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Activate back lighting of LIVE TECH gaming keyboard on Ubuntu

Posted on by Sreekumar Kj

To enable the back light LEDs of the Live Tech keyboard in Ubuntu follow these steps

sudo apt install brightnessctl
sudo brightnessctl -ls #note the scrolllock input with a suffix greater than 5
sudo brightnessctl --device input16::scrolllock s 1 #Assuming the suffix is 16

This should light up the LEDs in the Keyboard.

Link Keyboard Lighting Script to a Function Key

Want to control your keyboard backlight with a simple function key? Follow ahead.

Step 1: Create the Keyboard Lighting Script

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Create the script: vi ~/lightupKeyboard.sh
  3. Add the following content: pkexec brightnessctl --device input16::scrolllock s 1 >> /tmp/lightupKB.log 2>&1
  4. Save and exit
  5. Make the script executable: chmod +x ~/lightupKeyboard.sh

Step 2: Link to a Function Key

  1. Open Keyboard Shortcuts Settings:
    • On GNOME: Settings > Keyboard > View and Customize Shortcuts
    • On KDE: System Settings > Shortcuts
  2. Create a New Shortcut:
    • Name: Light Up Keyboard
    • Command: bash ~/lightupKeyboard.sh
  3. Assign a Key: Press the desired Function Key (e.g., F6) when prompted.
  4. Save and Close Settings.

Press the assigned function key to turn on your keyboard lighting. You will also see a log entry in /tmp/lightupKB.log for each press.

Sreekumar Kj
Sreekumar (KJ) has been a hobby programmer from school days. Codemarvels is his personal blog from the year 2010, where he writes about technology, philosophy, society and a bit about physics. He now runs a conversational AI company - DheeYantra - focusing his efforts to help businesses improve operational efficiency using digital employees powered by AI.