Aurora R8, Case Swap *COMPLETED*

@Gysper 

Good work......long time coming to see the case swap happen and be posted.

If you follow this it might help you figure out where the startup error is coming from.

Thanks for letting us know which pins are for the power switch.   Looks like I was off one pin on that post I did.  Bummer you can't do a forced shut down holding down the power switch.

That should help others take this path.   

@Anonymous 

Yes the error is due to the Front IO missing from the stock case. While I could've plugged it, the one from the new case works. But if you use the power SWITCH method, you get that error instead. Either one you can hit continue and the system should boot up.

@HanoverB 

 

Yes I think I might have seen your original post before and one of the users from reddit made another post showing the 4th and 5th slots. I'm not sure if this is consistent in all Aurora's but for the R8 it was.

Also forgot to add one thing to my post but you can also keep the RAM sticks. Unless you accidentally took them off during the swap but the RAM can stay if you want.

I read the post by ZwoukLeBleu

He said he used pins 3 and 4 on his R7,  the same I had pictured on my post.    Must be different for the R8 if you used pins 4 and 5.  Nice work.

Also he mentioned he had no USB function on his front panel, how about your machine.,...you sort that out?

I don't have this machine....so cant test this.

From this post

"On that Reddit post, he also states that you have to turn off the onboard LED components like the side panel LED lid switch via the R7 BIOS.   Not sure if that means without turning them off, you get an error of some kind.  That would be part of the testing.  If with the LED functions not working, if a startup error would occur which would need to be somehow bypassed."

Is this true?

@Gysper  wrote

Yes the alienware motherboard has the blue and black USB header plugs. I had to actually plug the blue cable from the new case to the black header which leaves the blue one empty.

When examining the stock alienware front IO, it has two USB header cables (blue and black) which I presume one of them is for the USB-C plug. Which is also why on boot you get the front IO error because one of them is not connected. I'll have to check to see if maybe plugging in the blue cable from the stock front IO could fix it.

Try that for sure......plug the IO unit USB connectors into those motherboard headers black to black, blue to blue, and see if the IO error goes away.   If so, unplug one and use the 20 pin USB connector from the NZXT front panel into that header and see what happens.  EZ fix if that is the issue by bypassing those headers.

Blue one is USB 3.0/USB-C yes.

*Be careful*  straight up on those connectors, no wiggling, those pins break so easy.

 

@HanoverB 

Yes the alienware motherboard has the blue and black USB header plugs. I had to actually plug the blue cable from the new case to the black header which leaves the blue one empty.

When examining the stock alienware front IO, it has two USB header cables (blue and black) which I presume one of them is for the USB-C plug. Which is also why on boot you get the front IO error because one of them is not connected. I'll have to check to see if maybe plugging in the blue cable from the stock front IO could fix it.

I didn't have any issues with LEDs but before I was using the power SWITCH method and not the original power connecter. After switching, you can go to the AWCC to disable the lights on it. But never got an error with LEDs.

I'm hoping it's the motherboard USB headers like it is on the XPS 8930 with a similar USB 3.0/USB-C implementation.  Let us know how that goes when you troubleshoot this.

If the USB headers are not giving you the error and you believe it to be the long white power switch/led connector on the motherboard needing to be connected, I think I have the workaround for that too.

Good work on troubleshooting, that information is really helpful.

So here is the workaround for a functional case swap for the Aurora R8 without any startup errors.

The startup error is from the motherboard USB headers not being connected to the Dell IO front unit.  There are pins that are jumped in the connectors/wiring that the BIOS is looking for on startup.  This we know from doing the XPS 8930 case swaps and confirmed by @Mr.Byte .  The workaround is to bring the IO unit into the case and add a PCI-E card to get USB functionality.

So to do a case swap on the R8, here are the workarounds.

• Front panel POWER connector from the new case on white 12 pin motherboard header pins 4 and 5 on the R8, pins 3 and 4 on the R7.  The POWER SW label on the connector should be typically face up.
• USB connector from the Alienware top IO panel, both blue connector and black connector installed on the motherboard. Blue to blue connector.  Black to black connector. Bring the IO connector into the case.
• PCIE USB 3.0 card with a 20 pin USB 3.0 header onboard. Connect the top panel USB connector on the new case to the USB header on the installed PCIE USB 3.0 card.  

 

-Front panel power on the white 12 pin connector is:     PWR BTN +5V   /       GRD

R7:  1 2 3 4      (needs confirmation)

R8:  1 2 3 4 5   (confirmed by @Gysper)

Disregard the Reset switch, Power switch LED and HDD LED.   The HD Audio 10 pin connector is connected to the motherboard header.  The USB 3.0 cable from the new case will be connected to a PCI-e card instead of to the motherboard USB header.   (Keep this in mind when choosing a new case, a lot of cases don't have the reset function anyway or the HDD LED)

-USB motherboard workaround

Here is the IO unit, connect blue to blue header, black to black header

then bring the IO unit into the case, hide it into the PSU shroud.

This will prevent the IO error startup.

The upside to this is you are able to use those USB-A connectors for any AIO coolers that need a USB header to connect to the pump to control the software.  If you add an RGB controller, you can also connect it to the unit.  The motherboard does not have a USB header, this will add that functionality.

Just choose the right cable for your needs.

 

-Since you have used the USB motherboard headers, you will need to use a PCI-E USB card to connect the USB cable from the front panel of the new case.  Connect that cable to the USB card.   You have effectively bypassed the IO error and still have USB function on the new case. 

This Inateck USB 3.0 card has worked fine in several case swaps.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JFR2H64

 

More info here and here on the wireless card and more specifics about the case swap, cable routing, missing rear IO panel mods, as they are similar to the XPS 8930.

 

rear IO panel mod

 

More info here from @Mr.Byte about jumping the pins on those  USB connectors if you are handy with a solder gun.  This will allow you to use those motherboard USB headers and not have to bring the IO unit into the case.

XPS 8930 bypass jumpers

Good luck and thanks @Gysper for the good information and doing the actual case swap!

@Anonymous 

 

Plan to upgrade to a 3070 so wanted more headroom for airflow.

Hope that helps. 

For the R6- R7 machines or newer R9 and up, there might be some minor differences.  Didn't seem like they changed too much on the motherboard connections despite the cosmetic differences in the case.  

The earlier machines might not need the USB workaround as the XPS 8910/8920 case swaps were easy with no workarounds necessary.   Please let me know here if there are any differences of note.  There are some cases on that thread which might work, but they are more mini-towers.

With a new case, go BIG, mid towers minimum.....don't want to again deal with any space constraints of a new case.   There are some nice cases out there!

The whole point is to be able to improve airflow, be able to install any type and size of GPU, and to be able to get rid of the 120mm AIO and move to 280mm and 360mm AIO to cool those CPU's under load.   If you miss the bling of the old case, many RGB options out there.....if you must have the aiienware logo, there are alternatives out there too you can add to the case.

Bring it on guys!

@HanoverB 

 

Good write-up. I did get a bit impatient with testing the front IO, so I spent another hour doing cable management and this is what I ended up with:

 

 

Ended up moving the front IO to the back of the case and tucked it at the bottom. This just means you lose the USB ports on both the front of the case and the original Alienware Front IO. But then plugging in the AUDIO cable from the new case worked. The nice thing about the Alienware motherboard is that there are 10 USB ports on the back although I just discovered that one of the ports on mine isn't working for some reason. The other good news that you gain an extra SATA plug due to taking out the DVD drive so up to 4 storage drives.

@Gysper 

Thanks, no way I could do that write up without you doing the testing.

Yes that audio header on the motherboard is a standard 10 pin HD audio connector....nice to have your front audio jacks and mic jacks working again.  Now get the front USB ports working as well.

Good work bringing that IO into the case, just add the $20 PCI-e card and connect the front panel USB connector from the new case to the card and you are set.

That IO unit is huge!!...gonna need some room to hide that, PSU shroud case a necessity.

 

Waiting on your pics to land to see your current  setup and see if I have more questions.

Just saw your last pics.and your current power button setup and USB setup.  Looks like you are still using the old power switch and LED cable to turn on the machine.

You confirmed the IO panel error you were getting is gone with the original Dell front IO cables connected to the two motherboard USB headers and Dell IO Panel tucked in the case. 

Those current pics show you are still using the old switch.  You might have mentioned that the new power switch might possibly be giving you a start up error as well?  

You wrote:

Yes the error is due to the Front IO missing from the stock case. While I could've plugged it, the one from the new case works. But if you use the power SWITCH method, you get that error instead. Either one you can hit continue and the system should boot up.

You wrote

Just means if you prefer to use the built-in case front IO and switch you'll always get the bootup error and just click 'continue' to allow it to continue booting up.

 

With the Dell IO panel now in the case and connected to the motherboard USB headers, can you confirm that with the power switch cable from the new case connected to pins 4-5, that the machine works normally without a power switch startup error? 

Setup should be

-Power switch on pins 4-5 
-Dell IO Panel in case, USB headers connected blue to blue, black to black
-Front USB of new case connected to USB PCI-E card.

Just double checking to see if there is still an issue that needs to be addressed.

Thanks

Workaround for the Power Switch error.  Hmmm.

I don’t have the harness to troubleshoot this. Darn.  Makes this much harder to solve.

I can give you some possible fixes.  So here goes.

 

Workarounds:

-BIOS or AWCC setting change
-jumper wire/ ground pins
-splice power switch into harness, bring harness into case

1) First, looking for an ez solution.  

-There was a mention of a BIOS setting to turn the LED”s off, is this possible and will solve this startup error?  Need to check the BIOS for this. 

 -Does turning off the LED’s on the AWCC as mentioned solve this?  Need to check that as well.

 

2) Next I would try to rule out that there is a wire looped inside the cable that is acting like a jumper between two pins on the white header. I saw this on the XPS 8930 power/led cable at pins 5 to 9.   We jumped those pins with a wire and solved that error.

I don’t have the skills that @Mr.Byte does to electrically check the pins on that header so visual inspection should do.

Pic from this thread

 

--You can take the motherboard side of the harness apart to check this.  What I am looking for is a wire that is actually a loop inside the cable that is jumping two pins on that motherboard header.

Optionally you can try to  count the number of wires on the connector to the motherboard.  Follow the cable back to the next connector and see how many wires are coming out of that end before it connects to the next connector inline.  For example if you see 21 wires at the connector but only 20 wires on the other end of the cable bundle as it connects to the next connector then there is a looped wire inside.  Taking the harness apart is still the best way to check this.

If neither of the first two fixes don't solve the issue. it’s likely the BIOS is looking for something on the LED controller card, maybe inside the power switch/led assembly.

@Cass-Olementioned that the entire connector should be made up of LED’S and on-off. The on-off has been solved partially solved (power witch LED function not working), so checking the controller with probes is the next step to see if pins on that header can be jumped/grounded to bypass the error.  I don’t have the skills @Mr.Byte has, so perhaps someone else does.

So given this, this leads to a splice:

3) Splice the power switch from the new case into the wire harness. 

Not as bad as it sound and is a possible solution but would require bringing that wiring harness into the machine (yuck, another thing inside the PSU shroud) and splicing the new case power cable into the harness to work around the start error. 

This can be done without cutting any wires for testing purposes.  First notice that the pins for power in the R series have double wires on the harness at each pin. 

Taking the wire harness apart to see where those wires go would be ideal to isolate which wires go to the switch.  But this should be unnecessary since “power on” is just a momentary connection between power and ground. 

The motherboard connector is shown on the pic.  If using pins 4 and 5, follow that colored double pair of wires from each pin and splice single wires from each pin to the wires from the POWER SW connector somewhere upstream along the cable where it can be hidden. 

First check pins on the header with a working power switch connection for polarity and wire colors on the harness which correspond to the pins on that header.  WRITE THESE COLORS DOWN SOMEWHERE.

The POWER SW connector marked by a triangle when connected to the header is the positive side and should be on pin 4 on the R8. (Reverse this if by some chance it is opposite)

From @Gysper testing on the R8:   Pin 4 +   Pin 5 -

So splice should be

Pin 4 + wire on harness    /    + wire marked by triangle on POWER SW connector
Pin 5 - wire on harness    /    - wire on POWER SW connector

 

Look at the pic below again, a good place to put the splice might be on the middle of the skinny harness around  the Y in the harness where it splits off at the lower left of the pic or at the large connector bundle in the middle of the pic.  If you unwrap the harness there, the wires you need might be exposed there.

 

Carefully pull back some of the black covering back on the cable bundle if necessary and splice the wiring  using this type of connector for 18-22 g wiring.

 

• wire from motherboard harness on one side
• wire from POWER SW from case on other side

 

Splice 1:   Pin 4 + wire on harness    /    + wire marked by triangle on POWER SW connector
Splice 2:   Pin 5 - wire on harness    /    - wire on POWER SW connector

 

Lay the two wires in, and then push the cover onto the connector and the two wires are spliced together.

Should be an EZ splice without cutting any wiring or connectors.  BOTH WIRES SHOULD BE ABLE TO LIE INSIDE THE CONNECTOR WITHOUT CUTTING.  You shouldn’t have to cut off the black rectangular POWER SW connector!

Downside is the bulk and will be visible, hence hide the splice and do it upstream

The connector wiring remains intact, even the black power cable connector from the new case marked POWER SW should not have to be cut off.  Should be able to revert back since if ever needed since there is no wire cutting.  The splice is hidden under the PSU shroud of the case.  I would use this method to test this workaround. 

POWER comes on, the BIOS sees what it needs to see at startup with no startup error and machine should function as normal.

If this tests out, then disconnect the other connectors, 1) alienhead power on/off and 2) fixed side panel LED connector on the cable (see pic) to see if you get an error.  Should reveal what the BIOS is looking for.  Leave what you can disconnected, the less you have to hide in the case the better.

Hey that LED on the alien head is kind of cool…black out the board and stick it somewhere in the case.

Note: If you have hide this cable harness and connectors in the case under the PSU shroud, use electrical tape or covers for anything connector or open wires/pins that could short to metal.