Option or script to turn off auto keyboard illumination on Swift 3SF314-512

Mike2424

Hi,

I have Swift 3 laptop (model SF314-512). This laptop comes with backlit keyboard. The problem is that each time I start up my laptop the keyboard illumination is on and I have to press Fn+F8 key combination to turn off keyboard lights.

BIOS only allows to enable or disable keyboard lights timeout. I also have not found any option to permanently disable keyboard lights.

Anyone knows how can I change this so that the keyboard lights will be off by default?

I was thinking about writing a script that Windows will execute during boot and send Fn+F8 keypress command to switch off the lights but I could not find a way to do that. Anyone knows how can I do that? Or is there any keyboard API command that I could use to write such script?

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/706878/option-or-script-to-turn-off-auto-keyboard-illumination-on-swift-3

The SF314-512 keyboard backlight can only be adjusted in bios to either Enabled which the backlight is left for the default light time setting or if set to Disabled the backlight is continually On. Another and more complicated way is to do this (see caption below of C which is the keyboard cable) and find out where the "Backlight Keyboard Power Light Cables" are and disconnect them, which I don't recommend that you do unless you are computer/electronically savvy so that you can disconnect those power keyboard cables from the keyboard so that no keyboard backlight will be turned on. Good luck and hope this helps you out.

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Mike2424

This isn't really a solution! I don't want to permanently disconnect keyboard backlight!

I want keyboard backlight to be off by default and only turn it on (by pressing Fn+F8) whenever I need it (at night).

Whoever in ACER designed the current keyboard backlight for this laptop didn't really think this through… most of the time people don't need backlight to be on, they only need it when it's dark in the room!

Since I don't see any option to control default backlight status, I was thinking to write a windows script that will run at boot and that will switch the backlight to off but how can I do that? Or is there any app that Acer provides to control this setting?

Also, why the last keyboard backlight setting is not being preserved when the laptop starts up again?

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1279487#Comment_1279487

That is how this laptop is and nothing can change it unless you get right into the hardware of this laptop or disable the backlight alltogther., sorry. Good luck anyway.

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billsey

It looks like there's a script you can call to do that. The script uses 'xset' to set the proper environment variable, but I have no idea if it really works. :)

Mike2424

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1279555#Comment_1279555

This is a Linux script so won't work in Windows and I actually tried it in Linux but it does not work

Mike2424

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1279492#Comment_1279492

Terrible design, I image majority of people only want to turn on the keyboard lights when it's too dark to read it, why this laptop does not even remember last Fn+F8 setting?

billsey

The Fn-F8 setting is a Windows thing, so for instance doesn't do anything in the BIOS or with a different OS.