Backlight adjustment no longer works on Thinkpad X61s

Bug #197929 reported by Dan Alderman
62
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Stefan Bader

Bug Description

acpid reports the button press in the logs, the gnome widget pops up and changes correctly but the backlight doesn't actually get dimmed. It works fine in 2.6.24-10. This is with the amd64 install on a Thinkpad X61s.

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Arve Bersvendsen (arve-bersvendsen) wrote :

I'm seeing the exact same behavior using the i386-build on the same machine. Also using xbacklight from the command line is ineffectual.

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Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara) wrote :

Hi Dan,

I assume you are then having issues when using the 2.6.24-11 kernel? If you try to dim using System->Preferences->Power Management does that work? Per the kernel team's bug policy, can you please attach the following information. Please be sure to attach each file as a separate attachment.

* cat /proc/version_signature > version.log
* dmesg > dmesg.log
* sudo lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log

For more information regarding the kernel team bug policy, please refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies . Thanks again and we appreciate your help and feedback.

Changed in linux:
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :

Hi,

Yes, it happens with 2.6.24-11. The dimming does not work by using the power preferences or the keys. I also tried xbacklight, it also doesn't work.

Requested files attached.

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Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :
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Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :
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Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :

I just tried 2.6.24-12 and it displays the same issue as 2.6.24-11. Having to use 2.6.24-10 still to be able to adjust the backlight.

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htoug (hetoug) wrote :

I can confirm the problem using 2.6.24-12:

Linux henrik-laptop 2.6.24-12-generic #1 SMP Sat Mar 8 02:29:24 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

I can find no way of changing the backlight.

Revision history for this message
Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton) wrote :

So something broke the backlight adjustment after -10, maybe this change?

  * ACPI: video: Rationalise ACPI backlight implementation

Changed in linux:
importance: Undecided → Medium
status: Incomplete → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton) wrote :

Nope, wasn't that change, instead this one:

ACPI: video: Ignore ACPI video devices that aren't present in hardware
50bcae78c21bf5c69d72ede68c8a00e12ab95618

I built the latest kernel without that commit, and now the backlight control works ok.

Changed in linux:
assignee: nobody → ubuntu-kernel-team
Revision history for this message
Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :

I just looked in the dmesg output when loading the thinkpad_acpi module and spotted this message. Maybe it helps?

[ 4565.175197] thinkpad_acpi: ThinkPad ACPI Extras v0.17
[ 4565.175203] thinkpad_acpi: http://ibm-acpi.sf.net/
[ 4565.175205] thinkpad_acpi: ThinkPad BIOS 7NET29WW (1.10 ), EC 7MHT24WW-1.02
[ 4565.175208] thinkpad_acpi: Lenovo ThinkPad X61s
[ 4565.175595] thinkpad_acpi: radio switch found; radios are enabled
[ 4565.185927] thinkpad_acpi: standard ACPI backlight interface available, not loading native one...

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Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :

Some more info, if I load thinkpad_acpi with brightness_enable=1 set, I can control the brightness by echoing values into /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness. e.g.

echo level 10 > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness

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Dan Alderman (danalderman) wrote :

Not sure what update did it, but this is fixed for me now.

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Chris Jones (cmsj) wrote :

this isn't fixed for me, although the brightness_enable trick does work.

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Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton) wrote :

Neither for me. Only reverting the patch works here.

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Sebastian Urban (surban) wrote :

Is not fixed for me either.

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noah dain (noahdain) wrote :

same situation on a new T61, hardy beta.

(acpi keys brightness keys also don't work, but that's a whole nother issue.)

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Tero Huttunen (terohu) wrote :

I'm having this same problem with the backlight as I already commented in #201533.
I got it working with xbacklight by changing the BACKLIGHT_CONTROL from kernel to native, whatever that means:

$ xrandr --output LVDS --set BACKLIGHT_CONTROL native

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John Leach (johnleach) wrote :

Same problem here on my R61. Brightness stopped working after a Hardy upgrade a few days ago.

Also, when I press the brightness keys there is a 3 second delay before the indicator pops up - the level bar goes up and down but the brightness does not change.

Whenever I press the brightness keys I get the following in the ring buffer:

[ 707.516717] thinkpad_acpi: unknown LID-related HKEY event: 0x5010
[ 710.394765] thinkpad_acpi: unknown LID-related HKEY event: 0x5010
[ 710.508695] thinkpad_acpi: unknown LID-related HKEY event: 0x5010

Changed in linux:
milestone: none → ubuntu-8.04
Revision history for this message
FaberfoX (faberfox) wrote :

I'm not sure if this is related, but on the transition from alpha6 to beta, I also lost the display turning off after the screen saver. This is on a T61, set with screensaver after 5 minutes and screen off (in power management) after 10.
Can anyone confirm if you have this same new behaviour?

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noah dain (noahdain) wrote :

to: Faberfox

tested your config on kubuntu, and it's working ok here with latest up to date hardy.
T61 6465CTO, intel graphics (x3100/965GM)

Revision history for this message
FaberfoX (faberfox) wrote :

After today's update, screen is turning off again. Brightness control is still not working.

Stefan Bader (smb)
Changed in linux:
assignee: ubuntu-kernel-team → stefan-bader-canonical
status: Triaged → In Progress
Revision history for this message
Stefan Bader (smb) wrote :

I just reverted the "Ignore ACPI video devices that aren't present in hardware" patch. The patch was intended to fix another problem but introduced regressions. It has been reverted upstream due to that fact.

Changed in linux:
status: In Progress → Fix Committed
Revision history for this message
noah dain (noahdain) wrote :

update:
system: latest hardy kubuntu amd64 on a thinkpad T61 6465CTO (intel x3100 video)

-acpi brightness keys now working and responding quickly to input, but only when the module thinkpad_acpi is loaded with arguments `brightness_enable=1`.

spiffy!

Revision history for this message
Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton) wrote :

This is fixed with 2.6.24-13, although the changelog doesn't mention that the broken commit had been reverted.

Changed in linux:
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Thiago Gallo (tagallo) wrote :

I'm using 2.6.24-14 and it's not fixed for me.

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reacocard (reacocard) wrote :

It is also not fixed for me in -14, however the brightness_enable trick still works, and brightness switching is much faster than it used to be.

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Paul Smith (paulsmith) wrote :

sudo sh -c "echo options thinkpad_acpi brightness_enable=1,brightness_mode=3 > /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.modprobe"

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htoug (hetoug) wrote :

Backlight suddenly works for me - after yesterdays patches (ie. 2008-04-03)

uname: Linux henrik-laptop 2.6.24-14-generic #1 SMP Wed Apr 2 03:44:27 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

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asdf (asdf123123-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Can confirm this problem for an x61s. The workaround with reloading thinkpad_acpi with "brightness_enable=1" and then writing the number in the concerning proc file worked for me. However the adjustments keys still don't. Please fix this.

Revision history for this message
Olivier Cortès (olive) wrote :

Hi,

Coming from #176888 which has been marked duplicate of current issue :

Hardware : sony Vaio BZ11XN (Intel GMA X4500MHD).
I confirm, on latest Intrepid (as of 2008-08-30), that the xrandr manual-call is *needed* to be able to use xbacklight.

My Fn-keys are not working but this is another problem (#251665).

As I stated in #173652 : 2 times out of 3, the rc.local call to xrandr seems to make some kind of race condition with gdm startup ; X do not start completely and the machine hard-locks : gdm starts, the screen blinks 2 or 3 times, then remains black (with backlight on) ; no response from anything (CAPS led is unresponsive, nor SysRq-reboot). Pulling the xrandr call out of rc.local and calling it in a terminal *after* GNOME session has opened is OK and makes xbacklight work everytime. (should I fill another bug with this ?)

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Petr Menšík (pihhan) wrote :

Hello, i came from same bug #176888. I have vaio VGN-FZ210CE, todays intrepid live cd i386. I confirm that after login, hotkeys do work, but backlight is not changed really, only bars in OS. after swtiching to any other backlight control, i have fully working backlight. all native, legacy and combination do work, kernel does not.

I found also some problem, but applet from gnome-power-manager applet called gnome-brightness-applet. Until i change method using xrandr, it does respond, moves bar up or down. It does not however dim the screen. After xrandr, when i try raise or lower brightness using applet, all desktop hangs. I can still switch to text terminal or use control+alt+backspace to terminate X, but no keys or clicking work in any application, nor can i switch apps using alt+tab. I have simple compiz effect enabled by default.

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