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17 R5, Alienware Light Fix (by Reflashing the SiLabs Chip)
You may be told that your motherboard is bad when your AlienFX lights stop working. Evidently, a new motherboard is not required, just Reflash the SiLabs Chip.
Has anyone had their AlienFX lights fixed by reflashing or replacing the SiLabs' chip?
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mattyb3
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September 27th, 2020 19:00
This was a big issue back in the M15x days because Dell put a corrupted version of Command Center on the resource CD. There is a YouTube video showing a guy reflashing the chip with a programmer but I've never been able to work out exactly how he does it and what software he's using. I have a corrupted M15x board that I'd love to flash so if you work it out please let me know.
crimsom
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September 27th, 2020 22:00
Hi @mattyb3 the 04 Dec 2012 YouTube video is of perhaps intentional poor quality, but can be downloaded and there are now comments that explain some of the steps this guy went through.
However, that was eight years ago. There have been considerable advances that should make this process simple to flash the chip using the onboard Operating System and a flashing utility.
mattyb3
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September 27th, 2020 23:00
That would be much easier if it could be done through Windows.
crimsom
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September 28th, 2020 11:00
Hi @mattyb3 with such a relatively simple solution, it is odd that Dell Technical Support have not addressed this problem and rolled out the customer option to test integrity of chip content and reflashing when necessary. With so many Dell Community threads reporting problems with new or recently purchased Dell computers and visiting Dell Technicians with replacement motherboards that are DOA, there is a substantial problem with these chips that should have been fixed many years ago. @DELL-Cares Hope that Dell's SupportAssist gets this hardware test and repair function at next update.