Alienware Alien Head LED Modification

So you're a proud owner of an Alienware M14x R2. You love the Laptop, use it for every other thing you feel like, play games, surf the web, watch movies. Everything else seems fine until you actually get to know that the Alien head in the newer versions of Alienware Laptops do not have the usual multicolor LED on the lid of the laptop. Well, this is not a problem at all, for a lot of people. But for everyone else who thinks that they can knock out a 'DIY' and get away with it most of the times, this thread is for them.

Disclaimer 1: If you're scared of disassembling your laptop and have a shaky hand even at basic electronic stuff, then you must use the close button on the top right corner of this page and act like you did not read anything and do not read any further. But in case you're a hardcore DIY, read on.

Disclaimer 2: Performing this mod will surely void your warranty in case anything goes wrong. Try to follow the tips mentioned in this mod section and you'll be able to revert back to stock fairly easily. The Alien head in our versions use the glow of the LCD backlight to light itself when the screen is on and the lid is open. During other times, its just dark. This thread describes the way of installing an RGB LED that can reflect the exact same color as the ALIENWARE logo below the LCD screen. So lets get started.

Problem Statement / Requirement:To be able to change the color of the stock white backlit embossed Alien head in our Laptop to any color as needed. Take a look at the things that you'll be needing for performing this mod. Do read the notes below to know why you need the things on the list.

Things you will need:
1. 2X Alienware M14X Led logo light board with cable (Quite difficult to procure, might need to search a lot) [1 Alienware Logo light board and 2 cables required] {Read Note 1 below}
2. Basic Soldering Kit {Read Note 2 below}
3. Any translucent milky white piece of Plastic (You can cut out the required amount of plastic from any used milk bottle) {Read Note 3 below}
4. Cellophane Tape {Read Note 4 below}
5. A hard stomach {Read Note 5 below}
6. Lots of Patience {Read Note 6 below}

Note:1. You could do away with just one LED logo board but the reason i have put 2X is because its not easy to find only cable for the specific light board. So you need to purchase 2 logo light boards with the cables attached. If you have any other alternatives for it, or you can extend the wire on your own, you can surely try it. I did not make any custom wiring because of the extremely low thickness of the wires. I recommend not to use the stock wire inside your laptop for various obvious reasons.2.For soldering the wires in the way mentioned later on in this thread.3. This is the second main thing that you'll need to get a perfect stock like LED glow from the Alienhead. Use multiple layers of the same if needed4. Cellophane tape will be used to stick the logo light board onto the aluminum foiled back of our laptop lid.5. Trust me, you'll need it.6. Same as above. Shown below is a picture of the Alienware Logo light LED board with its specific cable attached.



Setting up the Cables:Read the instructions in the figure below and follow the instructions Step wise.



Take your time while soldering the wires together. Its the most important part of the mod.You have to splice Cable a and b both in this way as shown in the figure below:



The end result of all that hardwork:


If anyone needs any help or gets stuck in between or does not understand something, give me a shout or PM me.Cheers!Abhi :hi2::thumbsup:
Edit: The Alien head LED shows various colours but does not seem to be able to show colours like orange, yellow, green. I'm not sure what happened to it suddenly or its the LED light board itself. < Ignore, Read Edit 1 below:

Edit 1: Today morning, i investigated the reason for the limited color variations and found out that it was just a bad contact in one of the 6 wires i had soldered earlier. I fixed it back again and now its back to as it should be in all its glory.
Go through the pictures below of how i installed the Logo LED light board in between the lid and the LCD screen. You might need to do a few iterations just to get it perfect. One of the reason being the thickness of the Logo LED board coming in way of the LCD screen and it creating a pressure spot on the LCD screen back panel. With minor tweaks you can fix this issue easily. Now for the pictures i promised earlier.



This is the white plastic bit that i cut out of a milk bottle, I used it because of its thin nature and excellent light dispersing abilities. Simple tool apt for the job. Behind the plastic is the cardboard that i cut out from the Alienware accesories box in our laptop package. Again, a simple thing to mask out the backlit from the LCD screen and to prevent the LED light to reach the LCD screen. Also notice in the background the cable that i joined to extend the existing length of cable from the Motherboard to the Logo LED.I needed only two LED to light up the Alien head, so i masked the other 4 LEDs with masking tape.



A view with the LED board on



A view with the board installed in its place aligned to get the maximum dispersed light from the other side of the Alien head. You might have to mask out the remaining board portion that is sticking out, with a thin cardboard paper. We need to do this because the board is creating a pressure spot right where it touches the LCD screen. Sticking a cardboard onto it will even out the pressure spot. The key here is to get the thing working with as less thickness as possible.



This photo below shows the spliced rejoined portion of the cable.



The bottom portion of the screen with the original Logo LED light board.




Couple of pictures to show the Alien head LED light in its full glory!




I hope many M14x R2 users would try the above method. After all the hardwork, you certainly will have a moment to appreciate yourself for this effective little DIY.Do let me know if I have helped you with this LED light Mod.

For people looking for the parts, try this website. Link given below. Dell Alienware M14x circuit boards » Dell Alienware M14x Laptop Repair Parts.

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Very nice job! I sure miss being able to change the color of my Alienhead.

+1

 

Thank you Luis. Why don't you give my DIY a try in that case?

 

+1 here as well, very nice tutorial.

 

Dude! I was looking for something like this for about a year or so for my M11X R1 and now I got a 14 R2 and this is awesome! nice job bro.
now the this is to have some time to DMS, you know what might be helpful? if you can add all the info and text with quality picture in one RAR or 7Z file for ppl to download everything at once, maybe a PDF? however this is some quality MOD and THANKS!

 

Thank you matury

 

there is no led at all on the rear lid of my R4? I got a refurb 1080p screen as already discussed here.

i noticed a few things

1) no light on the lid

2) no alienware led on front

i found out the led pcb was broken, so i put on my old one from the 900p panel and it worked but i scratched the damn screen in the process and its showing up now., i will have to go over the marks with a permanent black marker maybe.

what do you guys think is the reason for the alienware logo on the lid not working, if its just from the back light not sure what could be wrong, doesn't seem to be much there but don't want to damage this at the same time.

cheers.

 

Is it possible for you to please post some pictures? Can you confirm if the Lid does not use an extra LED to light up the alien head Logo? If it does, then it might be a faulty board underneath it.

 

Someone over at Alienware Arena posted a link to this thread, so I registered here just to say THANK YOU!

 

Thank you very much nE0n1nja.. It was me who posted it in Alienware Arena too so that a wider group of Alienware Laptop users can know about this mod.
Cheers
Abhi

 

That is sick, bro. Nice job.

 

Thank you