E6430 Backlit Keyboard Not Constantly On

Question

I want my backlit keyboard to automatically come on when I boot the computer and remain on until either I turn it off or until I shut down the computer. Is this possible? Or can I set a longer period of time for it to remain on. I am in a dark location and I need it to be constantly on as I really dislike having to  have to hit a key to turn it on when it was on 15 seconds ago.

Techgee · Accepted Answer

On a different Dell laptop I was able to change the keyboard backlight timeout from an annoying 10 seconds to 12 hours.  I only needed to change it once and then didn't need software anymore unless BIOS was reset.  Had to create a bootable Ubuntu thumbdrive to do it - seems Dell or someone made sure Linux versions like Ubuntu have keyboard settings support.  There's reason to believe this would work for the Latitude E6430 as well, although you may have to play with the setting to see for how long you can set timeout (I'd try settings like 1, 5 and 15 minutes first).  I put together a tutorial detailing how to change the timeout on Dell's forums here.

Dell-Parnoshree C · Answer

Hi rwcoover,

You can try the steps mentioned in the link

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln153665/how-to-turn-off-or-on-and-troubleshoot-the-backlit-keyboard-on-your-dell-notebook-computer?lang=en.

Do let us know if this helped.

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

Welcome to the Dell Community&#xa0;@rwcoover&#xa0;This option only has a max of 5 minutes but I am hoping that they upgrade it in the future.Dell Feature Enhancement Pack Application:https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=MHVWP&prg=1&VEN1=12578053-8158472-k24zxycl5802gais006cs&AID=8158472&cjevent=f5b28268f68511e9826600ae0a24060b&dgc=CJ&DGSeg=DHS&cid=198375&lid=45846&acd=12309198375458460&VEN3=810704837227161064At least you do not need to edit the BIOS.Best regards,U2

rwcoover · Answer

Thanks, I'll try this...I'll let you know if it works.

rwcoover · Answer

The computer definitely has a backlit keyboard. It works fine. But after a few seconds of non-use, it turns itself off.

In the BIOS, there is an option to keep it off, or options for brightness if it is on, nothing else. There is no option to keep the keyboard backlit, that is, to not alow it to turn itself off.

The webpage did not discuss that option for my Latitude.

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

@rwcoover

I tested it on an E6430 this morning and it worked just fine.

The laptop is at the warehouse and I can't remember but it was in the Control Panel!!!

Something I can't understand, WHY not have the option to turn it on or off???

Regards,

U2

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

@rwcoover  Did you install the program??? U2

rwcoover · Answer

I find Keyboard in the Control Panel, but no settings like shown here. Going to Windows 10 Settings, the only Keyboard Settings i can find is on the 'Ease of Access' and then 'Interaction', but there are no settings here regarding the backlit keyboard. Are you using settings from Windows 8 or Windows 7?

Dell-Parnoshree C · Answer

Hi rwcovver,

We advise downloading the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack. Once installed follow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel

2. Depending on your setup;

a. If you have a Category view selected choose Hardware and Sound then Dell Keyboard Backlight Settings and change the 'Turn off Backlight in' option to your desired setting. Click Apply.

b. If you have an Icon view selected choose Dell Keyboard Backlight Settings and change the 'Turn off Backlight in' option to your desired setting. Click Apply.

The Backlight will then only go out depending on your setting.

rwcoover · Answer

Techgee ... YOU THE MAN !!!!!!! This is exactly the type of answer I was looking for, though I did not think I would have to go to the Linux Terminal to solve it. The keyboard has been lit for the last 10 minutes without a keystroke, and there is no reason to think that it will not continue to be lit for the next 11 + hours (if i do not shut it down as I actually intend to do). Thank you very much. This may have been designed for XPS 15 9550, but it works with the Latitude E6430 and probably other machines, too.

By the way, in case it is important, my BIOS is the A23 version from November, 2018.

More information about the laptop ... the CPU is the i7-3740QM and it has 16 GB RAM.

rwcoover · Answer

The Dell Feature Enhancement Pack will not install on a Windows 10 Professional 64 bit operating system.

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

@rwcoover&#xa0;Glad to hear you were able to turn the backlit keyboard on permanently.As stated before I tested DFE pack on a Dell E6430 yesterday morning and it worked fine.E6430 W10 Pro 64BitLike I said I hope they update it to include longer times and an option to just turn the back-light off or on permanently.Regards,U2

Techgee · Answer

Glad that it's working for the Latitude E6430.

The Dell Feature Enhancement Pack in the links posted is from 2013 and Windows 10 is not explicitly supported. It might work under certain circumstances, but a lot of people could not install it on the XPS 15 9550 laptop which shipped with Windows 10. This left NO way to change the keyboard backlight timeout. I found changing it from Ubuntu worked when in Ubuntu. When I realized the setting would "stick" when going back to Windows 10 and could be changed from a "live" Ubuntu/Linux bootable thumbdrive (no need to install Ubuntu), I put together the tutorial. At least there was SOME way of changing it, although not ideal.

Just a note that although my tutorial was for the XPS 15 9550, where I knew it would work, the ability to change it in Ubuntu seems to be written for any Dell laptop - the code is copyright Dell and built into the Linux kernel.

The bonus with the Ubuntu/Linux method is I can set it way beyond the 5 minutes available in DFEP to 12 hours. Effectively it's always on. Which is what I wanted in the first place.

FireAnon · Answer

@U2CAMEB4ME​ This worked, Dur so simple but I was having such a hard time, thank you friend!!!If your like me, u tried everything including the bios, just download the update from here:https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=MHVWP&prg=1&VEN1=12578053-8158472-k24zxycl5802gais006cs&AID=8158472&cjevent=f5b28268f68511e9826600ae0a24060b&dgc=CJ&DGSeg=DHS&cid=198375&lid=45846&acd=12309198375458460&VEN3=810704837227161064Skip any bios, registry, or 3rd party, once downloaded press windows key and type 'control panel' open, once in the control panel ensure on the mid-top righthand side that the display is set to 'large icon' instead of the default 'Category' and once it's set to icon you likely will see what your looking for by now. if not, the options are alphabetical, find the setting for keyboard backlighting. If there is no option and u downloaded and RAN the update from the link above already reboot you pc then come back to the control panel, change view to icon and it should not have a keyboard backlighting option.

Latitude

E6430 Backlit Keyboard Not Constantly On

Was this post helpful?