GUIDE: How to Disable the Touchpad BACKLIGHT on the P157SM (NP8250)

How to disable the touchpad backlight in the P157SM.

Some prospective Sager owners are not too keen on the touchpad backlighting on the new P157SM. Since I have the P157SM from LPC-Digital for review, they asked if I could assist users here on how to disable it. It was easier and quicker than I thought.

Here's the process in nutshell.

What you will need:
- a small jewelers philips head screwdriver
- a beverage of your choice at least 20 ft away from the laptop

(1) Turn the laptop upside down. ***UNPLUG THE POWER CABLE AND REMOVE THE BATTERY!!!*** and remove four screws to be able to remove the main compartment bay. Two on bottom in center and two in the back of the unit.





(2) Slide the compartment lid towards the back to expose the inside of the laptop where the CPU and GPU are located.



(3) Locate the small access hole between the GPU fan and the GPU MXM board.



(4) OPEN THE LAPTOP LID!!! Use a small, thin, blunt object to dislodge the top panel to access the screws for the keyboard.



(5) Remove 5 (five) screws from the top of the keyboard.



(6) Locate the touchpad lighting cable. To disconnect, pull UP on the small black bar, then pull the cable to the right.





VOILA! Now put everything back in reverse order, well except don't reconnect the touchpad light cable.

Touchpad is perfectly functional, as there is a separate connector for the touchpad control. You can also see this is the way to access two of the four RAM slots and the Wi-Fi card.

Now look at it BEFORE


and AFTER

 

Very nice work as ways HT, is it as bad in person as it is in pictures?
Personally I don't think it's too bad what worries me more is it looks small

 

That looks so much better!

 

Great job with the pics, i like how you do the wide then close up shots.

 

great post htwn.

but really this should be a free service that the resellers should offer.

also that back shot doesnt make the 157sm look much thicker than the 150hm models. ciiw

 

mythlogic already offers it as a free service and im sure other sellers will follow suit just nice to know how to re-enable it urself once u decide to let it be disabled when ur machine is built.

concerning the p157sm dimensions: so far all side shots ive seen make it look way thicker and bulkier than the hm/em series, even made me think of the x7200/p570wm

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

very nice job, as usual)

 

disabling the back light makes the clevo look less cheap, thought still cheap

 

I agree, but many users may not know if they want it or not until they get it. /shrug/

It's no thicker than the EM series.

What is that supposed to mean?

 

Also according to Mythlogic dimensions are slightly different but thicknes is the same.

P157SM:

- Dimensions: 14.76" (w) x 10.55" (d) x 1.38"~1.69" (h)
- Battery life: Up To 5 Hours
- Weight: 7.27 Pounds

P150SM

- Dimensions: 14.80" (w) x 10.07" (d) x 1.38"~1.69" (h)
- Battery life: Up To 5 Hours
- Weight: 6.83 Pounds

 

Cool guide, very nice +rep.

 

There is a confirmed software solution being worked on right now by Clevo as many have heard. Hopefully soon...

This should also be a very helpful guide for those who may find a need to replace a Keyboard, WiFi card, Memory under the keyboard, etc... for this model.

 

Call me werid... but I actually like the backlight logo on the touchpad xD

But can your really chance it color? Because I have never seen a picture where is not blue as always.

 

No you cannot change the color.

 

OK, get HTWingNut the other models for the respective great guides

 

I take that back, the touchpad changes color with the center color change.

 

New Software way from Sager:

New backlight keyboard / volume bar / touchpad Hot Key functions: (Sager NP8250, NP8290, NP9390)
Fn+ - : Volume bar On/Off.
Fn+ pad 7 : keyboard Left Section On/Off.
Fn+ pad 8 : keyboard Middle Section On/Off.
Fn+ pad 9 : keyboard Right Section On/Off.
Fn+ pad 5 : Touchpad On/Off.

We are currently finalizing testing of updated BIOS / EC Firmware and hotkey driver to support above listed backlight on/off switches.

Customers can contact Sager Techsupport for the updated BIOS / EC Firmware and hotkey driver on Friday 7/5/2013.

 

Yep so dedicated control for the touchpad now

 

im sure lots of happy customers now

 

Well it did seem a big thing for a few people so it was deemed as worth the time. Very glad it was done

 

Extra kudos to Sager (or Clevo?) for doing this. Glad they listened and responded. Now if they would only open up their BIOS a bit for user customization...

 

Well that's not going to be up to them for much longer I think ...

 

Does anyone know if the new BIOS is available now? Also where do I go to request it? Thanks

 

I woukd contact your reseller.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

The NEW BIOS may not be ready today for all models.

ALSO, there is a NEW Hot key driver that must be installed for all of this to work.

DRIVER is posted on Sager's site...

 

On Sager Site:

custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

New hotkey drivers up.

 

I realize that this is somewhat off topic but my question is this: I have noticed that OriginPC appears to have modified the logo on the touchpad to their own logo? Do you think this is a software mod or???

For reference: EON15-S Gaming Laptop | Gallery | ORIGIN PC

I don't personally care for the default logo and appreciate that the OP has provided this tutorial because I would definitely prefer to disable it as opposed to leaving it like it is. That said, If it weren't too difficult to mod the thing to a logo of my choosing... that would be absolutely amazing... and frankly a really unique offering.

 

Thats interesting - notice the touchpad logo was changed yet the power key logo remains the same as Sager/clevo.

Looking at the touch pad on mine when it isn't lit I can still see the logo. I believe it is an insert that masks the light underneath. Still would be neat if you could make a masking of your own and put it in there.

 

or maybe take out the insert completely and have a uniformly lit touchpad the way that the new aw machines provide

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

What do you mean? Will Sager no longer be able to control/customize there own BIOS?

I've been back and forthing with Sager since Friday and am told I'll receive the new BIOS shortly.

 

I don't think this community is easily stopped is all.