Support request for Alienware m18 R2 keyboard lighting (USB 0d62:aab1)

[Khalid1G]

Hello,
I’m using an Alienware m18 R2, and AWCC controls most of the lights correctly, but it does not manage the keyboard lighting.
My keyboard shows up as USB device 0d62:aab1.

Could you please add support for this device?
Thank you in advance for your help!

[tr1xem]

Hey im working on bringing light support to alienware so in near future it would be there

[tr1xem]

Hey i just completed Just need some testing,
can u send me output of lsusb -v and send me a dm on discord @ tr1x_em

[StormyCoder]

I'm not a Discord user, but I'm willing to help out.

M18 R2 with Cherry MX keyboard:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0d62:bab1 Darfon Electronics Corp. Keyboard
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Negotiated speed: Full Speed (12Mbps)
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 [unknown]
bDeviceSubClass 0 [unknown]
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x0d62 Darfon Electronics Corp.
idProduct 0xbab1 Keyboard
bcdDevice 33.16
iManufacturer 1 DELL Technologies
iProduct 2 Keyboard
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0022
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 1 Boot Interface Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 1 Keyboard
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.10
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 (null)
wDescriptorLength 154
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 1

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 187c:0551 Alienware Corporation AW-ELC
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Negotiated speed: Full Speed (12Mbps)
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.10
bDeviceClass 0 [unknown]
bDeviceSubClass 0 [unknown]
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x187c Alienware Corporation
idProduct 0x0551 AW-ELC
bcdDevice 2.00
iManufacturer 1 Alienware
iProduct 2 AW-ELC
iSerial 3 00.01
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0029
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xe0
Self Powered
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 0mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 0 [unknown]
bInterfaceProtocol 0
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.11
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 (null)
wDescriptorLength 25
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0021 1x 33 bytes
bInterval 10
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x01 EP 1 OUT
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0021 1x 33 bytes
bInterval 100

[tr1xem]

@StormyCoder perfect Darfon is the device we need to test

I'm not a Discord user, but I'm willing to help out.

Ahh Testing is a bit complex task
But We could try

Do this:

• If ur on arch linux install hidapi and libusb if and debian based then libhidapi-dev and libusb-dev with apt
• Then install wireshark with aptoraur manager(wireshark-qt` on arch linux)
• Then Clone and build alienfx using

git clone https://github.com/tr1xem/alienfx-linux
mkdir build/
cd build/
cmake ..
make

Then u will have 2 apps example_app and alienfx_cli

• Open wireshark with sudo -E wireshark and you will see some interface named like usbcap(install usbcap if u dont see it) and press ctrl key and select them all
• Start recording inputs [you can use youtube to seee how to capture usb packets in linux using wireshark]
• Now u should be in alienfx-linux/build folder where there are 2 apps run example_app with sudo and after its successfully ran stop the wireshark and save the pcapng file and send it to me.

[StormyCoder]

Ran into error when building:

/alienfx-linux-main/AlienFX-SDK/src/libusb_helper.cpp:111:12: error: ‘hid_send_output_report’ was not declared in this scope; did you mean ‘hid_send_feature_report’?
111 | return hid_send_output_report(dev, buffer, length);

[tr1xem]

@StormyCoder hmm are u in debian based distro?

I did push fix
Pull new version using

cd alienfx-linux
git restore .
git pull

Then rebuild

cd build/
cmake ..
make

Fix any make error using gpt it should work however

[StormyCoder]

Used GitHub Copilot to fix "libusb_helper.cpp" & then the build process completed successfully. Here is the Copilot explanation:

"The compile error 'hid_send_output_report was not declared in this scope' occurs because hid_send_output_report is not part of the standard hidapi public API on many distributions; the correct public function to send an output report is hid_write (which sends reports including the report ID as the first byte). To fix the error, replace calls to hid_send_output_report with hid_write (and keep the return type int to match the header)."

Revised "libusb_helper.cpp" attached, along with the usb bus 1 (usbmon1) pcap file (remove the ".log" extension). Hope this helps, thanks for your efforts!

Copilot revised - libusb_helper.cpp

usbmon1.pcapng.log

[tr1xem]

Used GitHub Copilot to fix "libusb_helper.cpp" & then the build process completed successfully. Here is the Copilot explanation:

"The compile error 'hid_send_output_report was not declared in this scope' occurs because hid_send_output_report is not part of the standard hidapi public API on many distributions; the correct public function to send an output report is hid_write (which sends reports including the report ID as the first byte). To fix the error, replace calls to hid_send_output_report with hid_write (and keep the return type int to match the header)."

Dont know about it,works for me ur fix gives me error

usbmon1.pcapng.log

Alright i pushed a fix,pull and rebuild it
Run example_app capture packets and console output
Also please send the console output

https://trix.is-a.dev/tutorials/usb-capture/

Here is the guide if u need how to capture packets

[StormyCoder]

Error still occurs without the Copilot fix (not my fix 🙂). You're Arch, I'm Ubuntu/Debian - that might explain the differences.

I'm already configured with the settings noted at https://trix.is-a.dev/tutorials/usb-capture, so hopefully the capture is done correctly. Attached is a new pcap for the usbmon1 interface, plus the "example_app" console messages.

usbmon1-updated.pcapng.log

example_app-console.txt

[tr1xem]

@StormyCoder The app is not updated

When i say update the app u have to do

cd alienfx-sdk/
git restore .
git pull

and then apply ur fix

As from log i can see ur still on old version

2025-12-29 02:17:11.869 ( 0.013s) [ 76ACA780] AlienFX_SDK.cpp:251 INFO| Probing device VID: 0x187c, PID: 0x0551, Version: 4, Length: 34, Description: Alienware AW-ELC
2025-12-29 02:17:11.991 ( 0.135s) [ 76ACA780] AlienFX_SDK.cpp:251 INFO| Probing device VID: 0x0d62, PID: 0xbab1, Version: 5, Length: 65, Description: DELL Technologies Keyboard

See length is 34 and 65 it should be 33,64

alienfx.zip

First try if u can run app from this zip or not
If yes then u dont need to do any of the other thing
just run example_app
and record packets and console output as normal

[StormyCoder]

I intentionally used the previous build of "example_app" because it produced substantial data, as opposed to the latest build that only produced the following:

2025-12-29 03:00:23.404 ( 0.003s) [ 86E95780] AlienFX_SDK.cpp:982 INFO| Mappings constructor: Initialized libusb
2025-12-29 03:00:23.404 ( 0.003s) [ 86E95780] AlienFX_SDK.cpp:1173 INFO| Load mappings
2025-12-29 03:00:23.414 ( 0.013s) [ 86E95780] main.cpp:14 INFO| 0 device(s) detected.
2025-12-29 03:00:23.414 ( 0.013s) [ 86E95780] AlienFX_SDK.cpp:994 INFO| Mappings destructor: Free libusb

Attached is the latest pcap, along with the console log from your attached version of "example_app".

latest_usbmon1.pcapng.log

yourbuild_example_app-console.txt

[tr1xem]

Okay never mind
From commit tr1xem/alienfx-linux@55fabaf we compile libs statically so now i would compile and send u the program to test.

AlienFX.zip

Try this

[tr1xem]

Can u open this issue under same name in https://github.com/tr1xem/alienfx-linux repo?

send output of the latest one there