Aurora R10, blinking red LEDs and buzzing sound

Question

I just got my new Aurora R10 two days ago, and I just started playing Civilization 6 on it this afternoon and the AlienFX lights on the front panel turned red (they are set to blue in the FX controller) and then started flashing. This doesn't happen with other games that I've tried, including ones that are graphics-intensive.

There is also a buzzing sound that starts whenever any game is loaded and is running. This sound does stop for second and then restart when switching programs (Alt+Tab) and stops almost immediately after exiting a game. It doesn't sound like it's coming from the power supply.

Both the CPU and GPU seem to be at a reasonable temp (50-60 deg.) while the lights are flashing, so I don't think the system is overheating.

Any idea what the cause of the flashing lights and the sound might be?

A51-06 · Answer

Tell me which one is it:

Number of Power LED flashes Problem description

1	System board: BIOS and ROM failure
2	No memory or RAM detected
3	System board or chipset error
4	Memory or RAM failure
5	CMOS battery failure
6	Video card or chip failure
7	CPU failure
3,6	BIOS recovery image not found
3,7	BIOS recovery image found but invalid

dgindra · Answer

it was none of these-- the system boots and runs just fine. It turns out it was Civilization 6. The game tries to use the AlienFX API to change the colors but has a glitchy implementation that causes them to flash constantly. Disabling the API fixes the problem, and I've learned that the buzzing sound is just coil whine on the GPU.

A51-06 · Answer

That’s good.

ScorpioSymbol · Answer

Exact same problem here with Civ6 and my R11 - how did you disable the API @dgindra ?

Doghouse Reilly · Answer

@ScorpioSymbol wrote: Exact same problem here with Civ6 and my R11 - how did you disable the API @dgindra ?   In Alienware Command Center-- Under 'Settings', 'Misc.'

GeorgePavlath · Answer

Disabled the FX API. Will see how it works. As soon as I exited Civ6 the blinking red light stopped and the display went back to the steady blue. This is on a new Aurora R12.

Macnachos · Answer

aurora here. Never had an issue for 3 years until recently playing civ 6 (not the first time I’ve played) happened 4 days in a row. First two days was flashing yellow. Now it’s solid red. I’ll try the adjustment above

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Aurora R10, blinking red LEDs and buzzing sound

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