k70 rgb rapidfire K70 RGB MK.2 LP Rapidfire - After Windows boot - Keyboard was not working

[BeerGogglesFTW]

Keyboard is only a week old and has been working fine but this morning I booted up my PC, and the keyboard wasn't working. No lights. No function. The only sign of life was the "Num Lock" light above the little "1". (My computer is about 3 years old, and never had an issue like this, so I assume its on the keyboard. Not a PC issue.)

 

Loading up iCue... it showed me a "!" with a triangle around it, but no other message.

 

The issue was resolved once I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

 

Since I first started using the keyboard, I installed iCue software and latest firmware. (3.36.125 / 3.24)

 

Since I encountered the issue, I soft-reset the keyboard (via plug in holding the Esc key), cleared onboard storage, and reinstalled firmware via "Force Update" button

 

I'm not sure if those steps will prevent the issue from happening again since it took about 9 days to first occur, but its safe to say my confidence in the product is shaken. Looking for any insight into why this may have happened and/or is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again?

 

i.e. Is it a sign of defective hardware? Is there a more stable (older) firmware I could use? I think its fair to say, if this problem persists in the future, its not acceptable. So I have to ask myself if I should be returning or exchanging the product while I'm in the Xmas return window, but that is going to close up in a couple weeks.

 

If the only solution provided is to reset/unplug that wouldn't be very acceptable knowing it happened already and could happen again. It would be great to hear something like "This happened because X. And could be prevented by doing Y." But that's often not really the way of tech support/debugging issues unless extremely common :-\

 

One post I saw suggested disable Windows "Fast Boot" ...but I really shouldn't have to disable Windows features to ensure the keyboard works properly. It should work just like any keyboard has worked for the last few years. I'd prefer to keep fast boot enabled.

Edited January 2, 2021 by BeerGogglesFTW

[c-attack]

The red triangle is a general warning and does not have a specific meaning. For KBs it is some type of initialization error 99.9% of the time when you boot up and the KB alone stays in hardware mode. As you discovered, a quick replug of the USB connections resolves the issue when that is the problem. You should not need to soft reset or flash the firmware.

 

It is not specific to a any firmware or software issue. Other users report have reported it through the majority of releases. The origin is unclear. K70s seem to pop up more often, but then there could be more of them in use than other keyboards. I also have a K70 Mk2 LP. It does this and did its predecessor that I replaced. The result is unchanged. It might do it three times in a week and then not again for 2 months. If you have a no-cost exchange option, you might take it so you won't wonder about that later. On the other hand, you appear to have had one incidence of this, so making sweeping assessments may be premature. It can happen to any keyboard, but some do seem be more frequent and I have some that might do it once per year.

 

I am sure we can have a long discussion about whether all Windows features are useful, necessary, or even desirable. However, I would not base your usage decisions around a company that still can't get their desktop backgrounds to change on a regular clock cycle. 5 years seems like enough time, but well apparently not. Regardless I do not use Windows Fast Boot (hibernate) or BIOS Fast Boot (the more likely contributor) and this still can happen with both of those off. Its possible they might up the frequency, but disabling them is not the 100% guaranteed solution.

[BeerGogglesFTW]

On the other hand, you appear to have had one incidence of this, so making sweeping assessments may be premature.

 

No I agree. I have enough experience with computers, I don't make impulse decisions on a single instance. But I also don't ignore problems that come up like some might do, and I kind of do a real deep dive into any issues.

 

I have a 2 week window right now. If the problem occurs again, I may exchange it for the same product. I really, really like the keyboard. I have no intention of switching back to standard profile keys now.

 

But I am concerned and starting a discussion on it to better learn about the problem.

 

Thank you for your feedback.