Area-51 R2, motherboard swap, conclusions

So does this mean as long as I download AWCC 4.059 to 4.8.25 I can control my Alienware area 51 r2 RGB on any motherboard. 

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@redxps630 wrote:

as long as the board has USB2.0 9 pin header, it will work with FIO to turn on all LED in Windows 10.  

Both R2 and R5 cases have bios registry key in public domain to allow quick easy install of AWCC on non-AW board. Personally prefer AWCC 4.0.59 to 4.8.25 for R2.

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If you say so (no reason to doubt you).

But Windows-10 is the old Windows. Windows-11 has been out for over a year now. If buying a new motherboard, I'm pretty sure most would want to be able to run Windows-11 on it (now or eventually).

It's been my experience that AW-CC is limiting ... either on the versions you are allowed to run or the versions of Windows they are compatible with.

AWCC is a big Dell bloatware and each newer version just gets more bloated.  

use the oldest AWCC c/w your pc such as 4.0.59 for A51 R2 RGB control to minimize the bloat effect.

4.0.59 is initial release (founder edition) c/w Win 7, 8, 10

vs 

4.8.25 Added AlienFX support for Alienware Monitor (AW2518H, AW3418HW, AW3418DW), Keyboard (AW768, AW568), and Mouse (AW958, AW558).

so these added features are not needed unless you use one of the above monitor/mouse.

When I try using AWCC it says my system is incompatible do I have to plug 9 pin into motherboard front panel or a 9 pin usb

If you mean you encounter error when trying to install AWCC, that is because AWCC install checks whether motherboard is Alienware A51 R2.  Work around is to edit registry bios key temporarily using genuine A51 R2 key so you can install AWCC without error by fooling the installation program into believing you are using stock motherboard.
Steps:

Edit a copy of A51 R2 Dell BIOS.reg as follows 

1) Area-51 R2 > copy the below text, paste into NotePad, name it R2Bios.reg, save it as a .reg file (aka All Files)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS]

"BiosMajorRelease"=dword:00000005

"BiosMinorRelease"=dword:00000006

"ECFirmwareMajorRelease"=dword:0000000e

"ECFirmwareMinorRelease"=dword:00000007

"BaseBoardManufacturer"="Alienware"

"BaseBoardProduct"="0XJKKD"

"BaseBoardVersion"="A00"

"BIOSReleaseDate"="07/13/2015"

"BIOSVendor"="Alienware"

"BIOSVersion"="A03"

"SystemFamily"=""

"SystemManufacturer"="Alienware"

"SystemProductName"="Alienware Area-51 R2"

"SystemSKU"="064C"

"SystemVersion"=""

2) rename the file as R2BIOS.reg

3) save it on a portable flash drive

LET FUN BEGIN….

6) Run Regedit.exe on Desktop (non-Dell board in R2 case)

a. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS

b. Select BIOS key and right mouse click and select “Export” and save on selected drive call it “BIOS.reg” (backup copy of BIOS key)

7) Import “R2BIOS.reg” from your portable drive The New Desktop BIOS key should have the same BIOS key as the AW desktop from step1 (compare as required by looking at the .reg file)

Keep Regedit running, don’t exit

9) Install AWCC

a. When complete (and if it has worked) select Reboot Later button on Install Page

10) Go to Regedit (important: Follow this Step if the install has failed)

a. Select “File” menu to replace back the original BIOS key. Select Import and select the “BIOS.reg” that you saved in previous step.

b. Check the Import go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS

c. Exit Regedit.

NOTE: You can select the reboot option as your system will place back the BIOS key based on the Motherboard you have in the system.

11) REBOOT

9 pin usb cable must be connected bth motherboard and IO board usb1 header.  then a power switch cable (FIO) should be connected bth motherboard and IO board FIO header.  Do a clean install of 10 then a clean install of AWCC 4.0.59 via registry hack.

Use AlienFXtester.exe in AWCC folder to test IO board connection