Backlight keyboard in Dell Studio / general question: has anyone booted Ubuntu on it?

Hi,

I plan to buy the Studio 17 (with onboard graphics, I'm no gamer...)

Regarding the backlight keyboard: is there a sensor that tells a driver in vista to turn on the light (e.g. is there a control panel for it, like on a mac...) or is this a pure-hardware solution? Can you configure that? I'd like to know because I intent to install Ubuntu on it as it suits my everyday work better and don't wanne lose the backlight... or is there a solution for that problem (don't the XPS laptops also have a backlight keyboard?)

Has anyone inserted the latest Ubuntu LiveCD into a studio laptop and checked what's working, what's not?

Would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I think that the sensor is on the keyboard and works without driver, but I can't confirm.

 

AFAIK the light can be toggled with Fn + Right Arrow Key.
So I believe it would work like that regardless of OS?

 

I think the backlight doesn't have any sensor at all, just press the Fn+Right Arrow and you get light!

 

if it work with function Key it mean it use the Driver so it is depending on OS and Driver that is for sure. If there are nto driver for Unbuntu you cant use it.

 

rafucho - this doesn't work for me on my Studio 17. Is the backlight tied to software or a driver? The manual doesn't seem to mention either. Thanks.

 

I was planning on dual booting mine (ubuntu) for development reasons, once I get it going I will let you know how it goes.

 

There is no light sensor on the Studio for the Keyboard. The backlight is dependent entirely on the drivers and the keyboard itself is toggled on off with FN key.

 

I wonder if all Studios are manufactured with the backlight installed, but only those who pay for the option actually have this enabled in the drivers?

 

I'm pretty sure that that feature is standard. I'm looking into getting a 17 for college sometime within the next month

Edit: Also, to a little more productive to this thread, I'm pretty certain that the backlight is driver controlled, and therefore will not initially work with linux systems, and will not until/unless dell is kindly enough to release those drivers or somebody has the patience to figure out how the controlers work.

 

I wonder if it is standard, though? The box I got from Staples makes no mention of a backlit keyboard, and I can't get it working. Is it possible they would make a separate set of Studios with just a standard keyboard? It would seem to make financial sense to mimimize the base variations.

 

So, after reading all these posts here on the forum I tried to order a Studio 17 today. Well, yes: I tried. I called the order-hotline for SMEs (small & medium enterprises) and the sales rep told me that the whole studio line is *only* being sold to "home & home office" customers. She simply would not sell me a Studio 17 (in germany) I just couldn't believe my ears.

She recommended a Vostro 1710, which might not look as nice, but my preferred configuration (17" WUXGA, > 200GB HDD, 3GB Ram) was more than 20% cheaper and included a NVIDIA 256MB graphics card (my Studio 1710 configuration just had the onboard Intel X3100).

So for me, no backlight keyboard, but a dedicated graphics, XP drivers (Yeah!) and 20% cheaper.

I'll wait & see.

 

Received my Studio 17 a couple of days ago. I can confirm the backlit keyboard works under Ubuntu.

The keyboard can go to full brightness, low brightness and then back to off with the fade between each mode.

You can even turn it on and off before booting into Vista/Ubuntu.

 

According to Dell, the Quick Set options for the back-lit keyboard should be grayed out if your laptop doesn't have one. All of my options are available (dim, bright, etc.), but I still can't get the thing to work. I press Fn + the right arrow, and the board stays dark. Anyone else have this problem?

 

I looked into that, and you're correct, it generally is a better deal as long as you're not concerned about a shiny notebook. The upgrading the inspiron 17 in to comparable specs is a good idea too, especially with the current 30% off you can get for spending $1,300. A 2.4 processor, 3 Gb of Ram, 8600 GT (i believe) and a decent HDD will come to like $950 or so after the discount.

Also, Kudos to the backlighting in Ubuntu. Guess I was wrong.
The reason i decided on the Studio was a 6 months no interest deal, which is what i preferred, as shelling out $200 more dollars over half a year was more favorable to paying $1000 at once .

I had to go with dell because my mom has a $150 gift card from a computer we bought from dell that she has to use by 2009. My biggest complaint would be no option to install with 64-bit Vista, and as such, no point in getting 4 Gb of ram. Upgrading after purchase is more money than im willing to pay microsoft. I'll be putting 64-bit Linux on though.

 

The keyboard lighting is not standard unless you bought it directly from Dell online. I'm pretty sure it doesn't come on Studios from Staples, I don't know about other stores.

 

This is true, and I'm not sure why they did this? The backlit keyboard seems to be one of the main selling points of the Studio.

 

Most laptops sold at big box stores are pretty standard and sold to people who haven't done much research and don't know too much about what they're buying. I was very surprised when Dell started selling laptops in stores. Dell had great success with their "don't build it untill it's sold" model.

 

I have this problem as well, why doesnt it work?

Thanks in advance!

 

I am using Ubuntu right now and the keyboard works perfectly fine.
I have a Studio 15 but that shouldn't matter.

 

I'm pretty sure that the function keys are not software based. I used to uninstall the driver for my toshiba before because it totally sucked and I was also able to manipulate the function keys during a fresh install of windows before.

 

Mine isn't working either, quite annoying...

 

Found this in the setup manual for my studio 15:
Keyboard/Backlit Keyboard (optional) — If you have purchased the optional backlit keyboard, the F6 key has the backlit keyboard icon on it. The optional backlit keyboard provides visibility in dark environments by illuminating all symbols on the keys.

My F6 key only has F6 on it - so no backlight
But note that the mobility center has backlight controls anyway.

 

I can confirm that the Fn + RT Arrow Key Backlit Keyboard on the Studio 1737 does indeed work with Win XP SP3. Before I returned the 1737 two months ago, I installed XP and assembled good drivers that worked great. I tested the Backlight, and it worked every time. One press...it got very bright. Second press...it got dim. Third press...it turned off. I don't recall having to install drivers or any software specifically for it either.

 

I used control f6 and it came back.