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Swapping the Alienware Aurora's motherboard
Hi,
A week ago a local dealer started to offer a ASUS Rampage III Gene for 211,99€.
I was a little bit frightened when I bought it. Would the light's and vent's work after having replaced the Mothboard?
I plucked up the courage to buy it and mount it in my case.
After having done the "dirty work" I reconnected my hard drives, prepared to reinstall the OS. I set the HDD configuration to RAID and rebooted. And the Board recognized the existing RAID 0 and booted into Windows 7 :D
A new installation wasn't required.
But now the more interesting stuff. What did I have to do to get the MIO Board work.
I connected it to one of the internal USB headers and the lights worked. The 4pin connector of the top lighting board had to be connected to one of the FAN connectors on the motherboard.
I was surprised cause everything worked instantly.
Only the fan which normally cools the radiator ran at 100% all the time. After havingconntected it to one of the MB's ports this problem was solved. The two other fans can be controlled via the MIO board.
Looks really nice even though I'm not done yet. I still have to find some new fans but that's not necessary :P...
I'll upload some pictures tomorrow. There's a huge mess inside the case so don't wonder.
Sorry if some sentences aren't gramatically correct, I'm no mother-tongue.
So, last but not least the "new" specs:
Intel Core i7 920 2,66GHz @ 3,2GHz (HT on, TM on)
6GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 2000MHz @ 1600MHz
MSI N460GTX HAWK 780MHz @ 810MHz
2x WD5000AAKS in RAID0
1x WD1001FALS
Alienware AURORA ALX
ASUS Rampage III Gene (BIOS Rev. 0704)
GabeZ
84 Posts
0
April 21st, 2011 19:00
Greetings chiller3333,
I'm happy to see that you were able to upgrade your Aurora without issue. However, I would strongly recommend reinstalling windows. You may experience several incompatibilities with drivers such as the chipset. Also, reinstalling windows will help the system run more efficiently.
Keep in mind that you will want to load the drivers that pertain to your new motherboard.
Thanks,
Gabe
Chiller3333
62 Posts
0
April 22nd, 2011 07:00
I know. I also planned to do that but there's a lot of "more important" work that wants to be done atm.
I already recognized some driver incompatibilities....
Alethram
4 Posts
0
May 7th, 2011 16:00
1st sorry all for my horrible english it is not my natural languaje.
Ey dude, i have buy the same MOBO and i have some problems trying to make it work on my aurora:
Can u post a shot of the MIO board and how u plug that on the rampage iii gene?
How do u plug the Qconnector? ( the blue one for HD led, power and the speaker )
and the last one: how much reach the IOH temperatures?
Thx a lot for ur time
MettwurstJunkie
7 Posts
0
May 8th, 2011 04:00
Hi,
first you must unmount the cables and assign them manually. (see manual)
Perhaps the photos may help:
On my Aurora (non ALX) the Lights will not work, I can not install the CommandCenter-Desktop, it says "installation package is not compatible with your computer".
My Aurora:
Intel Core i7 930 2,80GHz
12GB Corsair Dominator XMS
MSI N460GTX Cyclone 1GB
3x Western Digital Caviar Green 2000GB
Crucial SSD C300 128GB, SATA 6Gb/s
Alienware AURORA R2
ASUS Rampage III Gene (BIOS Rev. 0805)
morblore
2.4K Posts
0
May 8th, 2011 11:00
Chris had said something like the ACC will first look for the MIO board. If it can not find the MIO board then it will look for the BIOS. He was told this by engineering and posted it way back when our systems first came out and some people tried swapping the boards.
So it would seem you can't get the ACC to install because it can not detect the MIO board. I would double check how you have everything installed because some people were able to go back and get ACC to detect the MIO board after Chris posted that information.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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May 8th, 2011 12:00
Do you have the MIO-Board connected to USB-1 on MB?
Is the orange light on the MIO-Board on?
Is the MIO-Board's "Blink" cable connect to MB's MB_CPU_Fan header?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
•
17K Posts
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May 8th, 2011 12:00
Thanks for the detailed posts.
However, so there is no confusion as people try to copy your example ... I'm pretty sure that cable goes from the MB's MB_CPU_FAN header to the MIO-Board's "BLlNK" header. It's a 4-pin connector, but only 3 wires are connected. Seems it is used to tell the MIO-Board whether the machine (main MB) is ON, OFF, or SLEEP.
MettwurstJunkie
7 Posts
0
May 8th, 2011 14:00
The MIO-Board is connected to USB on Mainboard and the orange Light is on.
The "Blink" cable is connect to the "power" and "Led" Pins, as it was on the original Motherboard !!
The "MB_CPU_Fan" from the Mainboard goes to System-board lighting (MB_MIO).
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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May 8th, 2011 19:00
The MIO-Board is connected to USB on Mainboard and the orange Light is on.
The "Blink" cable is connect to the "power" and "Led" Pins, as it was on the original Motherboard !!
The "MB_CPU_Fan" from the Mainboard goes to System-board lighting (MB_MIO).
Possibly, but I don't think so.
Obviously, you have torn-down yours further than I have mine ... but I think it's more like this. If this is wrong, let me know.
P0GVP - Aurora Deimos/Aurora R2 Voltaire non-ALX Master I/O Board
On this version of the board, most header pin connectors and components for ALX functions are not soldered in.
Connects to MotherBoard:
MB USB1 - MIO-Board (one USB channel for MIO, one for FlexBay)
MB USB2 - Front-Top Panel (2 x USB 2.0 Ports)
Front_Panel - Front-Top Panel (Power Switch, Power Light, HDD Light)
Firewire - Front-Top Panel (1 Firewire port)
Audio - Front-Top Panel (analog heaphone and mic)
Chipset Fan
MB_CPU_Fan - MIO-Board "BLINK" Signal (Tells MIO-Board that MB power is on, off, or sleeping)
Connects to MIO Board:
MotherBoard (MB_USB)
MotherBoard (BLINK) Reads power status of MB
Top Lighting Board 26-pin (MB_MIO)
FlexBay (USB Card reader)
BlueTooth Module
All exterior lights
Large case fans (temp. sensors are on 3 large fans)
Connects to "Top Lighting Board"
CPU_Pump (Asetek Cooler) pump
Sys_Fan (Asetek Cooler) radiator or main system fan
Mem_Fan (small case fan in top for memory)
Arrow - "Rear of case" external white lighting with switch (to help view external connections)
---------------------
On the Aurora: The MIO-Board communicates through the motherboard's USB1 header connector. A 26 pin cable connects the MIO-board to the "Top Lighting Board" (CPU cooler, interior lights, and other devices are connected here). The MIO Board is powered by the larger 4 pin Molex power cable. The orange light is lit if it's getting power and powered up. Its actual mode of operation seems to be dependent on what it reads (the MB is doing) through the BLINK cable.
MLPN2
38 Posts
0
May 14th, 2011 09:00
Hi, do you have the pinout for the front panel for the old Motherboard ? Switch and led pins.
MettwurstJunkie
7 Posts
0
May 14th, 2011 12:00
Alethram
4 Posts
0
May 14th, 2011 13:00
Chris had said something like the ACC will first look for the MIO board. If it can not find the MIO board then it will look for the BIOS. He was told this by engineering and posted it way back when our systems first came out and some people tried swapping the boards.
So it would seem you can't get the ACC to install because it can not detect the MIO board. I would double check how you have everything installed because some people were able to go back and get ACC to detect the MIO board after Chris posted that information.
Hi 1st, thx for ur time, i mean, unplug all the cable and show it to me, i was out all the week and i now i can make the Qconector work thank to ur photoUr problem with command center is because u are trying to install the "Command Center Desktop".... And u have to install the "Command Center" they have a similar name, but one works and the other no, don't ask me why, i cannot install the "desktop" but, i can install the other one from here .
Now, the MIO board, well i have the same problem ( i think it is the same problem ) :
1) i plug the MIO on the Mother board USB1, the led is shining in a pretty orange color........ all the time, even with the pc off ( it is strange i think ), the system boot, but no lights or any response from the CC.
2) then I Restart the system, and run the Alienware Diagnostics Utility, making checks on the MIO board and all is working well, no problems there, no errors, nothing
3) make a decision, try reset the MIO board, so, i unplug the power, the USB connection, change the pins of the MIO and wait 30 secs
4) Restart, [:O] alleluia!!! all is working, i go in to windows, and the CC change the colors, like normal, i happy (not for much longer [:P] )
5) Ok, now shutdown the pc, the MIO keep, shining in his orange color led, restart......... and the lights are not working again [:@] ( i can repeat this all the time and always is the same )
I hope some one know what is happening here because i don't have idea.
Thx again all, and sorry for my english
MettwurstJunkie
7 Posts
0
May 14th, 2011 15:00
Thank you for your comments, I have the same problems (1-5) like you.[:@]
Each time I restart, the same thing!
I think the MIO board do not like the Mainboard Bios.
I run out of ideas[:S][:^)]
m3th0d1c4l
265 Posts
0
May 14th, 2011 15:00
If you put the computer to sleep mode and resume, the lights should start working again.
The MIO board will not work properly without the alienware motherboard. I have tried this in the past with an Area 51, and I get the same results.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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May 14th, 2011 16:00
On a stock Aurora ...
The MB's MB_CPU_Fan header uses 3 wires ... Red, Black, and Brown.
The MIO-Board's BLINK header uses 3 wires ... Red, Black, and Brown.
So, you traced it out and they don't directly connect to each other?
Also, I thought the cable that connects to the MB's Front_Panel header (and all wires in it) went directly to the "top" Front Panel (for Power LED, Power Switch, and HDD LED).