[Dell Vostro 5470] Unable to control brightness with the Intel GPU / nVidia GPU + proprietary driver

[Po-Hsu Lin]

CID: 201307-14038 Dell Vostro 5470

The brightness cannot be adjusted when running on Intel GPU
This bug is similar to bug 1332437, but this one is a I+N system

Steps:
1. Install 14.04 + update (3.13.0-29), boot to desktop
2. Try to adjust the screen brightness with hotkeys and "Brightness and Lock" applet

Expected result:
* Screen brightness could be adjusted in both ways.

Actual result:
* Unable to control screen brightness, the brightness indicator would change according to key press on the hotkeys

Debugging information:
ubuntu@201307-14038:~$ ls /sys/class/backlight
acpi_video0 intel_backlight

ubuntu@201307-14038:~$ grep -r . /proc/acpi
/proc/acpi/button/lid/LID0/state:state: open
/proc/acpi/wakeup:Device S-state Status Sysfs node
/proc/acpi/wakeup:P0P1 S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:GLAN S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:EHC1 S4 *enabled pci:0000:00:1d.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:EHC2 S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:XHC S4 *enabled pci:0000:00:14.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:HDEF S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1b.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:RP01 S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1c.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PXSX S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:RP02 S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1c.1
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PXSX S4 *disabled pci:0000:02:00.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:RP03 S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1c.2
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PXSX S4 *enabled pci:0000:07:00.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:RP04 S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1c.3
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PXSX S4 *disabled pci:0000:08:00.0
/proc/acpi/wakeup:RP05 S4 *disabled pci:0000:00:1c.4
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PXSX S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PEG0 S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PEGP S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PEG1 S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:PEG2 S4 *disabled
/proc/acpi/wakeup:LID0 S3 *enabled

ubuntu@201307-14038:~$ dmesg | grep 'ACPI: Video'
[ 4.106881] ACPI: Video Device [PEGP] (multi-head: no rom: yes post: no)
[ 4.121059] ACPI: Video Device [GFX0] (multi-head: yes rom: no post: no)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-29-generic 3.13.0-29.53
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-29.53-generic 3.13.11.2
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-29-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: ubuntu 1533 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 1533 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA:
 country TW:
  (2402 - 2472 @ 40), (3, 27)
  (5270 - 5330 @ 40), (3, 17), DFS
  (5735 - 5815 @ 40), (3, 30)
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Jun 24 06:08:39 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=a006ee47-418d-4b00-a823-81ac84d903e4
InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-01-01 (1635 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Vostro 5470
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-29-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=d578d54f-0310-4907-83ba-ffb8e071368e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-29-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-29-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.2
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/02/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A03
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 0.1
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA03:bd10/02/2013:svnDellInc.:pnVostro5470:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1:
dmi.product.name: Vostro 5470
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

The brightness control still not working with the proprietary driver installed.
ubuntu@201307-14038:/sys/devices/pnp0$ /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -c -p
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GT 740M/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 331.38

Not software rendered: yes
Not blacklisted: yes
GLX fbconfig: yes
GLX texture from pixmap: yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes

Compiz supported: yes

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Just like bug 1332437, brightness control with the proprietary driver could work with the latest daily-live kernel
Also, it works with the driver removed (running the Intel GPU)

ubuntu@201307-14038:~$ uname -a
Linux 201307-14038 3.16.0-999-generic #201406240316 SMP Tue Jun 24 07:18:08 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

With proprietary driver removed:
ubuntu@201307-14038:~$ ls /sys/class/backlight/
intel_backlight

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Edward Lin (airken)]

Duplicate bug of bug 1332437

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Test with kernel provided in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1332437/comments/11, backlight control still not working with the Intel GPU / nVidia GPU.

[Edward Lin (airken)]

@Po-Hsu,
Fix some mistakes in previous release, please try following release.
Thanks.
http://people.canonical.com/~airken/bug/lp1332437/v2/

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

V2 still not working, if this fix applies to bug 1250401, I think you have the hardware.

[Edward Lin (airken)]

Backlight control works with the kernel mentioned in #10.
But backlight dims slowly.
System has same behavior on 3.16-r3
Suspect that dim behavior is the hardware/BIOS issue.

I will submit a sauce patch for Dell Inspiron 5547/5447/5737 and Vostro 5470.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Verified with 14.04 stock image on this system again (in both UEFI / legacy mode), just like what Edward commented in comment #12, it dims slowly with both of the Intel and nVidia GPU.
Therefore I will mark this bug as Invalid.
Thanks!