AlienFX Problems/Questions Thread

Hi. I have had the same problem. Don't know if this has been answered but this worked for me.

What I did to fix it was i uninstalled CC(Command Center), OSD and touchpad (don't know if that even matters, but I guess better safe then sorry), reinstalled touchpad, restarted comp, installed OSD, restarted comp, and then installed CC... If you are running an Alienware M17xR3 then go to: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

restart your computer after the install, and run CC. You will now probably get the same errors, but if you go to THEME --> Predefined Themes, and apply one of those you should be able to make AlienFX fix itself.

Hope this was helpful.

GL

 

Hi Red Line,
did you solve the problem with the unwilling Macro-key lightning?
Having the same issues with my M18X.

Thanks, appreciate your help.

 

Just received my m14x, which I was so syked about until I turned it on, the alienfx leds are all red except the touch pad one which is a yellow. I changed through all the presets and on pink the touch pad is white, and i even tried respawning and the touch pad leds are STILL yellow. This is really irritating, especially since I threw 1200$ into this, something like this shouldn't happen.

Anything I can do to fix this or do I have to contact Dell about it? And by the way, i did try to open a chat with dell, and I put in my system number or whatever it is and it states that I ordered it out of the country, and that it's not in warranty even thought I JUST bought it. and yes im putting the right number in

 

Have you tried reinstalling/updating your applications/drivers pertaining to such?

 

my right speaker is stuck on a blue/green color.

ive tried system restore.

other than the obvious color change in cc

also did a reset power for 30sec without battery

 

idk what to do ive unistalled and reinstalled cc

 

I have an Alienware M14x with all the best specifications that you can get it.. from the dell site!

and i have this problem..: some of the lights do not work ..to be more exact only number 6 and number 8 do not work for some reason..and i can't find a solution.

the rest of the lights work fine and i can change them and everything..i have tried (i think everything i could find) (clicked all the options that had to click but i couldn't solve my problem) is there anyone who can help me ???

you can ask for my email if anyone wants to give me any suggestions!

did you solve it?my m14x has chosen not to light zones 6 and 8 and i don't know what to do!!!any idea?

 

Have you tried right-clicking the tray icon, selecting "Go Dark" followed by "Go Light" already? Sometimes this helps clear out a corrupted lighting profile.

If you have already removed and re-installed OSD and Alien Command Center, try removing the battery, disconnecting from the AC adapter and hold down the power button. Reconnect the AC power and start up Windows, then insert the battery. If that has not worked, remove the battery and AC adapter, drop the bottom cover and disconnect the CMOS battery for a minute, then reconnect it. Put everything back together and change any custom settings you had made in the BIOS before disconnecting the CMOS battery. If the lights are still not working after all of this, you probably have a hardware issue and need to call 1-800-ALIENWARE to get it fixed.

 

Hey, i got a problem, when i turn the alienfx off one speaker light shines yellow instead of turning off, and if i try to change it to any other colour it either goes yellow or white, it might be an LED problem but i don't get why it stays on when the others go off, its like its out of sync or something, any help would be appreciated. Using m17x R2 (i can black them out in command centre as well but the speaker light goes yellow when i do this also)

BANG BANG

 

Please read this:

Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

 

Aw, well that just sucks really badly. Especially since it's Alienware's fault for the faulty DVD and that my warranty is out (On my main mobo, I have a modded mobo I got from TradeMe.)

And I thought this problem was only for the M15X.

 

Hi

I wanted to download all the Factory AlienFx themes which comes with new Alienware M17x

When you buy M17x, you are allowed to select only one AlienFx theme so I have blue them by default, but I am really keen to see all other themes

Please having different theme than Blue, please post it

 

The factory themes are nothing more than colors you can configure yourself in Command Center.
Just play with it and see what you like.

 

Question, I play City of Heroes pretty regularly, when I first started playing on my M11x I turned off the AlienFX because I rarely had the lights even on. Yesterday I was going to turn on the lights, and the option was greyed out in the City of Heroes Settings... like it wasn't available anymore (PhysX is also greyed out, but I think that is normal).

Any suggestions on how I can get the option back?

FYI... I am not at home, so I can't check anything until later.

 

I have the same problem as many people here, I got a m17x R2, I format the system, when it was done all the lghts were working fine but didn't have the command center, I took the DVD of Resource where Alien fx and command center suposted to come, I installed all the drivers and finally thr Command Center, when it was done, a dialog box comes to my screen, "the application needs to update your firmware" I pressed ok, well after a long time and many reboots, first the keyboard lights were out, I could manage the command center, but when I made and "apply" the keyboard turn lights off, after reboot the laptop all the lights were out too, I've been looking through this topic 3 days, and I cannot find the soultion of my problem.

I read that if I made a partition on my HDD and install vista or Xp it will make another boot so that the lights are expected to turn on again...but that guide for doing that isn't available anymore, it was posted for someone called FLUFFYRUG in the topic http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/239682-m15x-alien-fx-big-problem-7.html, but the link is not available,

It should be a solution before a motherboard replacement, I'll use this after I made everything possible to fix the problem.

Does anyone has the solution??I will be happy to read a "yes" in my screen"

 

I get a .NET error when I try to use command centre (Yes, that is how you spell center in British English.) I have reinstalled .NET and I have even tried to use alternative AlienFX light controllers.

And what is weird is that, the lights on my keyboard still work, I have my old scheme which is morphing lights. And I can't even turn AlienFX off using the Function shortcut.

 

After an aweful lot of research, technichal stuff and cost, I've got the lighting working on my M17X-R1.

I originally bought the laptop online knowing that the lighting effects were not working, I've been a computer engineer for 30 years and was sure with a bit of effort I could work it out. The fault was the classic - with the unknown USB device in device manager, the .NET errors on startup and when running AlienwareAlienFXTester.exe I got the board not found error, and of course no lighting at all.

Now though.......LED's woohoo.

I think I can get any M17X-R1 working and probably R2's as well. The fix doesn't require the motherboard to be removed, and there is no component replacement needed.

Message to DELL - REPLACEMENT MOTHERBOARD.....REALLY???? Greed or Incompetence, which is it?.

I know this may sound like a con, but I can do this for about £75 excluding packaging/insurance etc. I may do this on ebay to give the laptop owner a degree of security. Or if anyone lives near Newcastle they can pop around and I will fix it in front of them.

regards

Peter

 

Ah, excellent! I also got a .NET error when running the same EXE. USB error huh? Interesting. That Phantom device has some explaining to do. Could you explain more into how to do this? Your post gave me hope.

 

Hi. I couldn't get any help in M14x forums, so I am reposting this here.

I have few problems with AlienFX SDK. I'm unable to compile even sample given in AlienFx SDK guide:

Code:

#include "LFX2.h"
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
LFX_Initialize();
// Reset the state machine and await light settings
LFX_Reset();
// Set all lights to blue
LFX_Light(LFX_ALL, LFX_BLUE | LFX_FULL_BRIGHTNESS);
// Update the state machine,
// which causes the physical color change
LFX_Update();
// Cleanup and detach from the system
LFX_Release();
return 0;
}

1. It's shows an error: `_TCHAR' has not been declared
2. After that I add #include <tchar.h> but then it shows this error:

Code:

  [Linker error] undefined reference to `LFX_Initialize' 
  [Linker error] undefined reference to `LFX_Reset' 
  [Linker error] undefined reference to `LFX_Light' 
  [Linker error] undefined reference to `LFX_Update' 
  [Linker error] undefined reference to `LFX_Release' 

Anyone can tell where is the problem and how to fix this? I've tried to compile it with Visual C++ 2005, 2008 and Dev-C++. All of them throws the same error.

 

Hello people. I have had my laptop for three months now and i have had some problems with it of late. more so the last month. the problems i have had more so from day to day are blue screen relating to nvidia. I have tried the up to date driver on both nvidia and the dell support site for this and there has not really been any differnet. i can boot my latop up and once everything loads up the blue screen comes up. does anyone have a soultion to this and also the alienware fx lights just disable all the time and when i go bk on to light mode they just go dark by its self whenever the laptop wants to. i like the laptop very much but its starting to get on my nerves alot. i already have someone coming out to replace the mothereboard because of the speaker problem i have had over the last month. i hope this will not be a regular thing. thanks for the help in advance.

 

Got my m17x earlier today, played around with the stock 750gb drive that came in it, fell in love with this thing... About an hour or two ago, I put in my 256GB SSD and wiped both drives, installing fresh windows on SSD (750gb will be data drive) and also upgraded memory.

After driver install, including .NET 4 and then Control Center, my AlienFX is stuck on the last red/white combo i had it on before I reloaded the system.

Already tried reinstalling Alien Control Center, nothing. I can "go dark" and edit and apply color changes... the software says it's working and blue when it's still red from before, the colors just aren't changing I did change them earlier before the reload, and it worked fine, last color I changed it to was all red...

Any ideas?

 

How did you reinstall the drivers? As I understand it, you would have needed to get your drivers from the Dell and/or Intel websites (which is what I did). Using the supplied resource disk to install drivers can mess up Alien FX.

 

Downloaded them all on my desktop from Dell.com and used a flash drive to put them on here.

Just uninstalled both .net and alienfx, restarted then reinstalled... still no dice.

 

Sounds like another stuck M I/O Board.Try this: go to C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\ and look for AlienFXTester.exe. Run the program and click each and see if the LED's change color. The power button will probably remain unchanged (at least on mine it stays blue).

Failing that, try a full power drain to see if you can clear the M I/O Board (unplug computer, remove battery and CMOS battery; press power button for 30 seconds or more; put CMOS and laptop battery in, plug in and power up). All BIOS settings will be switched back to default. You will need to reset any settings in the BIOS that aren't the default settings (e.g. SATA Operation to AHCI if you installed your SSD on that setting etc.)

 

Full power drain including CMOS fixed it. Sad that it was that easy to freeze the I/O board.... I don't even know what I did yet.

Working now, great new system! Thanks guys

 

It is here! Departed Shanghai yesterday morning and arrived on my doorstep by midday today! Crazy fast, very impressive!

So far so good, build quality is awesome and it looks the dogs! I do have a quick FX question though, I created a new theme so I could have the keyboard, alienware light and vent lights circulating through the blues and then to white on a loop. I saved the theme and then clicked apply although it said it had applied it didn't actually change until a restart. I tried changing it to a preset theme (colour wheel) and it worked without a restart I then changed back to my theme and again it needed a restart. Is this normal?

Sorting out Skyrim now so the fun will soon start! This keyboard is small!

 

Any ideas anyone? I spent all night on Skyrim, awesome!!!

 

Hey guys, I recently began having a really irritating problem with Alienware FX and Command Center in general. My current Alienware FX colour is sort of locked...

Whenever I try to open the Command Center, or anything to do with it (Fx Editor, Alientouch etc.) I instantly get a message that says "CommandCenter has stopped working"

I've tried uninstall and re-install, and during the install for command center the message "Alien FX tester has stopped working" comes up multiple times. The install finishes but Command Center still refuses to open!

What's weird though is I can still turn off or dim the backlighting, and games that use Alien FX (League of Legends, BF3) still change the keyboard colour accordingly. Help?

 

Reinstall the Bios it will solve your problem...

Regards,
vginside

 

Hey vginside, I've never had to do something like that.
How do I go about uninstalling Command Center bios?

 

i meant MB Bios...

 

So I had an interesting problem pop-up, my alienfx is not acting right here is what its doing.

It looks like I have a keyboard section out.
It will change to some colors and not others.
The number pad and macro keys wont change when I update FX.
The section of the keyboard thats out will only turn pink or red.
Its only effecting the keyboard.

I saw a 17x thread on it, solutions seem to be new motherboard I would really not prefere to do this. Checking to make sure the connectors for the keyboard are not loose, I have no idea how to do this but I am willing to try.

Anyone have anything else or had the same problem?

Contacted Dell, sending a new keyboard will post update

 

OK bro. I hope it's the keyboard, too. Keep us posted.

 

media bar and touch pad not working,could this be because of a loose connection to the power bar/media bar?

 

Possibly, check the ribbons and make sure they're properly secured.

 

Is there anyway to disable or dim this when the screen saver comes on?

 

Recently formatted m11x r3 back to factory setting, like win 7 ultimate 64-bit. Finish installing all the programs.
I came across a major problem from the AlienFX in the Command Center.
It just comes up blank and I cannot change my colour anymore...
AlienFX Blank

Also it keeps causing errors that pop up from Microsoft .Net framework.

Any Solutions?

 

I'm also an engineer (write SPH simulation software), can you do a youtube video on exactly how to do this?
I'm stuck in china, and the dell people won't even talk to me since my m15x has no warrenty anymore, and i'm afraid that if i get a new mobo from Taobao.com, it might have bricked lights as well....

 

Recently I reformatted my computer (Alienware M15x). I installed all the drivers either from the resource disk or from their support website. However, one issue continues to bother me even after installing all the drivers. The fx lights, which were working perfectly before the reformat, have completely gone dark. I have installed the command center from their website and have already tried to reininstall/uninstall the command center. None of it worked. In addition, the problem seems to be that the alienware software for the fx cannot detect the board for some odd reason. I have given below two screenshots of the device manager and the error I get everytime I try to start up and light the computer using the command center/ alienware fx editor. Any Help?

- Btw I have tried to use the two methods they have given me in the error (My warranty with Dell has already expired so I really doubt that their customer service will give me anything unless I pay)
- In addition, in the device manager one of the usb ports is messed up- Unknown Device- might this be the problem with the keyboard or no?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ot-use-command-center-your-resource-dvd.html#

You did not do this right? You said you downloaded it from the site, but I just want to double check.

 

Yea I downloaded it from the site.

 

Can anyone help me. Sorry if this is a repost but my "Alienware" light on the screen is not working. I tried many times changing it from AlienFX but its still not lighting up is this a software issue or has the light gone bad?

 

Hi!, try this out, if after performing this troubleshooting the issue remains a HW replacement may be needed so please send us an e-mail to [email protected] including your service tag and phone number and we will get back to you as soon as possible. After the resolution let us know what happened here so that we all know what was the outcome.

 

Hi, Alienware-L_Porras . thanks for the troubleshooting info. I went through everything and I have some good news for an extent.

I did a bios update as stated in the guide. after the bios update the "Alienware" light on the display lights up everytime I press the power button and after 2 or 3 seconds it turns off. I'm happy to see at least that light up. so I know the light is working. I can live with that .

As I am studying I have few exams coming soon so I wont have enough time to chase this issue more. and a simple light is not going to make me send this for a replacement I waited too long to get this delivered to me. I need more time with my M17x. After im done with my exams I'll come to a decision if to chase this issue further.

One more thing. I purchased this from Alienware Australia. so is it still the same e-mail or is it better calling Dell Australia if I decide to go ahead and ask for support.

 

We provide support to USA and CANADA only on that e-mail, you can try e-mailing [email protected] or simply calling Australian support.
Glad to have been of your help.

 

Hello all. I can't seem to set themes/colors for applications or events such as new email. The advanced area does not respond to configurations when on any setting except default (color wheel will not appear). So the only theme I can apply changes on is default. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

I have noticed that it changes for games such as battlefield3 by default (which is awesome) but I cannot configure anything manually other than default.



Also, I think it would be a good idea to start a thread with alienfx themes to share/download.


m17x R4 7970m ------ Thanks for the help

The events issue was solved with: uninstall -> registry cleaner - > reinstall.


Does anybody have links to alienfx theme downloads for m17x r4?

 

Can some on please help me?
my alienfx visualization plugin isnt working..
whn the m14x came yesterday with factory installed os and alll.. it did work.
but then i had a Win7 Ultimate copy at home to i installed it!and now it isnt working..
copied the dll. to the visualizations folder.. now i can see the alienfx option in Visualizations but no lights Flickering to the BeatS!

 

try uninstalling plugin and alien command center completely, running a registry cleaner, then reinstall cc followed with the plugin

 

Tried it .. i went from the newest command center with adrenaline to a M14x commander from dell's website

Will Try it again In 10mins will let you know

No Luck.. Tried reinstalling!

 

I don't know if anyone else has this problem but often when I select a new theme or change the colors it doesn't change right away and I have to play around with the colors before they start to react.