Acer Swift 3 - SF314-512 - keyboard backlit and bios setting

tenstin34
tenstin34 Member Posts: 4 New User
in Swift and Spin Series

Hi Acer team!

I have a question related to the following Acer Swift 3 laptop: SF314-512

This model comes with backlit keyboard. When you turn on the laptop the keyboard is ON by default (you can be disable temporarily using the Fn + F11 shortcut, the setting does not persist after a reboot, it always starts with backlit on).

Keyboard illumination is useful in dark rooms but in most of the situations users do not need keyboard lights to be on when typing, and with the silver keyboard and lights on it is difficult to read keyboard keys in light room due to the low contrast between letters and silver colour of keys.

In the BIOS there is an option to control the keyboard backlit but it only has 2 options:

  • you can set the backlit to be On all the time
  • or you can set this option to backlit timeout, so after some time it will turn off but as soon as you start typing the keyboard turns back on automatically

Is it possible to modify this BIOS so that it starts with backlit OFF by default? Or add the BIOS option to turn off backlit? or so that it does remember last Fn + F11 shortcut status?

Would you be so kind to look into this and try to modify this BIOS?

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,527 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/711516/acer-swift-3-sf314-512-keyboard-backlit-and-bios-setting

    Hi, I don't think Acer will/can customize BIOS, I for instance, cannot work without KB backlight with a Swift SFX14 but that has a black KB, I suggest getting a good quality black KB skin to improve key contrast.

  • tenstin34
    tenstin34 Member Posts: 4 New User
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1293922#Comment_1293922

    that's not helpful at all, I did not but a laptop with silver keyboard to buy some ugly black KB skin for it, what I need is to have a functioning laptop with properly working keyboard backlit, it should start with keyboard lights off by default or remember the last setting,

    Acer did a really terrible job here, and did not really think the keyboard backlit functionality at all for this model

    anyone knows how to fix this problem?

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,527 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1294131#Comment_1294131

    According to your first post, your issue is with the low keyboard contrast, and you chose a white keyboard with light colored keys and the backlite option when you bought the laptop. Try a KB skin or change the KB for a black one:

    New ACER Swift 3 SF314-512 SF314-512T SF314-71 N21H3 N21C2 Keyboard US Backlit | eBay

  • tenstin34
    tenstin34 Member Posts: 4 New User
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1294141#Comment_1294141

    Please stop with this nonsense that pretends that it's the customer's fault that he chose the model with the white keyboard and that now the customer should buy Keyboard skin or change the keyboard to black one. I want to have white keyboard WITH BACKLIT but I want it to be on only when I need it. It's the ACERs fault that designed laptop with light keyboard and no option to permanently set backlit to off by default. Most of us, customers only need keyboard backlit to be on during specific times, not to be on all the time. Engineers at ACER did not really think this through and now the customers needs to switch off keyboard backlit each time they boot this laptop by pressing Fn + F11 shortcut, that's nonsense!

    If you don't have anything to contribute to this discussion then don't participate (even if Acer , or 3rd party company hired by Acer, pays you to do PR for ACER on this "community" forum - Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 11,274 Trailblazer ).

    ACER PLEASE FIX THIS BY RELEASING a new BIOS that will finally allow users to set keyboard backlit to be off at boot!!!!

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    In answer to your question, no you can't fully disable the keyboard backlight in the BIOS, you only have the two options. Acer seems to believe that offering units with and without keyboard backlight handles the needs of users. History shows us they will not develop a different BIOS to disable the function. You can always request that, but you have to actually contact Acer to make the request. If enough people do a request then they will look at adding that functionality to future designs. We are all just other Acer users here, the only Acer employees who do any monitoring of the community are the moderators, and they limit themselves to monitoring posting guidelines and squashing spam posts. No one pays us to be here.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • tenstin34
    tenstin34 Member Posts: 4 New User
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1294391#Comment_1294391

    right, so you need to buy 2 Acer laptops, one that has keyboard backlit and one that does not. and then depending if it's day or night, you use one or the other,

    well in that case I prefer to buy just one laptop of a different brand , a brand that allows users to fully control backlit keyboard, it's definitely gonna be cheaper than buying 2 laptops and at least you will get a laptop from the manufacturer that cares about its clients. ACER and its customer support is a joke! what a terrible company!

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