RGB control for ASUS Vivobook HID LampArray keyboards on Linux
VRGB is a lightweight Linux CLI utility for controlling RGB keyboards on Vivobook ASUS laptops that expose the HID LampArray interface.
Why this exists:
I bought a Vivobook S14 and put Fedora on it for school and work. Fn brightness worked, but the keyboard was stuck on white and none of the usual ASUS RGB tools did anything. After digging into it, I found the keyboard wasn’t using the typical ASUS control path at all.
VRGB is just a tool built around that discovery to get simple RGB control working on Linux without touching the kernel or running a daemon.
The project was developed and validated on:
ITE5570 (HID_ID: 0018:00000B05:000019B6)
- ASUS Vivobook S14 series (S5406SA / S5406SA-WH79)
- firmware: 0x0B
- color: 0x05
- note: some 0x19B6 systems may require
asus-nb-wmito be loaded before HID control works
Community validated:
ITE5570 (HID_ID: 0018:00000B05:00005570)
- ASUS Vivobook S series
- confirmed on S16 M5606K, S16 M5606WA, and S14 M5406WA
- firmware: 0x46
- color: 0x45
- note: OEM rainbow mode may not function on all models
Unlike some RGB tools, VRGB does not rely on kernel patches, vendor utilities, background daemons, controller hacks, or reverse-engineered Windows drivers. VRGB simply communicates with the keyboard controller through the Linux HID subsystem.
Control path:
vrgb.py
↓
/dev/hidrawX
↓
ITE5570 keyboard controller
↓
RGB lighting
Current Stable Release: v0.3.5
- Static RGB color control
- Fine brightness scaling (0–100%)
- Custom profiles
- Firmware autonomous mode toggle
- OEM rainbow toggle (sudo required, model-dependent)
- Debug diagnostics
- Required module checks for affected devices
- Persistent configuration
- Installer and uninstaller included
- Non-root daily usage via udev permissions
- Optional KDE autostart restore
VRGB supports ASUS laptops that expose the ITE5570 HID LampArray controller.
Support is based on verified device mappings, not specific laptop models. Some ASUS laptops share the same HID controller and report IDs across different screen sizes and CPU platforms.
ITE5570 (HID_ID: 0018:00000B05:000019B6)
- confirmed on: ASUS Vivobook S14 series (S5406SA / S5406SA-WH79)
- firmware report:
0x0B - color report:
0x05 - required module:
asus-nb-wmi - OEM rainbow: supported on validated S5406SA hardware, but may vary by model/firmware
ITE5570 (HID_ID: 0018:00000B05:00005570)
- confirmed on:
- ASUS Vivobook S16 (M5606K)
- ASUS Vivobook S16 (M5606WA)
- ASUS Vivobook S14 (M5406WA)
- firmware report:
0x46 - color report:
0x45 - OEM rainbow: not supported / not exposed in current community reports
HID_NAME=ITE5570:00 0B05:19B6
HID_ID=0018:00000B05:000019B6
HID_NAME=ITE5570:00 0B05:5570
HID_ID=0018:00000B05:00005570
VRGB scans available hidraw devices and selects compatible ASUS keyboard controllers automatically.
Multiple ASUS laptops appear to share the same ITE5570 controller and HID LampArray protocol. If your system exposes a similar device, there is a strong chance VRGB will work.
Support expands through verified device mappings as new hardware is tested. Stability and correctness are prioritized over broad but unreliable compatibility.
Some ITE5570 systems may ignore HID LampArray commands until the ASUS WMI module has initialized the hardware.
For affected mappings, VRGB checks whether the required module is loaded and prints clear instructions if it is missing.
Example manual load:
sudo modprobe asus-nb-wmi
Example load at boot:
echo asus-nb-wmi | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/asus-nb-wmi.conf
Static RGB control uses the HID path and is the core of VRGB.
OEM rainbow mode uses a separate ASUS WMI path and is model-dependent. On some supported devices, the WMI debug interface may exist but expose no usable lighting device. In those cases, static RGB control should still work normally.
If VRGB works (or does not work) on your system, please submit a compatibility report including:
vrgb --debug status
Community reports help identify new supported devices quickly.
See reports here:
#1
Clone the repository and run the installer.
git clone https://github.com/vrgb-dev/vrgb.git
cd vrgb
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh
After installation log out and log back in so group permissions apply.
Note: Keyboard color persists on reboot, but may reset to firmware default after a full power cycle. Use the KDE autostart option in the installer (or set it manually) to reapply your configuration automatically.
Show Current Status
vrgb status
Set RGB Color
vrgb set RRGGBB [brightness %]
Example:
vrgb set 00aa55 65
Change Brightness
vrgb brightness 80
Save Profile (Current State)
vrgb profile save fedorablue
Load Profile
vrgb profile load fedorablue
Delete Profile
vrgb profile delete fedorablue
List Saved Profiles
vrgb profile list
Turn Lighting Off
vrgb off
Restore Saved State
vrgb restore
Enable firmware lighting (Firmware Autonomous Mode)
vrgb auto on
Return control to VRGB:
vrgb auto off
OEM Rainbow Mode (requires sudo)
sudo vrgb rainbow on
sudo vrgb rainbow off
Debug Mode
vrgb --debug status
About
vrgb about
Install Binary
sudo install -m 755 vrgb.py /usr/local/bin/vrgb
Create Access Group
sudo groupadd -f vrgb
sudo usermod -aG vrgb $USER
Install udev Rule
Create:
/etc/udev/rules.d/99-vrgb.rules
Contents:
SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNELS=="i2c-ITE5570*", MODE="0660", GROUP="vrgb"
Reload udev
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
Log out and log back in afterward.
Create:
~/.config/autostart/vrgb.desktop
Contents:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/usr/local/bin/vrgb restore
Hidden=false
NoDisplay=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
Name=VRGB Restore
Comment=Restore keyboard RGB state
./uninstall.sh
Removes:
- /usr/local/bin/vrgb
- the udev rule
- optional autostart entry
- expanded ASUS hardware compatibility
- simple GUI frontend
- color picker / brightness control
- profile management
With future updates in mind, this project will aim to continue to be as efficient and lightweight as possible.
v0.3.5
- refined shared Vivobook S-series ITE5570 device mappings
- added ASUS Vivobook S14 M5406WA to community validated hardware
- added required kernel module checks for affected ITE5570 systems
- improved OEM rainbow capability handling for unsupported WMI paths
- updated status output with confirmed models, required modules, and rainbow support
- preserved the no-daemon, direct-HID design
v0.3.1
- introduced multi-device support architecture
- replaced hardcoded HID targeting with device mappings
- added support for ITE5570 (0x5570) devices
- confirmed working on additional Vivobook S16 hardware (community tested)
- refactored device detection to return structured device info
- eliminated global report ID assumptions
- no behavioral changes for existing supported devices
v0.3
- added named profile support
- profile save/load/list/delete commands
- profile data stored in config.json
- profile load applies immediately to hardware
- non-HID commands no longer require device detection
v0.2.2
- improved CLI help output
- installer/Uninstaller validation
- confirmed non-root HID access
- release packaging
v0.2.0
- automatic hidraw detection
- debug mode
- persistent config
- installer script
v0.1
Initial prototype with static RGB and brightness control.
MIT License