All that should be in their posts.

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@PUC_Snakeman wrote:

 

I too have recently noticed that I can't control the TOP Fan anymore, on my Area-51 R2.

- When a profile is set to "Auto (Alien Control)", I will see the TOP Fan go to 1% to 5%. This portion appears to be working.
- But when a profile is set to "Manual (User Control)", then TOP Fan goes to Idle, and stays there, even if I'm setting a Fixed value (like 50% or 100%), or setting a "Use Curve" value for any of the available "Link to" sensors, and click Apply. TOP Fan just stays at Idle. Frustrating.

I'll have to do additional testing, but .. this seems like broken Alienware software.
- Dell Area-51 R2 with 64 GB RAM
- Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0
- Windows 10 x64

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Interesting. I run Manual then Curve and I advise other to do the same.

To me, they serve the same function ... except with Manual/Curve, you get set set your own Curves instead of whatever (hidden) curves they chose.

Tesla1856:

I know how the software is supposed to work.

Can you confirm that TOP Fan control is broken on:

- Dell Area-51 R2 with 64 GB RAM
- Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0
- Windows 10 x64

I have X51 R2 and i know exactly how do you feel and you're right. This is my first and last Alienware PC.

These past years under DELL they're cheap OEM builder with premium "gaming" price. Noisy, loud machines with high temperatures, stock OEM coolers, cheap thermal paste with obsolete software utilities like AWCC, not updated anymore on older models. Heck, they propably invest more money into marketing than development and support.

New AWCC is not ported to older machines, because of some vague excuses, like your machine is older and not supported or it doesn't have some new amazing thermal management board = total nonsense. You don't need have one at all ! Motherboard BIOS does everyhing on HW level.

There should be only ONE AWCC for all Alienware models and PWM fan control should be handled by software the same way, like is handled by applications like SpeedFan or payed and updated Argus Monitor which i'm using and love it.

There are two possible explanations. They don't care or they are incompetent. Imho it's 50/50..

Alienware Tech Support - Alienware-Eimy:

I have concluded my testing, and it looks like this problem with controlling the TOP Fan, on an Area-51 R2, is indeed an issue with Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0. :( So, this is the third problem I have with this software.

Could you kindly confirm these 3 problems, and push towards fixing them?

1) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 does not allow Manual (User Control) of the TOP Fan. It ignores all settings. It ignores a Fixed setting. It ignores a Use Curve setting, for all of the Link To sensors. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 works correctly.

2) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 takes 3 to 6 minutes to load the System Tray icons for AlienFX and Thermal Controller, when Windows is started. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 loads them instantly.

3) Alienware Command Center makes Windows freeze at startup, if a 16GB Ram Stick is inserted. I have 4 of them installed - Crucial Technology CT16G4DFD824A.M16F is the part number of each stick. I found a workaround for this issue on 10/1/2016, where disabling the "MSICPU_CC" service (either before you restart after Alienware Command Center installation, or afterward in Safe Mode) will allow you to keep Alienware Command Center installed without freezing windows at startup. Any chance to get this issue finally resolved?
The link to the workaround finding, and several messages afteward, is:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/Area-51-R2-64GB-Memory-Support/m-p/5536876/highlight/true#M38825

jk4dell:
Can you try uninstalling Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0, then restarting, then installing Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0, then restarting? It might get you access to the TOP Fan again. You can find it by clicking "Older Versions" on your Dell Driver page. Additionally, I have the original 4.0.51.0 stored locally, in case you wanted to test it too, just let me know.

I hope Alienware can redeem themselves! This software looked awesome, but needs some help currently!

Thanks,
Jacob Klein

Alienware Tech Support - Alienware-Eimy:

I have concluded my testing, and it looks like this problem with controlling the TOP Fan, on an Area-51 R2, is indeed an issue with Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0. :( So, this is the third problem I have with this software.

Could you kindly confirm these 3 problems, and push towards fixing them?

1) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 does not allow Manual (User Control) of the TOP Fan. It ignores all settings. It ignores a Fixed setting. It ignores a Use Curve setting, for all of the Link To sensors. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 works correctly.

2) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 takes 3 to 6 minutes to load the System Tray icons for AlienFX and Thermal Controller, when Windows is started. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 loads them instantly.

3) Alienware Command Center makes Windows freeze at startup, if a 16GB Ram Stick is inserted. I have 4 of them installed - Crucial Technology CT16G4DFD824A.M16F is the part number of each stick. I found a workaround for this issue on 10/1/2016, where disabling the "MSICPU_CC" service (either before you restart after Alienware Command Center installation, or afterward in Safe Mode) will allow you to keep Alienware Command Center installed without freezing windows at startup. Any chance to get this issue finally resolved?
The link to the workaround finding, and several messages afteward, is:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/Area-51-R2-64GB-Memory-Support/m-p/5536876/highlight/true#M38825

jk4dell:
Can you try uninstalling Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0, then restarting, then installing Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0, then restarting? It might get you access to the TOP Fan again. You can find it by clicking "Older Versions" on your Dell Driver page. Additionally, I have the original 4.0.51.0 stored locally, in case you wanted to test it too, just let me know.

I hope Alienware can redeem themselves! This software looked awesome, but needs some help currently!

Alienware Tech Support - Alienware-Eimy:

I have concluded my testing, and it looks like this problem with controlling the TOP Fan, on an Area-51 R2, is indeed an issue with Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0. :( So, this is the third problem I have with this software.

Could you kindly confirm these 3 problems, and push towards fixing them?

1) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 does not allow Manual (User Control) of the TOP Fan. It ignores all settings. It ignores a Fixed setting. It ignores a Use Curve setting, for all of the Link To sensors. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 works correctly.

2) Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0 takes 3 to 6 minutes to load the System Tray icons for AlienFX and Thermal Controller, when Windows is started. Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0 loads them instantly.

3) Alienware Command Center makes Windows freeze at startup, if a 16GB Ram Stick is inserted. I have 4 of them installed - Crucial Technology CT16G4DFD824A.M16F is the part number of each stick. I found a workaround for this issue on 10/1/2016, where disabling the "MSICPU_CC" service (either before you restart after Alienware Command Center installation, or afterward in Safe Mode) will allow you to keep Alienware Command Center installed without freezing windows at startup. Any chance to get this issue finally resolved?
The link to the workaround finding, and several messages afteward, is:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/Area-51-R2-64GB-Memory-Support/m-p/5536876/highlight/true#M38825

jk4dell:
Can you try uninstalling Alienware Command Center 4.8.25.0, then restarting, then installing Alienware Command Center 4.0.59.0, then restarting? It might get you access to the TOP Fan again. You can find it by clicking "Older Versions" on your Dell Driver page. Additionally, I have the original 4.0.51.0 stored locally, in case you wanted to test it too, just let me know.

I hope Alienware can redeem themselves! This software looked awesome, but needs some help currently!

I have exactly the same issue with an Area-51 R2, Top Fan doesn't work in Manual mode with AWCC 4.8.25.0.  I tried everything from re-installing Windows 10 to readjusting fan connectors, etc.  The issue is clearly with that AWCC software version.  I spoke with Dell Support and they said to use the older one, which it works.  Amazing they cannot get this fixed after spending $7,500 on this machine.  Next device won't be Alienware.