Area-51 R1 ALX, MIO board dead?

will not boot sounds like new motherboard bios is rejecting MIO.  cass ole knows the most on this model.  

MIO is seen as a USB2.0 device as far as new motherboard is concerned.  

there are reset jumpers on the MIO you can try to soft reset the MIO.

I transplanted a Dell XPS 435T motherboard in R1 case a long while ago and had no issue.  I bought an empty case without original motherboard (seller sold it already).   my experience is if everything works, a different X58 board boots without issue.

It won’t even post. It’s a millisecond and then off again. 
I have tried the reset jumper which hasn’t made a difference. 
I have no lights on the board apart from the very quick flash when attempting to power up. 
also no case lights from the battery pack, although batteries may be dead as I need to check them. 

if the original AA batteries still inside probably rusted.  good idea to extract those corroded batteries.  they only control theater light which has nothing to do with system boot or MIO.

cass mentioned before installing Windows, first disconnect MIO USB 2.0 cable from new motherboard.   if you do not, it would brick the MIO.  whether a bricked MIO can be rescued by jumper reset, I do not know.

your issue is when MIO has power, it stops motherboard POST.  when there is no power to MIO, POST is passed.

do you have a USB 2.0 connected between MIO and new motherboard?  if yes (I presume yes), disconnect it and test the new motherboard POST.  a working MIO powered by 10 pin without communication to motherboard is still able to control light and vent even when it is disconnected from motherboard.  it would use its default settings.  cass may say something more wise when he comes on.

Hi, you bought an empty case & installed a newer aftermarket mthrbrd, or did u go back to the original X58 Alienboard? 

Did you install an aftermarket AIO cooler that's powered through the mthrbrd, or back to the original Alien kooler powered through the top left powerboard?

The MIO board is designed to relay power up to the top left powerboard, where the Alien kooler & radiator fan grab their power from, so for those trying to run their system withotu an MIO plugged in at all & to avoid a CPU overheating scenario they'd make sure the AIO &/or rad-fan have an alternate power source like mthrbrd fan headers. Otherwise from a cool start ~60sec or less to do tests before a forced CPU thermal shutoff

Have u contacted the prior owner to help develop a lead or appraisal of the past history

You said you reseated all cables, but if it were me, I'd disconnect ALL cables from MIO & then try to start the system with JUST the main 10pin power connected from PSU. If system starts up? Chances are MIO is-was good & issue is elsewhere. But if it still doesn't start up, remove the holding screw & lift MIO out of the case & inspect the board w/a magnifying glass (& check the case floor for any signs of electronic debris like a diode-transistor-cap that may've come off), compare yours to photo

If system does start up w/ just 10pin power connected, a likely sign the PSU was in short-circuit protection mode & some other item plugged into MIO board has an issue. You might then start by plugging in just the USB cable & see if it still works. If so, power down & start plugging in a few other things at a time (LED lights for instance), keep at it till you've plugged something in that causes the PSU not to start, narrow it down & ID what connection is causing the issue & go from there to fix-replace it etc

Last, if PSU refused to start up w/ just the 10pin power connected to MIO, & a visual inspection of the board doesn't reveal obvious signs of say a clearly bad missing or burnt-up component (likely) then I'd try to find a replacement MIO or even just a spare while u still can

ALX versions of the MIO board are now all but extinct out in the wild & would be quite difficult to find & replace, but the part #'s are FWKNT (V1.01) CR1KN (V1.01) 604GC (V2).

If no luck there, u could try a cheaper non-ALX variety in the meantime til u do source one, like M5VF8 FMDKG FDNW2

If after delivery, a replacement MIO board (plugged in w/ just 10pin power as the 1st test) does NOT solve this, you'd then suspect the PSU has an internal fault or the case harness 10pin cable-connector-wire etc is damaged in some way. So report back what u found out

thank you for your replies.

It’s an empty case and I’ve put in a new motherboard.  

CPU cooler is taking power from motherboard. Nothing connected in the Alienware power board up top. 

Before reseating all mio cables I did try them with taking one out at a time with no success. 

I have not tried booting the machine with the usb on the mother board disconnected so that will be my next step. 

Yeah, unplug it all. Last time I bought a spare 604GC I had a testing PSU & harness out on a table; when PSU is plugged in but is off, & the MIO is by itself w/ just 10pin power connected the ORG PWR LED tell-tale will be lit up noting it has 5volts Standby power (& a ground) that stays lit after the PSU turns on. When mine passed that small test I boxed it & consider it a good spare. If no ORG LED is on per scenarios above & if the PSU trips off when nothing but 10pin power is attached, then

*remove board & clean or air-dust & re-try

*inspect for signs of component failure etc

*check that none of the many micro-copper traces are cut or damaged

*unscrew x4 screws, remove from its tray & check the underside of board

*buy temporary board to test against

*feel free to load up a good photo of yours & I'll check it for clues 

OP said ALX but this could also be generic seller listing description.

I once asked Cass how to tell difference.  I recall the ALX has anodized black side panel, so if the inside of side panel is shiny metal, it is not ALX.  If the inside is all painted black, it is probably ALX.

the color difference btn ALX which is matte vs non ALX which is shiny black could be subtle if not looked at side by side.

Some originally non-ALX models could also have been refurbished to have the ALX motorized front door.

ALX MIO

sellers like to say it is ALX to increase the perceived value.  ALX is like Louis Vuitton with a luxury glamor.

whether one prefers the matte vs shiny black, that is quite subjective.

in terms of replacement parts, the ALX side panel was on sale at a lower price than non-ALX.  go figure. 

‎Is this machine area-51 ALX or not | DELL Technologies

The dozens of ALX models I've seen all had the black accent XDJ4C V2 motherboard, & non-ALX all got the purple-lime J560M V1

As noted they came w/ anodized aluminum matte-satin Space Black exterior panels (& on production models***) the interior of both side panels are also in full black. Non-ALX will have raw silver aluminum inners

Anodized Space Black is a true monochrome black, while Cosmic Black is a painted semi-gloss dark purple w/ metallic flake (+ unpainted inner doors)

If u go back & watch late 2009 early 2010 online reviews or vids, it appears a (or some) pre-production ALX models made the review circuit w/ a J560M + plain aluminum interior panels, & that was revised at some point. A seller who had the standard shiny Cosmic Black model recently pointed to those early reviews & cosmetics, & was quite perturbed his wasn't an ALX model

15years ago to the day some kid posted a video on uTube called Area 51 ALX v Area 51, where he did a side-by-side price comparison captured direct from that day's sales page. I set that video on mute (teen commentary & opinions are worthless) & crunched the numbers ... all options & hardware being equal, ALX mathed-out as a $300 premium over the standard Cosmic Black ... where cosmetics aside they're the same desktop, but adjusted for inflation the front panel motor was a $440 option in today's dollars, if u can imagine

Many an unsuspecting buyer & seller have pushed that Alienhead & had nothing cool happen ... ALX MIO boards have the motor connector (& board electronics) while the other MIO types are missing the header & electronics needed

while cass is at it, 

XDJ4C V2 motherboard has the alien graphics

J560M V1 motherboard (also used in XPS 730X with a different bios)

for someone who wants to rebuild using stock mobo, the V1 motherboard can be sourced using XPS 730X search keyword.

one user said he was successful to force flash Alienware BIOS onto XPS 730X V1 motherboard.

in terms of performance, no difference demonstrated in XPS 730X between V1 and V2 board.  If there is any difference, it is probably very subtle in R1.

cosmetically, the V2 board may appear "nicer".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgX4c8pmHPI

motorized front panel, V2 motherboard.  not sure whether it is silver or matte black.

here is confirmation of chassis color from 2010 Dell configuration

non-ALX area 51

ALX area 51

non-ALX,

Starting Price $1,999

ALX

Starting Price $3,999

A bit of a tangent, but that is interesting and something I was not aware of. 
my original Area 51 was an alx as was fully blacked out and had the crossfire gpu. 

this is my latest one, in silver. 

OP how many R1 do you have now?  these are gargantuan chassis.  I am interested in silver (lunar shadow).  are the top vent in silver or black?  a silver one on eBay seems to show black vent (same color as front IO).

here is example of real ALX

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226384981433?

@redxps630​ this is my second. Sold my original Alx a few years ago. 
this silver one does have black vents on top. The picture makes the case darker than it is