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macxtal · Sep 30, 2003, 08:35 PM

Ok.. so, I did some experimenting - I ordered without the illuminated keyboard, since I type 80wpm, I don't look much at the keys.

Shine a penlight down on a key - it lights up the adjacent key very nicely. This tells me ALL of these keyboards appear to have the light pipe connecting the letters. Now - if someone can tell me where the light comes in on the illuminated keyboards - people have said the backlight but I find this unlikely or impossible. If it is the case, then a hack is probably trivial.

More interestingly, it might be possible to get some surface mount LEDs of any color in there. I assume this is how they're doing it in the first place, but maybe I'm wrong.

mania · Sep 30, 2003, 10:59 PM

get that korean site to take one apart..

nagromme · Sep 30, 2003, 11:07 PM

The lit ones work with multiple fiber-optic strip (left-to-right)? That site under the keys. I don't know if they connect to a single lamp, or to one for each strip, but it's not a lamp per key.

I suspect your PBook doesn't have the fiber optic strips--merely the transparent keys (painted silver with holes for the letters).

If you do find a hack, though, it should work for even 12" users: supposedly even those have always had the clear keys.

MaxPower2k3 · Sep 30, 2003, 11:07 PM

a few people (myself included) posted about this probably 6 months ago. the reason for this is that it's probably much cheaper to make one set of keys that will work in either keyboard. I don't believe they have any 'light pipe' going to them, they're just transparent. I assume the keys are made out of the silver plastic with some transparent plastic on the back of it, and then they etch out the letter from the silver ((but not transparent) plastic, thus making it more durable (since it's not printed on) and allowing for the backlit keys. Besides this, i don't think there's any implementation for the backlit effect on the machines that don't have it.

macxtal · Sep 30, 2003, 11:55 PM

Place a small maglight face down on the function keys. It'll nicely light up 2 keys down. I don't believe the physical mechanism for distributing the light is absent. Try it.

Can someone tell me what the light source is? I might pick up a replacement keyboard and give it a shot. I think I could probably rig something up with surface mount LEDs if the strips are there. Can the keycaps be pried off? I'll experiment when I'm a little braver.

Blue or green lit keys would be very cool.

Eyenovation · Oct 1, 2003, 01:31 AM

A hack? If you find it, you'll be my hero. I can't see why Apple would omit this from their feature list, if the cost of adding it was no more.

brainchild2b · Oct 1, 2003, 02:28 AM

I figured as much, I've been talking about this on another thread. Check in your speakers and see if you see any sensors for the lights. as a $68 BTO option I'm guessing it's just a quick replacement of the keyboard and then you have the same lighted keyboard as everybody else.

nagromme · Oct 1, 2003, 04:51 AM

Are the keys actually silver plastic? I thought it was plastic painted silver. Silver plastic would be more durable, but plastic is seldom truly metallic all the way through.

Eyenovation · Oct 1, 2003, 04:56 AM

Originally posted by nagromme:
Are the keys actually silver plastic? I thought it was plastic painted silver. Silver plastic would be more durable, but plastic is seldom truly metallic all the way through.

I'd guess painted. It feels painted.

Link · Oct 1, 2003, 04:59 AM

when the backlight module isn't ordered, it's just not there.

From what I know apple uses a module that is similar in size to the keyboard (but thinner) what's on it is an LED or a set of them and the light is distributed out through fiber optic piping..

how or where it goes I have no idea. I imagine with a little hacking (just find a power line and hotwire an LED or three to it) and running those to spots under the keyboard that take the light and distribute it well, you'll get what you want.

:shrug: not rocket science.

macxtal · Oct 1, 2003, 10:36 AM

Heh, sorry for any confusion. I never used Macs before OS X and it occurs to me that my idea of a hack (I am an embedded systems / hardware designer) and your idea of a software hack may different.

Certainly the sensors are not there. If there is a source of power and the lights are there, I think it would be straightforward to add this in any color you want. I'd need more information about how the lighting system works.

If anyone can point me to pictures or technical documents - maybe I can make this happen.