k70 lux New Owner, Have A Few Queries

I just received my K70 LUX Cherry Red and so far loving it, but only time will tell. In any case I have a few queries.

 

First one is about that TWO USB cables, I noticed that when I plug in one of them the keyboard is lit all right, but with one specific cable, so just to be sure I plugged in both of them, and now if I connect my mobile phone via the keyboard's USB port then it connects and even charges (its a Note 4). So my question is, will it be harmful if I keep connecting my mobile phone via the keyboard, for the keyboard I mean?

 

And secondly, I have both the cables plugged in the USB 3.0 ports of my motherboard, is that okay or should I plug them in USB 2.0 ports? I only have two USB 2.0 ports, so doing that will force me to change the mouse to USB 3.0 anyway.

 

Thanks in advance.

The second USB plug is a passthrough. You can plug your phone in the keyboard without any issues. And the keyboard's USB (not the passthorough) needs at least USB2.0 for proper functionality. I would keep the passthrough in USB3.0 assuming it has 8 pins (USB3.0) and not 4 (USB 2.0).

Thanks for your response mate. So basically I can keep both of them plugged in USB 3.0 ports then, that's nice.

 

I am having a different problem now actually. I have installed the Corsair Utility Engine, and now when I select Static Colour option the backlight is turned off! All other modes work with the backlight, Rain, Pulse and all, but not the Static Colour one! I just need one single colour and I just installed the app to turn the brightness down to be quite honest. At default, the lowest brightness setting was still too bright. Any comments are welcome.

 

PS: Before installing the CUE app, the static backlight was working absolutely fine.

 

Update: LOL! I just had to drag the mouse all over the on screen keyboard on the app and now it works.

 

I wish this keyboard had a separate button like old versions of K70 of a per key light option, you know W-A-S-D only or sorts.

 

And whenever I click on the check for software update option in the CUE app, it always throws an error message, WARNING or whatever!

CUE2 is in beta now and cannot check for updated for now. It will be fixed, don't worry. And about the keys: make a separate profile with only WASD and whatever else lighted up.

CUE2 is in beta now and cannot check for updated for now. It will be fixed, don't worry. And about the keys: make a separate profile with only WASD and whatever else lighted up.

Quick correction: CUE 2 is not beta anymore since 2.4 ;):

 

But it is true that they still haven't updated the update check for the 2.x versions.

Oh okay thanks guys. Understood. I will check manually from Corsair website whether there is an update available or not.

 

Got the profile thingy as well, really cumbersome method than having a hardware switch to turn on/off the desired keys for lighting but whatever.

 

Just one more thing to ask, that option in CUE, "Save Static Lightning and Performance to Device", if I use that it means the lighting profile settings and stuffs are stored on the keyboard itself? And if I uninstall CUE the custom settings will be maintained?

Saving the lighting on the keyboard means the saved lighting will stay on even without CUE, yes.

 

Create a new profile with WASD on and whatever else you desire and create a profile toggle on a useless button like Scroll Lock. That can toggle the lighting modes.

I have a really annoying problem. When I turn my system on in morning from a complete shut down state the keyboard just refuses to work with the system power on! The lightning effect is something like Wave or something but no keys can be pressed! I have to power off the system from main switch and then powering on the system again would connect the keyboard back! Why is this happening?

Just took a recording of the problem:

 

[ame]

[/ame]

 

Mind you, this doesn't happen all time, but once every five boot or something. The previous keyboard I was using, G15, it never once faced this problem, nor my mouse ever faced this, Roccat KPM, so I think its fairly easy to deduce that its the keyboard's problem. The things which make the keyboard to work back normally are like I mentioned, if I reboot (turn off and then back on) my system from the main switch (wall), or if I unplug the keyboard USBs and re-plug them, obviously neither are a solution.

Just took a recording of the problem:

 

Mind you, this doesn't happen all time, but once every five boot or something. The previous keyboard I was using, G15, it never once faced this problem, nor my mouse ever faced this, Roccat KPM, so I think its fairly easy to deduce that its the keyboard's problem. The things which make the keyboard to work back normally are like I mentioned, if I reboot (turn off and then back on) my system from the main switch (wall), or if I unplug the keyboard USBs and re-plug them, obviously neither are a solution.

 

Check your bios settings, make sure you are fully initializing USB support, and try turning fast boot off or to a slower fast boot.

Check your bios settings, make sure you are fully initializing USB support, and try turning fast boot off or to a slower fast boot.

 

Darn! I have changed nothing in BIOS except enabling XMP profile. Where do I check the USB settings in my BIOS? I don't posses idea about that. My board is a Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, running the latest version of BIOS.

 

However I am saying again, my mouse and old keyboard never gave me this problem, in the couple of months I am using this upgraded system.

Darn! I have changed nothing in BIOS except enabling XMP profile. Where do I check the USB settings in my BIOS? I don't posses idea about that. My board is a Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, running the latest version of BIOS.

 

However I am saying again, my mouse and old keyboard never gave me this problem, in the couple of months I am using this upgraded system.

 

well to be fair your old devices worked a little differently then your new hardware. I honestly couldnt tell you where your setting for the USB would be i havent seen ASUS new UEIF bios. Check on google you should be able to find out there.

 

Oh and there should be a switch in the back of the keyboard try using the setting to the left.

well to be fair your old devices worked a little differently then your new hardware. I honestly couldnt tell you where your setting for the USB would be i havent seen ASUS new UEIF bios. Check on google you should be able to find out there.

 

Oh and there should be a switch in the back of the keyboard try using the setting to the left.

 

OK. I will ask this on the Z170 topic once and then if the problem persists then I will have to return this. And about that switch, I have it set at the 1 position, which is 1000 Hz polling rate I am sure, so if I switch it to BIOS option, what the heck would it do?

 

Another thing, if I plug both the cable in the USB 2.0 port, will that be okay? I want the best performance from this. So if USB 2.0 doesn't allow that then I will pass.

 

PS: My problem sounds exactly like this: http://forum.corsair.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=155844

I checked my BIOS and this is the USB section. Looks fairly simple to me, these are the default settings, nothing touched here.

 

http://i.imgur.com/kwgwcO8.jpg

OK. I will ask this on the Z170 topic once and then if the problem persists then I will have to return this. And about that switch, I have it set at the 1 position, which is 1000 Hz polling rate I am sure, so if I switch it to BIOS option, what the heck would it do?

 

Another thing, if I plug both the cable in the USB 2.0 port, will that be okay? I want the best performance from this. So if USB 2.0 doesn't allow that then I will pass.

 

PS: My problem sounds exactly like this: http://forum.corsair.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=155844

 

You can plug either head in to which ever USB port you like. It should work jsut fine. And the BIOS mode is kind of like a compatibility switch.

All right. Spent last half an hour just watching stuffs. Now I can reproduce this problem 10/10 times. I don't speak English well so see whether you understand this or not.

 

I turn on my wall switch (where my Belkin surge protector is plugged in, call this step A), then I turn on the Belkin's switch itself (where my monitor, PSU are plugged in, call this step B), and finally I push the On/Off button on the cabinet (call this step C). Now this is the process how I turn my system on, A-B-C. Now if I stop after B, I mean if I don't turn the system on after turning on A and B, then exactly after 70 seconds (is this why K70 name? Kidding!) from static bright Red light the keyboard goes to that Demo mode. This could be reproduced as many times as I want. I don't know whether you know that or not, but at least I am happy that I have found a way to know this. Now about the problem itself, I can't say really whether I can be able to use this or not, quite honestly that situation happens for my case a lot of time, when I just have the surge protector turned on only, not the system, because I got engaged in some other activity, whatever. If you wish a video demonstration it will be easy for me to do. I re-flashed the firmware once too just to make sure whether the previous flashing was corrupted or incomplete or whatever.

There are two different areas where this might be going wrong. The original suggestion was to check your BIOS 'fast boot' options. Hit F7 from the E-Z BIOS, then go all the way to the right to the BOOT menu. Right at the top there will be some options for Fast Boot and which devices you want the BIOS to load at start up. You need it to be set to load the USB keyboard, at the very least. You can also disable the whole thing which will load all drivers.

 

Another possibility is the Windows 10 'Fast Start-Up' option. You access this from the Control Panel --> Hardware --> Power --> Change what the power button does menu option. When enabled, this puts your PC into hibernation rather than a true shutdown on power off. It lets you boot up a little faster, but is really more useful for laptops where you might power down frequently to save battery life. It matters here because in this state, with the computer plugged into the wall, but still powered down, your USB peripherals will receive power. When 'Fast Start-up' is enabled, anytime I bump my desk, the keyboard comes on and stays lit until I unplug it. Since the software is not running, it loads up whatever default program is stored in the hardware.

 

I am not sure if either of these two options will eliminate the problem, but it seems like the place to start. Try them one at a time and see if it helps.

Well the keyboard going into the Demo mode if kept on "standby" (or whatever the right word is) for like 70 seconds, that I think I have figured out. If I enable the ERP to S4+S5 (it was Disabled for me by default), then after doing step B, the keyboard will light up only for a few seconds, and then it would turn off. Then I can turn system on after as long as I want, keyboard won't go into Demo mode. So that part is more or less solved anyway, I think.

 

I already disabled Fast Boot before, right after it was suggested, it did no good, I think I mentioned it too.

 

And about that Windows 10 Power option setting, yes it is enabled for me too. Probably gonna try disable and see, but changing that ERP thing was almost like that, withdrawing power from the USB ports after hitting Shut Down in OS.

 

In any case this shouldn't happen like this. There should be a firmware upgrade or something which will allow user to choose whether they want the Demo mode to be on after 70-75 seconds or not, because it could be replicated each and every time, so I am sure Corsair did that deliberately or simply missed it. Not everyone is a loser like me who would waste hours behind how to make a keyboard to work!

I would try contacting Corsair Support, they would be better able to assist you.

I already disabled Fast Boot before, right after it was suggested, it did no good, I think I mentioned it.

 

The Advanced tab screen shot you linked is not the same as the boot menu fast boot section. It is on by default so they can brag about fast boot times, but this can be problematic for some peripherals. There is also a key area below it about what to after a power loss. Default is normal boot after loss of power. That may be key to understanding its behavior.

 

Either way, you are the only one experiencing this very specific issue as you describe it and it would make for sense to examine your unique set up before deciding this is a wider issue. You also might try saving a basic color scheme to your 'default' profile to see if it will back on that rather than demo mode when it's in this state.

The Advanced tab screen shot you linked is not the same as the boot menu fast boot section. It is on by default so they can brag about fast boot times, but this can be problematic for some peripherals. There is also a key area below it about what to after a power loss. Default is normal boot after loss of power. That may be key to understanding its behavior.

 

Either way, you are the only one experiencing this very specific issue as you describe it and it would make for sense to examine your unique set up before deciding this is a wider issue. You also might try saving a basic color scheme to your 'default' profile to see if it will back on that rather than demo mode when it's in this state.

 

No, that screenshot was not of the Fast Boot menu! Disabling Fast Boot was the first thing I did anyway.

 

And no, I am not the first or only one facing this issue. Exact same issue was posted on this very forum, you could find it fairly easily too, in fact I sent that person a PM asking him what solved his problem. And another thing, like I said, its not my system, because this K70 is the only peripheral giving me the problem, nothing else, be it another keyboard or mouse and sorts.

 

Anyway, I "think" for the time being the problem is solve after enabling ErP. I will post here if the problem relapses with this mode too.

No and you've already admitted you don't know your way around the BIOS. A keyboard permanently stuck in demo mode is not the same issue as one that can be released on reboot or by unplugging. Your analysis and conclusions are substantially flawed, but your instance on telling those that try to help you they are wrong will not generate more help -- here or anywhere else.

I was being modest when I said I don't know my way around BIOS. LOL! I think even my parents will be able to disable something as simple as disabling Fast Boot!

 

And I still believe this is the keyboard's problem, rather than my system's. When all peripherals work absolutely fine, and one doesn't, its a fairly easy deduction.

I was being modest when I said I don't know my way around BIOS. LOL! I think even my parents will be able to disable something as simple as disabling Fast Boot!

 

And I still believe this is the keyboard's problem, rather than my system's. When all peripherals work absolutely fine, and one doesn't, its a fairly easy deduction.

 

Contact corsair support and request a RMA. you could have a defective unit.

Contact corsair support and request a RMA. you could have a defective unit.

 

Nah for now its okay mate. As long as I keep the ErP thing enabled.