@Gysper 

Good work......long time coming to see the case swap happen and be posted.

If you follow this it might help you figure out where the startup error is coming from.

Thanks for letting us know which pins are for the power switch.   Looks like I was off one pin on that post I did.  Bummer you can't do a forced shut down holding down the power switch.

That should help others take this path.   

@Anonymous 

Yes the error is due to the Front IO missing from the stock case. While I could've plugged it, the one from the new case works. But if you use the power SWITCH method, you get that error instead. Either one you can hit continue and the system should boot up.

@HanoverB 

Yes I think I might have seen your original post before and one of the users from reddit made another post showing the 4th and 5th slots. I'm not sure if this is consistent in all Aurora's but for the R8 it was.

Also forgot to add one thing to my post but you can also keep the RAM sticks. Unless you accidentally took them off during the swap but the RAM can stay if you want.

I read the post by ZwoukLeBleu

He said he used pins 3 and 4 on his R7,  the same I had pictured on my post.    Must be different for the R8 if you used pins 4 and 5.  Nice work.

Also he mentioned he had no USB function on his front panel, how about your machine.,...you sort that out?

I don't have this machine....so cant test this.

From this post

"On that Reddit post, he also states that you have to turn off the onboard LED components like the side panel LED lid switch via the R7 BIOS.   Not sure if that means without turning them off, you get an error of some kind.  That would be part of the testing.  If with the LED functions not working, if a startup error would occur which would need to be somehow bypassed."

Is this true?

@Gysper  wrote

Yes the alienware motherboard has the blue and black USB header plugs. I had to actually plug the blue cable from the new case to the black header which leaves the blue one empty.

When examining the stock alienware front IO, it has two USB header cables (blue and black) which I presume one of them is for the USB-C plug. Which is also why on boot you get the front IO error because one of them is not connected. I'll have to check to see if maybe plugging in the blue cable from the stock front IO could fix it.

Try that for sure......plug the IO unit USB connectors into those motherboard headers black to black, blue to blue, and see if the IO error goes away.   If so, unplug one and use the 20 pin USB connector from the NZXT front panel into that header and see what happens.  EZ fix if that is the issue by bypassing those headers.

Blue one is USB 3.0/USB-C yes.

*Be careful*  straight up on those connectors, no wiggling, those pins break so easy.

@HanoverB 

Yes the alienware motherboard has the blue and black USB header plugs. I had to actually plug the blue cable from the new case to the black header which leaves the blue one empty.

When examining the stock alienware front IO, it has two USB header cables (blue and black) which I presume one of them is for the USB-C plug. Which is also why on boot you get the front IO error because one of them is not connected. I'll have to check to see if maybe plugging in the blue cable from the stock front IO could fix it.

I didn't have any issues with LEDs but before I was using the power SWITCH method and not the original power connecter. After switching, you can go to the AWCC to disable the lights on it. But never got an error with LEDs.

I'm hoping it's the motherboard USB headers like it is on the XPS 8930 with a similar USB 3.0/USB-C implementation.  Let us know how that goes when you troubleshoot this.

If the USB headers are not giving you the error and you believe it to be the long white power switch/led connector on the motherboard needing to be connected, I think I have the workaround for that too.

@HanoverB 

I'm not too concerned about it. Just means if you prefer to use the built-in case front IO and switch you'll always get the bootup error and just click 'continue' to allow it to continue booting up.

But I did manage to connect the stock front IO to the case to make it a complete Alienware Swap, No errors with it plugged in. Here are some pics:

I also tried testing it to see if the case USB header can mix-match with the Alienware front IO and the answer is you still get the same error on bootup.

Good work on troubleshooting, that information is really helpful.

So here is the workaround for a functional case swap for the Aurora R8 without any startup errors.

The startup error is from the motherboard USB headers not being connected to the Dell IO front unit.  There are pins that are jumped in the connectors/wiring that the BIOS is looking for on startup.  This we know from doing the XPS 8930 case swaps and confirmed by @Mr.Byte .  The workaround is to bring the IO unit into the case and add a PCI-E card to get USB functionality.

So to do a case swap on the R8, here are the workarounds.

• Front panel POWER connector from the new case on white 12 pin motherboard header pins 4 and 5 on the R8, pins 3 and 4 on the R7.  The POWER SW label on the connector should be typically face up.
• USB connector from the Alienware top IO panel, both blue connector and black connector installed on the motherboard. Blue to blue connector.  Black to black connector. Bring the IO connector into the case.
• PCIE USB 3.0 card with a 20 pin USB 3.0 header onboard. Connect the top panel USB connector on the new case to the USB header on the installed PCIE USB 3.0 card.  

-Front panel power on the white 12 pin connector is:     PWR BTN +5V   /       GRD

R7:  1 2 3 4      (needs confirmation)

R8:  1 2 3 4 5   (confirmed by @Gysper)

Disregard the Reset switch, Power switch LED and HDD LED.   The HD Audio 10 pin connector is connected to the motherboard header.  The USB 3.0 cable from the new case will be connected to a PCI-e card instead of to the motherboard USB header.   (Keep this in mind when choosing a new case, a lot of cases don't have the reset function anyway or the HDD LED)

-USB motherboard workaround

Here is the IO unit, connect blue to blue header, black to black header

then bring the IO unit into the case, hide it into the PSU shroud.

This will prevent the IO error startup.

The upside to this is you are able to use those USB-A connectors for any AIO coolers that need a USB header to connect to the pump to control the software.  If you add an RGB controller, you can also connect it to the unit.  The motherboard does not have a USB header, this will add that functionality.

Just choose the right cable for your needs.

-Since you have used the USB motherboard headers, you will need to use a PCI-E USB card to connect the USB cable from the front panel of the new case.  Connect that cable to the USB card.   You have effectively bypassed the IO error and still have USB function on the new case. 

This Inateck USB 3.0 card has worked fine in several case swaps.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JFR2H64

More info here and here on the wireless card and more specifics about the case swap, cable routing, missing rear IO panel mods, as they are similar to the XPS 8930.

rear IO panel mod

More info here from @Mr.Byte about jumping the pins on those  USB connectors if you are handy with a solder gun.  This will allow you to use those motherboard USB headers and not have to bring the IO unit into the case.

XPS 8930 bypass jumpers

Good luck and thanks @Gysper for the good information and doing the actual case swap!

@Anonymous 

Plan to upgrade to a 3070 so wanted more headroom for airflow.