How To Install A Backlit Keyboard Into An Inspiron 17R-N7110

So I guess you have arrived at this link thinking there is a tutorial here about how to install a backlit keyboard into an Inspiron 17R, well, long story short, this website (TheBlogOfTech.net) has been through many ups and downs and what I mean by that is… we haven’t been around the whole time since this article was originally published. So, the original article was deleted, and this one was created because I keep getting traffic to it, so I thought I would write something up because I still remember how to do this. If you want to read more on this website’s history, be sure to check out our About page (just to save some space on this post and cut right to the chase).

OK so getting right into this, as long as you have an Inspiron 17R, this should work, but just to make sure, you will have to remove the keyboard itself from the laptop in order to see if the connector is there. I believe all Inspiron 17R’s built at the time of the release date (some where around 2014) have a connector for a backlit keyboard. So once you see that the connector is there, go ahead and order one of the keyboards below from eBaY (while also making sure the keyboard has English characters on it, because when I did this to my 17R, it was mostly an Italian keyboard). Below you will see that I marked off what you should and shouldn’t order, the bottom listing there is what you want, I mean as long as it says “Inspiron 17R -N7110 backlit keyboard”, theoretically it should work. You might also want to check other sites for this part to compare prices, so Google it and check, because I never checked but I like eBaY’s buyer protection plan so that’s important to have incase the part doesn’t work and you want to return the keyboard. Also, make sure you test it within arrival (within the first couple days) to make sure the keyboard works, so that if it doesn’t you will still have enough time to send it back.

Below, you will see the keyboard again but this tutorial will teach you how to remove the keyboard so you can find the connector and plugin the new keyboard. I believe all models of the 17R (I could be wrong about this) have the ability to run a backlit keyboard and the connector for one is on all of the logic boards of these machines, you just got to peel back the rubber cover that is covering up the connector. I know it should be there because I actually cut a hole around it so I could plug in the keyboard. After looking at the pictures of this laptop, I think it only has one connector, but if there is two, leave a comment down below. What ever there is with the actual backlit keyboard itself, you have to connect them all in order to get the backlit keyboard to light up. Check below for more pictures.

See that rubber cover I was talking about?, that’s what you need to cut a hole through to get to that connector (I’m pretty sure), but finding it may be tricky. The main reason I can’t tear apart my old Inspiron 17R is because it was stolen from me in 2015 when I parked my car on a dirt road, so I never got it back after that. I never ordered another laptop, because mine was only a Core i3 anyways (it was kind of slow but still ran Starcraft 2 I guess). When I had the laptop with the new backlit keyboard installed, I would say it was a pretty nice laptop with those lit up keys, what a difference. Check below for more pictures.

Once the new keyboard is installed, hold down the Fn key and then press the brightness button and that should turn the backlit keyboard on. Below is a picture of a laptop with a backlit keyboard, I could not find a picture of a 17R running a backlit keyboard on Google Images so I guess you will have to suffer with what I have here. If you got yours working please just leave a comment down below with a link to the image of your laptop running the backlit keyboard, that would be awesome and I’ll include it in this post and will give you full credit for the image. Anyways, I hope that helped you guys and I am hoping to keep this site up and running in the future so stay tuned and subscribe for more interesting content like this.

If your looking for more parts for the Dell Inspiron 17R, be sure to check out Amazon.ca (affiliate link, we may earn a commission from what ever you may buy).