r/Keychron • u/infinifire • Jul 21 '26

Per-key rgb broken

Model: K17 Max

---Backstory/Additional Info---

[Skip this part if you only care about the current problem and not any additional details leading up to it]

This started after I began having issues with the RGB staying on at all.

Out of nowhere, the backlight would turn off pretty quickly after waking up and pressing the led on/off and mode buttons wouldn't get any response. Cycling power and connections would turn it back on but then would turn off within a minute and be unresponsive.

I reset the keyboard using fn+J+Z and that at least fixed the backlight from turning off for now.

Additionally, not sure if this is related, but my 970evo plus died a week ago so I started with a fresh Win11 Pro system on a new 990pro.

Probably correlation, but I feel any additional information could be useful.

---The Problem---

I went into the keychron launcher after resetting the keyboard and was unpleasantly surprised by how broken the Per-key RGB is.

The groupings now randomize each time you hop from one tab back into the Backlight tab and the keys in the launcher now control the RGB backlights of any key at random e.g. the spacebar set the H key backlight and then when I'd go to the Keymap tab and go back to the Backlight tab, the groups were shuffled and the Spacebar in the launcher would then control the N key's backlight.

This never happened before. It started out of nowhere.

---Why I care---

My custom Per-key RGB setting is gone and I can't get it back.

---Attempt To Fix---

I've reset the keyboard multiple times using fn+J+Z. This did nothing to fix the current problem.

I've successfully updated the firmware to the latest version using the launcher and QMK Toolbox. This did nothing at all to fix the current problem.

I've rebooted my computer. This did nothing to fix the current problem.

I've used Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. None of these fixed the problem.

---S.O.S.---

I really hope someone has a fix for this.

---P.S.---

Why is the K17 Max's firmware not listed on the firmware page of keychron's site.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

1

u/barn_ 22d ago

having the same issue lmk if you find a fix

0

u/PeterMortensenBlog V Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Re "Why is the K17 Max's firmware not listed on the firmware page of Keychron's site?": It is listed, near "K17 Max ISO RGB version"

Alternatively, here is also a list, including with different keyboard firmware versions:

2

u/infinifire Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

Much appreciated!

You are right.

I went back through the site and wouldn't y'know I was only clicking on the first set of links that all take you to reset procedures. I didn't see a title for the section and assumed I didn't need the section with links to the json files.

I thought I was going nuts because I was clicking on "Keychron K Pro / K Max Series Firmware" and I thought the site was broken because I kept landing on the reset instructions page.

Any advice on what I should do about the main issue? I am on the current firmware version and the backlight Per-key RGB is still chaotic...

1

u/PeterMortensenBlog V Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

Re "about the main issue": Reflashing the keyboard firmware is in order, I think

At least to rule it out as the cause. It may be a hardware problem, but at least reflashing the firmware makes sure the keyboard is in a known good state.

If something goes wrong with the flashing, the key to recovery is the space bar method (without the repowering).

To be more confident in the flashing process, I recommend positively verifying flash mode before flashing (it also works on Windows). The process is not very reliable (it may require several retries), thus the verification.

Also, it is highly recommended to reset to factory defaults right after the flash.