Background
This is just background information on how I got here. If you don’t care to hear the story, go to the next section for the answer.
One of my biggest pet peeves about pre-made purchased computers is losing support for things that you shouldn’t lose support for. I purchased a Lenovo Legion Y740-17IRHg - Type 81UJ back in 2020-07-17. This is a fantastic laptop series, but it’s very obvious that once it’s out of support, Lenovo basically turns their back on you and effectively says, “Bah, we can’t be bothered with you anymore.”; then things that used to work stop working, and since you are out of support it’s provided “as-is”. I would agree with this, but don’t break my laptop’s core functions when it used to work fine. Windows is partially to blame for this and I understand it’s complicated; but I think these companies are on the hook for supporting things they are breaking seemingly on purpose.
I recently had to migrate away from using VMWare for software development because VMWare was being extremely unstable on Linux to the point where it was maddening. I realized I could just pick up my laptop, which I exclusively use for software development and troubleshooting while travelling, and just move over to it exclusively. I access my laptop via RustDesk and I have an eGPU with an NVIDIA GTX 1070 so I can support my ultra-wide monitor’s resolution. It’s a really ghetto setup, but these are all parts I had available to me already outside of the eGPU chassis; so it became the most economical solution for me in an emergency.
I had to work too hard to find the proper graphics drivers for my laptop to support two graphics cards. Once I found the drivers, I stored them in a safe place on my NAS, because I don’t trust the company to make them available indefinitely (even though they really should).
Corsair iCue compatiblity tips
These instructions were written on 2026-02-08
The next thing to just stop working was the Corsair iCue back-lit keyboard. The way it stopped working was devious. All I did was upgrade the software after being prompted to do so by the Corsair iCue application itself. After upgrading, the back light on the keyboard shut off and the software reported, “This laptop is not supported.” Well, at this point you can imagine I was pretty upset. I figured why not try a couple of other programs before trying to fix this. Well long story short, none of those programs worked (which I explain after this section) and I ended up downgrading the Corsair iCue program and that fixed it.
Takeaways
- Do not upgrade past CORSAIR iCUE v4
- Version 4.33.138
- Released on 2023-01-31
- Grab your copy of the software here https://www.corsair.com/us/en/s/downloads
- Scroll down to the “More Downloads” section.
- You want the version that says “CORSAIR iCUE v4 with iCUE Murals”. Look at the image below.
- Make sure to copy it to a safe place and don’t expect to find it available for download anymore.
- Uninstall whatever version you have installed now assuming it’s not working, this includes any other software that is trying to do the same thing, especially if it runs a background (Windows) service.
- Install version 4 and you should be back in business.
After you install this, you are going to want to make sure you NEVER press the “Check for Updates” button ever again. It will just break it all over again. I can’t remember anymore if it prompts you to upgrade. I think there is a checkbox for telling it to stop doing that. I recommend ticking that box so you don’t do it by accident.
Other programs that didn’t work for me
I tried other programs that kind of worked, but not really. To make matters worse it appears it could do long term damage if you misunderstand how to use these programs because you are interfacing with hardware live and in some cases reflashing the keyboard’s ROM. If you do this too often, you risk permanently damaging the hardware and then you won’t be able to update it anymore. That’s why it’s important to use the dedicated software, or learn how to interface with your specific hardware so you aren’t damaging it.
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these software, they just didn’t work for me. Continued use would just damage the hardware, so I stopped right away.
Open RGB
This does have a wide range of support, but I was just unlucky that my laptop model was not supported. I tried it anyway and I was able to get solid colors only for my backlit keyboard and for my GTX 1070 (which surprised me).
Lenovo Legion Toolkit
https://github.com/BartoszCichecki/LenovoLegionToolkit
This is an archived repository, which means it’s no longer maintained. I stopped the services associated with my Lenovo Vantage software so I could give this toolkit a try. Didn’t work. I am sure it did work at one point because apparently it was developed specifically for my laptop. What’s interesting is it’s written in C#, so I probably could pick it up and try to learn more about my hardware, but I don’t have the time.
Do you realistically need the backlit keyboard?
No. However, it’s a nice feature when you are working in a dark setting as I always do. I have my keyboard scheme setup in such a way that it helps me identify what I am looking for in the dark or dimly lit areas. Additionally, it was included with the purchase of my laptop, therefore I expect to be able to use it indefinitely. It shouldn’t just be aged out, this isn’t fair.