GA401QM-211.ZG14 standby and keyboard brightness not working on Ubuntu 21.04

This is regarding the GA401QM-211.ZG14 model

Steps:

  1. install latest Ubuntu 21.04 distro (in my case I used Budgie but doesn't seem to make a difference)
  2. install asusctl and firmware packages as per instructions on asus-linux.org

Results:

  • Everything works except for standby and the ability to turn on/off and/or adjust the keyboard lighting (it is stuck off by default)
  • When I try to resume from standby, the system simply restarts
  • Every once in a while the keyboard light will be on after one of these standby restarts, but asusctl -k off and other commands will have no effect. asusctl -s reports that keyboard brightness is a supported capability

Other things I've tried:

  • re-installing kernel modules
  • installing newer mainline kernels versions
  • disabling secure boot

Things I haven't tried but will soon

  • re-installing but without installing the driver packages (just install asusctl)
  • trying with 20.10 instead as I saw some chatter on reddit that newer kernel versions have an issue with the newer g14
  • trying other ubuntu flavors to double check this isn't some weirdness with budgie (I highly doubt that though it's a pretty tight gnome integration)
  • arch (bleh)

Any advice is greatly appreciated!