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Area 51 vs Area 51 ALX - Motorized Door, Motherboard Differences?
I recently had my Area 51 ALX motherboard replaced (still under warranty). I noticed that it looks slightly different than my old one. The old board had green slots and no Alienhead/Glyphs, whereas the replacement does. I also noticed my BIOS POST screen no longer says Area 51 ALX, just Area 51. Are the boards different at all? They don't seem to be, other than that.
Also, were the non ALX Area 51's grey, or were they black as well? As far as I can tell, the ALX was black, anodized aluminum, and had a motorized CD drive door.
The reason I'm wondering is Dell seems to think mine isn't an ALX, and that might explain the board swap. My motorized door doesn't work, so I had them swap it as well, but it still doesn't work. I don't know where the motor or anything would be, but it seems to have the mechanisms and cables for it. Dell swore that none of them are motorized and mine isn't an ALX (pretty sure he had no idea).
Any ideas on how to get this door working?
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 02:00
I would say it is definitely an ALX. Were the regular ones even black? I've never even seen a grey one though...
The front (the floor is terrible, just moved here...this thing looks really out of place in this room, lol)
Normally, you just press the alienhead and it goes down, and then up, right? Mine just sort of falls down...I'm going to double check the MIO board connections. I'm pretty sure when I looked awhile ago, it was plugged in and had one labeled DOOR or something. I trust the tech that worked on it, I've dealt with him on a lot of stuff. Neither of us could figure it out.
morblore
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November 4th, 2012 02:00
Post some pictures of the inside of the doors. I can tell you then. The none ALX is painted. Sounds like from what you are saying is Dell says it is not ALX so they would not use an ALX door so replacing it would mean nothing. It needs the correct door. You can try sending Dell Chris_M your service tag so he can look into it for you.
You should have the paper work that came with the system. It will also say if it's ALX or not.
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 02:00
I don't know why it is not working. Plus the service tag for the system should tell Dell it is an ALX system. If they say it's not then I don't really know why.
The motor connects to the MIO board. If it has the motor and the right bezel and MIO then it should work.
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 02:00
You have the newer board. Your old board was the verson 1 and the one they replaced it with is the version 2. Only thing changed is the color and Alienware branding. Both boards are used on both ALX and non-ALX systems.
The green board you had was the exact same board that Dell used on the XPS 730x. They sold all Area 51's with that board for about a year before going with the Alienware branded board.
If yours is black and anodized then it's the ALX and should have the motorized door. All ALX have the motorized door.
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 02:00
That's what I figured. Why wouldn't it work? The whole front panel was replaced and still, nothing. The power to the USB is turned on in the BIOS (forgot the exact setting). I rarely use the drives so it's not huge but I'd still like it to work. :D
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 03:00
Yeah, no spray paint. I looked at the connections and doorsw_l and doorsw_r are plugged in right..
I think they did give me the right front bezel. (forgot to mention the person in mentioning from Dell is not who put in the order, but the person who followed up with me)
Also looks like the door is getting power, as the comp is off but the alienhead is lit up. Hmmm...
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 03:00
The non ALX came in black too. Open your door and look at the corner. If it's not ALX you can see where they spray painted it.
Look at this picture and you can see what I mean.
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 04:00
ODD_SW1 is plugged in as well. Weird. Maybe the MIO is bad? Everything else is fine...
Is there any diagrams for these Mio cards?
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 04:00
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 07:00
That is weird. I would keep on Dell about it.
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 10:00
Weird...what does yours say? I got the tool from the driver site.
I'd like someone from Dell to help me out on here because the phone support people have been clueless 9 times out of 10.
morblore
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November 4th, 2012 15:00
You have no choice but to call Dell. They are the ones that will need to send the part/parts so you must go through them in the end.
As far as being an ALX in the end you should really know what you bought. You should remember what you payed for, have the bill and the service tag will also confim the model. It is under warranty so please just call Dell and let them figure it all out. It is to much to try and do in chat. There are many parts that make it all work and when you are not even sure if it's an ALX it makes it that much harder.
P.S. You are missing a plastic side panel in your picture.
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 15:00
Are you the original owner or did you buy it used and have the warranty transferredd over to you? Is it a system someone made form parts or did you buy it new from Dell?
The reason I ask is you do not know what you bought.You are saying Dell says it is not an ALX yet they would know, 100%, if it is or not by the service tag. Then there is the fact that you just joined the forums 2 months ago but you own a system that has not been sold for about a year. And now when I look at your picture I notice it is missing a panel that I bet you didn't even know was not there. You do not know if the motorized door ever worked. You never said " oh it was working and just stopped " but instead you are asking how it is supposed to function. Did you have the system for all this time and never notice the door didn't work until now?
The ALX was a $2,000.00 dollar option yet you do not know if you have it or not? I think most people would remember paying that much for something extra.
To be blunt it sounds fishy. Did you buy it from a 3rd party? It' cool if you did or didn't but ether way it helps me understand a lot better.
phrequencyviii
28 Posts
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November 4th, 2012 16:00
I think the camera flash is making it look like it's missing...
The reason I was suddenly questioning whether it was an ALX or not is all due to the follow up Dell guy telling me it wasn't an ALX, and that none of them had a motorized door. Another reason I don't want to call them...lol.
I don't get why the diag tool says the motor isn't installed, and that it's an Aurora MIO...it definitely has an ODD cable and slot...I'll probably end up just calling them anyways. I've had this system for a while, I just never bothered...it was just something I decided to have them try and fix when the board got bricked. It's a new front panel...everything is plugged in....everything else works...weird.
morblore
2.4K Posts
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November 4th, 2012 16:00
I'm not trying to be a jerk. I am just trying to understand how you could not know what you bought and now I know, that's all
In your picture there should be a plastic panel that is about an inch think on the side just below the vents. It will have two stickers on it with patent numbers. Yours is missing.
It looks like this:
Yours in the pic you posted