Acer Gaming RGB keyboard backlight and Turbo mode Linux kernel module (Acer Predator, Acer Helios, Acer Nitro)

Inspired by https://github.com/hackbnw/faustus, this project extends current acer-wmi linux kernel module to support Acer gaming functions

Turbo mode should support Acer Helios Predator and Acer Triton Predator series. RGB Keyboard is only tested on Acer (Predator, Helios, Nitro) 300 series ( 4-zone RGB ).

Experimental unofficial Linux platform driver module for Acer Predator Gaming series laptops.

WARNING: Use at your own risk. This driver interacts with low-level WMI methods which haven't been tested on all series.

Will this work on my laptop?

Compablity table:

Product name	Turbo Mode (Implemented)	Turbo Mode (Tested)	RGB (Impelmented)	RGB (Tested)
AN515-45	-	-	Yes	Yes
AN515-55	-	-	Yes	Yes
AN517-41	-	-	Yes	Yes
PH315-52	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PH315-53	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PH317-53	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PH317-54	Yes	No	Yes	No
PH517-51	Yes	No	Yes	No
PH517-52	Yes	No	Yes	No
PH517-61	Yes	No	Yes	No
PH717-71	Yes	No	Yes	No
PH717-72	Yes	No	Yes	No
PT314-51	No	No	Yes	Yes
PT315-51	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PT315-52	Yes	No	Yes	No
PT515-51	Yes	No	Yes	No
PT515-52	Yes	No	Yes	No
PT917-71	Yes	No	Yes	No

Obviously, I don't have access to all these models, so if it worked(or not) for you, kindly please mention your model on issues so we can ship this to Linux kernel.

You can find your model using this command: sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name

---

RGB Keyboard:

I think dynamic RGB effects should work only on 4zone RGB keyboards like 300 series but haven't tested other models.

Check the output of this command:
# file /sys/bus/wmi/devices/7A4DDFE7-5B5D-40B4-8595-4408E0CC7F56/
If the directory exists, it may work fine. Otherwise, RGB will not work at all.

Requirements

Secure boot must be disabled.
Install linux headers using your distro package manager: Ubuntu (or other Debian baseds distros):
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Arch (I don't use arch anymore btw):
sudo pacman -S linux-headers

Install

git clone https://github.com/JafarAkhondali/acer-helios-300-rgb-keyboard-linux-module
cd "acer-helios-300-rgb-keyboard-linux-module"
chmod +x ./install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

Usage

Turbo mode should work fine by using the turbo button on keyboard.

For RGB, the module will mount a new character device at /dev/acer-gkbbl-0 to communicate with kernel space.
To make it easier to interact with this device, a simple python has been attached.
python3 facer_rgb.py
or check help for more advanced usage:
python3 facer_rgb.py --help

usage: facer_rgb.py [-h] [-m MODE] [-z ZONE] [-s SPEED] [-b BRIGHTNESS] [-d DIRECTION] [-cR RED] [-cG GREEN] [-cB BLUE]

Interacts with experimental Acer-wmi kernel module.
-m [mode index]
    Effect modes:
    0 -> Static [Accepts ZoneID[1,2,3,4] + RGB Color]
    1 -> Breath [Accepts RGB color]
    2 -> Neon
    3 -> Wave
    4 -> Shifting [Accepts RGB color]
    5 -> Zoom [Accepts RGB color]

-z [ZoneID]
    Zone ID(Only in static mode):
    Possible values: 1,2,3,4

-s [speed]
    Animation Speed:
    
    0 -> No animation speed (static)
    1 -> Slowest animation speed
    9 -> Fastest animation speed
    
    You can use values between 1-9 to adjust the speed or increase speed even more than 255, but keep in mind
    that values higher than 9 were not used in the official PredatorSense application.

-b [brightness]
    Keyboard backlight Brightness:
    
    0   -> No backlight (turned off)
    100 -> Maximum backlight brightness
    
-d [direction]
    Animation direction:
    
    1   -> Right to Left
    2   -> Left to Right

-cR [red value]
    Some modes require specific [R]GB color
    
    0   -> Minimum red range
    255 -> Maximum red range

-cG [green value]
    Some modes require specific R[G]B color
    
    0   -> Minimum green range
    255 -> Maximum green range

-cB [blue value]
    Some modes require specific RG[B] color
    
    0   -> Minimum blue range
    255 -> Maximum blue range

optional arguments:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  -m MODE
  -z ZONE
  -s SPEED
  -b BRIGHTNESS
  -d DIRECTION
  -cR RED
  -cG GREEN
  -cB BLUE

Sample usages:

Breath effect with Purple color(speed=4, brightness=100):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 1 -s 4 -b 100 -cR 255 -cG 0 -cB 255

Neon effect(speed=3, brightness=100):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 2 -s 3 -b 100

Wave effect(speed=5, brightness=100):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 3 -s 5 -b 100

Shifting effect with Blue color (speed=5, brightness=100):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 4 -s 5 -b 100 -cR 0 -cB 255 -cG 0

Zoom effect with Green color (speed=7, brightness=100):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 5 -s 7 -b 100 -cR 0 -cB 0 -cG 255

Static waving (speed=0): python3 facer_rgb.py -m 3 -s 0 -b 100

Static mode coloring (zone=1 => most left zone, color=blue):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 0 -z 1 -cR 0 -cB 255 -cG 0

Static mode coloring (zone=4 => most right zone, color=purple):
python3 facer_rgb.py -m 0 -z 4 -cR 255 -cB 255 -cG 0

Known problems

Changes are not persistent after reboot. You'll need to install the module again. If installation failed, check this issue If something didn't look right, do a reboot (or boot to windows) and play a little with some Predator Sense app to reset ACPI registers.

Uninstall:

Simply run ./uninstall.sh and (hopefully) everything should be back to normal.

Feedback:

If this worked or didn't worked for you, kindly make a new issue, and attach the following if possible:
sudo dmidecode | grep "Product Name" -B 2 -A 4
sudo cat /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/DSDT > dsdt.aml

Donation:

Donations are not required, but shows your ❤️ to open source and encourages me to implement more features for this project. Paypal

BNB: bnb18vseyxgydwq8xs2hmz7chekazz9jmj7uplvapg
Tether(ERC20): 0x11753b26B4d91177B779D429a6a1C1C90f722f1C
BTC: bc1qpd2v5acc8m8gjmpg78lhz5uakjxdclmawq3xdc

Contributing

Are you a developer?

1. Fork it!
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b my-new-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin my-new-feature
5. Submit a pull request

Roadmap:

• Send patch to kernel mainline (currently only turbo mode for 315-53 is implemented)
• Implement Turbo mode
• Implement RGB Dynamic effects (4-zone)
• Implement RGB Static coloring (4-zone)
• GUI (Zehra is working on this, but it's still in beta )
• Custom Fans speed
• Implement RGB Dynamic effects (per key RGB)
• Implement RGB Static coloring (per key RGB)

License

GNU General Public License v3