8086:2a02 [Dell Vostro 1310] no brightness control on (x)ubuntu 13.10 / 14.04

[Federico Leoni]

When I press the appropriate keys on keyboard (Fn+up/Fn+down) the slider appears on the upper right corner of the screen but the brightness doesn't change.

Problem is I have not intel_backlight on /sys/class/backlight folder but just acpi_video0 or dell_backlight (if I set acpi_backlight=vendor on grub). Since I don't have intel_backlight folder I can't apply many of the workaround found here and there.

Reported upstream at http://marc.info/?l=linux-acpi&m=139290477319769&w=2 .

WORKAROUND: /sys/class/backlight$ for i in /sys/class/backlight/*; do echo -e "\n $i"; cat $i/{brightness,max_brightness,actual_brightness}; done

/sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0
1
7
1

If I increase the backlight via funcion keys or terminal the files are correctly updated:

$ echo 7 | sudo tee /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

/sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0
7
7
7

acpi_listen works just on new mainline kernel 3.13.2 (tried bot generic and lowlatency) on stock kernel there isn't output at all:
video/brightnessup BRTUP 00000086 00000000 K
video/brightnessdown BRTDN 00000087 00000000 K

Now I'm using xrandr to change the brightness:
xrandr --output LVDS1 --brightness 0.5

but since xrandr is a software overlay my battery life is horrible, I'm stuck on 100% brightness. Beside this, sometimes the brightness slider appears spontaneously without pressing any keys but again with no effect.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: linux-image-3.11.0-15-generic 3.11.0-15.25
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-15.25-generic 3.11.10
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-15-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: effe 1526 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 102.704995] ERROR @wl_dev_intvar_get : error (-1)
 [ 102.705003] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_get_tx_power : error (-1)
Date: Mon Feb 17 13:27:10 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=d0ee674f-0ea7-47e1-ba6f-1a849ba35941
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-02-10 (6 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Vostro1310
MarkForUpload: True
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-15-generic root=UUID=44ccbe21-7e45-468c-b942-1773a32943b0 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.116.2
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/18/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A15
dmi.board.name: 0K866H
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA15:bd03/18/2009:svnDellInc.:pnVostro1310:pvrNull:rvnDellInc.:rn0K866H:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: Vostro1310
dmi.product.version: Null
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Federico Leoni, could you please confirm this issue exists with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ . If the issue remains, please just make a comment to this.

If reproducible, could you also please test the latest upstream kernel available (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-3.14-rc3

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

Christoper,
I've tested the latest available Ubuntu 14.04 64bit iso from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .
Same issues with both stock 3.13.0-8-generic and 3.14.0-031400rc2-generic (rc3 has not 64bit packages to test) from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D .

Tested both kernel with and without grub command line options. As soon as the packages for kernel 3.14rc3 will be ready I'll test them.

Again, I can update from terminal and from funcion keys the /sys/clsss/backlight files but with no effect on system.
Tags updated.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Federico Leoni, the issue you are reporting is an upstream one. Could you please report this problem through the appropriate channel by following the instructions _verbatim_ at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel ?

Please provide a direct URL to your e-mail to the mailing list once you have made it so that it may be tracked.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

Ok. As soon as I can I'll push the bug to acpi_intel list and his mantainer.

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

Done.

http://marc.info/?l=linux-acpi&m=139290477319769&w=2

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

Today I've updated my 14.04 install and the osd no longer works.
Anyway the issue is present on the latest rc4 too.

Acpi_listen is reporting the keypressed code and the backlight files are correctly updated but nothing changes.

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

I found on dmesg those lines:

[ 16.487465] ACPI Warning: 0x0000000000001028-0x000000000000102f SystemIO conflicts with Region \PMIO 1 (20131115/utaddress-251)
[ 16.487476] ACPI: If an ACPI driver is available for this device, you should use it instead of the native driver
[ 16.487481] ACPI Warning: 0x00000000000011b0-0x00000000000011bf SystemIO conflicts with Region \GPIO 1 (20131115/utaddress-251)
[ 16.487487] ACPI: If an ACPI driver is available for this device, you should use it instead of the native driver
[ 16.487489] ACPI Warning: 0x0000000000001180-0x00000000000011af SystemIO conflicts with Region \GPIO 1 (20131115/utaddress-251)
[ 16.487495] ACPI: If an ACPI driver is available for this device, you should use it instead of the native driver

But obviously I don't have idea of what it means and if can help or not.

[Federico Leoni (effelle-gmail)]

Christopher,

I reinstalled my Windows Vista from my restoration DVD just to check if brightness works and I had many difficult installing it.
I was able to install an old XP and I discovered multiple errors about ACPI and the brightness control has issues on this OS too: I can see the brightness slider moving but the luminosity don't change. I need a reflow or a moterboard replacement.
Seems Linux is enumerating periferals in a different way and is less sensible to hardware failures.

Please, mark this bug as invalid and close it. I'll contact you again if, after the hardware fix, the issue is still present.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Federico Leoni, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1281176/comments/10 regarding this being due to hardware failure. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.