Sorry, 1rstly, For the backup, and the cp I think the paths are all mixed up, since i'm using a 64bits version. to find the files : find /usr -iname "hal-system-lcd-*et-brightness-linux", backup, and replace them with my files. 2ndly, I also mess up with the name of your sony-laptop model, you need to change the name "VGN-FE31Z" into "VGN-FE31M" in /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/10-sony-laptop-panel-mgmt-policy.fdi Then reboot, PS : If it still doesn't work, to verify if the things are ok, sudo smartdimmer -s 5 # to change brightness, verify that smartdimmer works lshal | grep -i "sony-nvidia" # hal have now the write method if both of those things are ok, then that means that the 2 others files (*set* and *get* ) are wrongly installed 2008/10/13 benste