[Predator Helios PH16-71] PredatorSense no longer controlling RGB keyboard

ShostakovichBae · April 2023

I just got my new Predator Helios today. It ran perfectly at the beginning, but just a few hours into configuring my laptop and re-downloading applications, my keyboard suddenly stopped responding to the PredatorSense app, and is now stuck on the 'wave' effect no matter what I do. I can't even turn the backlight off for my keyboard, because the f11 and f12 keys seem to reset the pulsar lighting pattern instead of dim it. As you can imagine, a constant rainbow wave dancing across one's keyboard can be extremely distracting. Everything else works fine, though—I can still change my fan speed and switch profiles.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which was a royal pain in my a*** because it's not up to date on the acer website, and the setup.exe didn't work either so I had to manually reinstall a bunch of components and also update it on the xbox store. I've checked for updates on all my drivers. Even IT support couldn't figure out what was happening. Please help. I've wasted six hours of my life on this bull. At this point I assume I must've accidentally downloaded an update of some kind that's overriding my keyboard controls in the PredatorSense app, but I'm not tech savvy enough to go digging in my update logs.

Ideally a factory reset would be a last resort, only because I don't have a large enough backup drive, and I don't want to waste another four hours redownloading my applications. Plus there's no guarantee it'll even work if the problem was with a later Windows update.

alien3100bc · April 2023

Hey,

I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)

Cheers!

StevenGen · April 2023

[Predator Helios PH16-71] PredatorSense no longer controlling RGB keyboard

ShostakovichBae

Apr 19, 2023

I just got my new Predator Helios today. It ran perfectly at the beginning, but just a few hours into configuring my laptop and re-downloading applications, my keyboard suddenly stopped responding to the PredatorSense app, and is now stuck on the 'wave' effect no matter what I do. I can't even turn the backlight off for my keyboard, because the f11 and f12 keys seem to reset the pulsar lighting pattern instead of dim it. As you can imagine, a constant rainbow wave dancing across one's keyboard can be extremely distracting. Everything else works fine, though—I can still change my fan speed and switch profiles.
I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which was a royal pain in my a*** because it's not up to date on the acer website, and the setup.exe didn't work either so I had to manually reinstall a bunch of components and also update it on the xbox store. I've checked for updates on all my drivers. Even IT support couldn't figure out what was happening. Please help. I've wasted six hours of my life on this bull. At this point I assume I must've accidentally downloaded an update of some kind that's overriding my keyboard controls in the PredatorSense app, but I'm not tech savvy enough to go digging in my update logs.
Ideally a factory reset would be a last resort, only because I don't have a large enough backup drive, and I don't want to waste another four hours redownloading my applications. Plus there's no guarantee it'll even work if the problem was with a later Windows update.

If the Acer PH16-71 PS doesn’t install and there is a an app problem and with the setup.exe that doesn’t work, then leave the PS uninstalled and wait for a new update version from Acer which I’m sure that will come. The PH16-71 is a very new laptop so be patient and make sure that Win-11 OS has all its drivers and the NVidia and Intel drivers are up to date with all their drivers and with the Intel install the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant and do a scan and install all the latest Intel drivers for your laptop. Also, update to the latest bios update version: 1.03 as this update has 1. Optimize thermal setting 2. Optimize display setting 3. Update EC version 4. Enhance stability updates that could help your laptop software out with enhanced stability.

ShostakovichBae · April 2023

Thank you so much! It looks like the Intel driver updates were what did it. I'm still not sure exactly what went wrong, but at least the problem is fixed. I really appreciate your help.

ShostakovichBae · April 2023

Aargh, nevermind. It worked for a minute or so and now it's back to a wave. I'll just wait for updates to fix this. It's probably just a bug.

alien3100bc · April 2023

I have the exact same issue. I even updated bios to 1.05 to see if this will fix the issue but nothing.
For 4-5 days the backlight was working ok but then it stopped working after I updated the intel graphics with the newly released update.

alien3100bc · April 2023

Hey,

I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)

Cheers!

ShostakovichBae · May 2023

alien3100bc

Apr 29, 2023

Hey,
I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)
Cheers!

Thank you! I couldn't find the acer lighting service in my task manager since it never turned on to begin with, so I went into Services (local) to turn it on manually (along with resetting the other two services above it), which seemed to solve the issue.

My question is, how do I make it run automatically? In services it says the startup type is automatic, but it only turns on around every five times I boot up my laptop. Is there any way to prioritise the service so it starts and runs properly every time?

alien3100bc · May 2023

I turned it to manual and set the priority of the service to high and that did the trick. Later on I set it back to automatic again and didn't have an issue with it running when I boot so far.

Philip17 · May 2023

I’m also having this problem 😭 I just bought my helios 16 on april 23, and still having this problem

Whamy22 · May 2023

My problem with pulsar lighting is that it can't control the back light. all I did was delete those presets and create a new one in the scenario.

Maksymka · June 2023

[Predator Helios PH16-71] PredatorSense no longer controlling RGB keyboard

ShostakovichBae

Apr 19, 2023

I just got my new Predator Helios today. It ran perfectly at the beginning, but just a few hours into configuring my laptop and re-downloading applications, my keyboard suddenly stopped responding to the PredatorSense app, and is now stuck on the 'wave' effect no matter what I do. I can't even turn the backlight off for my keyboard, because the f11 and f12 keys seem to reset the pulsar lighting pattern instead of dim it. As you can imagine, a constant rainbow wave dancing across one's keyboard can be extremely distracting. Everything else works fine, though—I can still change my fan speed and switch profiles.
I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which was a royal pain in my a*** because it's not up to date on the acer website, and the setup.exe didn't work either so I had to manually reinstall a bunch of components and also update it on the xbox store. I've checked for updates on all my drivers. Even IT support couldn't figure out what was happening. Please help. I've wasted six hours of my life on this bull. At this point I assume I must've accidentally downloaded an update of some kind that's overriding my keyboard controls in the PredatorSense app, but I'm not tech savvy enough to go digging in my update logs.
Ideally a factory reset would be a last resort, only because I don't have a large enough backup drive, and I don't want to waste another four hours redownloading my applications. Plus there's no guarantee it'll even work if the problem was with a later Windows update.

Hi everyone!

I found the solution to this issue.
I had the same problem - cannot be changed the type of work and colour of the keyboard.
Try to update or reinstall the Visual C++ library (I used it from the Techpowerup web portal Latest Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One May 2023 Download

).

It resolved this issue for my case and I hope this info will help you also.

ujjj · June 2023

alien3100bc

Apr 29, 2023

Hey,
I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)
Cheers!

heartbeat fireball snow rgb presets don't work

ujjj · June 2023

[Predator Helios PH16-71] PredatorSense no longer controlling RGB keyboard

ShostakovichBae

Apr 19, 2023

I just got my new Predator Helios today. It ran perfectly at the beginning, but just a few hours into configuring my laptop and re-downloading applications, my keyboard suddenly stopped responding to the PredatorSense app, and is now stuck on the 'wave' effect no matter what I do. I can't even turn the backlight off for my keyboard, because the f11 and f12 keys seem to reset the pulsar lighting pattern instead of dim it. As you can imagine, a constant rainbow wave dancing across one's keyboard can be extremely distracting. Everything else works fine, though—I can still change my fan speed and switch profiles.
I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which was a royal pain in my a*** because it's not up to date on the acer website, and the setup.exe didn't work either so I had to manually reinstall a bunch of components and also update it on the xbox store. I've checked for updates on all my drivers. Even IT support couldn't figure out what was happening. Please help. I've wasted six hours of my life on this bull. At this point I assume I must've accidentally downloaded an update of some kind that's overriding my keyboard controls in the PredatorSense app, but I'm not tech savvy enough to go digging in my update logs.
Ideally a factory reset would be a last resort, only because I don't have a large enough backup drive, and I don't want to waste another four hours redownloading my applications. Plus there's no guarantee it'll even work if the problem was with a later Windows update.

heartbeat fireball snow rgb presets don't work any fix??

Varrtus · August 2023

alien3100bc

May 5, 2023

I turned it to manual and set the priority of the service to high and that did the trick. Later on I set it back to automatic again and didn't have an issue with it running when I boot so far.

How do you set the priority of the service to high?

user_NEO16 · August 2023

alien3100bc

Apr 29, 2023

Hey,
I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)
Cheers!

Going to Services and restarting AcerLightingService (which was stopped automatically) worked for me, RGB controls are working fine now. Thank you!

nawanit · September 2023

Restarting service is painful. You can also use openRGB 3rd party software which lets you to load the exisiting profiles for the light untill we have a fix for it.

nb91 · September 2023

alien3100bc

Thank you!!!

NoneLikeGio · November 2023

alien3100bc

Apr 29, 2023

Hey,
I think I found what is the issue.

Install the program normally as you did before (I would suggest to run a clean uninstal with a 3rd party software like Revo Uninstaller too). Then update it normally through the Microsoft store (won't affect the issue/fix).
Then, when the keyboard backlight goes off on Windows, go to Task Manager>Services. Find AcerLightingService and start it again. For some reason, windows keep killing this service.
Your keyboard backlight should run like a charm :)
Cheers!

hey, i know im late but i found a permanent fix for this, firstly i uninstalled the predator sensor app and re installed it from the acer official site, i made sure that its the latest version after that i went into task manager and i did see that the acer lighting service does not turn on, and you gotta do it manually and i don't want to go to task manager all the time to turn it on after boot so what i did was i put the acer lighting service in startup apps, so that way it will automatically startup on boot and i don't need to enter task manager every time, Now you may want to know how did i put the lighting service in startup apps i got some screenshots bellow all you gotta do is copy the acer lighting service and paste it in the startup folder and it should also auto enable itself.

tuanvn88 · December 2023

I struggled with this monster for 2 hours and found the cause.

Problem I encountered:

- Can't change keyboard backlight effect and stuck at wave effect.

How I fix it ?

Download Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One from here:

Latest Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One Nov 2023 Download

I'm sure PredatorSense will work.

Acer-Predator-Helios-16-PH16-71-LaptopTitan.vn-03.jpg

Jayant21 · January 2024

I AM ALSO HAVING THIS PROBLEM AND TRIED ALL THE ABOVE SOLUTIONS

PLEASE HELP

PEZU · January 2024

I am having the same problem, in recent weeks.

What helps correct the situation with RGB lighting the following steps:

Launch predator sense.
Go to Pulsar Lighting.
Change the intensity of lighting, even there is no response of the computer to the effort.
Restart the notebook, while still the Predator Sense is launched.
Then after the reboot, the RGB lighting works, as it should.

After few days, it stops working again. Then, I just repeat the above process, and it works.

I know, it is a weird behavior for top notch notebook costing almost 4 ths. EUR (Helios 18, top specs).

I hope, ACER developers will remedy this annoying bug, soon. Lets keep fingers crossed, that it happens soon. Thank you.