How do I get keyboard backlight to work?

I ordered the DIY edition, plugged in the hard drive, memory stick, Wifi card, powered on, and installed Windows 11.
I also installed the W11 driver bundle and so far everything is running smoothly.
EXCEPT for the keyboard backlight. Hitting Fn + Space does not seem to do anything.

Are your CTRL-FN buttons swapped in the BIOS?

Just did some testing on my device. If you have them switched, CTRL + Space cycles the keyboard backlight.

@John_Perez unfortunately no, that’s not the case.
I can use Fn button normally with the F1-F12 keys.
I even tried Ctrl + Space just out of pure desperation, and it did nothing either.

Strange. I presume the space bar is working properly as well. I would try 1) reinstalling the drivers and 2) reconnecting the keyboard flex cable to the motherboard.

At this point, it may be a driver issue or a hardware issue involving the backlight circuitry. Might also be worth testing the backlight on a Linux distribution to help differentiate. Although I have no personal experience troubleshooting this way.

Yes, all the keys (Ctrl, Fn, Space) are working flawlessly otherwise.
And yes, I reinstalled the W11 driver bundle, which did not change anything.
I will check the hardware cable / try W10 driver / try Linux tomorrow.

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I checked again. One connector (PINs for GND & VCC) was not in place.

I plugged that in and the backlight is working now.

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There ought to be a double-sided tape that tapes down the seaweed cable to the underside of the input cover, so that the cable-connector section is not flexed / strained.

All newer units since the very first batch (Q3 2021) should now have that double-sided tape applied.

Interesting. I bought this diy kit only a week ago. I didn’t see any double sided tape near that cable (see the photo I took).

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I did, that’s why I’m pointing that out.

See this post:

And this guide:
Touchpad Cable Fix Guide - Framework Guides

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