Area-51 R7, upgrade, lights not working

Hi Guys! Watch as yet another Area-51 can't light up w/ an MSI retail aftrmrkt mthrbrd, even if we troubleshoot it! What? Let's at least get the correct parts 1st ...

These mini-white-connex above are worthless right? Buy below ...

Buy a 600mm ~24" Internal USB2.0 Cable > connect it between the FIO Board's & the mthrbrd USB2.0 header (&/or include a USB2.0 -to- 3.0 Adaptor if needed)

In an A51 R7 case, & with your special (FrontPanel & USB2.0) case cables, unsure how you're powering on your mthrbrd (for u to explain)(look for a standard frontpanel cable), but the FIO AlienF/X board needs a 9 (aka 10pin) 9 (sometimes 10) wire USB DATA cable to work / turn lights on 

Re: I was thinking maybe to buy a Alienware area 51 r2 FIO board ( front and side )

I do not think you can put a R2 FIO in R7.  the FIO has the IO ports.  R2 and R7 IO ports are not compatible.

The lights can be a hurdle.  I recall helping the Korean dude CityFire who had a discussion on the Dell desktop forum too.

let me just say my theory.  there is no such thing as some board work but other board do not .  as long as it is a (m)ATX board and has working USB 2.0 9 pin header on motherboard, it will work with either R2 or R7 case.  now to make it work it does take some experiment and observation. 

what I recall is even when it works, all lights on, no promise the next time power up all lights auto all lit up.  this is similar to your observation.  therefore it is not a consistent machine when you put non-Dell board in it. 

Idealy you would like the pc to have all lights lit up reliably each time you power up the pc. in reality it appears it is not always so.  I have R2 case with non-Dell board that all lights work, shut down, the next time power up all lights on for 1 sec, then all off except alienhead.  It seems booting OS kills front/side lights.

I need to wait unti AWCC runs to turn on front/side light. which could be some time depending on boot time (I was using hdd.  ssd can be faster).  and sometimes AWCC has bug so side lights still not on, I have to restart the pc to have side lights.

my other R2 case have only Alienhead and front lights on, side lights unlit when powered on, I need to open one side panel slightly and reattach it to have both side lights on.  this I can reliably do as soon as I push power button, which is before OS or AWCC launches.

I would say do whatever you can to make all lights lit and then just use it.  yeah the next time you may need to do some manipulation which is a hassel.

@Cass-Ole​ 

Hi! 

Thank you for trying to help, its very appreciate!

The Dell proprietary 10 pin usb cables are indeed worthless so i've bought 2 USB 2.0 10 pin cables.

i've already connected them ( FIO->mthrbrd ) and if the molex is not connected, the Alienware logo will light up.

Like i said before, if i remove the molex the Alienware Logo will light up and it will stay even if i restart / shutdown the pc. 

And weirdly enough, if i restart the pc and plug the molex, all the front light will light up. But it's only temporary.. until i shut down / restart the pc.

Those are the olds connections or the way they were connected. I've only changed 2 cables and those are the 2 USB from the prior photos.

Logo board as they call it. i've not touch anything on this one, everything is the same way as before. I cant find anything about what this thing does even in the manual...

The FIO Board. Only things that i've done was to swap the old 10 pins proprietary to 10 pin internal USB.2

OLD 10 pins

I don know if i've been clear enough with my photos and comments...Hope its does the job!

Like i said before the FIO board seems to get power without the molex connected and by that i mean the Alienware Logo light up...

If i wanna change the color, i need to boot in my old windows 10 ( old windows 10 installed with my alienware motherboard ).

i still get a driver error

To be fair there is one cables that i didnt connect and this is a 20 pin USB.3 because on my motherboard i have only one 20 pin space

Maybe if i buy a USB.2 to USB.3 20 pin this could help my problem? I dont think so... Maybe you have a idea about that?

You definitely need to connect molex 4 pin to do it right.  The results of experimenting w/o molex will not help the correct configuration.

FIO board: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/alienware-area51-r2/alienware_area51_r2_sm/io-board-components?guid=guid-4be10c9a-700e-4735-8364-40f958eb221b&lang=en-us

1. left theater-lighting connector (POGO_IN_L1)  white 6 pin 

2. right theater-lighting connector (POGO_IN_R1) red 5 pin

The FIO connects led cable to two side panels

Logo board: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275634740460

Dell manual skips details.  It connects LED to front bezel and Alienhead

1. TL-TL1, left top waterfall, red 5 pin
2. TL-TR1, right top waterfall, white 6 pin
3. TL-BL1, left bottom waterfall, red 5 pin
4. TL-BR1, right bottom waterfall, white 6 pin
5. logo, connects to FIO, Alienhead led, white 8 pin

@redxps630​ 

Thank you for your answer!

To be honest some of my test was influence by CityFire!

I dont recall which gen he have but many problems that he seems to get was the same for me so.. I've tried to find information as much as possible. Some of his last post was in Korean and it was difficult for me to follow his advice. He even put a video about his succes but still no information about it...

Well your theory seems very plausible. I mean i still get some lights to work. Its not over until its not over! But right now im runnig short about what test should i try...

Like you just said some R2 would take sometimes to get his light to bright up, some will need  manipulation... I guest i need to experiment more. One video on youtube ( SpaceBorneKiller )  caught me eye thought! He explains his upgrade and his software and how to make it work! But he use a R2...

So this is were the R2 FIO come in conclusion. If i buy a R2 FIO board, Logo panel, side panel connector,side panel and all the cables that comes with it. Maybe i could do a swap? Again i've done some work on this pc it would be a shame to buy a R2 and do all the cutting in the front and at the bottom for some lights... But to be sincere, i dont think i will ever find those pieces alone so maybe its a little bit silly... Hope give life right?

@MEMENTOMo​   lighting issues aside . . . very nice work modding your Area-51!!

buying R2 FIO etc. is not promise that the lights issue is solved like a miracle.  what I recall and I told the Korean CityFire user is you must have all three cables connected: front panel 9 pin, usb 9 pin, molex 4 pin.  Do a clean OS install.  

Then

Do a clean AWCC install (choose the oldest AWCC version c/w model.  no worries about Win7 vs Win10 Dell statement).  
Whenever you make a mistake on AWCC, wipe the drive clean to do another clean install.

your best hope is after this you can see no error in control panel and you can use AlienFxtester.exe to test all RGB led.  After that, just choose one color palette you like and stick w it.

I assume majority A51 users do not change LED lights all the time after the initial set up.

@MEMENTOMo​

Hi, like the Professor said: nice work w/ the modding

I've heard of zero LEDs, just the Alienhead lights up, or just it & the front panel LEDs (& no side panel LEDs work) (sometimes everything works) & so personally I think the Alienhead lights up because it's part of the separate LOGO board, perhaps that's true for the front panel LEDs as well. The side panels not lighting, to me, is the FIO board 'mystery issue' since we can prove FIO, in the least, drives those side LEDs. I have no input to offer here, other than Halos, Joe & CityFire tried to get lights working in this recent post which is detailed but can get confusing, especially since I do not own this R2-R7 case, out of ideas here >  Area-51 R5, i9 13900ks upgrade and LGA1700 motherboard options

R2's H6HK9 FIO & the newer 3FFYN FIO boards can -sometimes- be found used / 'new' for low cost in the USA, like mine above, if u shop & wait ... ($20-$40 ok) ... I do not know if an R2 FIO can bolt to the R5/6/7 3FFYN-style wall, nor will R5/6/7 case share the same headers (wiring) as R2, but ... where there's a will there's a way (I'd hold an R2/3/4 FIO board in my hand if I thought it'd help, probably ... if success, do I hear double-sided tape so it sticks to wall?)

I THINK the R2-R7 LOGO boards are identical, but can not prove, on sight they look about the same but the LOGO board doesn't drive the side panel LEDs. I doubt anyone knows what R2/3/4 parts u may need to put into R5/6/7 to get all AlienF/X LEDs to light up, or even WHY, but good luck   

https://youtu.be/mvCEabdq8nw?si=07RzU8nvX9cvmwTy

Did you manage to correctly identify the R5's io? Does the light work?

Hello, have you finished the Alien Light Control software? Can you share it?

@Cass- Ole

Hello, have you finished the Alien Light Control software? Can you share it?