Legacy AlienFX Tools and Applications

MOD NOTE: This is not compatible with the M15x, M17x All Powerful systems.

Last Updated: 04/27/2009

Here I will post all the tools and applications developed against AlienFX. Please report any bugs or ask for feature requests

1) TurnOffLights - A quick way to disable all the lights at one click. This handy utility can sit in your Quick Launch and do the job.

2) AuroraLightsFX: Basically a light weight AlienFX Editor. It can remember all the settings, reload automatically on the next reboot or login and will apply the settings again just like Command Center. Very light on resources and easy to use.

Also available via "Online Install" , visit here: http://www.vikasverma.com/AuroraLightsFX/
Online Install ensure that you always have the latest version installed, no more downloading again and again...!!!

No dependencies, less than 300KB in size single executable. No need to have Alienware DLL's or command center installed.

Features:
=-=-=-=-=
+ Supports ALX, m15x & m17x models
+ Quick load, choose basic colors from the color wheel
+ Double click on any zone to choose from advanced color mixer
+ Automatically load on startup
+ Registry monitoring for any change in the color setting (HKCU\Software\AuroraLightsFX\Colors)
+ Can also monitor registry for wallpaper change and set all LEDs to an average color from wallpaper (algorithm is weak and sometimes the color is not really the average color )
+ Remember every single setting so that you need not to remember anything
+ Minimize to systray for quick access
+ Random color option, choose all LEDs color randomly
+ Apply same color to all LEDs at one click

Known Issues:
+ Does not save the color settings to BIOS so that next time you reboot all colors will reset to default unless you login to system.
+ Monitor Wallpaper mode is buggy and does not seem to work at all on Win7

Fixed Issues:
+ Desktop support added
+ some minor coding logic & refactoring of code

Download the file and extract the content to anywhere and run AuroraLightsFX.exe.
It contains all the required files and does not require any patching of Command Center. Even if you do not have Command Center on your machine it will still work. Works fine on 32bit and 64bit. Enjoy!

Screenshots...


Main Application


Advanced Color Mixer


Registry Settings


System Tray Icon and Context menu


If you plan to load this application at load time, then use msconfig.exe and uncheck AlienFXController.exe from starting at boot time. You cannot predict which application will load first and if it was AuroraLightsFX which was loaded first then AlienFXController will override the color settings of AuroraLightsFX and reset them.

Try them and let me know if you like it or even if you dislike it.


For Developers:
If you are developer and want to have a look at the code behind the Color Wheel then this is for you.
I have put entire Source Code to http://AuroraLightsFX.CodePlex.com

DISCLAIMER: Play safe and don't mess up with it unless you know the effect of it. It may cause permanent damage to your hardware. I do not take any responsibility for any damage caused by any code or application submitted by me. Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have.

 

Updated...

 

Hey findvikas. I've been trying out the color wheel and there is one particular feature I'm really missing. It's the ability to set all the colors at the same time. Any chance this feature might make it into a future update. Other then that it's a killer app. Can't wait to see what else you might have in store for us.

 

Awesome post can't wait to try too bad my work has most file download sites blocked! Even sourceforge!

 

You want it... you got it! Use the context menu to apply same colors to all LEDs. Actually this was in my TODO list for today but missed somehow to give it in the context menu. Its there now... cheers

 

rofl

You make it sound like it was easy to add in that feature. Man I wish I had as much talent in creating/editing software as you do.

 

Wow. Way cool! Thanks findvikas.

 

Everyone who uses this program SHOULD give reputation to findvikas. I would but it says "I need to spread rep before giving it again". Basically click on the scale next to the online status and give him rep, he deserves it

@Find - Thanks for taking your time to make this program, I will give you rep for this after I spread it around a bit

 

Yep, definitely. But I too need to spread the love first.

@findvikas: I'm having some weird issues. While using the color wheel and having disabled the AlienFXController through msconfig I am experiencing, from cold boot or reboot that the keyboard lights doesn't come on until very late in the boot. Also, as windows starts to load, the color changes from the one I have set with the color wheel to the last one I set through the CommandCenter. Finally, because I have set the ColorWheel to start with windows it starts maximized (would be nice if it was minimized) on the desktop but the colors that is selected in the app is the same as what I last set it to using the ColorWheel (meaning that it at that time it does not match the present colors). To me this indicates that if ColorWheel reads the colors from the registry then the color value is changed elsewhere. Yet I only need to push apply before the colors go back to the ones I picked with the Wheel.

 

That is so true, this is the main difference between CC and ColorWheel. CC store the color settings at two places - AlienFX's BIOS and in the theme file.
I have kept it simple and do not want to mess up with BIOS unless I can reverse-engineer the AlienFX completely.

I feel that you still have AlienFX coming into picture, dunno why. Do you see AlienFXController.exe running in taskbar or AlienFX Icon in the systray with Green head?

 

Hi findvikas,
your work is really awesome. Can you drop some code (declarations) how to bind the .dll in .NET? I'm really excited and would like to try out some ideas with this library.

 

If you are developer and want to have a look at the code behind the Color Wheel then this is for you.
I have put entire Source Code to http://www.CodePlex.com/AlienFxColorWheel

DISCLAIMER: Just play safe and don't mess up with the code if you don't know the effect of it. It can cause permanent damage to your hardware. I do not take any responsibility for any damage caused by any code or application submitted by me.

 

Those turned to be bugs.
Bugs fixed in current release...

+ Load on start up should start in Systray but instead it prompts with a UI
+ systray icon does not disappear when closing
+ some minor coding logic which was causing issues in applying colors at startup
+ Random colors were not saved to registry

 

Just for the interest of developers and people who really like this application.
I am keeping a track of known issues and proposed features (coming in next release) here

http://www.codeplex.com/AlienFxColorWheel/WorkItem/List.aspx

Please feel free to comment on features and you can also request the features on that site. You need to create a account on codeplex.com so that you can request for features or participate in discussion. Its good to centralize the feature request and bug fixes.

 

Awesome findvikas. The colorwheel colors are now automatically applied after I log in which is good. The system is still switching colors on me while booting though but I guess that is a MultimediaboardBIOS issue.

Now I'm gonna make a pointless request. Make it possible to use ResHack or PE Explorer to edit that icon, cause I'm really not a big fan of the colorwheel

 

I have told you I am taking this seriously. This was a quick fix, and lets not get dirty with reshacker or something like that when you have source

I have created a Work Item for this feature request and it is approved, and resolved.

http://www.codeplex.com/AlienFxColorWheel/WorkItem/View.aspx?WorkItemId=2815

There should be a support of loading Custom Icon file for Systray Icon.
This is achieved by loading Icon file from executable file's path.

If the EXE is launched from C:\ColorWheel.exe then it will try to load the Icon from C:\ColorWheel.exe.ico

So download it again as I have uploaded the fix.

 

Whoa! I'm really impressed!

Unfortunately I can't quite get it to work. my colorwheel version is:

MD5: EFAD5432288DF6783501D99072F2E8CD

Is this the right one?

Icon name is: "ColorWheel.exe.ico" Both colorwheel and icon is placed in the AW Command Center install dir.

 

Yup, hashes match so I got the right one.

You might wanna look into this
http://beeblebrox.org/hashtab/

Guess the problem lies elsewhere. Gonna PM you the link to my icon so you can check it out and see if it's working for you. I don't own the rights so no sharing ;-)

 

yea.. I found the problem. lazy me forgot that I had hard coded the icon which was overriding the custom icon. Here you go.

http://rapidshare.com/files/153823902/ColorWheel.rar

 

My internet connection died last night so I didn't get a chance to test this very last version. Gonna try it tonight. What I intended to tell you before I my connection died was that the first version of the custom icon colorwheel app completely bombed on my machine crashing with an error message every time I tried to change the colors. I'll post the error message when I get home.

 

so you found another regression... kudos for you

here is the hotfix - http://rapidshare.com/files/153823902/ColorWheel.rar

 

Works beautifully.

----------------------

Here's the previous error message as promised, but it looks like you won't need it.

Code:

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'AlienwareAlienFXTools, Version=1.0.17.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)
File name: 'AlienwareAlienFXTools, Version=1.0.17.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241'
   at ColorWheel.frmMain.btnApply_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].



************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
ColorWheel
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Alienware/Command%20Center/ColorWheel.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.1434 (REDBITS.050727-1400)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

----------------

So next logical question is, when are we gonna see power button support?

 

Beta 3... no ETA as of now. I am planning to revamp the UI which is very basic and cannot take all the requirements which I have for Beta 3

 

That's great to hear. Can't wait. Let me know if I can be of some assistance, I have a few other ideas.

 

Great... Can you use Codeplex.com to create new work items for Suggestions and feature request ? http://www.codeplex.com/AlienFxColorWheel/WorkItem/Create.aspx


Or just drop your ideas here and I will track them there..

 

I've added a few suggestions over at codeplex. Any of those realistic/a good idea? If you have any questions just drop me a line and I'll try to be more spesific.

 

So far looks good and as I said earlier this is getting professional. Till now it was just a 'Proof of concept'. Next major release should have auto update feature, an improved UI, System Events support (new mail/IM) and to further extent it possibly a add-in environment which will allow other developers to write add-in for it.

Any name suggestion for the major release ?? ColorWheel was good but good enough is not good enough any more.

 

How about Alien A.I.

It looks great, i've not had a chance to try it yet but I plan to (",)

OB

 

About name, you see I'm working on my own custom icon for it since it's supported and since the core of the app is about changing the color of the lights the first thing that came into my head was was a sort of wave of color, or Aurora Borealis if you will. Now, I'm not saying that you should call you app that and I'll ponder the question some more but the very first thing that popped into my head was "AuroraLightsFX".

 

I think that's a pretty cool name and it's very appropriate for this kind of program.

 

This sounds cool, any chance it will work on XP?

 

Yes it will work on all flavors of Windows.
If only I could bypass the Command Center's components and be 100% successful in interacting with AlienFX then I will made it available on Linux also

 

great piece of software find! +rep!! Any chance you can implement a smoother color morphing or pulsing than the one AW has? thnx in advance!

 

for some reason, i can't +rep you, but i would if i could, because i just realized that TurnOffLights might be pretty useful for maximizing battery life

 

Nice point! see if you can test that theory out and what kind of improvement we may see in battery life!

 

You'll gain an extra hour of battery life with all lights turned off imo.

 

You sure???? extra hour... that sounds like a lot

 

I don't think LED's take much power. I think we would get an extra 10-20 minutes max if anything

 

Well, I turned off lights from full power and it jumped from 5:20 hours too, 6:06 hours. So just under an hour :/

 

thats pretty nice! not worth losing the cool factor tho o_0

 

I will try to use the LightFX, SDK for AlienFX from Alienware and see how it works. If that works well and the BIOS update for AlienFX supports fast light switching then we should see a plugin for WinAMP

If everything goes smooth then I will have new version of AuroraLightsFX (aka. ColorWheel) completely based on AlienFX SDK

 

You are amazing findvikas! We owe u big time! thnx so much for the time u invest in this community!

 

Is there any difference in the stand alone version of the color wheel? Can it still remember all the settings on start-up and such?

 

yep you can, it just dont need command center to be installed.

 

will you be including "Sense" and "Touch"? also, think you can rig AuroraLightsFX to open if the user touches the spaceship touch control button?

 

That is not a problem I can configure the AlienShip button to fire anything.
Also the configuration part of Sence & Touch, should not be a big problem.

I tried LightFX SDK today, but that require you to have Command Center installed onto your system. So I do not think I will be using SDK but direct interaction with LEDs

 

I know its been a long time, but I am not able to devote much time to NBR or any other personal work. Life has really taken a turn and I am expecting it to only get worse in coming days.

I will not be playing for some time, let life play with me for a change

 

good luck.

 

yeah man, wish you the best.

 

Not really... but the PDC was amazing
btw they named it Windows 7... quite innovative