mine is having problems with this to.i have the venting at 10% but it never opens.strangely when i play worl in conflict it opens but for wow never or any other game

The fins on my Area-51 are working but I just had to locked them to 50% due to a problem with sensors.

They are tied to the system fan and sometimes my system fan sensor goes to zero and the physical fan goes to 100% and the fins open.

Now they are just keep cycling from 50% to 100% so I locked them down in the thermal control to stop them from wearing out.

BTW I am retired after 25 years with a major ($10 Billion a year) main frame company. My last job was as the World-wide Program Manager for PCs and Terminals sold to the Airlines Industry market. I know a little about PCs.

Dell finally replaced my Poorly designed XPS 710 (Dell never informed me of  a total recall for those systems in 2007) with an Area 51 ALX in February 2010.

 I was astounded by the offer and after receiving it I was delighted for about the first 30 minutes of using it.

The automated front door stop working. The FX controller board would not communicate with the FX Controller software so no lights or venting control was possible.

An "unknown USB device" message kept popping up after sleep or reboot.

My RAID-0 periodically degraded and required rebuilding.

Windows-7 Ultimate 64-Bit kept wanting to do a CHKDSK on reboot but after performing a CHKDSK it never found any errors.

Tech Support said the FX Controller Software (used under 64 bit WIN 7) was a known problem and was being addressed.

They replaced my front door and they also replaced the Main I/O board TWICE.  Nothing ever got fixed. After two months of struggle with Tech Support, Customer Service (not Tech Support) replaced my Area 51 ALX with an new tower. They also said my problems were unique and they had not heard of others with these issues. (Does this sound a little like Dells OptiPlex fiasco?) After perusing these forums I clearly am not the only person experiencing these problems. I hope the group moderator allows my post. It's pretty negative. Other users need to know they are not alone.

All of the previous problems except for the CHKDSK issue have continued to occur with the replacement ALX. I am running BIOS A08.

Tech support downloaded and installed (remotely) the newest Command Center but to no avail. No control of my fancy lights, no vent fan control, no temps visible in the Command Center, No automated front door and I occasionally get a degraded RAID-0 which I slowly rebuild.

Having two Area 51 ALX systems with nearly the same failures says to me that this probably  another "XPS 710 bad design" issue or "OptiPlex bad parts" problem but it is not being acknowledged by Dell Tech Support as a common problem.

On June 7, 2010 Tech Support said they would replace the MAIN I/O board and automated front door in the replacement ALX . After a few days I called because it never came. I was informed that they had no record of my system being under a support contract and no parts would be forthcoming.

I sent them scanned in copies via e-mail of my original 3-year contract which was to have expired in Feb 2010 and a copy of  my MasterCard payment to Dell  for $175.00 from August of 2009 when I extended my contract through Feb 2011.

As of today. No Parts. All problems are still ongoing. My Tech Support guy says it's out of his hands. He sent my proof of contract to "management" and he has no idea why they are not responding.

I'm baffled by this kind of behavior.

Dell is wise enough to replace my BAD PC with a system that has much better specs than my original but now doesn't want to make it run correctly. Why they decided to essentially waste $6,000 worth of product on goodwill that isn't feeling like goodwill isn't making sense to me.

I just want a working system to edit HD video. I don't think I'm asking for too much.

One additional piece of info on my system I am running R268475-AlienWare Command Center-Mouse and Keyboard Driver for BIOS A08

@ HossMCD

Well, first of all ... you should start your own thread, instead of hi-jacking someone elses. Unless this was just a "join the party" type post.

However, if you are looking to get this fixed (and don't mind doing the work yourself) I can help you reset the MIO board and get the AW-CC installed and (most likely) working. I'm pretty sure the door runs from the MIO board, so if the MIO is locked up, the door won't work. We could even take a look at the RAID problem.

All I ask is that you read my posts carefully, answer all my questions, and trust what I say (can you tell I'm getting a bit burnt-out on people that ask for help ... but turns out they really just want to complain?)

If you are really looking for help with your warranty status, more parts, Dell tech. coming to your house ... and all of that, I can't help you.

I posted here because The FX Controller and software have stopped my vents and fans from working. I brought in the other info because it isn't just a single problem that I'm having.

Yes I want my system to work. Complaining doesn't fix it. But if my complaints get me some help I'll be pleased.

So far Tech support hasn't got a clue. The front door failure is temporarily fixable by turning off my system, unplugging it, and holding down the power button for a minute or two to drain the capacitance on the Main I/O board. It only works for 15-20 minutes after turning it back on.

The disconnect between the FX Software and the FX Controller (which is probably circuits on the Main I/O board) isn't affected by draining the capacitance.

All but one Tech Support person thinks the "USB Device not recognized " error message is coming from an unknown USB device on my system.  One Tech Support person thinks it is coming from the FX Controller itself, since I still get it when I unplug all of my USB devices (7 of them) except for my AW KB and AW Mouse.

I have to unplug all USB device except my mouse and KB when I re-boot or the system hangs during the boot process.

Tech Support has remotely removed the FX Controller software and reinstalled the latest version but no FX or USB errors get fixed. Therefore they recommend the Main I/O board replacement. But TECH Support won't replace it because they now claim I have no active service agreement.

My RAID issue is being blamed by Tech Support on bad HDs however that problem has recurred on two different AREA 51 ALX systems with different hard drives so it is more likely a RAID issue or RAID / WIN 7 interaction failure.

My bringing up all these apparently disparate issues was not an attempt to hijack anything. My post was legitimately about my vents (and temp gauges)  not working.

If you have some ideas how I can fix these things without hardware replacements I'll be happy to work with you. Since Dell, oops now I'm actually dealing with  Alienware division , has now abandoned my hardware.

If there is a better place place to post when I have mutiple issues, let me know and I'll post there instead.

I'm not JUST complaining. I'm actually looking for solutions

Hoss

@ Hoss

I will attempt to help you. Did you get my private message?

Tesla,

 I received your e-mail and added you as a friend.

I’m sorry for violating protocol and in the future will start my own thread

I spoke to a more knowledgeable Alienware Tech today. We appear to have solved the problems that were related to the MAIN I/O board. I’m posting here in case others find the solution helpful.

We ran the FX Tester program C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienwareAlienFXTester.exe

It reported that a firmware update had not gone to completion when a previous tech had uninstalled the old Command Center and installed the latest one.

After uninstalling and reinstalling the Command Center again my situation appears to be back to normal.

The Command Center now communicates with the MAIN I/O board. The fans, lights and venting  work as designed.

The Automated Bay Cover Door which runs off the Main I/O board is working properly as well.

The AlienwareAlienFXTester.exe program revealed the problem quickly.

Hope it helps someone else.

@Hoss,

No problem at all. It just that the Original Poster is still looking for answers and if we were to get into a long drawn-out conversation about your various issues, we would end up taking over the thread.

Glad to hear you got it fixed and thanks for posting the solution (and info about the "in OS" tester program). There is also a F12 Bios menu Diags program that will let you test the MIO Board outside of the OS.

 If you browse these forums, you will find people having various problems with the Alien Technology in these computers. Some (like yourself) even have the MIO boards replaced and it still doesn't work. This is because the CC software and MIO board interact in a unique way inside Windows 7-64. If the CC software or it's settings gets corrupt, or the firmware or settings on the MIO Board gets corrupt, they fall out of sync ... and it looks like a bad board. In reality, the Alien Technology sub-system (hardware/software) just needs to be re-initalized. This can sometimes be caused by something as routine as a CC software upgrade.

 If the on-site techs are not installing proper drivers (ie. latest CC or BIOS) after hardware replacement, or in extreme cases ... re-installing the OS and base drivers ... instead referring the customers to AW phone tech support ... the whole process gets confusing and is much harder than it needs to be. It turns out to be a much more difficult experience for the end-user customers than it needs to be.  

I am turning both your post into a FAQ. Thanks!

link to said FAQ?

i am having issues with my venting system and while it may be the board, i'd like to poke around and see if its something i can easily fix.

thanks.

link to said FAQ?     i am having issues with my venting system and while it may be the board, i'd like to poke around and see if its something i can easily fix.   thanks.