How To Stop Logitech G915 Lights Turning Off {G HUB Fix}

Since its release the G915 has gained a lot of fans for its switches, wireless lightspeed connection, macro keys and innovative media controls. Which to be fair you would hope and expect from a keyboard that costs upwards of a couple hundred dollars!

However for all its good, the G915 is not without its problems, most of which seem to be rooted in the G HUB software Logitech use as a portal to customise all their smart products.

One of the most infuriating issues with the G915 is when the RGB back lights suddenly and unexpectedly turn off, seemingly ignoring whatever settings you have set for them using G HUB.

In some cases this has even been reported to occur even when the board is plugged in – receiving charge, and so should never enter any form of energy preserving ‘sleep’ mode.

This backlight black out is especially annoying on the G915 as when working in low light conditions it becomes really difficult to make out the characters on keys that appear almost solid black in color.

Below we share what fix eventually worked to keep our board lit, as well as a few others you can test out.

Before attempting this fix, make sure your device has updated its firmware. Open G HUB and click ‘Install’ if you see the firmware update banner. For reference all settings and screenshots for this article are taken from G HUB firmware version G915: 9.3.41

Start by checking the device settings in G HUB

The much maligned G HUB software, Logitech’s portal for customizing all of their devices has been fingered as the main culprit for the issue of lights

In fact in the process of writing this post I’ve had to re-install the software twice as this seems to be the only way I can get the G HUB program to open on my desktop!

Although undoubtedly you’ve already checked through the basics it’s still worth adding them here on the off chance something has toggled off by accident and there isn’t really a problem at all.

The first step is to check whether the settings within G HUB are asking the lights to remain on at all times when the board is switched on, and this can be done by looking towards the Inactivity Lighting heading in the center of the G915 device dashboard.

INACTIVITY LIGHTING can be set to begin after a certain period of time to save battery, so to prevent the G915 lights from turning off change the ‘all lights off after’ drop down menu to ‘NEVER’.

For a few folks it took a number of attempts switching back and forth between ‘NEVER’, and a defined time period (such as 2 MINUTES or 10 MINUTES) before the settings eventually stuck. There doesn’t seem to be an rhyme or reason why this is the case so don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t fix on the first attempt.

If the software continues to ignore the fact you’ve asked the backlighting to remain on, then your next option is to utilize the on-board memory of the board to store and deliver your desired settings.

Use the on-board memory to by-pass G HUB

The benefit of organizing your board’s lighting via ‘ON-BOARD MEMORY MODE’ is that by doing so the settings whilst managed via G HUB are stored on the G915’s on-board memory, and so by-passes any G HUB software bugs that might cause the lights to inadvertently turn off.

Create a new profile

Profiles are intended to be used across different Logitech devices and so are created in advance of being assigned to the G915.

Step 1: Select ‘MANAGE PROFILES’ from the drop down menu at the top of the G HUB dashboard.

Step 2: Add a new desktop profile by selecting ‘ADD PROFILE FOR THE SELECTED APP’

Step 3: Assign a name to the new profile. We called ours ‘PICO OFFICE LIGHTS’.

Step 4: Return to the main dashboard and select the G915 by double clicking on the image of the keyboard itself. This will open up the profile configuration menu.

Step 5: Select your newly created custom profile from the drop down menu in the top left, and begin assigning lighting effects that you wish your board to display.

Note that the FREESTYLE and ANIMATIONS options are dulled out as these options are only available through the G HUB software and cannot be stored on the on-board memory.

Assign and activate the newly created profile

Step 6. Go into the device settings via the cog symbol and activate ‘ON-BOARD MEMORY MODE’. By doing this you will override the settings stored on the G HUB for both ‘LOW BATTERY MODE’ and ‘INACTIVITY LIGHTING’.

A blue banner will appear at the bottom of the G HUB window to let you know that not all of the features offered by G HUB will not be available when using on-board memory. For example any lighting effects other than basic static, cycling or breathing cannot be stored on the device itself.

Step 7: Replace any one of the Default profiles (named either ‘PROFILE 1’, ‘PROFILE 2’ or ‘PROFILE 3’) that currently occupy an on-board memory slot and replace it with your newly created custom profile by selecting ‘REPLACE WITH’.

Step 8: Close G HUB window and then also quit the G HUB application by right clicking on the the icon in the taskbar.

By using the on-board memory instead of relying on the G HUB software you should be able to work and game without the risk of your G915 lights turning off.

Are there any alternatives to G HUB?

There are third party scripts which allow you to customize the lighting on your Logitech keyboard without the G HUB but you’ll need to be comfortable with handling code to make full use of them.

Keyleds is an RGB animation script for Logitech keyboards that has been developed continually since its first release on Github in 2017.

Before you go…

If you’re the owner of a G915 board then the following articles might be of interest.

Chris