A06 Aurora/Area-51 Command Center

Day two - Some observations / problems / work-around

I found out that if you create a new profile in the active thermals and venting area and save it the next time you boot from a cold start the control center software will give totally wrong data and be non-functional. Temperatures were all reading either 0 C or 65 C, some icons representative device such as "display heat pump" which does not exist on the desktops, nothing was right. A reboot ( warm-start ) did not help.

To overcome this problem I ran the A06 upgade again and tried using the repair option, that did not work. To get back to square one I had to run the A06 update, select the remove option, reboot and run a fresh install.

Conclusion: After installing the A06 upgrade don't change anything, just leave it alone until some day they get a version that works OK. The only exception to this is that using the "go dark" option in the system tray does not cause any problems.

A06 is better than what we had previously but has a long way to go before it is functional as advertised.

One last note: I discovered that the unknown USB device in the device manager is a "usb composite device" but I have no idea of what it is used for.

Lastly, other than this on-going problem with the command center the machine is fantastic, too bad that it is going to get a bad reputation as long as this problem continues.

P.S. Excuse all the typos, my secretary is on vacation. 

Roy Berger

I have been reading the post, This is my 2nd machine, I sent the first one back when It had the problems with the lights not going off at shutdown.  Now I see there is a fix by downloading a06  is that correct ?  Thanks for any help you can give....   jeff

It fixed most of the problems, but I'm still having the light on issue about 40% of the time.  I did 10 cold starts in a row without booting into the OS, and here are my results (copied from my other thread):

• 4 times the Alien head light stayed on ... If I unplugged the power cable, it went out after 5 seconds.  
• 1 time the fan was surged at full power the entire time, the rest of the time it idled down after 30 seconds during BIOS post
• 1 time the vent stayed half open, the rest of the time it closed

This is odd since the software is not involved.  I think there are larger issues that hopefully firmware can fix in the future.

I don't see anything unknown in device manager, but I haven't been checking, honestly.  I'll keep an eye out.

Most things seem normal now, it is just odd that I have had the light stay on a couple of times on shutdown, and I can't put my system to sleep anymore ...  I pretend it doesn't happy and do something else ...

i have called tech support several times with no resolve. finaly they sent me a new master io board and a technician came out and installed it. the problem was fixed for three days now it is back again. this is whats happening. if i RESTART my pc the command center is fine no problems. if i SHUT DOWN my pc then when i start back up the command center doesnt work. the case lights except the ones on the front do not come on. it lists my temperatures in the thermal control at 0 celsius or 32 farenheit and there is no joy on getting the lights to work even though the alienfx icon says there working. if i restart then bingo its working. also after the tech put the new board in when i would shut my pc down all the lights would go out and my pc was shut down. before that was not the case, the front case lights would stay on and never go out. now its doing the same thing again. now here is the weird part, if i shut my pc down and unplug it for around 30 seconds the case lights all go out and then i plug my pc back in and start it and command center works! i am at my wits end. i am almost sure this has to be a software/bios thing. i cant believe another board has went bad. any ideas at all?? this pc is ALMOST one month old!! any ideas would be greatly apreciated. and yes i have uninstalled,reinstalled,updated the bios and even had a new master io board installed as previously stated.

The problem you're experiencing  is documented at Dell and they're working on it according to the Alienware Tech Support team in Costa Rica.  I spoke with them twice about this.  There's a Windows 7 x64 driver compatibility problem with the Command Center software and the I/O board where comms are periodically lost after restarts or coming out of sleep mode.  On my Area-51 this occurs several times a week and when it does I show an "Unknown Device" in Device Manager for the I/O board (USB).

The fix is to uninstall Command Center, reboot, reinstall Command Center (version from Dell Support, not Resource CD), shutdown PC and remove power chord for 30 seconds, restart and the system is restored to normal function.  You'll note there is no longer an "Unknown Device" in Device Manager.  This stays stable for a while but after a day or so the I/O Board (USB) will end up getting lost when coming out of sleep or restarting and I have to go through the uninstall/reinstall scenario again.  A real pain, but Dell are supposedly working on a fix.

For Chris M - can you confirm a fix is indeed in the works?

It seems like my pc isnt actualy shutting down all the way when I shut it down. DMiannay does your pc case lights on the front stay on all the time when you shut down? My external harddrives even indicate that there still connected after I shut down. I find that very strange! I will try your trick and see how it works out. One thing else I find thats odd, I have seen other posts about this problem and it apears to me that its with computers that were all delivered around the same time mine was delivered on November 18. Thanks for sharing your research with me! And how the hell do you get a Costa Rica tech support team? I get stuck with Indian tech support. Basicaly they just read from a script and you can tell they really dont have a clue

benjack7 - No, all the case lights are extinguished when my Area-51 is shutdown.  When in sleep mode, however, the lighted  Alienware badge logo on the front of the PC (CD door)  will remain lit in a pulsing fashion to indicate the PC is in sleep mode.  You can, of course, change the color to your liking as well as the pulsing effect if you so choose within AlienFX.

I reach Alienware Tech Support by calling the North America Toll-Free Support and Service number at this link.  Supposedly this number sends you directly to them since the Costa Rica location is the only dedicated Alienware Tech Support center.  YMMV with tech support calls but the two I've had with them have been quite good.

Let me know how things go after you've reinstalled Command Center.

I have the same problem that benjack71 has. My PC seems to not turn off completely. I just unplug it for 30 seconds and everything works fine.

I'm thinking of plugging it in to a wall switch for now until a solution is found. my computer was delivered Dec 9.

KK50 and Benjack71,

I have the same exact problem as you guys do. I have even received an exchange system and even the new system exhibits this exact behavior you guys are referring too. Either something wasn't wired properly when our computers were manufactured (unlike DiMannays), or there's the compatibility issue with command center and windows 7. I'm hoping this issue gets resolved soon as no one in tech support whom I have spoken with is familiar with this problem.

kiax0001

I think something isnt wired right in them. I understand that there not built in the United States anymore. This is my second alienware and I will never buy another one again. With that being said I really hope we can find the solution to the problem instead of just getting bounced around with conversations with indian tech support!

We are currently awaiting two captured systems with the issue to come in. Once in, we will replicate the issue and go from there. No ETA.

Thanks for your response Chris.

I actually just sent back two Alienware Area-51 systems that exhibit this problem; the original one I ordered and the exchange. I know it can't be a bad MIO board because the original one was sent to me around 11/16/09 and the exchange came in around 12/13/09; one month apart. It has to be a communication issue with the motherboard and the MIO board.

 As soon as this problem is resolved and a solution is made I will place an order again on this system otherwise I'm going to have to leave Alienware for other desktop solutions.

kiax0001 

I had the problem with my front panel lights remaining on even after a shut down (Alien Aurora - Windows 7 x64).  This seems to have solved my problem (can't say if all steps are necessary but this is what I did):

(I had previously *completely* removed the Command Center from my PC and re-installed with the latest version.)

1. Disable the Alienware Fusion service first by setting it to "manual" then "stop"ing it.

2. Use the Msconfig utility's selective start-up feature to deselect the Alienware Thermal Control and Alienware Fx so they don't run at start-up.  Don't exit them, just use the utlility to prevent them from loading on the next reboot.

3.  Reboot (cold start - shut down and use the power button to restart).

It's only been a few hours and a couple of shut-downs and re-starts but so far this seems to be working.

red2nd

Thanks for the tip red2nd, but it doesn't work for my Area-51. Thanks to Chris M for looking into this and Happy New Year to everyone!!

Thank you Chris M. Hopefuly we can find something out soon, this problem appears to be wide spread.

I have exactly the same issue and it is a bit anoying because I don't really expect that from a 3.2k computer. If it is not fix within a month I will just return my computer to Dell and I'll just buy a new one  from an other compagny.