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    AW 18 keyboard lighting won't turn on

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by pangers94, Jul 3, 2015.

  1. pangers94

    pangers94 Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I recently updated my laptop to windows 8.1 from windows 8 and did a teardown to repaste the GPU and CPU. After doing both, I just noticed that my backlight keyboard won't turn on anymore.

    I tried reinstalling AlienFX, running AlienFXtest, and tinkering with the AlienFX settings yet nothing seems to fix the problem.

    Interestingly, the light on the macro keyboard on the left seems to be working. Do you think I need a keyboard replacement? Or is this just a software problem? Any help would be appreciated!!

    Note:
    My AW18 is the first generation that was released in 2013. Also, I just noticed that my power button doesn't light up anymore when I turn on the laptop.
     
    pangers94, Jul 3, 2015
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  2. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    You've apparently got a ribbon cable that is not correctly seated. As long as it wasn't damaged, all you will need to do is reconnect it.
     
    Mr. Fox, Jul 4, 2015
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  3. pangers94

    pangers94 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the reply Mr. Fox! I actually followed your video instruction for the teardown and made sure every cable is attached properly. I don't know what happened but the backlight suddenly turns on by itself! Maybe there was a bug after updating to Windows 8.1.
     
    pangers94, Jul 5, 2015
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  4. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    Maybe so. Lord knows Windows 8.1 has its fair share of issues, and Windows OS X will likely be worse.

    Glad to hear it is working now.
     
    Mr. Fox, Jul 5, 2015
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