This thread was started the middle of November, and it is now the middle of March. 41/2 months, and no one has been able to solve this. I vote that we all send HTC and email about this problem. There is strength in numbers.
Here is the HTC support link
http://www.htc.com/www/CS_Mail.aspx
The Email I just sent reads is follows:
There is a major flaw in your CDMA HTC Touch Pro product.
The slide-out hardware keyboard back light shuts off in 10 seconds or less
(unacceptable in dark environments).
I am a part of a large user consortium that is requesting a fix for this major flaw.
A cab file that allows the user to set his own hardware keyboard back light time-out is the most desired solution, or a file to replace an existing driver file would be acceptable.
The Phone is almost perfect accept for this annoying function.
Expect more emails from frustrated users. Please reply so that I may forward your response up to the many forums PPCGeeks,XDA Developers,Sprint Users, Verizon Wireless users,Howard Forums, HTC Wicki and the like.
There are many threads about this major problem at many of these sites.
You may even want to post a reward for one of the bright developers at these sites to come up with a solution if your technical staff cannot.
Please search the forums to view the many, many users that are plagued with this problem.
Again, a response is requested.
Please copy and paste the body of the message that I sent, and bombard them, with emails.
Power to the people