Area-51 R2, retail motherboard, install AWCC?

@Aleinware-Master 

This is very old and Attribution to AVictorD isn't listed.

Definitely not jumping thru hoops and watching lots of ads.

 install AWCC for a non alienware motherboard 

AVictorD
Oct 26, 2015
alienware fx light issues

This is a guide to install the Alienware Command Center (CC) software onto any non-Alienware motherboard
(e.g. ASUS Sabertooth 990FX) where the Alienware MIO or F/IO board is attached.
Typically this method is used for Alienware cases such as Area-51 R1 & R2, All Aurora’s, X51 etc.
----------------------------------------------
related Links if uncertain of the instructions:
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19523732

 

#1
AVictorD,

Feb 2, 2016
Cass-Olé likes this.

The following you do at YOUR OWN RISK. I take no responsibility if you damage your system.
Note: Testing has been confirmed for Area-51 R1 and associated MIO board with ASUS Motherboard for version AWCC 2.8.11
For AWCC 3, 3.6 have also been confirmed for Area-51 and Aurora R4 respectively.
The .NET version on the system will need to be 3.5 and above.
Now let’s BEGIN…

Typically most people find when they change their OEM Alienware motherboard and try to install the AWCC version
that suits their case and MIO board they receive the package not compatible error.

The following is based on an Area-51 R1 case with its MIO board. To get around the installation error do the following steps:

1) Logon to your Alienware desktop with Alienware Motherboard
(if you don’t have an Alienware desktop with Alienware motherboard you will need to make a request to a friend or others for the matching BIOS key – see next step) sample Area-51 R1 provided below

2) Run Regedit.exe on Alienware desktop

a. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS
(note: Win 7 and Win 10 are similar structure for this key both should work, Win 8 not tested)

b. Select BIOS key and right mouse click and select “Export” and save on selected network or portable drive call it “Alienware BIOS.reg”
(note: recommend using network drive so that your new desktop system or build can use it)​

SbrTooth990FxHack Capture.JPG

3) Now logon to New Desktop
(Alienware case with it MIO and 3rd Party motherboard)

4) Download “Command Center 2.8.11” as an example (or the CC version that suits your case/MIO) from link onto a network or portable drive for example the Area-51 R1 case + MIO will be used.
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverid=442CY

5) Copy from network the file App_DT_AWCC28110_W8_Setup_442CY_ZPE.exe to download folder

LET FUN BEGIN….

6) Run Regedit.exe on New Desktop

a. Go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS

b. Select BIOS key and right mouse click and select “Export” and save on selected drive call it “Desktop BIOS.reg”

(backup copy of BIOS key) ​

7) Import “Alienware BIOS.reg” from your saved network (or other) location from above
The New Desktop BIOS key should have the same BIOS key as the Alienware desktop from step1
(compare as required by looking at the .reg file)
SbrTooth990FxHack Capture.JPG

Keep Regedit running on New Desktopdon’t exit

9) Run App_DT_AWCC28110_W8_Setup_442CY_ZPE.exe (CC 2.8.11) on New Desktopfrom network or portable drive follow the instructions
(note: Command Center Install will think the system is a legitimate Alienware system and should execute correctly)

a. When complete (and if it has worked) select Reboot Later radio button on Install Page
(IMPORTANT do not select reboot option)​

 

10) Go to Regedit on New Desktop (important: Follow this Step if the install has failed)

a. Select “File” menu to replace back the original BIOS key. Select Import and select the “Desktop BIOS.reg” that you saved in previous step.

b. Check the Import go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS

c. Exit Regedit.​

NOTE: You can select the reboot option as your system will place back the BIOS key based on the Motherboard you have in the system.

11) REBOOTthe New Desktopsystem.

12) That’s it the final result a working CC for your Hybrid Alienware system…Good Luck

 

Sample Area-51 R1 BIOS key (place into “Area-51 BIOS key.txt” file then rename to file with “.reg” extension Simply copy the text only between the dashed lines:
(Note Alienware Motherboard is 0XDJ4C type in sample)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS]

"BiosMajorRelease"=dword:00000008
"BiosMinorRelease"=dword:0000000f
"ECFirmwareMajorRelease"=dword:000000ff
"ECFirmwareMinorRelease"=dword:000000ff
"BaseBoardManufacturer"="Alienware"
"BaseBoardProduct"="0XDJ4C"
"BaseBoardVersion"="A03"
"BIOSReleaseDate"="04/27/2010"
"BIOSVendor"="Alienware"
"BIOSVersion"="A11"
"SystemFamily"="0"
"SystemManufacturer"="Alienware"
"SystemProductName"="Area 51"
"SystemSKU"="0"
"SystemVersion"="00"

READ FIRST!

Alienware Troubleshooting Articles by Model
DELL-Chris M 16 Jul 2012 8:38 AM

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19457430.aspx

It worked for me !!!!!

 

I have 2 Alienware Area 51-R2 with ASUS motherboards.

Yes - a lot of hoops to jump though to get command center to work !!!!

A pc computer repair shop I go to hate Alienware PCs and it cost about $500 to replace the motherboard each time. All because of the BIOS chip getting corrupted when replacing the bios battery.

original instruction and bios registry key was posted on https://www.alienowners.com/, but the website has expired.

use this one from time machine (R1, R2, R4 bios key text captured, R5 bios key text not captured)

https://web.archive.org/web/20220520105359/https://www.alienowners.com/threads/how-to-install-command-center-for-a-non-alienware-motherboard.7119/

Area 51 R5 is the second one in the list posted by Cass-Ole.

The YouTube video includes the reference link to Alien Owners and the original post, by as you mentioned, appears to be dead now.

Area 51 R5

_______________________________________
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS]

"BiosMajorRelease"=dword:00000005

"BiosMinorRelease"=dword:0000000d

"ECFirmwareMajorRelease"=dword:00000011

"ECFirmwareMinorRelease"=dword:00000009

"BaseBoardManufacturer"="Alienware"

"BaseBoardProduct"="0N4R4N"

"BaseBoardVersion"="A00"

"BIOSReleaseDate"="05/27/2019"

"BIOSVendor"="Alienware"

"BIOSVersion"="2.0.3"

"SystemFamily"="Alienware"

"SystemManufacturer"="Alienware"

"SystemProductName"="Alienware Area-51 R5"

"SystemSKU"="836"

"SystemVersion"=""

 

Service manual is still live

area51_Service Manual 

people still swapping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-6MNbw9zyI