K70 MK.2 Unable to switch profiles using profile switch key

this corsair product is my very first rgb keyboard. I have found this whole process very unintuitive and have not found any explanation from corsair videos. I don't understand the difference between hardware and software profiles, how to save a profile to a keyboard, how to switch, some of these basic things. No youtube video I've found has been helpful.

I downloaded the iCUE software and messed around with some lighting effects on the "Default" profile. While the software was running, I was able to see these lighting effects. When I closed out of the software, my lighting effects were gone and it defaulted to spiral rainbow I believe. I then re-opened the software and saw 3 profiles with the name "...MK.2 HW 1", "...MK.2 HW 2", "MK.2 HW 3". I figured that these were the "hardware" profiles, whatever that means, that were on the keyboard. My thought was that if I modified the hardware profiles instead, and saved those to the keyboard, then I would be able to switch the lighting effects WHEN iCUE WAS NOT RUNNING. However this is not true. When iCUE is running, I am able to successfully switch between profiles using the profile switch key. When I close the software, I am stuck on the first profile, and the profile switch key does not work.

I have the following questions:

1) What is the difference between the Default profile and the HW profiles? What is a hardware profile?

2) Why can't I switch between profiles using the profile switch key when the software is NOT running?

3) If I create a new profile, how do I save it to the keyboard? How many profiles can be saved to this keyboard? I have never seen an option when creating a profile to save a "hardware" profile.

Btw, this whole thing is super unintuitive and it's a horrible user experience to have 0 documentation and terrible videos from the manufacturer that explain nothing. I shouldn't have to make an account on a forum with crappy CSS to find answers to questions that should be an introductory video by the manufacturer of a $150 keyboard.

1) The hardware profile is what is saved to the keyboard for use whenever iCUE is NOT running. Hardware profiles can only be used if you quit the program or in non-software states like the boot/shutdown cycle. The "K70 MK.2 HW 1-3" (any of version of that with HW in it and a little SD card icon) is not actually the hardware profile. It is template for creating it and saving it to keyboard. There are different rules for HW profiles and they cannot do all the same things a software profile using the CPU can do. You go to the HW1-3 profile in the profile list on the left. Then go to the keyboard. Create your lighting, actions, whatever else you need. Then you must go to the "Onboard Profiles" tab in the bottom left corner. That will reveal the three save slots. You don't have to save HW1 to slot 1, but I suggest you do. They keyboard will sometimes try and correct you if you don't.

2) Without the software running, the keyboard should shift 1-2-3-1.. between the saved HW profiles. It might not shift if you have deleted or reset the HW profiles. When iCUE is running, the profile switch will send you down the software profile list.

3) 3 HW profiles for the K70 MK.2. Also, when working in the HW profiles, it will show you the lighting effect on the keyboard so you can see what you have done, but it is not actually in the keyboard until you complete the save process in the Onboard Profiles tab.

Your default software profile is the one at the top of the list on the left. HW and .exe linked profiles do not count. The "default" profile created when you first loaded the software has no value. You can delete it or rename it to something more meaningful. HW and .exe linked profiles will also be skipped when using the profile key to cycle through. If you have only one software profile, 3 HW profiles, and whatever number of linked profiles, it will always stay on the one unlinked profile.

When attempting to apply or remove lighting effects selectively, you must hold down either CTRL or SHIFT and left click (or left click drag for large sections). If you left-click anywhere on the keyboard lighting panel, it remove the current lighting effect.

Thanks for the response @c-attack. As a proof of concept, I tried the following:

1) edited the HW1 profile to be a static Red. Used the onboard profiles tab to save this to slot 1

2) edited the HW2 profile to be a static White. Used the onboard profiles tab to save this to slot 2.

3) exited the iCUE software

When I exit the software, the lighting effects being run are from the Default profile. If I press the profile switch key, nothing happens. No switch occurs.

What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: I also noticed something interesting. When the software is running, the profile switch button only cycles between software profiles, i.e the Default and whatever software profiles I created. If I CLICK on the HW profiles, it will then cycle ONLY in the HW profiles. However, this next part is insane: IF I LOCK THE COMPUTER, ONLY THEN THE PROFILE SWITCH KEY WORKS. It switches between the HW profiles only!! this is so confusing

When you lock the computer, you have severed the link between device and software. For this purpose, it is the same as quitting the application. Lots of prior history discussion about the app/device behavior when locked. What exactly Microsoft has going on when in the locked state is beyond my level of expertise. Just know you are effectively in HW mode for this state. For those that frequently lock their PCs, you may want one "dark" or black HW Profile to shut off the lights when needed.

The profile button cycling between software profiles (when iCUE is running) is normal. It should cycle HW1->HW2->HW3->HW1 and so forth when iCUE is not. The fact that is does not is puzzling. The button clearly works (it cycles on the lock screen and when iCUE is running).

When you saved to the HW Profile, did you get a conformation message from the app after clicking the SD + icon to save? It should ask you if you want to clear or overwrite. Then you can watch the little save meter run from 0-100%. In the past when something is wrong, it skips all that after you click and nothing happens. People assume it saved. There should have been three unimportant lighting effects saved to HW1-HW3, so it should ask for confirmation to save each time. If the slot is empty, it will often show a + instead of the SD card icon. That is sometimes a warning sign.

Go to your Windows -> Settings -> Apps and click on Corsair iCUE in the app list. Follow the directions for a "Repair" installation. This usually cures abnormal behavior. Or if you haven't updated to v3.24 that was released last night, do that now. It is an improvement for most everyone and there were keyboard specific bugs in the prior release.

yeah it's really frustrating that the profile switch button doesn't work when the software is closed. I did get the prompt showing to clear or overwrite.

There is some new interesting info: so I made a software profile that was just a blank lighting effect (basically no lights). I now have both my Default profile (which is a software profile) and this new Blank profile (also a software profile). When I close the software, the profile switch button is cycling only through the SOFTWARE profiles. Maybe this is the issue? If software profiles are not stored on the device, the only way they can be accessed is if the software is running right?? It seems like the software is still running or something.

this sounds like a bug. Should I make a new post about this? This at least does narrow down the issue somewhat

edit: just checked the windows processes. there are 3 corsair services running in the background:

Corsair.Service (32 bit)

Corsair.Service.CpuIdRemote

Corsair.Service.DisplayAdapter

The Corsair.service background tasks do compliment the program, but they do not affect the software profile implementation. You don't need to kill those in the task manager. You do need kill the iCUE App or use the drop down task bar menu to Right-Click, then Quit. That change is usually apparent and you should drop out of your current software lighting and immediately into one of the HW profile lighting schemes.

I am not really sure where to go with this right now. I can remember one person with an actual defective button (never works) and one person who never actually saved any profiles after wiping the keyboard. But aside from that, this is new. First time for the "selective profile button". What is more difficult to understand is why it works in software mode, but not in hardware mode.

The directions below are for a soft reset of the keyboard. Frankly, I am bit doubtful but don't have another suggestion. Possible the save mechanism is not working correctly, which is why I was quizzing you on the behavior when you save. That we have seen before, but it didn't have the same set of circumstances.

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025465031-How-to-Reset-your-keyboard

My K70 RGB MK.2 and was having the exact same problem. I'm not sure if you resolved it but this worked for me:

Open the iCUE software then click on your keyboard under devices then click on profiles. I have three profiles listed ending in HW1, HW2 and HW3 I was making changes to these then went to Onboard profiles at the bottom of each profile and saved each to one of the onboard profile slots but it STILL did not work without the iCUE software running. It turns out each profile also has a section called "Hardware lighting" I had to configure lights there THEN go back and save to Onboard profiles. After doing that I can use the keyboard profile button to toggle between hardware profiles without the software running.

Maybe this is obvious but the documentation is basically no-existent and was not obvious to me since the method seems to change which each software update. Hope that helps. On a side note I also found out the K70 RapidFire does not have onboard storage so exchanged for the K70 RGB MK.2 which does.