Asus G51J backlit keyboard

Hi,

How does the Asus G51J backlit keyboard works? How do i turn it on?

When i switch off all the lights in the room, the backlit keyboard did not turn on automatically. Did i receive a defective product?

 

FN+ F3 or F4 toggles the backlit keyboard on the G51J. If this does not work it could be a loose connection or a bad keyboard.

 

there is no light sensor to turn it on (if i'm reading your question correctly), only the function keys as justin said.

 

I am having the same problem. I turned the lights off and i hit FN F3/F4
No lights. Does anything else control this?

 

Not sure if you have done a clean install or something but believe you have to install the corresponding drivers for these functions to work.

 

i did a clean install and installed all the ATK drivers and such.

However when i hit the fn + F4 I dont see any little graphic in the middle of the screen like i do when i use the other hot keys

Dont want to RMA if i dont have to

 

Strange do any of the other function keys show up on the screen like volume up down etc. Like fn - f11 f12 for volume?

 

you don't get a graphics in the middle of the screen for the FN+F3/F4, At least I don't, but the keys still light up

 

Interesting I do see the icons on the screen. This maybe has something to do with installing one driver but not the other or something. I followed one of the guides here to not have the bloatware but the necessary ones. Not really sure ...

 

Yea this stinks, All other function keys work.

THe best part about this is this is a replacement laptop because for my G50 that they couldnt repair. I had it 2 days

RMA once again.

 

lol don't RMA it..its just a driver issue. make sure you have ATK ACPI 1000 utility installed, the ATK Generic function utility installed, and the ATK OSD2 and ATK Hotkey are utilities installed.

 

Sorry to hear this. I would hope to try possibly reinstalling the drivers or something before having to return. My patience is like Cartman waiting for the wii though.

 

It's most likely a driver problem. I had the same issue with an old G51vx and it was a problem with ATK drivers and Nvidia drivers.

After reinstalling them correctly, it worked again. You can check if it is a hardware issue I think, if you enter BIOS on boot and try to up and down the brightness of the keyboard and screen. If it works, then the machine does work but under windows you may have a driver issue.

 

I installed all 4 ATK drivers that were listed on the ASUS website.

Still no go.

anyone know what diver versions (nvidia and ATK) should be used together?

This is so annoying, i even updated bios to 205

 

Do you also have the things installed that EIement posted above?

 

Version V7.0.0005 ASUS ATKOSD2 Utility for Win7
Version V1.00.0008 ATK Generic Function Service Utility for Win7
Version V1.0.0050 ATK Hotkey Utility for Win7
Version V1043.2.15.75 ATKACPI Driver

Did the above 4

 

What is ATK Media Utility for Win7 I see this under the G60vx whch i think has the same MB.

 

Does your add remove programs look the same as this in regards to asus? This is what I have and is working ...

 

Thanks, Ill check this out when i get home. from the looks of it it looks like the same versions im using, but i want to check the nvidia drivers.

i dont see Version V1043.2.15.75 ATKACPI Driver
installed though on yours.

 

the keyboard fn keys work out-of-the-box on xp, win7, and a 2.6.31+ (maybe earlier) linux. no additional software or drivers needed. it's more likely a bad connector/power if they don't turn on at all.

 

bumping myself here, as i've ran into the same thing.

there's nothing physically wrong with the lights, firing up the latest ubuntu 10.04 daily sets them at 2 brightness (same as before) and it's only a replacement mobo not system.

clean install of 7 and fn+f2/f3 do _not_ work. i'll see what i come up with.

hardware recognizes it, ^[[ for F3/4, ^@ for fn+F3/4, tbh, i have no idea.

 

So you just recently had your MB replaced?

 

yep. i have 4 bare os' ready to try out which driver it is that we need.

 

I did a clean install. here is what i have installed. Still no lights.
Not sure where or if you can find a list of drivers installed that dont show up in add/remove in WIndows 7.

 

also asus told me that this illuminated keyboard is an option.

In addition:
on the back the model says G51J and the MB version says G60J So it looks like i have a different MB??


here are the 2 emails they sent me

are they just stupid or could this be true?

 

I don't know what that ASUS rep is talking about...I was under the impression that all G51J's came with backlit keyboards. Yours is the first I've heard of that doesn't. I looked at the list of ATK drivers you have installed...and I have the same ones still installed on mine...only difference is that my keyboard is backlit and working. Sorry that this doesn't help any.

 

yeah, im soo angry. I know it was a replacement and I did get an upgrade. But am I wrog to be mad about this? I feel I should of gotten a replacement that had everything working. Not to mention when I got it one of the memory modules fell out during shipping and the second HDD waas never partitioned or formatted. Very frustrating, not sure who to call to rectify this now. I need some sort of supervisor to talk to.

 

swapped hdd's and restored everything, as well as the entire drivers disc. no dice. i know the lights work since asus-laptop (albeit not supporting in 2.6.30.7/2.6.31.9) sets the lights to one less than full brightness.

i'll try patching and recompiling with http://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/44491/ when i have time. hopefully then they will work in linux, which is a primary OS for me anyway.

i have a feeling the newest generation of mainboards has the keyboard sending a different ACPI signal than the one the drivers recognize, hence the lights working but not changing.

if anyone wants to help research what the original (working) value is and what our value is, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch


fn+f3/f4 are handled by ACPI,
root@radius:~# acpi_listen
hotkey ATKD 000000c5 00000020
hotkey ATKD 000000c4 00000013
hotkey ATKD 000000c5 00000021
hotkey ATKD 000000c4 00000014
hotkey ATKD 000000c5 00000022

(mashing fn+f4/f5) c5 -> lower, c4 -> higher brightness


screen brightness, for example,

root@radius:~# acpi_listen
video LCDD 00000087 00000000
hotkey ATKD 0000002e 00000000
video LCDD 00000086 00000000
hotkey ATKD 0000001f 00000000
video LCDD 00000087 00000000
hotkey ATKD 0000002e 00000001
video LCDD 00000086 00000000
hotkey ATKD 0000001f 00000001

 

The thing is my lights dont turn on at all.

 

the keys don't work for me either. i've restored from asus' discs, copied over my old xp install, nothing.

manual control works when building and loading the asus-laptop module from 2.6.32+ against your own kernel (for the linux folks). make sure you comment out line 236 (or whatever gcc complains about). control via keys is broken, but ACPI registers the events meaning the keys are indeed working.

 

lol your hardware knowledge > mine. Havent messed with linux since college.

I also thought there was a sensor that sensed the lighting in the room, and if it was dark the lights go on?

 

no sensor.

after getting the module working, i'll see if i can do something with the ACPI driver (starting with 32bit, no x64 yet).
nvidia control panel settings don't work either. i want to say it's software, but this is the exact same configuration i had and it worked before...

 

No, that's total crap. I have a G60J motherboard and my lights on it were working fine until yesterday.