Setting up SteelSeries Shift Keyboard with Windows 8

[Jbbrack03]

Hello all,

This is kind of a last-ditch effort to get this working. So I just built a new i7/Nvidia Rig and I bought a SteelSeries Shift Keyboard to go with it (I'm a big WOW fan). I plugged it into my brand new computer and all the keys on the keyboard work except for the 1, Q, and TAB keys. So I went ahead and downloaded the SteelSeries Engine software from their website. It says on the site that it's intended for Windows 8 32/64-Bit (I'm running Windows 8 Pro 64-bit).

When I try to install the software, it says that it's initializing the driver and then a window pops up and it tries to update the keyboard Firmware. This fails and it says that the drive was not initialized. The keyboard LED's start to turn on and off, and then the software prompts me to plug in my keyboard and hold the 5 & 6 action keys as I plug it in (it's important to note that the keyboard was never unplugged). At this point, I've tried both options. I've tried unplugging the keyboard and holding the keys and plugging it back in. I've also tried just hitting "OK" on the Firmware window. In either case, the Firmware just tells me that the driver did not open and gives me an "OK" button again. When I hit "OK" the installation continues and appears to complete successfully.

At this point, the SteelSeries Engine Software opens up and says that it could not find any SteelSeries Devices. So I've tried the normal things from this point (rebooting the computer, plugging the keyboard into different ports, uninstalling/reinstalling the SteelSeries Software). I've also tried the same steps with a completely different AMD System and received the same results.

I'm expecting that this is something involving the SteelSeries Software and Windows 8. During my research online and looking at the SteelSeries FAQ's, I don't really see any references to troubleshooting Windows 8. I do have a SteelSeries Support Ticket open, but I see from other comments that they take forever to respond and that they are often very unhelpful. I only have a short window to return this keyboard, but I'd really like to get it working.

Here are my System Specs:

Core-i7 3770K
Nvidia GTX 680 4 GB
128 Skynix SSD
16 GB DDR3 1600 RAM
2 TB 2700 RPM HD
Corsair H100i WaterCooler (with installed software)

Other than those things, I have a Logitech G13 Keypad plugged in and I have an Xbox 360 Wireless Controller plugged in. I don't think that it's a conflict with these things because I experienced the same problems on the other AMD desktop that had nothing else installed or plugged in.

So I'm hope that someone else has some experience with using the SteelSeries Shift with Windows 8. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[SchizTech]

It sounds to me like you have a faulty keyboard there.

 

[Jbbrack03]

That's definitely a concern that I had (with some keys not working). But what I'm experiencing with the software has also been documented many times by other people that are using different versions of Windows. Seems like it's a bit hard to get the software to recognize any SteelSeries Devices.

I'd like to nail it down though. So if anyone has been able to make a SteelSeries Device work with Windows 8, I'd be interested in hearing how they did it.

 

[Romhart]

With Windows 8 it is going to work if you update your keyboard firmware on a windows 7 or older system first. but on windows 8.1 some keys of the keybord don´t work anymore (left shift). the steelseries software will cause a loop in the driver installation, that will let you have to restore your system from a image( so I propose , You create one first. it works with the following commandline in the admin power shell:"wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:H: -include:C: -allCritical -quiet" )
if someone solved that i´d love to hear about that.

 

[J4cko]

Thx a bunch, this helped. Used Win7 installation on old PC to update firmare (which got stuck when I used the firmware update alone and went through only with steelseries engine installation) and it was fine when switched back to new PC with Win8!

Cheers!

 

[haggisdog]

Thx a bunch, this helped. Used Win7 installation on old PC to update firmare (which got stuck when I used the firmware update alone and went through only with steelseries engine installation) and it was fine when switched back to new PC with Win8!

Cheers!

I'm having the same problem and would really like to get this keyboard working on my Windows 8 machine being a WoW addict 🙂 Could you walk through the steps in some more detail? Did you simply update the firmware on the keyboard on a Windows 7 machine and it worked when you plugged it on the Windows 8 machine or did you follow the instructions that Romhart offered with the "restore your system from a image( so I propose , You create one first. it works with the following commandline in the admin power shell:"wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:H: -include:C: -allCritical -quiet" )"?

 

[johndorf92]

Thx a bunch, this helped. Used Win7 installation on old PC to update firmare (which got stuck when I used the firmware update alone and went through only with steelseries engine installation) and it was fine when switched back to new PC with Win8!

Cheers!

I'm having the same problem and would really like to get this keyboard working on my Windows 8 machine being a WoW addict 🙂 Could you walk through the steps in some more detail? Did you simply update the firmware on the keyboard on a Windows 7 machine and it worked when you plugged it on the Windows 8 machine or did you follow the instructions that Romhart offered with the "restore your system from a image( so I propose , You create one first. it works with the following commandline in the admin power shell:"wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:H: -include:C: -allCritical -quiet" )"?

up this... still can't do it with my 8.1