k70 rgb Help! K70 Issues after cold boot!

[avatarraq]

Hello, everyone.

I just registered here to post this.

I recently purchased a new K70 RGB 2016 Edition with Cherry MX red switches. I plugged the 2 cords to 2 USB 2 ports, installed the latest CUE which prompted me to install the latest firmware, which I did and everything went smoothly until I shut down my PC and turned off the UPS (cut off power). After I turned my PC back on (cold boot) the KB went into demo mode and did not work. I could not go into BIOS regardless of the position of the polling rate switch. Going into windows, the KB still doesn't work and CUE reports it as malfunctioning. This kept happening after every cold boot and the only fix is to disconnect the 2 USB ports and then reconnecting them in the correct order while the PC is on.

I tried force updating the firmware from server using CUE, updating and uninstalling/reinstalling USB and HID drivers and chipset driver. My BIOS is the latest and I disabled USB suspend setting in control power. I also tried to disable/enable quick boot, legacy USB support and EHCI hand-off setting in BIOS. Nothing worked so far. (Before anyone suggests it: My BIOS does not have XHCI hand-off and full/partial USB initialization settings.) Lastly I also tried using a pin to push the reset firmware button on the KB and, you guessed it, did not work.

If I do not cut off the power (leave the UPS on), the keyboard works well during boot and in windows but it takes a while to be recognized by CUE software and then my custom settings and lighting kick in. This isn't perfect but I can live with it if I don't have to disconnect and reconnect my KB everyday.

It is clearly a firmware issue as it manifests during the cold boot before windows and CUE load. Please help.

[Saijohn21]

Hi I have the older K70 RGB. I have this experience. All you have to do is press the spacebar when it is in Demo Mode and it will work.

[avatarraq]

OMG! Thank you. I read countless forum threads, called tech support, then created a ticket and no one ever mentioned this!

Not that I am complaining anymore, but does anyone know why this happens? And @Saijohn21, did your KB stop going into demo mode during cold boot? What did you do to stop it?

[Inheritance]

whatever you do dont stick a pin in the the hole unless you need to do a hard firmware flash. And as for why it happens i have no clue. I have the same mobo as you do on my gaming rig and i dont run in to this issue.

 

Check for bios, chip set and windows updates.

[Saijohn21]

I am not sure what caused this. I did all the things you did ask for Tech support and submitted a ticket. And no one can tell me what caused it or a solution. I went to the ROG forum and posted my issue and someone told me just press space bar when keyboard goes into demo mode after starting the PC. My guess is the latest corsair driver has some handshake bug with the mobo. Because this did not happen when I first had the K70. This issue started happening after the CUE update released in Oct or Nov.

[Inheritance]

i believe they were tweeking the FW because of issue with the new chipsets. guess some of the older mobos just didnt like that.

 

Try unplugging the other USB and leaving just the keyboard in. And try switching to another USB port or use just one 2.0 port.

[avatarraq]

Hmmm. I agree this is a firmware issue rather than a driver/CUE issue as it happens before windows starts. I will try using one USB 2 port and report back.

[avatarraq]

Tried using only one USB port and nothing changed! The keyboard still goes into demo mode during cold boot and functions normally after I press escape or space. And I thought it needed the power from 2 USB 2 ports. Apparently my mobo pushes enough juice through one!

[avatarraq]

The new FW (2.04) made things worse for me. Now pressing space or escape does not get me out the demo mode! I bought an add-in PCI-e USB 3 card and tried connecting my KB to it. I got rid of the demo mode but the keyboard went crazy with spontaneous random button hits while it refused to register any actual button press. To solve this issue I had to close CUE by right clicking on the tray icon and selecting exit, or reconnect my keyboard to USB 2 ports. First I thought that this is due to incompatibility with the expansion card but later I found other people on Corsair forums complaining of similar issues when connecting their RGB devices to the USB 3 ports of their motherboards.

I contacted support and they linked me to the old FW. Rerolled.