[LUCID Beta 1] Brightness Fn keys don't work as expected on Sony Vaio VGN FW35G. Regression.

[svaens]

Dear dev,

This bug report is related to running Ubuntu Lucid Beta 1 on my Sony Vaio VGN-FW35G, Graphics ATI Radeon Mobility HD 3470

Summary:
------------

Problem: Brightness control key combination of (Fn+f5, Fn+f6) do not work as expected. However, Fn key is recognized.
Regression from Karmic where brightness worked.

More info:
------------

In lucid, so far, as of Lucid Beta 1 (updated fully on 24th of March) the 'make brighter' and 'make less bright' key combinations (Fn+f5, Fn+f6) don't seem to work correctly.

In both cases I see the notification box pop up, but in the case of 'make less bright' it just shows. Since my brightness is on FULL already, 'make brighter' makes that 'hit the end' bump kind of look on the notification. I'm not sure if it would work at all if my brightness was not on full already.

Make less bright just shows notification .. but no change in brightness on screen, and no change in reported brightness in notification window.

Additional info:
---------------------

A suggestion from a fellow Ubuntu forum visitor pointed me to the old posting:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=465491

I figure that information that he requested back then might be relevant and useful for this bug report. So I attach it here also.

So, the run of the script gives the following output: (and attached file)

sean@svUbuntuX2:~/Desktop/downloads/vaio_script$ sudo bash ./snc-dsdt.download
[sudo] password for sean:
Checking and installing tools...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
dmidecode is already the newest version.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  acpidump
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 14.8kB of archives.
After this operation, 94.2kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://ftp.iinet.net.au karmic/universe acpidump 20071116-1 [14.8kB]
Fetched 14.8kB in 0s (25.6kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package acpidump.
(Reading database ... 143864 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking acpidump (from .../acpidump_20071116-1_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up acpidump (20071116-1) ...

Getting model information: Model: VGN-FW35G_B, BIOS: R2050Y0
Dumping the ACPI Differentiated System Description Table (DSDT)
Packing and compressing the DSDT...
All done, thank-you

If you want, you can now remove the acpidump and dmidecode packages using:
 sudo apt-get remove acpidump dmidecode

Please attach the file /tmp/VGN-FW35G_B-R2050Y0.dsdt.tar.gz to a new post in this Ubuntu forums thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=465491

[svaens (svaens)]

p.s I had also posted to someone elses bug report (Bug #498706 lucid kubuntu sony vaio brightness key doesn't work)
But as it's title specified Kubuntu only, I was afraid my particular information might not be picked up. Sorry if I should not have duplicated in this way.

[svaens (svaens)]

hmm ... do you mean you would like more information ?

sean@svUbuntuX2:~$ uname -r
2.6.31-20-generic
sean@svUbuntuX2:~$

Just ask, and I will do my best.

[Brandon Elliott (brelliott)]

Unable to use brightness controls on Sony VGN-SR390 with Lucid. Using ATI HD 3000 series, running proprietary fglrx drivers version 2.8.721-0ubuntu7 from the repo. Everything worked fine with Karmic.

[Steve Dodier-Lazaro (sidi)]

Exactly the same problem happens in Lucid, with HP 6730b (Intel GMA950), with 2.6.31-20 and 2.6.32-19.

[diaz8 (diaz8)]

Same problem with a Sony Vaio VGN-NS21S
Kernel 2.6.32.21
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3430
fglrx 2:8.723.1-0ubuntu1

[Yigit Güneli (yiit)]

same on a Vaio FW31J with fglrx and up-to-date lucid.

[Pieter Lexis (pieter-lexis)]

Same problem with a VGN-FW51JF

echoing a value to /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness dims it. Pressing the fn+F5 and fn+f6 does show the libnotify notification, but the brightness doesn't change.

[John McDougall (sysadmin-mcdougallshome)]

I have an Acer Aspire 7740 with intel integrated graphics. I have this same problem. When the function keys are pressed, Ubuntu Lucid (Beta 2) notification shows that it is dimming or brightening, but the screen brightness does not change. Power Management settings do not change the brightness either. It is always bright.

[Lauri Kainulainen (luopio)]

Also happens on NVIDIA (proprietary drivers). Running Sony Vaio S11V9E on 2.6.32-21-generic (64bit). Brightness dims to half correctly when disconnected from AC, but changing via f5/f6 does not work. Thus perhaps ACPI issue?

[Willem Pieterson (wpieterson)]

Also happens on a Vaio VGN-SR39VN using an ATI HD3400 with ATI Drivers (8.723.1). Volume using the Fn+F3/F4 works fine but brightness with Fn+F5/F6 does nothing. Everything worked fine on Karmic.

[Brandon Elliott (brelliott)]

Also occurs with xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.13.0-1ubuntu5 on Lucid Lynx (latest). As noted above, I'm using a Sony VGN-SR390

[Bung (cbungholio)]

+1 confirmation

$ lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series
$ uname -a
Linux vgn 2.6.32-21-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 16 08:09:38 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[progre55 (progre55)]

Hi people,

The same problem with Sony Vaio VGN-NW21SF under both, ubuntu and kubuntu lucid.
A little difference though. Under Ubuntu, when I unplug the power cable, it doesnt even dim, but under Kubuntu it dims a bit when unplugged. However the brightness control combinations do not work. Sometimes the brightness bar pops up, but nothing changes.

Here are some details:

>> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M92 [Mobility Radeon HD 4500 Series]

>> 2.6.32-21-generic

>> Kernel driver in use: fglrx_pci
>> Kernel modules: fglrx, radeon

Hope it gets fixed soon. My eyes hurt =)

[Telmo Pires (taapires)]

I also have this problem with my Sony Vaio VGN-FE31M. (NVIDIA Graphics)

[mahmut (stratovarius-tt)]

i have same problem with my sony vaio vgn-fw21e(ati)

some details;

~$ lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series
~$ uname -a
Linux pasa-laptop 2.6.32-21-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 16 08:09:38 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[jesus225 (jesus225)]

I have the same problem with a vgn-fw31zj. Only without fglrx I can change the brightness trought the applet panel in gnome.

[mrphd (andrubuntu)]

same problem with vpceb1z0e

:~$ lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Manhattan [Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series]

[Pavstyuk (pavstyuk)]

I just want to say: I'm with you guys. Sony vaio vgn-fw11er, ATI radeon 3470, with open drive, brightness works only by applet on the panel, but not by hot keys Fn+F5/F6. With ATI fglrx nothing is changed by keys and by applet, and compiz works bad slowly.

[progre55 (progre55)]

Hey people! Some good news. This solution worked for me, and a couple of guys from ubuntuforums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9242651#post9242651

Edit /etc/default/grub and add ”acpi_backlight=vendor” to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX, so that it looks like this:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=”acpi_backlight=vendor”

update your grub:
sudo update-grub

and restart!

Hope it helps!

[progre55 (progre55)]

well this is weird..
I've got both, ubuntu and kubuntu installed, so I can choose between them on logon.
The fix works under kde, but not when I login to gnome. Any suggestions?

[Hendrik (joker-x)]

Same problem on my HP EliteBook 6930p after upgrading to Lucid. The fix proposed by progre55 above didn't work.
Interestingly, the key combination for switching brightness adaptation on/off (Fn+F11, right next to Fn+F9/F10 for manual adjustment) still seems to work - at least there's a change in brightness when I toggle it.

[cRoW2k (crow2k)]

Same problem on VGN-FW11E
ATI 3470
ATI Driver
Kernel 2.6.32-22

[Telmo Pires (taapires)]

Hi all, the fix proposed by progre55 didn't work for me.
I can't change brightness neither by FN keys or Gnome Brightness Applet.
Sony Vaio VGN-FE31M
Nvidia driver
Kernel 2.6.32-22

[Hendrik (joker-x)]

Yep, the brightness applet doesn't work for me either.

[Damien Lecan (dlecan)]

>Edit /etc/default/grub and add ”acpi_backlight=vendor”
> to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX, so that it looks like this:
> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=”acpi_backlight=vendor”
> update your grub:
> sudo update-grub
> and restart!

Doesn't work for me with Vaio VPCCW1S1E.

[progre55 (progre55)]

are you guys sure you are using the proper double-quotes? cause if you are just copy-pasting the whole line, the quotes are different in here. just copy-paste:
acpi_backlight=vendor

and put the quotations yourself.. dont copy them from here! :)

[Damien Lecan (dlecan)]

I tested with
  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_backlight=vendor"

and not with

 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=”acpi_backlight=vendor”

[Timo Karhu (nalle-karhulitos)]

+1
Vaio VGN-FW41ZJ, ATI HD 4650 with fglrx.
I don't get notifications nor dimming. Dimming was ok in Karmic.

[svaens (svaens)]

An update from me;
Unfortunately the above 'fix' does not work on my machine.

I have not the time to test this in a different install order at the moment, but what I did was this;

1. install proprietary drivers (which I use in karmic) for ATI

result: whereas notifications kind of popped up when hitting the brightness key combination with the open drivers (but didn't work correctly) now, with the proprietary drivers, nothing happens at all.

2. modify grub file, update grub, reboot

result: no change. Still nothing at all.

[Bastian Hablitzel (bastian-hablitzel)]

Same situation as in post #30 on my HP 6735s (ATI Radeon HD 3200)

[Matej Kenda (matejken)]

HP EliteBook 8730w (Radeon Mobility HD 3670). I use radeon video driver on release version of Lucid.

The behaviour is the same as described by Hendrik in comment 22.

I tried echoing to /proc/acpi/video/DGFX/LCD/brightness: brightness is changed.

[Timo Karhu (nalle-karhulitos)]

Ugly but this makes me able to change brightness on VGN-FW41ZJ:
echo 76 | sudo dd of=/proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness

To get allowed values, use:
cat /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness

[Bung (cbungholio)]

What if we have no file /etc/default/grub ?

[silvan (silvan-nellen)]

I observed the exact same behaviour as described in this bug report on my HP EliteBook 8530w (64 bit ubuntu, fresh install (not updated from 9.10)). After some digging in the gnome-power-manager code I found a solution that worked for me (See post #20 on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/+bug/555122 ). Maybe the fix proposed solves this bug as well ?

[Hendrik (joker-x)]

Bung:
> What if we have no file /etc/default/grub ?

That means that you use GRUB legacy instead of GRUB 2 as your boot manager. You probably started using Ubuntu before version 9.04 (which introduced GRUB 2, I think - or was it 9.10?) and subsequently upgraded to the newer versions.
The equivalent (more or less) file of /etc/default/grub would be /boot/grub/menu.lst for you. You could try making the respective changes there, but the format is different. For the fix proposed by progre55, add "acpi_backlight=vendor" (without the quotes) to the "kernel" line of your default boot option.

[jesus225 (jesus225)]

A fix for my Sony Vaio! (Thank you Silvan for this solution)
1. Find out the vendor string used by hal:

 $ lshal | grep system.hardware.vendor

 (In my case: system.hardware.vendor = 'Sony Corporation )

2. Find out the product string:

 $ lshal | grep system.hardware.product

 (In my case: system.hardware.product = 'VGN-FW31ZJ' )

3. Open /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/10-laptop-panel-hardware.fdi in an editor with root privileges

4. Add this line

<match key="/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer:system.hardware.vendor" string="Sony Corporation">
 <match key="/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer:system.hardware.product" contains_outof="VGN-FW31ZJ">
   <!-- needed since the acpi video module reports it handle the events, but it don't work on this machines-->
          <merge key="laptop_panel.brightness_in_hardware" type="bool">false</merge>
        </match>
</match>
5. Reboot!

[jesus225 (jesus225)]

Doesn't work with fglrx installed!!

[svaens (svaens)]

Same with me jesus225,

I have fglrx installed, but did not think that perhaps the fix works with the free driver.
Did you test it with the free driver and it works ? Or only with fglrx (as I did) ?

I accidentally wrote my results in the wrong bug report:

Did NOT make any difference for me.

I tried several combinations. And to start with, there was no matching entry for my vendor or product. I had to add them myself to test this potential fix. Seems like there are several causes for the same symptoms, as this has helped some people but not others.

I would also like to know however, IF Hal is no longer used, WHY does it help anyone!?
That seems very strange if this is the case; That some other application or device is using a configuration file for a daemon that is no longer setup to run in Ubuntu? That 'sounds' downright dirty.

[jesus225 (jesus225)]

The fix works correctly with the open drivers, try it!

[Hendrik (joker-x)]

The fix proposed by silvan/jesus225 worked for me. I'm using the open drivers.
Like svaens, I'm wondering about the status of HAL - is it only running on my machine for legacy reasons? If Lucid is supposed to run without HAL, the fix isn't really a solution.

[jesus225 (jesus225)]

The fix isn't really a solution as it doesn't work with fglrx drivers.
Ubuntu guys are going to do something?

[Hendrik (joker-x)]

In another bug thread (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/+bug/555122), people were reporting that it worked out of the box with the newest version (10.5) of Catalyst/fglrx.

[Eric Morgan (gemorgan)]

I have two Lenovo Y550 machines, one with Intel graphics and the other with nvidia graphics. The function key brightness works find for the nvidia graphics both with the open source and restricted drivers. The intel card does not work.

Furthmore, there is no folder
/proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness
There is a path
/proc/acpi/video/GFX0
but no LCD folder under it.

gnome-panel brightness app does not work. It installs and the slider opens but as soon as one clicks, the slider closes. The next time the slider is opened, it is offset about half the value of the screen to the left but still doesn't work.

[cRoW2k (crow2k)]

Install new ATI 10.5 driver following this topic http://forum.ubuntu-it.org/index.php/topic,155477.0.html works for me! Thanks ATI!!

[mrphd (andrubuntu)]

Newer drivers fixed the brightness problem for me too. I just added the PPA

https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

and then updated my system and restarted.

[gbrocker (gbrocker)]

New ATI 10.6 drivers work for me !

[bhuvi (bhuvanesh)]

same problem for me on lenovo G550 laptop. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/udev/+bug/530238

[penalvch (penalvch)]

svaens, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please attach all information noted in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/Debugging/Backlight ? As well, can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]