This happened to me last year after Square Trade sent my G75VW to their "depot". It came back to me with an aftermarket keyboard and power supply.
I ordered a new display and power supply directly from ASUS and took it locally to be installed. I knew there was something amiss when I saw the tech put his hands next to his eyes and hovered over the keyboard to try to see light. He closed the machine and handed it to me. I said "I don't think so. You didn't see a backlight and neither did I". If you know what the backlight should look like, you don't need to cover your eyes with blinders made of hands to tell if it's on or not.
I waited, sitting right in front of him while he started a fresh install of the ASUS keyboard - I also had my G72GX keyboard replaced. This time, when I was watching him intently, he didn't need to use makeshift blinders, the backlight was clearly on...
Sometimes it's a bad install. More often, it's the ATK package, but sometimes, it can be a loosely connected strip, a crimped wire, who knows.
But, sometimes it something as simple as ASLDR in the Startup. To find out, click Start and type "msconfig" without the quotation marks. Click the "Services" tab and look for ASLDR service. If it's there, but unchecked, check it! Close and restart. DO NOT CLICK ATKGFNEX!
Your puter should have started with keyboard backlight on. Now, click Start and then go to "Administrative Tools" in right pane. Click on Administrative Tools and then look for "Services". Click on "Services and then look for"ASLDR". If it is set for Manual and is not "Running" or set for anything and is not running, double click or right click and go to "Properties", Click "Properties".
Look at "Start" in the properties box and see if it is greyed out and check it's status to see if it is Disabled, Automatic, Automatic (Delayed) or Manual. If set for anything other than Automatic, scroll to Automatic using drop down and click "Automatic" then "Apply". After Apply is done, the "Start" button should be clickable. Click "Start" in the Properties box or left pane. The keyboard lights should come on immediately if you exited without rebooting or your system requires a reboot. The ASLDR controls brightness and other light and brightness aspects of your computer. That must be checked in the Services tab of the msconfig startup. Otherwise, no backlights..
You can get the most up to date ATK package on ASUS site. Just enter your model and OS and it will take you to all available downloads, including older ones. If the most current package isn't working for you, and the older one did, delete the ATK package - WHICH MIGHT NOT SHOW UP IN YOUR PROGRAM LIST - and install the one version earlier.
To find out whether you have the ATK package go to Start and type "msconfig". This will bring up your boot and startup menu. Go to "Services" and look for "ATKGFNEX". if that service is stopped, go to Start -> Administrative Tools -> Services and look for "ATKGFNEX". If it is set for Manual and not started, right click on that line, scroll to "Properties" and change startup from Manual to Automatic. Click Apply. After apply is on, "Start" should be clickable. Click "Start" and the service should start and your backlight *should* be restored after a reboot.
Works for me, I hope it works for you. 🙂
If anything I typed is unclear, just send me a note. I can also tell you how to get out of the Wingdings nightmare.
Lisa
