Using none AlienFX selectable colours

How to use non-AlienFX colours with Alienware systems*
I will only be covering setting one constant colour

*anything followed / used in the thread is done at the system owners risk

To get the colour wanted you will have to apply it & then try again a few times to get the shade as you want it

Different areas light up differently so you will have to tweak some areas individually
there are a few parts with a limited colour range

I would recommend using @GodlikeRU 's colour changer as it makes the process much simpler & quicker than doing it manually

Currently, both the manual guide & @GodlikeRU 's colour changer have issues with the power button so set that in AlienFX first to as close to what you are after as possible

If you give this a go please can you post if it works with your system including any issues or abnormality's encountered so I can update the list of tested devices so that more people will know if it works for them

Spoiler: Tested Devices

Spoiler: 11" models

non-tested so far

Spoiler: 13" models

non-tested so far

Spoiler: 14" models

non-tested so far

Spoiler: 15" models

non-tested so far

Spoiler: 17" models

M17x-R4 ~ (2012) ~ limited colour range on lights around mouse pad & status zone ~
A17-R1 ~ (2013) ~ Issue with color white ~

Spoiler: 18" models

M18x-R1 ~ (2011) ~

Spoiler: Manual Guide

1. Take a screenshot of Alien FX showing the zones and their labels

2. Create a new basic theme using one colour for each zone (except power)

3. Close AlienFX

4. Navigate to: C:\Users\*InsertUserNameHere*\Documents\AlienFX\Themes

5. Right click on the theme & open with notepad

6. Press CTRL+F and search for: ZoneID

7. You should get to a section that looks something like this:

<Actions>​

<ZoneID>2</ZoneID>​

<ActionID>2</ActionID>​

<ActionTypeID>3</ActionTypeID>​

<Color1>#FF5000F0</Color1>

<Color2>#FF000000</Color2>

<Duration>0</Duration>​

8. Understanding the above.

<ZoneID>2</ZoneID> this refers to the zone in are picture from step one

<ActionID>2</ActionID> not interested in this

<ActionTypeID>3</ActionTypeID> not interested in this

<Color1>#FF00F000</Color1> this is first colour in the circle/power light option

<Color2>#FF000000</Color2> this is the second colour in the circle/power light option

<Duration>0</Duration> not interested in this​

9. To set the colour you need to find its 6 digit hex code I use this site:

http://htmlcolorcodes.com/​

10. once you have the code for example #5000F0 you need to put in between the hash symbol & the start of the code, FF so are example would change from:

#5000F0 to #FF5000F0​

11. you then put his in the <Color1>#FFXXXXXX<Color1> section so are edited section from above would become:

<Actions>

<ZoneID>2</ZoneID>

<ActionID>2</ActionID>

<ActionTypeID>3</ActionTypeID>

<Color1>#FF5000F0</Color1>

<Color2>#FF000000</Color2>

<Duration>0</Duration>​

12. repeat this for all the zones used by the laptop (on my laptop there are only nine so I do zones 1-9)

13. Save & close the custom theme

14. open AlienFX and the custom theme should now be available if making multiple individual changes just switch back & forth with another theme

Spoiler: Issues with white

@MahmoudDewy has had luck with a theme using #FF81F7F3 to get close to white
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...electable-colours.794269/page-2#post-10309321

Unfortunately, this is not a problem I have so I can't test just theory so please test & let me know if it fixes the issue

Some LED's have an issue with displaying the colour white & so display it as a soft magenta this is due to a lack of green so if you were to set the lighting to a pale green this should balance out the red & blue giving the colour white you will need to test the amount of green needed for yourself trail & error style

if this works for you please let people know what colour code worked for you

Spoiler: Other Fun AlienFX Stuff

winamp plugin originally by @Ingrater

m14x colour changing alienhead mod by @Abhishek Raj
(I'm working on a similar mod for the m17x using the m14x board as its smaller so should fit better & result in better light distribution)

LightFX Extender found by @fma965 this allows AlienFX to work with: Corsair keyboards, Logitech keyboards and mice, Razer Chroma products & Lightpack devices (I have no idea what the last one is)

Spoiler: Genral Alien FX bugs & fixes

Issue:

Spoiler: Colour flashes on and of instantly

you can fix this by clicking the loop box next to the zone name

Sorry if this is already somewhere on the forums here

I will be editing this post a lot so if there is anything I've missed / can add to improve it please let me know

 

Nice.

I can make an application for this if anyone is interested?

Regards

 

Great work man. I've put all zone to white (#FFFFFFFF) but is a light pink
I think there is a problem into AlienFX. Regardless this, i appreciate your useful info.

 

Yes that inaccuracy exists from my days with M15x, It had white color option but It's not bright white but a pink shade so they must've removed it. If you like some cool AlienFX then you must give a try to Winamp AlienFX visualization hack

 

yeah that would be awesome

sounds like its a issue with the LEDs i would suggest trying to set the colour to a off white green (something like: #FFE5FFDF) to get rid of the the magenta will update guide if you can get this to work as unfortunately mine gives me white correctly so i am unable to test. but just play around with it i found to get the colour I wanted I'd have to apply it & then try again a few times, also different areas look different couours so had to tweek areas individually & on mine there are a few parts with very limited colour range

 

Okay I think if there wont be problems Ill release beta in next week.

It changes actual colors for now.

Regards

 

I was bored today, beta is ready.

This program forces any color to be saved in color profile, not only predefined ones.

Uploaded program as attachment.
Run "Godlike Alienware color picker.exe" to test it. Load alienware profile, change some colors and save it.

There are Alienware M18x zones added currently, don't know if M17x or M15x has additional light zones but you can always change it by changing "Unknown zoneID: x" position if you know which one is correct. I don't have any more Alienwares laptops or desktops to test

Requirements:

• .NET Framework 4.0 (everyone should already have it installed)

Known issues:

• Power button color is not updating properly

 

@GodlikeRU awesome will give it a go when I get a chance

 

Updated application.

Bug fixes:

• Application will no longer crash if user will change color without selecting file first

 

@GodlikeRU once I have a chance to test it do you mind if i link to your post in the OP?

If anyone try's it can they post if it works with there system so i can put together a list of compatible devices (both my OP & @GodlikeRU 's colour picker)
also please post any Issues

I've updated the op try & make it easier to read

 

No problem mate. It will work on M18x, not sure about M17x,M15x

 

cool will put a link to the thread in the OP

 

Still can't manage to find out what's wrong with power button, even ACC has sometimes problems with this one. It seems that Power button is itself about 6 or even 7 zones! If you change correct PowerButton zone and then zones 10-21 then it works. Looks like a bad software/hardware design did by Alienware.

I also had serious problems with controlling AlienFX zones becuase all the laptop zones are tied to one zone Front_Middle_Center and if you want to change individual zones it gets more difficult but thanks to Alienware they included some samples so I got it working at the end.

What I would like to do next is application that will get pixels from screen and change the illumination on the keyboard to the corresponding pixels. I know something like that exists but only in windowed mode. I know how to make it working in Fullscreen.

Wow that was such a long post, no TL;DR for u guys, sorry

 

umm that is strange will have a look I can't remember having issues with the power button myself ill give it ago & see what happens

it seems to be the charging/discharging pattern which is strange

 

what we can do is calculate the colours we expect to see to fill in the change over these areas will look into it later I need to go back to sleep I have work in a few hours

 

@Flaick did you have any luck with adding green to get to white?

 

Don't know. I revert back to "orange" that i like it too much

 

http://www.alienwarefxthemes.com/2014/11/19/white-foster-alienware-17-fx-theme/

This has always been the whitest I could get on my AW17

 

thank you for your input & information

how does it look when used? does it have a tint to a certain colour?

the colour used in this file is 81F7F3 (will need to put #FF in front of it to make it usable)

R 129
G 247
B 243

the color still has a lot of blue in it which surprised me

have you tried to used @GodlikeRU 's colour changer?

 

Currently I am not on white I am on my own color #FF10382A ... That is my fav green

 

Anyone experience choppy and incorrect colours when using rainbow cascade or any morphing lightings?

Set tempo to 0.1 second, and set the duration T to either 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 or 1.6 seconds which is :

T = 0.2 x 2^n , n = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...

If tempo is 0.2 second, then

T = 0.4 x 2^n , n = 0, 1, 2, 3 ...

Trying to edit the tempo in the config file to less than 0.1 second doesn't work, the lower the tempo, the smoother the transition is.

 

I'm sorry but I haven't tried with any complex colour options as stated in the original post but I will have a look at this

 

Could you possibly make a step by step on how to use this im not very tech savy... pleeeaasee

 

u also have another program https://rotaryheart.com/programs/windows/alien-fx/

 

Program is very easy to use. Just load color profile and assign colors from the list. Then you need to load it in Alienware Command enter.

I didn't released new versions because nobody tested it on other laptops. I only have M18xR1 and it works for it. I don't have any other Alienware (doubt if there's other in whole town lol)