You will not get RGB control in kernel (yet), and asusd is still required to change modes and RGB settings. The previous version of this program is named rog-core and takes full control of the interfaces required - if you can't apply the kernel patches then rog-core is still highly usable.

asusd is a utility for Linux to control many aspects of various ASUS laptops.

Discord

Discord server link

SUPPORTED LAPTOPS

If your laptop is not in the following lists, it may still work with fan-mode switching and charge limit control.

Please help test or provide info for:

GL703(0x1869)
GL553/GL753 (device = 0x1854) (attempted support from researching 2nd-hand info, multizone may work)

Laptop support is modified on a per-case basis as the EC for the keyboard varies a little between models, e.g, some RGB modes are missing, or it's a single colour. As far as I can see, the EC does not give us a way to find what modes are supported.

ANIME AND OTHER FUNCTIONS

MODEL	AniMe	Fan Modes	Charge Limit
GM501		X	X
GX502		X	X
GX531		X	X
GX701		X	X
G512		X	X
G712		X	X
G531		X	X
G731		X	X
G532		X	X
GA401	X	X	X
GA502	X	X	X
GU502	X	X	X

NOTE: GA14/GA401 and GA15/GA502/GU502, You will need kernel patches.

NOTE: If charge limit or fan modes are not working, then you may require a kernel newer than 5.6.10.

KEYBOARD BACKLIGHT MODES

Models GA401, GA502, GU502 support LED brightness change only (no RGB).

MODEL	STATIC	BREATHING	STROBE	RAINBOW	STAR	RAIN	HIGHLIGHT	LASER	RIPPLE	PULSE	COMET	FLASH	ZONES	PER-KEY RGB
G512LI	X	X	X	X
G712LI	X	X	X	X
GM501	X	X	X	X									X
GX531	X	X	X	X									X
G512	X	X	X	X									X
G712	X	X	X	X									X
GX502	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
GX701	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
G531	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
G731	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
G532	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X

Implemented

Daemon
Setting/modifying built-in LED modes
Per-key LED setting
Fancy LED modes (See examples)
Saving settings for reload
Logging - required for journalctl
AniMatrix display on G14 models that include it
Set battery charge limit (with kernel supporting this)

Requirements for compiling

rustc + cargo + make
libusb-1.0-0-dev
libdbus-1-dev
llvm
libclang-dev
libudev-dev

Installing

Run make then sudo make install then reboot.

The default init method is to use the udev rule, this ensures that the service is started when the device is initialised and ready.

If you are upgrading from a previous installed version, you will need to restart the service or reboot.

$ systemctl daemon-reload && systemctl restart asusd

You may also need to activate the service for debian install. If running Pop!_OS, I suggest disabling system76-power gnome-shell extension, or at least limiting use of the power-management parts as asusd lets you set the same things (one or the other will overwrite pstates). I will create a shell extension at some point similar to system76, but using the asusd parts. It is safe to leave system76-power.service enabled and use for switching between graphics modes.

Uninstalling

Run sudo make uninstall in the source repo, and remove /etc/asusd.conf.

Updating

Occasionally you need to remove /etc/asusd.conf and restart the daemon to create a new one. You can back up the old one and copy settings back over (then restart daemon again).

Usage

NOTE! Fan mode toggling requires a newer kernel. I'm unsure when the patches required for it got merged - I've tested with the 5.6.6 kernel and above only. To see if the fan-mode changed cat either:

cat /sys/devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/throttle_thermal_policy or
cat /sys/devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/fan_boost_mode

The numbers are 0 = Normal/Balanced, 1 = Boost, 2 = Silent.

Running the program as a daemon manually will require root. Standard (non-daemon) mode expects to be communicating with the daemon mode over dbus.

Commands are given by:

asusd <option> <command> <command-options>

Help is available through:

asusd --help
asusd <command> --help

Some commands may have subcommands:

asusd <command> <subcommand> --help

Example

$ asusd --help
Usage: asusd [OPTIONS]

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help          print help message
  -v, --version       show program version number
  -d, --daemon        start daemon
  -b, --bright VAL    <off, low, med, high>
  -f, --fan-mode FAN  <silent, normal, boost>

Available commands:
  led-mode  Set the keyboard lighting from built-in modes

$ asusd led-mode --help
Usage: asusd led-mode [OPTIONS]

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help  print help message

Available commands:
  stable        set a single static colour
  breathe       pulse between one or two colours
  strobe        strobe through all colours
  rainbow       rainbow cycling in one of four directions
  star          rain pattern mimicking raindrops
  rain          rain pattern of three preset colours
  highlight     pressed keys are highlighted to fade
  laser         pressed keys generate horizontal laser
  ripple        pressed keys ripple outwards like a splash
  pulse         set a rapid pulse
  comet         set a vertical line zooming from left
  flash         set a wide vertical line zooming from left
  multi-static  4-zone multi-colour

$ asusd led-mode stable --help
Usage: asusd led-mode stable [OPTIONS]

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help  print help message
  -c HEX      set the RGB value e.g, ff00ff

$ asusd led-mode star --help
Usage: asusd led-mode star [OPTIONS]

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help  print help message
  -c HEX      set the first RGB value e.g, ff00ff
  -C HEX      set the second RGB value e.g, ff00ff
  -s SPEED    set the speed: low, med, high

Daemon mode

If the daemon service is enabled then on boot the following will be reloaded from save:

LED brightness
Last used built-in mode
fan-boost/thermal mode
battery charging limit

The daemon also saves the settings per mode as the keyboard does not do this itself - this means cycling through modes with the Aura keys will use the settings that were used via CLI.

Daemon mode creates a config file at /etc/rogcore.conf which you can edit a little of. Most parts will be byte arrays, but you can adjust things like mode_performance.

DBUS Input

See README_DBUS.md.

AniMe input

You will want to look at what MeuMeu has done with https://github.com/Meumeu/ZephyrusBling/

Wireshark captures

TODO: see ./wireshark_data/ for some captures.

Supporting more laptops

Please file a support request.

License

Mozilla Public License 2 (MPL-2.0)

Credits

flukejones, project maintainer.
tuxuser
aspann
meumeu
Anyone missed? Please contact me