AlienFX Lite (Linux + Windows AlienFX tool)

Hi,

Since I received my Allpowerfull M15x laptop, I always wanted to use the alienFX lights as an indicator of whether I am currently busy or available to talk to/etc... The solution provided by alienware would be to load up the alienFX software (takes a relative long time), load up a previously created profile, hit the apply button and exit the application. Suffice to say that this is really impractical to be of any use. The other major problem was that I use mainly Linux as my working environment and alienfx is not available for linux and the alienware software seems not to work on Windows over a virtual machine installed(tried both Vmware and VMBox).

Thus I decided to write my own alienFX program which would work under Windows and Linux. Here is the Result

I would be grateful for any comments and opinions on how to make the application better. Also, please let me know if you think the application is useless, so that I know if there is any point in further developing this application.

****DISCLAIMER****​

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

USE THIS SOFTWARE ON YOUR OWN RISK!


AlienFX Lite


Revision History:

Code:

Date       | Description            | version  | url
15/03/2010 | Forth  Verison         | 0.4b     | http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/AlienFXLite-0.4b.jar
12/02/2010 | Third  Verison         | 0.3      | http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/AlienFXLite-0.3.jar
12/02/2010 | Second Verison         | 0.2      | http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/AlienFXLite-0.2.jar
10/02/2010 | First version released | 0.1      |  http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/AlienFXLite-0.1.jar 

Description:
AlienFX Lite is a simple cross-platform program to create profiles and set the AlienFX lightning to the set colors. This application was done for the Allpowerfull M15x and only tested on this machine. It should also work on the M17x. The application will most likely accept the Area 51 m15x but it was untested. The current supported platforms are:
Linux (32 bit), Linux(64 bit), Mac OS X(UNTESTED), Windows 7(64 bit), Windows 7 (32 bit), Windows Vista (32bit), Windows Vista 64bit, Windows XP

Special Thanks:
Thanks go to Ingrater ( http://3d.benjamin-thaut.de/) for providing me with the protocol for the alienFX device and some windows native code.

Installation:
The application can be installed on windows and on linux in the following way.

Linux: (Ubuntu)

This guide is for ubuntu only. For a different distribution (which doesnt use debian packages), you have to install the following things Java Runtime Environment 1.6 (6) and libusb-1.0-0.

Step 1) ==CHECK FOR JVM 1.6==
Check if you have have a java vm installed. This can be done by typing "java -version" into a terminal. If you get a "command not found" returned or the version is lower than 1.6 go to step 2. If the version is 1.6 or above, go to step 3.

Step 2) ==INSTALLING JVM==
To install the latest jvm type:

Code:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-6-jre

Confirm your choice and wait until its installed.

Step 3) ==INSTALL libusb-1.0==
The linux native libraries are based of libusb. It has to be present on the system. This can be done by:

Code:

sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0

Windows:

Step 1) If you dont have java 1.6 then Go to: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp and click on Download JRE. Install the JRE.

Step 2) Place the AlienFXLite-0.1.jar into a suitable for you folder, and remember the path (e.g. C:\User\wattos\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar)

Step 3) Unfortunately the application requires administrator powers or othrwise it will not be able to write to the alienfx device. Find the location of the JRE javaw.exe, which will most likely be somewhere here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe

Step 4) Right click on your desktop, and do new->Shortcut. Now enter the path (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe") with the qoutes into the text field, followed by the location of the jar file. Thus all together it should look like:

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\User\wattos\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar" 

If you want the application to go directly to the system tray without opening, append an -s e.g.

Code:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\User\wattos\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar" -s

Thats it, you are done.

Manual:
To open the application in linux, do the following
sudo java -jar AlienFXLite-0.1.jar
or
sudo java -jar AlienFXLite-0.1.jar -s
for the silent version.

On windows, rightclick on the created shortcut and press on " run as admin".


Once the application is open, you can create new profiles. On the left you can see the color chooser, which is used to choose colors. When creating a new profile while having no profile selected, all lights will be defaulted to the color which was selected when pressing the new profile button. If you create a new profile while another profile is selected, then a copy of that profile will be created.

Once you are happy with a profile you need to press the save button. This will write the changes to the hdd. The remove button allows you to remove profiles. Finally, click the apply button to apply the profile to the alienFX controller.

If System trays are supported (usually they are) the application will not close when the window is closed. Instead it will hide. The application is only closable from the system tray. To close the application, right click on the system tray alienFX icon and then Exit. In this small menu, all profiles are also listed. Clicking on a profiles name will automatically apply the profile without having to open the applications window.

In order to change the colors for selected regions, select a color on the left side, then press the button with the text of the region you want to change the color. Dont forget to hit the save buttons once you are happy with a profile. The apply button DOES not save your profile.

Video Tutorial
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3SPJAFx5Meo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3SPJAFx5Meo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed></object>

Misc:

* The profiles are saved under (USER_HOME)/.alienFXprofiles.
* On linux you can make your user able to access the usb devices without being a super user but part of a group which has access to the usb devices. I dont know how to do that


Known Issues:
* Sometimes the JVM will spit out a bug when opening the menu of the system tray. This is a bug in Swing and should be fixed with a new update of the JRE (hopefully).
* It seems that the system look and feel does not work on ubuntu which runs inside a VM (??).
* With some look and feels, its possible that the non-resizable window is too small.
* The java functionality for system trays is generally crap. The balloon messages looks really bad and icon does not support transparency.
* It only works with the 32 bit JRE on windows

TODO:
* change the format of the profiles from binary to xml
* change the Ui to look better/different
* Make the applying of the effects in a background thread so that the gui doesnt freeze

Release History
v. 0.4b:
* Added support for M11x
* Added support for active preview
* Added support for Battery Monitoring
* Added support for brightness
* Added Turn off features
* Fixed Windows visual bugs

v. 0.3:
* Added support for copying/pasting a sequence of actions
* Added support for changing a lot of colors at once
* Added reset function
* Removed the info button and copy button

v. 0.2:
* Added support for 32 bit linux
* Added support for sequences
* Added support for copy/paste of action
* Added support for right click on color to select the color from an action
* Added support for "colors in profile"
* Added support for morph/blink
* Added support for speed
* Changed the Gui layout


Screen Shots:

http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/linux.png

System Tray:
http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/tray.png


DOWNLOAD LINK:
See signature

SOURCE LINK:
See signature

 

thanks for doing this: interested to install and give it a test run. Where is the download link?

 

LOL, sorry, totally forgot to put the download link on the page. Thanks for reminder. Also, there is partial support for the old model, (area 51 m15x) and windows vista/7 32 bit but right now it seems that the application needs a restart after setting the colors. If there is interest in the application to support the old model, Ill dedicate some time to make it work on the old one as well.

I edited the main page with the download link

DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/AlienFXLite-0.1.jar

 

Do you think this will work with the upcoming M11X considering it only has one zone for the keyboard?
Would it be hard to make it work for the upcoming m11x?

 

I want to say "Not at all", but its usually hard to tell. The biggest problem would be that I probably wont be buying a M11x, so I would have to either work with someone, or have somebody with a M11x develop the support for the M11x.

If there is enough demand for this to support the M11x then I will gladly add support for it as long as someone is willing to work with me, or do himself. The number of zones is something I can configure. I doubt that it will work without any modification, but we would have to see ^^

 

beauty: thanks for the quick addition of the download

 

Thanks for coding this and putting it out there. Really nice to have an option to control these in Linux. I don't currently have an alienware, but I am planning on getting a m11x. I will be mostly running Linux on it. (Can't wait to see how fast the 335M is with CUDA) I can't order mine until my tax return, so I'll probably get it a week or two later than anyone else..but once I do if you haven't found anyone else I'd like to help you get a m11x compatible version out.

 

any chance this would work with the M17x r2 ?

 

downloaded and installed as per the guideline
attempted my first profile and went to save and I get an AlienFx Error
Error occurred while trying to communicate with the AlienFx device.
Data length should be 9 but was 0.

Suggestions? Fully prepared to concede it could be operator error!

 

Are you running on windows, Linux?

I assume you are running windows. Is it 32 bit or 64 bit? Are you running it as admin? Usually I get this error when running not as admin

 

If the alienFX system is the same (as M17x r1), then it should. Try it and tell us. I dont have a M17x r2

 

There any docs/guides on programming the AlienFX interface?

 

The m17x has different zones

I'll try in a bit but you might have to add them

you don't have to but it would be nice

 

correct on all counts, running win7 64 bit: ran as admin and it worked beautifully!
Hope my error assists others: great tool and great assist.
Rep +1!

 

Well, I did use the region codes from the M17x and they worked on the M15X, so in theory it should work :x.


How many keyboard zones do you have on the M17X ?

 

Make sure you use the task bar. Its really handy for switching the profile quickly.

 

when i run the program nothing actually happens.

here is the command i am using

"C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\Users\rbf351\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar"

 

most likely you forgot the "-jar" inbetween the javaw.exe and C:\Users\rbf351\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar

your command should look like:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "C:\User\wattos\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar"

 

yup, that was why. figured that out a few seconds before you posted. now i get nothing when i run the program

 

can you open cmd with admin access and do :

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\java.exe" -jar "C:\User\wattos\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar"

(note, the java.exe not javaw.exe)

and paste what it spits out

 

C:\Users\rbf351>"C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\bin\java.exe" -jar "C:\Users\
rbf351\Documents\AlienFXLite-0.1.jar"
Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: C:\Users\
rbf351\AppData\Local\Temp\lib_Alien.dll.1303078055573388304.tmp: Can't load IA 3
2-bit .dll on a AMD 64-bit platform
at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(ClassLoader.java:1803)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1712)
at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:823)
at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:1028)
at uk.co.progger.alienFXLite.led.LEDController.<clinit>(LEDController.ja
va:7)
at uk.co.progger.alienFXLite.led.AlienFXControllerFactory.getAlienFXDevi
ce(AlienFXControllerFactory.java:21)
at uk.co.progger.alienFXLite.alienfx.AlienFXEngine.<init>(AlienFXEngine.
java:22)
at uk.co.progger.alienFXLite.gui.MainFrame.<init>(MainFrame.java:56)
at uk.co.progger.alienFXLite.Main$1.run(Main.java:23)
at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(InvocationEvent.java:209)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(EventQueue.java:597)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(EventDispatchThre
ad.java:269)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(EventDispatchThread.
java:184)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(EventDispatchThre
ad.java:174)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:169)

at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(EventDispatchThread.java:161)

at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(EventDispatchThread.java:122)

 

beh, java being stupid. Can you try and install the 32-bit JRE?

 

that worked

 

Ill provide the 64bit libraries in the next release so that it works with both JRE's

 

I have been asked if its possible to run this program under XP. I havent tested it myself, but if it doesnt work, then I can add the support. Would people be interested in that? Also, are people interested in having full area 51 m15x support ?

 

BAH i downloaded 64 bit :/ i should read first :/

I am testing now while XP installs on my server..... One day i will have it as an peronal IMG pushing server so i can go to bed and wake up with a Fresh OS IMG over VIA wifi

Anyway thank you again

 

I just installed XP on a VM and it turns out the program already works there. So Ive added to the main page support for Windows XP. For XP, the shortcut crap is not needed as UAC doesnt exist. Its enough to double click the jar.

I have added support for both JVM's in my latest build. Next release will run on 32 bit and 64 bit jvm

 

well it worked but it acted funny. It changed my media strip without me telling it to and when i put purple for the right speaker it just shut off.

The keyboard changed colors just fine though

 

By default it will always change every color. There is no way of telling it not to change the color. Maybe this is something to be placed in the next version. If you want to turn a light off, set the color to black.

Also, Do you mean that the program shut off or the right speaker?

could you this run http://stuff.benjamin-thaut.de/alienfx-leds-tester.zip (made by Ingrater) and copy paste the result file?

 

Once I get my m11x, I'll definitely be working on getting this to work on it (since the first thing I'll be doing when I get it is installing linux). Any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

it works under xp with the M17x R1, are the "zones" the same for the r2 ?

 

I dont know, Im waiting for somebody with a R2 who would be willing to test it :x

Thanks for testing it on R1
+1

 

Version 0.2 is out!

Unfortunately the profiles from 0.1 wont be read into 0.2.

BUT:

Now you can do sequences of actions, select colors from action (right click on an action), set the speed of the sequences, see all colors used in the profile (and select them), Add morphs and blinks.

This tool is now almost as powerfull as the command center (and also adds some more features like copy/paste, insertion into any place on the sequence and you can CHANGE THE COLORS OF THE EYES of the powerbutton).

Hope you like it. Next version will include a undo/redo functionality + revert changes to profile from last saved time and hopefully bugfixes.

Enjoy. Please leave some feedback on what you like and dont like.

ScreenShot:

http://progger.co.uk/alienfx/linux.png

Download link on first post

 

Released another version. This will probably be the last version unless there are severe bugs or a high demand for some kind of functionality.

Once I get someone to help me to add support for the M11x I will do that.

In the 0.3 version expect the following changes:

*Now you can select multiple actions and then paste them.
The selection has a SHIFT and CTRL modifier. If shift is pressed, you only add actions to the selection. If CTRL is pressed, you only remove actions from the selection.

*Pressing with the left mouse button on any color in the "used color panel" will change all actions with that color to the currently selected color

*Pressing with the right mouse button on any color (including the actions) will select that color

*you can now reset the lights in case something funny is happening.

*a faster gui

 

any way to modify the speed settings other than the slider? using the command center you can edit the profile with notepad, and up the speed to faster than the defaults.

maybe put a box in there where we can enter numbers?

 

Ill look into it again. The last time I tried entering different numbers ended up in weird behaviour. Also, the last version was tested with the latest firmware for the alienFX device

 

I get an error saying that the program cannot communicate with the AlienFX device. I installed JRE and JDK 32 bits and it still doesn't work. Tried running as an administrator and still nothing.

 

try to hard reset your alienfx device by:

turn off pc
remove battery
remove power plug
hold the powerbutton for 10 sec
plug in your power and start pc.

If that doesnt work, then there might be something wrong with your alienFX device. Does Command Centre work? Did you upgrade CC to the A05? It has been reported to break some alienFX devices. Did the lights stop working after flashing the device? If yes, I would recommend reflashing

 

Hey Wattos, if you need someone to test anything out and pull info on a m11x let me know. I can do it in either Windows or Linux.

 

Ooh

I actually would really appreciate any info on the M11x .

Here is the general procedure I do to find out the protocol (besides asking people for it).

* Install UsbSniff 2.0 ( http://www.pcausa.com/Utilities/UsbSnoop/). Its a simple program which works on a driver level and can log all sequences of data sent by any device.
* Run UsbSniff as admin (otherwise it wont be able to install the driver)

Now here is where it gets tricky. I dont know if dell changes the Product Id of the device, but my assumption would be that they actually did.

* In the list of devices in SniffUsb, do you see a device with VID 187c (stands for dell)? On my alienware laptop there is only one such device, which is the alienfx device ( PID == 512 ). But on yours the PID might be different.

* If there is only one device with VID == 187c, then do the following.
* Select that device in the list.
* Click install

* Restart the pc.

* Open SniffUsb
* Click on Pause Log -> Close Log -> Delete Log
* Now press Fn + F11 (e.g. to disable the lights)
* Now press on Resume in SniffUsb
* Now press Fn+F11 (to enable the lights).
* Press on pause log once the lights lit up.

*upload the C:\Windows\UsbSnoop.log to the forums.

This will give me all the data I need. If you can also set your zones to different colors (each zone a different color) (before doing the logging) and upload the theme file, that would be even better.

Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, the PID was 512. Same device VID. I've attached my theme and the usb sniffer information that was sent when it turned the lights on and off via the drop down (for some reason Fn-F11 wasn't working)

 

Thanks a lot. Ill make sure to add support for the M11x as soon as possible. I might need you to do one more test later on however

 

No problem, just let me know.

 

someone has to tell me a new one for the m11x is coming lol

 

Awesome, can you try running the tiny program attached to the post? Since the PID of the M11x and the M15x is the same, I need to inspect the Model of the pc to determine which model it is.

This small program does exactly this and I want to test if its checking the model correctly.

 

Oops, sorry the PID is actually 514.

Bus 005 Device 002: ID 187c:0514

I'll still run this program when I get into work.

 

That's good news. then you dont really need to run that attached program

 

Hey,

Soleblaze just verified that the latest(not yet released) version works for the M11x. My questions are:

1) is there anything anyone would like to see in the next version (which supports M11x)?

2) How much people would be interested in "active" profiles. Those would be profiles, which extend the alienFX functionality by actively changing the colors. This means, that the active profiles only work when the application is running, but also means that there are no limits to what one can de. One example would be "police car lights" on the speakers, which would basiacally alternative red/blue in a quite fast manner.

Any feedback is welcome

 

Two things that I'd like to see is a way to turn off the lights. Is this just done by creating a profile and setting everything to black or is there another way that the alienware program does this? Also it would be nice to be able to turn on/off the light dimming.

 

It is basically equivalent to setting the light to black. Ill add another option though which dims the light. You cal also do go into the Menu and press Help->Reset

Can you elaborate? I dont quite understand