de-bling your m15x.

hiya.

so I got a m15x BUT... I can not deal with the lights. nice case nice specs. lights are ok but I want them off. for work its to much. I do 3d graphics and play a few games. this was the best choice but only under the condition I could turn the lights off. so I did. all but the button lights which are functional and are an acceptable level of bling

so to get the alien head off its one cord to unplug. to get the trackpad its a bit more work. the buttons I'm not messing with. the pics should cover you if you want to rock no lights.

#1 TAKE OUT YOUR BATTERY AND UNPLUG YOUR ALIENWARE.

#2 fallow the 5 pics and just unplug the one cable that connects the alienware, head and lightpipe. reconnect the other ribbons and put it back together and your done!

#3 or follow the pics below to get rid of the light around the track pad also.

pics of the alienware on with no lights at the bottom. I have done this 3 times now and not messed anything up so its not tooo crazy. but if you have fat fingers or shaky hands you might want to skip it...

 

this could void my warranty?

 

all you have to do for the trackpad is cover up some leds. with the handy black tape alienware gave us! thanks alienware.

 

You could of just.. not paid the extra 60 dollars to have the lights.

 

some pics of it all back together... and rocking...

 

light are stock you can choose to have keyboard light up or not.

I have no idea about the warranty. looks the same to me. just reconect everything and send it back i guess.

 

also I put a pic in there of the the button circuit. lots of leds. and some sensors.

 

When you customize it, it asks if you want the border line keyboard or the Alien FX. I thought Alien FX was the lights, hence i payed for it :>

 

it seems a bit much, surly there must be a option to turn the lights off or could you have just not ordered it with the lights?

 

I still don't get it... appart from the ALinhead, you can switch ALL the other lights off via software. So I really don't see the point of going through all this to screw up your laptop.

More... THIS SHOULDN'T BE DONE BY UNEXPERIENCED PEOPLE. Don't even attempt it if you have no experience at it. You will end up screwing up something and voiding your warranty.

I wish I could say... "Yeah, great!", but I really don't see the point of tearing the laptop appart for that. Involving taking off fans, heatsinks, etc etc... putting it all back, etc etc... Its simply a risk not worth taking.

And again, WHY? Just switch off via Control centre and ask AW to provide a patch to allow you to disable the Alienhead as well.

 

you can get alien fx keyboard bling. or non-illum. but the rest of the lights you cant mess with. just change alienfx color. and uh you cant turn them off.

but really it would take more effort for the circuit. so they might not have planned for that. om guessing if it was something you could do with software they would have done it.

 

Blubber, you are wrong in that mate. I mean, it's very nice of you for all your effort, but you CAN SWITCH OFF all the lights via software, except Alienhead and Touchcontrols. This is even if you get the AlienFX (like I did).

So, basically your tearing appart the laptop solution is only useful to switch of the Alienhead. And again, I would prefer to have people writing to AW asking them to allow this feature in their software, as I'm sure this is possible to be enabled.

 

lol yea I want the head and trackpad off.

 

yeah i aggree with milcs im sure there is an option to turn the lights off, risking breaking suh an expensive toy just to do this seems silly and if you didnt like the lights, why get them?

 

As I said... appart from the head (in the back of the LCD lid), the trackpad, the alienware, the keyboard, the lightpipe can ALL BE SWITCHED OFF VIA CONTROL CENTRE.

Oh, and this is not about what I think is possible. I have no doubt of this actually. No doubt at all.
There's a combination of keys (Fn+one of the Fkeys that says AlienFX) that will allow you to automatically switch off all of the light areas I've just mentioned, leaving only the Alienhead in the lid and the touchcontrols on.

Hope that clear it all out.

But... well done at tearing your laptop appart. At least you know the laptop from the inside now. Now... Go back and switch all of those cables on again.

 

this is for people who want to turn of the alien head and trackpad. I could care less what anyone thinks. I think in a few years notebooks will be same as desktops. take this that out etc. I have had more laptops then you could shake a stick at and have taken apart prob 6 7 of them. and I can tell anyone who wants to its not a big deal.

 

No need to get upset and I'm very happy you are sharing your knowledge with all of us.

But you have to consider the following: 1- Not everyone has had so many notebooks as you did and have no experience tearing them appart; 2- This solution is, simply put (and no offense meant), pointless; 3- Almost everything you want to accomplish with your "solution" can be accomplished with a touch of TWO KEYS; 4- I could switch off my computer by smashing it agains the wall, but that would be a bit silly.

So, obviously no one is questioning your wisdom in opening computers, but next time maybe a quick check on the laptop manual might be helpful and avoid you having to open your laptop.

To finish, if you would rename your title to "Permanently switch off the light of the Alienhead (FOR EXPERT USERS)", that would have been probably better.

 

you got issues... maybe go outside and get some air...

a) you can't turn off the alien head or the trackpad with the alienfx or any other button.

b) it takes an iq of 20 to take apart a laptop.

c) I have stated more then once if you don't want to mess with your lights then this is not your thread homey.

d) "experts" suck...

 

No issues here. I'm sorry if I offended you, that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to point out that there was an easier way to work around your problem (appart from the alienhead, as I mentioned).

Again, sorry and thanks for sharing this with us.

 

no sweat man. its all good.

I do agree its a bit hardcore.

 

Well, Blubber, I'm with you on this one. I know that the light-pipe, keyboard, etc... can be turned off via the software. But the Alienhead on the lid can't, and to me that's a problem. So, I'm grateful for this guide, and will be using it once my machine comes. Thanks, man!

 

Get a room you two, he he

 

Alright, well I agree in terms of thinking this is just silly. Why get an M15x if you are going to sabotage the "Bling"? You know there are other options out there for notebooks with less "bling???"

But w/e. Paying extra for the "bling" then ruining it makes zero sense to me. Cool guide though, I'll say if you wanted to do this, its a good way of showing how.

 

You really think we payed all this money for LED lighting? There aren't other laptops out there with the same specs. There aren't 15.4" laptops with the 8800m GTX chip or illuminated keyboards. Other than the glowing Alienhead on the back, I think the design of the m15x is fantastic. But the "bling" - or lack thereof - was surely not a factor in purchasing. The laptop's size and capabilities were the deciding factors that made it worth buying even though I don't like the illuminated Alienhead. Personally, I don't think that AW should force the lighting options on anyone. They should all be able to be turned on, or OFF at the customer's discretion. That's all.

 

yea its the best spec i have found in a 15 and thats 90% of my decision.

just take it slow and dont force the lid off. if its sticking you prob missed a screw.

its def not a tut. but if anyone was thinking of doing anyways then these picks should help you out quite a bit. I did it blind and it took a while to figure out the mounting.

I took a wrong turn and took the whole lid apart to. took the lcd out etc. lol. but its just that one cord.

 

Been there, done that.. with some of my Dell laptops. It's not worth the risk guys. Why would you want to risk your warranty for the ability to turn off the alienhead glow? With my dell's it was always something worthwhile, like upgrading a 6800m to a 7800m GTX or something of that nature, but this? Wait until you've got a real reason to crack open that beautiful new laptop and risk injury.

Also keep in mind that AW has every right to deny you future upgrades if they discover you've been poking around inside which shouldn't be too hard considering you need to go through 2 labels underneath the battery.

I'm glad that we have some reverse engineering info to share on here but I really don't think this is worth it considering that 85% of it can be done via software.

 

Please be aware that performing this may void your warranty.

We are aware of the current AlienFX lighting options and are looking into making this an option.

Thank you!

 

Yes, PLEASE! Some of us would really appreciate the ability to turn off the Alienhead on the back of the screen, especially in the work environment. A patch for the FX software would be AWESOME! Thanks

 

Thank you so much for posting.

In my honest opinion, there are other options if people don't want the FX. Sager comes to mind, among others, but I'm not here to debate that.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to disable the rear alien head (on the back of the monitor)... is it distracting? because I fail to see how that could be distracting. maybe for others? who knows. the touch pad, I like having it lit up, tells me it's on. I use external mice on a regular basis, so I need it to show me when it's working and when it isn't.

I like how it's setup. though I would like some more options... I'll have to settle for this for now. the next big things I'd prefer to see AW get to are the BIOS (releasing a bios free from CPU downclocking and with a BIOS boot-password option), and Video Drivers... everything else, i'm not worried about.

 

yea I think you should do that and save people the time and effort. my guess is that this model has done quite well and a good number of sales is people that got the 15x as a workstation/game box. and need to take it to work or do work in public some times. like people that work in the game industry. I will have this laptop a maximum of 17 months. and it would be nice to see alienware provide us with another 15x like laptop that is high powered 15 inch and has a low profile in the bling dept.

 

i really dont think the light is that distracting at all. if anything you can just put a post it note over it.

 

lol...

there's the simple solution!

 

lol uh turn em off mabe?

 

you cant turn off the head on the lid using software.

yea my solution is simple and it doesnt void your warranty

 

hmm ok well if you really didnt want the lights why the &*@# did u buy an alienware? you could get the same computer without all the "bling" for a better price then what u paid. I mean seriously man

 

mmmmmm....

where exactly can I buy a 15inch, 7 pound laptop with an 8800m GTX GPU for a better price?

Seriously, people. Did you ACTUALLY spend all the money for the freakin' LED lighting?! Are you KIDDING me?! You could've gotten the same computer for a better price - same specs - same formfactor - same computer - but you spent more for LIGHTS?! REALLY?!

I mean, by your own logic, I should be asking you, "Why the &*@# did u spend more money and buy an alienware just for some freakin' lights?"

No. No one spent more for lights. No one buys Alienware for LIGHTS. I hope. Please tell me you didn't.


I bought Alienware because it is currently the ONLY 15.4" laptop with an 8800mGTX GPU onboard. I want an 8800m GTX. I don't want a 17", 11 pound laptop. I don't like the alienhead light. Period. I'm really glad you do. I'm not criticizing you for liking it. Some people have different taste.

I mean, seriously, man...

 

The m15x isnt even that bad of a price. I paid 2400 for my m15x which had specs that 17 inch versions would have been 3k or more. the bonus of a lighter laptop and longer battery life make it unique. You cant really buy a different laptop with the same specs to be honest. there arent too many 15.4 inch gaming laptops out there...

 

lol yea its like are people buying alieware cuz of the lights? id say thats like so noob its almost a crime.

If you have no idea what hardware your getting then you should not get this laptop. or if you don't need a 8800m gtx.

RTFM peopel you cant turn off some of the lights which is why there is a million posts on turning off the lights.

I dare someone to post a link to a 15 notebook that can out spec the m15x. workstation, game system anything. its not there.

if you want lights and have no idea what hardware you need go get some Christmas lights and tape them to a acer...

 

HA!!

that's funny stuff. He's here all week!

 

I wanted a 8800m GTX in a 15inch laptop so hence the m15x. The lighting is just a bonus

 

The problem is that lots of people that buy the M15x are more "light orientated". They like the package and are not completely aware of the interior. They like the surface... People that don't understand much about computers will always be amazed by all the lights. More lights... better computer.

Appart from that... I do think the lights add an extra touch and are quite cool. But... if I want to turn them off, I have all the right to do so. I bought the M15x for the sole reason of the GPU and would have to think throughly if the new Clevo was already out. I don't want to be mocked and made fun of at work (as I already did) because the thing just looks like a space ship.

It's just a matter of good sense really... sometimes it's not appropriate, sometimes it is. It's also a matter of making it a versatile computer. It's mainly for gamers, but non-professional gamers might be interested in it as well (like myself) and not have to show off all those lights all the time.

More... it saves energy and that's good for the world!

 

professional gamers don't use laptops....end of!

 

easy way to "de-bling" your area-51....buy an XPS

 

the m1730 has quite a bit of lights too.

@Packer
i was just offering a temporary solution. i do like the lights and i never turn them off.

 

You know...the post-it note..isn't a bad idea, exiled. But, it's more professional to turn off the light. lol

 

Well Chris Pirillo has his logo on the back of his Mac Book Pro so you can't see the Apple logo lit up, course that's not why it's there.