8086:2a42 [eMachines E527] On startup, the backlight is off on laptop

[Travis DePrato]

When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.

This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I was using the i686 installer.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CurrentDmesg:
 [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
 [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
DRM.card0.DP.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
 status: connected
 enabled: enabled
 dpms: On
 modes: 1366x768
 edid-base64: AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
DRM.card0.VGA.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: natty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GdmLog1:

GdmLog2:

GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
   Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=83376c0e-9440-4ba9-bbdb-363565bf5e72 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
Renderer: Unknown
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 04/16/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: eMachines
dmi.bios.version: V1.01
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: eMachines E527
dmi.board.vendor: eMachines
dmi.board.version: V1.01
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: eMachines
dmi.chassis.version: V1.01
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvneMachines:bvrV1.01:bd04/16/2010:svneMachines:pneMachinesE527:pvrV1.01:rvneMachines:rneMachinesE527:rvrV1.01:cvneMachines:ct10:cvrV1.01:
dmi.product.name: eMachines E527
dmi.product.version: V1.01
dmi.sys.vendor: eMachines
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110411-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu12
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.23-1ubuntu6
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.10.2-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.10.2-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.0-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110107+b795ca6e-0ubuntu7

[Sergey Kovalev (kovalev-s)]

Another workaround:

Add "acpi_osi=Linux" in your boot options. For example, modify /etc/default/grub like this:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=“quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux”
then run update-grub and reboot.

After boot you will be enable to change backlight power with notebook hardware keys.

[diehard67 (diehard67)]

I have an aspire 7715 and I had the same problem.
also that work around worked for me.

another note.
adding acpi_backlight=video to the kernel command line makes the system aware of when the brightness changes, it still can't change it in software.
acpi_backlight=vender the backlight keys still work but the os doesn't seem to see when you change the brightness.

also software brightness control works in windows, for whatever that is worth.

[Travis DePrato (skidbladnir)]

Thank you for that! Although, my backlight is still completely off when the laptop boots, but, at least I can use it without waiting for the crontab to run the command every time I close my laptop.

[JaxterBlax (w0anm73)]

I have an Emachines E527 laptop, I have tried the work around without success.

[Travis DePrato (skidbladnir)]

Actually, after adding this, it works, but only AFTER I turn the backlight on, using the command I mentioned earlier. So, I can change the brightness, but, when it's off, I still can't turn it back on without running that command (which I have a shortcut for, by the way. :P)

[JaxterBlax (w0anm73)]

Thanks, I was able to get my display turned on and working after using setpci, first.

[JimBo (barreda-jm)]

Same problem for me on Packard Bell Easynote TK36 (Model # PEW92).
"setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=0" solution works fine (added to my /etc/rc.local)

[m_a_n_u (emmanuel-legrand)]

I've got the same problem, though it affects any live boot such as gnome3, xubuntu 1104. I was on linux mint debian edition with xfce, and i've got the black screen after last update. So i'm back on Xubuntu 10.04 !

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

This bug indicates the problem affects 6 people, and it has Confirmed status in duplicate bug 772050 (which indicates it affects 6 people, and is itself a very strong bug report which had duplicates before it became a duplicate) as well as in duplicate bug 772690 (which indicates it affects 3 people). The bug has now been documented and people tend to experience it in the same way. I realize there may be some double-counting of users affected between this and the various duplicates, but even if the overlap were absolute, I think cause would still be more than sufficient to change this bug's status from New to Confirmed. So that's what I'm doing.

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

A patched kernel and gnome-power-manager exist to get the backlight hotkeys working:

https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/linux-kamal-mjgbacklight
add it to your sources e.g. with:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:kamalmostafa/linux-kamal-mjgbacklight
then reload the package information and upgrade your system (e.g. with synaptic)

This should give you a the patched kernel and gnome-power-manager. Shut down and boot.

For my system this kernel gives me full hotkey backlight control (with the caveat that I have to up the brightness again after every time I close the lid - with the now working hotkeys).

Test and report back.

[Helias Fotiadis (heliasfotiadis)]

No, there is not a kernel named 2.6.38-9 there was only the 2.6.38-8 with the recovery mode of the same generation below it.

[JimBo (barreda-jm)]

@ Wolfgang Kufner, I tried patched kernel & gnome-power-manager from ppa : doesn't work for me...
(same issue : blank screen !);

Perhaps another way :
https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/499221/
(but need to recompile kernel from sources... no time for me today)

Stay tuned

[Kenneth Thorell (kenneth-thorell)]

@Wolfgang Kufner
Thanks alot!!!!!! itś works
the only thing about it are that the light switch is going in the wrong direction
Can you patch a new kernel when LCD brightness goes in the right way???

so when i set my LCD brightness to 0 % it works
@Jimbo test to set the brigtness to 10 % and restar ... this might work

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

@Kenneth Thorell
Glad to hear it works.
Please report the direction problem to LP: #568611. Provide your machine make/model and the output from:
uname -a
ls /sys/class/backlight
cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/max_brightness
along with your report.

[Wolfgang Kufner (wolfgangkufner)]

I find it interesting that people affected by this bug report that
sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00 is the brightest while
sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=FF is off

Does this pattern hold for everyone affected by the backlight off bug or is it the other way round for anybody?
If this setpci command works for you at all then please test this.

Thanks

[David Rockwell (thenamelessmagician)]

Tested on my gateway NV-78 laptop (Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)) on kernel 2.6.35, 2.6.38, and 2.6.39

In all instances FF gives me backlight off, and 00 gives me max brightness.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Funny i just installed using another monitor
omg. i had this since beta here i wrote in bug 683775 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/683775/comments/36 so now i waited maybe new cd will come that fix this. still no new iso. And a while later here in this bug @Eliah Kagan says that 8 affected makes this confirmed. NO id heres one report then multiply that 50x more couse not all are using Launchpad and on this bug- well they can even open FF couse they see black screen
Thats not how it should be
this is mega important bug if some part of computer is not usable or working and monitor isnt
if theres even one reporter and here developers check bugs and they code then they know their code and can immidiatlly recognize :"yes that line there in my code makes wrong for that and that intel monitor" and he can confirm bug
This bug makes new people not to install ubuntu couse they cant see it when trying live cd.
Buggyest cd ever.
For next times immidiatly is needed to put a sign in www.ubuntu.com that users check witch are working and witch not so users dont even try live cd.
cant believe how wrong can go good project- making it better till 11.04 BAM users who didnt get completly used to previous menu now have new menu. so now im just starting .. but thats another bug.

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

Just to clarify my reasoning in marking this as Confirmed:

You really only need two people to mark a bug as Confirmed (and under *some* circumstances, the second person might not necessarily have actually experienced the bug), so long as (1) there is good reason to believe that they're experiencing the same bug (or the second person has some other way of identifying the bug, for example by examining the affected source code), and (2) there is enough information for a developer to start working on the bug. See https://help.launchpad.net/Bugs/Statuses. When I marked this as Confirmed, I gave my reasoning in this case, but that should not be interpreted as an explanation of what it takes to correctly mark a bug as Confirmed. The official and correct explanation is at https://help.launchpad.net/Bugs/Statuses.

This is not commentary on the request for this bug to be worked on quickly or to be marked with a high importance, just a clarification of what I posted earlier, when I changed this bug's status to Confirmed. (I don't have enough familiarity with the Linux kernel to identify where the problem is and write a fix, and I have no affiliation with Canonical, so I'm not one of the people Kangarooo is probably petitioning.)

By the way, I don't think bug 683775 is the same as this bug. Not only is that bug marked Fix Released (and that's usually accurate, though not always), but that bug affected 2.6-series kernels whereas this bug affects 2.8-series kernels, and the workarounds proposed for that bug were not the same as those proposed for this bug.

[Marianne Bergem (tari-c)]

I also had this problem and tried everything above without success. The only thing that worked was to go back to the old kernel 2.6.35-28.

[Helias Fotiadis (heliasfotiadis)]

Hi. I've been having the same problem, too since the releace of Natty and I 've been working on this on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/773740. I' m using the kamal mostafa patched kernel now and when I turn on my laptop from the mains I always get no backlight on the welcoming screen and as soon as I hear the log-in sound I can tell that the desktop is now active and I use the brightness hotkeys to increase the brightness. Note that the keys work in reverse way meaning that the hotkey which should reduce the brightness now increases it. But, yesterday I noticed something strange. When I power my laptop on with its battery only I get the "Ubuntu" starting/welcoming screen with no backlight as usual but just before that screen disappears in order to be replaced by the desktop screen the bachlight is restored and I can see. And then, when I press the brightness hotkey I am surprised to see that the brightness bar is halfway full.
Note 1: The hotkeys still work in reverse way.
Note 2: This isn't happening when I use battery AND mains in order to recharge it.
Note 3: I am not using the i915.alse_backlight=1 parameter though it fixes the backlight because
a) It is pretty irritating to do this every time I turn my laptop on and
b) It somewhat messes up my screen by making it wider and that is something I don't like.
That 's all the information I can give you.
Peace.

[Amedeo (amedeo-salvati)]

I've same problem on Packard Bell EasyNote TH36 and setpci command onto rc.local work's fine. Below some useful information.

From dmidecode:
Manufacturer: Packard Bell
Product Name: EasyNote TH36
Version: V1.02

From lspci:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0459
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 44
        Region 0: Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Region 2: Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Region 4: I/O ports at 50f0 [size=8]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
                Address: fee0300c Data: 4191
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 3
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 NoSoftRst- PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915

From sysfs:
root@amedeo:~# systool -c backlight -v
Class = "backlight"

  Class Device = "acpi_video0"
  Class Device path = "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/backlight/acpi_video0"
    actual_brightness = "9"
    bl_power = "0"
    brightness = "9"
    max_brightness = "9"
    type = "firmware"
    uevent =

    Device = "0000:00:02.0"
    Device path = "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0"
      boot_vga = "1"
      broken_parity_status= "0"
      class = "0x030000"
      config = 86 80 42 2a 07 04 90 00 09 00 00 03 00 00 80 00
                             04 00 00 d0 00 00 00 00 0c 00 00 c0 00 00 00 00
                             f1 50 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 25 10 59 04
                             00 00 00 00 90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0b 01 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 48 00 00 00 09 00 0a 61 b1 6d 51 1f
                             b9 e1 70 03 19 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 bc
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             05 d0 01 00 0c 30 e0 fe 91 41 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 09 00 06 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 01 00 00
                             01 00 23 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 34 00 00 00
                             00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 00 1a 41 20 00 00
                             0b 19 34 07 00 00 00 00 a0 0f 09 00 18 c0 a8 bb
      consistent_dma_mask_bits= "36"
      de...

[Christian Mortensen (darkierawr)]

Thank you for everyone who commented on this thread. With the exception of my hardware keys beings reversed, with the information on this post I was able to get Linux to install and the back light restored. I have a Gateway NV78.

I ended up adding "acpi_osi=Linux" to /etc/default/grub, "setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00" to etc/rc.local, and installing the back light patched kernel. "acpi_osi=Linux" restored backwards functionality to the hardware buttons, "setpci -s..." set my back light to max on boot, and the back light patched kernel allowed me to use the hardware buttons after going into suspend mode or if the screen dimmed.

I also ended up having to use "i915.broken=1/i915.alse_backlight=1" to get in with the boot cd. Not sure why, but "acpi_osi=Linux" wasn't doing it for me then.

Thank you all again!

[Id2ndR (id2ndr)]

Same on :

System Information
 Manufacturer: Acer
 Product Name: Aspire 5736Z
 Version: V1.04
 Serial Number: LXRDE02007047431C01601
 UUID: DF4475A4-F14C-11DF-AAF9-1C750839F54B
 Wake-up Type: Power Switch
 SKU Number: Montevina_Fab
 Family: Intel_Mobile

"sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" works like a charm. Thanks !

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

@exrvs
I'm assuming the change from Confirmed to Incomplete, which carried no explanation and does not make sense from context, was unintentional. If it was not by accident and you really are sure this bug should have Incomplete status, then please feel free to make the change again, but please provide an accompanying explanation.

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

This bug is happening with Oneiric stable on a Gateway NV78; see https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+question/174545.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

Thank you for taking the time to file a bug report on this issue.

However, given the number of bugs that the Kernel Team receives during any development cycle it is impossible for us to review them all. Therefore, we occasionally resort to using automated bots to request further testing. This is such a request.

We have noted that there is a newer version of the development kernel than the one you last tested when this issue was found. Please test again with the newer kernel and indicate in the bug if this issue still exists or not.

If the bug still exists, change the bug status from Incomplete to Confirmed. If the bug no longer exists, change the bug status from Incomplete to Fix Released.

Thank you for your help, we really do appreciate it.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

This bug remains, only with the boot parameter "acpi_backlight=vendor" at least we can change the backlight, but the controls are inverted (min brightness equal real max brightness). I hope someone can fix this regression.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

I tested with the last 11.10 live cd....

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

The live CD contains the Oneiric release kernel, which is version 3.0.0-12.20 as indicated at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux (expand The Oneiric Ocelot). This fulfills kernel-request-3.0.0-12.20 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/765438/comments/27), so I'm marking this bug back to Confirmed.

@Brad Figg / Brad Figg's bot
Yes, as reported by cgonzalez (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/765438/comments/28 & https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/765438/comments/29), this bug still occurs with the latest kernel in Oneiric.

[Jens Elbaek (jens-elbaek)]

The error persists in Ubuntu 10.11 and even worse. It reoccurs when the screen goes into pause mode.

[Timothy Mayoh (timothy-m-deactivatedaccount)]

This bug is not incomplete.

[Jens Elbaek (jens-elbaek)]

Sorry. Hope you can fix it quickly. It is very anoying!

Med venlig hilsen
Jens Elbæk
Skejbytoften 83
8200 Århus N
http://jenselbaek.dk

2011/10/17 Timothy Mayoh <email address hidden>

> This bug is not incomplete.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Confirmed
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/765438/+subscriptions
>

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the release candidate kernel versus the daily build. 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.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

This bugs also are related:

779166
752165
773471
568611

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Currently i'm running rc9 and also tested the 3.1.0-999.201110171146 daily, and the bugs remain.

i can only control the brightness with the parameter acpi_backlight=vendor, and also the backlight control is inverted.

[J. Austin Rodriguez (jeanaustinr)]

I have a different problem though. On startup, my backlight is not off but is at its highest. It's an HP Pavilion dv3 with Intel GMA 45 graphics card.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

I have eMachines E525 to be exact E525-902G16Mi
more info on http://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-eMachines-E525-Series.28013.0.html
PROBLEM?
backlight so dark that cant see even when very close with glass enlager.
I reproduce this on Ubuntu and Xubuntu 11.04 and NOW also on 11.10 all on Live CD versions and cant install couse cant see.
Can see only on external monitor half couse other half is on dark plaptop monitor if plugged in after computer started or all if plugged in before starting comp.

[Joseph Wagner (jryanwagner00)]

Also on a Gateway NV78, and confirming that the bug exists. The "sudo pci..." command worked for me, though the grub fix did not.

[Joseph Wagner (jryanwagner00)]

Edit to previous comment, the grub fix did indeed work, I just failed to note that the commands were backwards. :)

[Skeewiff (marcelo-pm)]

Same scenario as Joseph Wagner, cheers

[Skeewiff (marcelo-pm)]

Based on the info available here and how to set up a script to run during the startup process and the resume process (from suspend/hiberate modes), here it goes a work around for this bug:

1) create a script under /etc/init.d by the following command:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/fix_backlinght

With the content above:
#! /bin/sh
echo "Fixing backlight for Gateway NV78"
setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00
exit 0

2) register the new script so it will be executed during the start up process:
sudo update-rc.d fix_backlight enable 0

3) create a script under /etc/pm/sleep.d/ by the following command:
sudo gedit /etc/pm/sleep.d/10_fix_backlinght

With the content above:
#!/bin/sh
# Fix Gateway NV78 backlight
PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
if [ ! -x /etc/init.d/fix_backlight ]; then
  exit 0
fi
/etc/init.d/fix_backlight

4) Make sure to make the created scripts executable:
sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/fix_backlight;
sudo chmod 755 /etc/pm/sleep.d/10_fix_backlight;

[Skeewiff (marcelo-pm)]

Sorry, actually the hole update-rc.d stuff did not work as expected. In this case the best is to remove the previous registered service by:
sudo update-rc.d -f fix_backlight remove

And then include that script path (/etc/init.d/fix_backlight) into /etc/rc.local (before the last command: exit 0)

[Jens Elbaek (jens-elbaek)]

@Skeewiff: I am sorry but I can't make it work. Probably because I am an Linux ignorant. Could you please make a tested recipe on what to do and maybe also a small explanation on what each line does.
Thanks in advance!
regards Jens Elbaek

[Kamal Mostafa (kamalmostafa)]

I have prepared a PPA test kernel for Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric) including a patch which might address the "inverted backlight brightness" or "backlight off at startup" problems, for laptops with a Intel GPU's only:

    https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/inverted-backlight

Feedback to this bug report will be appreciated.

[Vladimir Kravets (vova-kravets)]

On my laptop eMachines e725 this kernel do nothing =( Keys for control brightess is not working, brightness is turn off during start up.

Set up below kernel boot properties:
acpi_blacklight=vendor quiet splash

The old boot properties:
acpi_osi=Linux quiet splash

- With new boot properties nothig don't working (keys, blacklight is turn off during start up)
- With old keys is working but inverted

Any ideas?

-- Vladimir

[Vladimir Kravets (vova-kravets)]

Sorry forgot about that this was checked with kernel taken from https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/inverted-backlight

[Lucas Clemente Vella (lvella-gmail)]

Also tried kernel from https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/inverted-backlight

No deal here...

[Michał Winiarski (t3hknr)]

@Vladimir Kravets: If there's acer-wmi present in your /sys/classes/backlight (and in my case it is when I'm booting with acpi_backlight=vendor parameter), you might want to blacklist acer_wmi module

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Blacklisting acer_wmi doesn't change anything:

with acpi_backlight=vendor

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

...continued(sorry)

with acpi_backlight=vendor i have inverted brightness
without i have the brightness fixed at minimun (i have to use the setpci command)

i'm on emachines e725 with kamal inverted brightness Kernel.

[Michał Winiarski (t3hknr)]

In my case blacklisting acer_wmi with acpi_backlight=vendor on e725 was neccessary to have backlight control using fn-keys, xbacklight, power-manager, etc via intel_backlight interface. (Controls were inverted, I didn't try inverted-backlight kernel yet though)

[Christian Mortensen (darkierawr)]

I am on a Gateway NV78 and have gotten both Linux Mint 11 and 12 to boot flawlessly using this thread. Here is what I did.

Enter i915.broken=1 into command line to make install.

Post #42: Based on the info available here and how to set up a script to run during the startup process and the resume process (from suspend/hiberate modes), here it goes a work around for this bug:

1) create a script under /etc/init.d by the following command:

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/fix_backlight
With the content above:
#! /bin/sh
echo "Fixing backlight for Gateway NV78"
setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00
exit 0

2) And then include that script path (/etc/init.d/fix_backlight) into /etc/rc.local (before the last command: exit 0)

3) create a script under /etc/pm/sleep.d/ by the following command:
sudo gedit /etc/pm/sleep.d/10_fix_backlight
With the content above:
#!/bin/sh
# Fix Gateway NV78 backlight
PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
if [ ! -x /etc/init.d/fix_backlight ]; then
  exit 0
fi
/etc/init.d/fix_backlight

4) Make sure to make the created scripts executable:
sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/fix_backlight;
sudo chmod 755 /etc/pm/sleep.d/10_fix_backlight;

5) Add "acpi_osi=Linux" to the default grub start up script:
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
Add "acpi_osi=Linux" after quiet splash
Then sudo update-grub

YMMV

You may have to add the respective backlight kernel.

https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/inverted-backlight --Gnome3

https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/linux-kamal-mjgbacklight --Gnome2

From experience I have had to use the backlight kernels above. Coming out of suspend mode the backlight keys would be inactive. This fixed it.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

10.04 (bet distro evr) working
But this bug i have this sine 11.04 bug 889586 bug 912046 bug 950919 bug 950915

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

TESTED Mainstream Upstream Kernel Linux 3.4.0-030400rc6-generic
Also tested Kernel Linux 3.4.0-030400rc6-generic-pae
still exists

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

And pressing FN+LightUp keys i get symbol ±

[james (silent-at-night)]

This problem still persists. It's extremely annoying. When ubuntu boots up, all I can see is a very dimly lit screen. I can't see anything really. It's ridiculous. Every release which comes out I hope this problem will be fixed and it still persists. Why wont you guys take this bug seriously? I'm running ubuntu 12.04 AMD 64 desktop on an emachines e527. Other distros suffer from the same backlight issue also. The workarounds where you can use a script to set the brightness do work but they create problems with coming back from a suspended state. Please fix this problem.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

I FOUND bug
needs confirmation
i just tested witch works and since when doest until 4 in row from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
Confirm by installing kernels

No this bug using:
[DIR] v2.6.36.4-natty/ 18-Feb-2011 11:34 - http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.36.4-natty/
This bug starts in every next kernel since:
[DIR] v2.6.37-natty/ 05-Jan-2011 11:23 - http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.37-natty/

take files starting with linux-image-*** ending with *** your architecture i386.deb or amd64.deb
then install them and restart in each kernel.
For my Emachines E525 this is how i wrote.

[WLB (wlbates)]

If there is a work around to this issues would someone* please* be so kind
and write the instructions in common every day English so that I can use my
laptop. 10.10 is no longer supported and I have not used it since. I
really do need it for school. Thank you.

On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 5:23 PM, Kangarooo <email address hidden>wrote:

> I FOUND bug
> needs confirmation
> i just tested witch works and since when doest until 4 in row from
> http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/
> Confirm by installing kernels
>
>
> No this bug using:
> [DIR] v2.6.36.4-natty/ 18-Feb-2011 11:34 -
> http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.36.4-natty/
> This bug starts in every next kernel since:
> [DIR] v2.6.37-natty/ 05-Jan-2011 11:23 -
> http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.37-natty/
>
> take files starting with linux-image-*** ending with *** your architecture
> i386.deb or amd64.deb
> then install them and restart in each kernel.
> For my Emachines E525 this is how i wrote.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> New
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18...

[Kamal Mostafa (kamalmostafa)]

I have prepared a PPA test kernel for Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise) which includes experimental patches that might fix these "inverted backlight brightness" or "backlight off at startup" problems, for laptops with Intel GPU's (despite the name of the PPA, rest assured that the brightness control fixes are not Dell-specific):

    https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/dellxps

If this test kernel makes your backlight behavior better or worse, please post your results here (reports of "no change" aren't needed).

[Jeff Morris (jeffm593)]

Hi Kamal,

I know you said "no change" reports aren't needed, and indeed I see no change in behavior over the stock 12.04 kernel with the above PPA.

However, I had been using your previous PPA for 11.04 for quite some time successfully, and I definitely DID see a change in behavior from the stock 11.04 kernel with the kernels from that PPA, so I thought this an interesting enough regression to be worth mentioning.

The symptoms that I have experienced with stock kernels (under both 11.04 and 12.04) is:

 - With no kernel parameters, system boots with backlight off, and brightness keys don't work.

 - With "acpi_backlight=vendor", symptoms are the same.

 - With "acpi_osi=Linux", system boots with backlight off, but the brightness keys work, so the backlight can easily be turned on and controlled, however the controls are inverted (I suspect this is why the system boots with the backlight off, since the kernel is trying to initialize it at full brightness.) I have been using this as a workaround.

With your 11.04 series of kernels:

- With no kernel parameters, system boots normally with backlight on, however brightness controls are inverted.

With your 12.04 series of kernels:

- Behavior is identical to stock kernel.

The effected system is an eMachines E725 notebook, lspci output relevant to the video card follows. Please let me know if I can provide anything else that would be helpful in fixing this.

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 0212
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 44
    Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
    Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 50f0 [size=8]
    Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
    Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
    Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 3
    Kernel driver in use: i915
    Kernel modules: i915

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

I Think this patch will solve the problem:

http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1203.1/04090.html

I Hope Kamal can prepare a ppa with it...

[Jeff Morris (jeffm593)]

I have actually tried that patch (actually the slightly newer version of it found here: http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1203.1/04190.html), without success. (Although possibly I did something wrong.)

I followed the instructions located here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelCustomBuild (specifically the instructions starting at "MartinPitt: the easiest and best recipe that I found is to treat them as external modules, even when they are in-tree.")

I had to apply the patch manually due to it being for a different kernel version, however I was able to get the module to compile successfully, installed in "extra", and after a "depmod -a" was able to successfully execute an "update-initramfs -u", but after rebooting with the "i915.invert_brightness" parameter passed to the kernel, behavior remained unchanged.

Possibly my kernel was still loading the stock i915 driver though, I'll need to dig in to the init ramdisk image to confirm that it's actually using the patched drier as it's supposed to be.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Maybe it was
"i915.invert_brightness=1"

There's a lot of patches for i915 on lkml

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Has been 2 years, but now i found a solution....for my emachines e725

here is kernel 3.5 rc 4 with all the i915 patches (i think):

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.5-rc4-quantal/

install all the needed packages acording to your architectures i386 or amd64, for example for amd64:
dkpg -i
 linux-headers-3.5.0-030500rc4-generic_3.5.0-030500rc4.201206241635_amd64.deb
 linux-headers-3.5.0-030500rc4_3.5.0-030500rc4.201206241635_all.deb
 linux-image-3.5.0-030500rc4-generic_3.5.0-030500rc4.201206241635_amd64.deb
 linux-image-extra-3.5.0-030500rc4-generic_3.5.0-030500rc4.201206241635_amd64.deb

then you have to add to kernel boot parameters:

acpi_backlight=vendor
i915.invert_brightness=1

you can make them permant by editing /etc/default/grub , editing this line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"

then run:

update-grub2

now you have your brightness working as on kernel 2.6-idontremember...

this patches has been liying around for a couple of months is a shame that no one from the canonical team, test them and create a ppa...

[Vladimir Kravets (vova-kravets)]

Comfirmed. On Arch Linux with 3.5rc4 kernel with kernel parameter i915.invert_brightness=1 all working well.

Yeah! 2 years waiting and finally we have the fix!

[james (silent-at-night)]

I followed the directions in this post: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/765438/comments/65

For the first time since I've owned this notebook I'm able to have ubuntu installed thanks to that post. Every linux distro I've tried hasn't worked. I've been using linux for 8 years and it really bugged me to be forced to use windows instead of linux which I prefer. BSD distros did work fine by default. I can't understand why this bug has been ignored all of this time and this kernel problem hasn't been resolved.

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

As this has been tested with the upstream kernel release, it should be put back to confirmed.

Also, I'm going to take the liberty of marking this importance as cricital as this is "A bug which has a severe impact on a large portion of Ubuntu users" and renders the system unusable (without a very huffy workaround)

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Now you mark this as critical, has been two long years living with this f...er.

Anyway the user still have to add the kernel parameter "i915.invert_brightness=1" to boot with a correct brightness. Maybe there's some way to auto detect this chips and enable it by default.

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

I don't appreciate that, cgonzalez. I've had the bug for longer than most people on here.

To maintain a respectful atmosphere, please follow the code of conduct - http://www.ubuntu.com/community/conduct/ . Bug reports are handled by humans, the majority of whom are volunteers, so please bear this in mind.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

I know, i love Linux like most people from here, i participated a lot send notices to Kamal about any update i found on the net, but it's very sad that a bug that may have a lot of people frustrated with using Ubuntu (and Linux in general), this kind of stuff must be critical at the beginning not where someone find a solution.

[WLB (wlbates)]

Afternoon,

I have been following this issue because I have not been able to use my
laptop since April when 10.10 expired.

If I try to install 11.10 on my e-machine now, will I have a backlight? I
have no clue as to how to do the work-a-rounds.

Thanks.

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 1:10 PM, cgonzalez <email address hidden> wrote:

> I know, i love Linux like most people from here, i participated a lot
> send notices to Kamal about any update i found on the net, but it's very
> sad that a bug that may have a lot of people frustrated with using
> Ubuntu (and Linux in general), this kind of stuff must be critical at
> the beginning not where someone find a solution.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> New
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI]...

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

I think you should get a beta of Ubuntu 12.10 - Quantal Quetzal

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

When it boots add the boot parameter

i915.invert_brightness=1

Install and then make the parameter permanent (as described on my previous post).

If it works u can tell us...

[WLB (wlbates)]

Thank you for responding, but would you please provide a little more detail
as to where and how I add the boot parameter? Step by step instructions
would be nice if it's not too much trouble.

Thank you.

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 1:39 PM, cgonzalez <email address hidden> wrote:

> I think you should get a beta of Ubuntu 12.10 - Quantal Quetzal
>
> http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/
>
>
> When it boots add the boot parameter
>
> i915.invert_brightness=1
>
> Install and then make the parameter permanent (as described on my
> previous post).
>
> If it works u can tell us...
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> New
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> ...

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

hope it helps....

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

[WLB (wlbates)]

Thank you so much, I will try that. :-)

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 3:26 PM, cgonzalez <email address hidden> wrote:

> hope it helps....
>
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> New
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
> MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
> ProcEnviron:
> LANGUAGE=en_US:en
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
> root=UUID=83376c0e-9440-4ba9-bbdb-363565bf5e72 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
> Renderer: Unknown
> SourcePackage: xorg
> Symptom: dis...

[heimlicher (heimlich)]

15 months later...nothing :-(

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

This is a bug report, not a support forum. Please direct any support questions and solutions for installation and similar activities elsewhere. There are a lot of people subscribed to this bug and unnecessary bug mail does nothing but clutter the place up.

To the more hostile: I advise you hop on the ubuntu bugs IRC channel the next time that you want a bug this important to you looked at for triaging - Someone will gladly take a look for you and triage it. I could have sworn that there was an earlier report that I had worked on - one that would make this one a duplicate. It contained very detailed info and links to upstream reports. I cannot for the life of me find it so I'm going to link it up on this one. Regardless, my bad; it slipped past my hundreds of bug reports.

If the newer kernel does indeed fix the issue but only with a certain kernel parameter, please open a new bug report, link it here, and have everyone who is affect by that hop over there so that it's more organized.

Again, please, this is a bug report and not a support forum. Comments should only be made if they are relevant to fixing the issue. Thank you.

[Douglas Bodden (dcb-76)]

Good advice, Chauncellor. Here's the link to the IRC channel for those who don't have it:

irc://irc.freenode.org/#ubuntu-bugs

Please understand we really appreciate the help, despite the frustration that sometimes bubbles up.

[Reid Boyce (reidboyce)]

There was only one comment about how the Fn+ Right Arrow key, makes this symbol. ±. Everytime I push it, it makes the symbol. ±±±±±±±±±. It doesn't do that for Fn+ Left Arrow key though. Hopefully that will get resolved as well. I hope that there will soon be a fix for this whole mess, I have had to deal with it for several years now, and it is completely repulsive to think that everytime I install a new linix distro on my laptop, I have to deal with all of this screen brightness not working stuff.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Yes my emachines e525 makes ±±±± when FN+Right arrow

On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 8:25 AM, Reid Boyce <email address hidden>wrote:

> There was only one comment about how the Fn+ Right Arrow key, makes this
> symbol. ±. Everytime I push it, it makes the symbol. ±±±±±±±±±. It
> doesn't do that for Fn+ Left Arrow key though. Hopefully that will get
> resolved as well. I hope that there will soon be a fix for this whole
> mess, I have had to deal with it for several years now, and it is
> completely repulsive to think that everytime I install a new linix
> distro on my laptop, I have to deal with all of this screen brightness
> not working stuff.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (889586).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Incomplete
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> ...

[Terry Jones (terryjones28056)]

Thanks czonzalez this worked perfectly:

"then you have to add to kernel boot parameters:

acpi_backlight=vendor
i915.invert_brightness=1

you can make them permant by editing /etc/default/grub , editing this line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"

then run:

update-grub2

now you have your brightness working as on kernel 2.6-idontremember..."

[james (silent-at-night)]

I began seeing some error messages while using the patches recommended by cgonzalez. I've since resorted to downgrading to Ubuntu 10.04.4 LTS (Kernel: 2.6.32-41-generic x86_64 (64 bit)). Everything works as designed. No issues whatsoever. Gentoo 's 12.1 live dvd (kernel 3.3.0)and knoppix live dvd 7.0.1 (kernel 3.3.7)both suffer from this same backlight bug as well.

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

James....

Your description is very vague, this aren't patches it's just the latest Linux kernel. If you found errors related to this i think u can post them here, but if they're another stuff you should open a new bug.

[suzsolt (zsolt-sukosd)]

I also have the same issue on an Emachine E725

[Alex Muntada (alex.muntada)]

Had the same issue after upgrading from lucid to precise an HP Pavilion g6. Solved with:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor"

Thanks a lot!

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

Confirmed on an HP Envy 14 1xxx using Precise.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/druellan/precise-hpenvy1095la

The backlight is off upon boot on both liveCD and installed systems.
You can solve this by just using the brightness shortcuts on the keyboard, but the first impression is that the system has halted while booting.

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu laptop testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://laptop.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/765438

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

HP Envy 14 1xxx
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/druellan/hpenvy1095la

Seems fixed on Ubuntu 12.04 and Kernel 3.2.0-31-generic-pae
Now the backlight is always at 100% on boot. Not ideal but at least avoids the "black screen" problem that can be mistaken as a lockup.

version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.7.8-0ubuntu1.4
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.32-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 8.0.4-0ubuntu0.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 8.0.4-0ubuntu0.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.8
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.0-0ubuntu1.2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20111201+b5534a1-1build2

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

Disregard my previous report: is not fixed: sometimes instead of 0% brightness you get 100% on startup.

[Gilbert Dion (diong)]

On my Acer emachines E725, kernel 3.2.0-31 generic does not fix it. Same as before. Last kernel to work is 2.6.31-41.

[WLB (wlbates)]

Hello,

I just learned that Ubuntu 12.10 has been released. Is the backlight bug
still an issue with this release? On my emachine 525 the backlight goes
out once the update starts to install. I am not able to see to complete
the installation.

Thank you.

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 9:11 PM, Gilbert Dion <email address hidden> wrote:

> On my Acer emachines E725, kernel 3.2.0-31 generic does not fix it.
> Same as before. Last kernel to work is 2.6.31-41.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Incomplete
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
...

[Valters Jansons (sigv)]

I was having the problem on my eMachines E525, but the solution by cgonzalez solved this.

To quickly recap what I did:
I added "acpi_backlight=vendor" and "i915.invert_brightness=1" boot parameters.
You add them by changing GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT value from "quiet splash" to "quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1" inside /etc/default/grub file.
You then simply need to run `update-grub2` to update the GRUB bootloader, so that your new configuration is used next time you boot.

Hope this helps.

[WLB (wlbates)]

Thank you for that. I will have to take my laptop to someone who can do it
because I have no clue as to how to do it.

Thank you again.

On Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 3:39 PM, Valter Strods <email address hidden>wrote:

> I was having the problem on my eMachines E525, but the solution by
> cgonzalez solved this.
>
> To quickly recap what I did:
> I added "acpi_backlight=vendor" and "i915.invert_brightness=1" boot
> parameters.
> You add them by changing GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT value from "quiet
> splash" to "quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"
> inside /etc/default/grub file.
> You then simply need to run `update-grub2` to update the GRUB bootloader,
> so that your new configuration is used next time you boot.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Incomplete
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporati...

[cgonzalez (cmgonzalez)]

Take a lot at
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

I dont' want to be rude, but this isn't a support forum.

[WLB (wlbates)]

Thank you.

On Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 4:07 PM, cgonzalez <email address hidden> wrote:

> Take a lot at
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions
>
> I dont' want to be rude, but this isn't a support forum.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Incomplete
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
> MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
> ProcEnviron:
> LANGUAGE=en_US:en
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
> root=UUID=83376c0e-9440-4ba9-bbdb-363565bf5e72 ro quiet spl...

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

"acpi_backlight=vendor" seems to also do the trick here (HP Envy 14). No need of "i915.invert_brightness=1".

[WLB (wlbates)]

Thank you.

On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 10:20 AM, Dario Ruellan
<email address hidden>wrote:

> "acpi_backlight=vendor" seems to also do the trick here (HP Envy 14). No
> need of "i915.invert_brightness=1".
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Incomplete
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
> MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
> ProcEnviron:
> LANGUAGE=en_US:en
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
> root=UUID=83376c0e-9440-4ba9-bbdb-363565bf5e72 ro quiet splash...

[Otto Kekäläinen (otto)]

This bug report is hardly incomplete and certainly not expired, it affects a huge amount of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS users...

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

Upstream is asking this: "Please try i915.invert_brightness=1 module parameter with kernel version v3.5
or later, see if that fixes the brightness issue, and report 'lspci -vmmnn' if
it does."

The op is taking a long time to reply, that's why they are closing until the test can be done.
Anyone is welcome to try and post back any result.

[travis sparks (travissparks1307)]

I originally posted a duplicate bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/826386 regarding this issue.
I recently downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzel. I made a startup disk using a USB flash drive to perform a fresh install and brightness was working "out of the box" no extra parameters were needed, no extra steps were taken. Brightness worked immediately, as well as the brightness controls. I have been running this installation for a week, updating software on a bi-daily basis and have had zero problems. I think this may be fixed. I am using an Acer Aspire 5734z.

[Paul Tibbitts (paul-paultibbitts)]

I have only booted off the 12.10 32bit iso so far and have not installed, but the black display problem with the emachines e527 with the 12.04.1 iso does appear to be resolved "out of the box" with the 12.10 iso, using no additional kernel parameters or other modifications. However, while pressing the FN+arrow left/right keys displays the brightness slider on the screen and the slider responds to key presses, no corresponding change in actual screen brightness occurs. Adding (as I'm doing in 10.04) acpi_osi=Linux to the kernel command line when booting Linux makes the brightness adjustable, but disables the gui brightness slider display entirely. On 10.04, with that kernel option my arrow keys are properly assigned for adjusting the brightness, while on 12.10 they're backward.

[Martins K. (martinsk89)]

For me the issue is still present in Ubuntu 12.10.

I'm on emachines e725, shortly after the Quantal Quetzel was out, I tried to boot from the original 12.10 32bit iso (tried out both creating a live usb and burning cd), was able to get just the black screen. After modifying the relevant files to set additional boot parameters "acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1", got normally working startup disk.

After installing Quantal I had to modify boot parameters also for the newly installed system's kernel.

With these parameters set, the system functions normally, except for one case, when I recently closed the laptop's lid while an external monitor was connected. After raising the lid, laptop's backlight again was completely off; I was able to get it working by entering the command "setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=0" in terminal (thanks to the other monitor). I couldn't reproduce the problem since then, though.

[Jacob Doak (paluttoh)]

The issue exists for me in Fedora 17, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10, OpenSUSE 12.2, Debian 7, Linux Mint, LMDE, you get it. It's not a distrobution specific problem. I've tried many different APCI parameters in the grub menu and none of them have worked. I'm using Sandy Bridge graphics in an HP 2000 notebook.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Emachines e525
Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20 GHz
12.04 black screen.
Latest kernel: Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-33-generic-pae
Tryd nomodeset
On booting Ubuntu logo cant see it. All black. When loaded black dissapears and i see all. Cant change brightness but doing fn + brightness up gives ±±±±±±±
And did test if unity supported /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
see screenshot-
Not software rendered: No
Unity 3D supported: No
also cant plugin LG Flatron L197WH - doesnt react even if i open Display settings

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Emachines e525
Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20 GHz
12.04 black screen.
Latest kernel: Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-33-generic-pae
Tryd
acpi_osi=Linux

On booting Ubuntu logo cant see it. All black. When loaded still black
then i change brightness once and
black dissapears and i see all.
CAN
change brightness but doing fn + brightness up gives ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±
And did test if unity supported /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
see screenshot- ALL IS FINE

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Emachines e525
Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20 GHz
12.04 black screen.
Latest kernel: Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-33-generic-pae
Tryd
acpi_osi=Linux

Since on booting its still black and i dont know when its started but only after doing one change of brightness then i added setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00 to sudo gedit etc/rc.local and it works on boot already.
BUT after suspend doesnt so i need again to change brightness once so it lights up again.

[Kenneth Thorell (kenneth-thorell)]

I did the same with my Emachines g525 ubuntu 12.10 64 bit
and i did the edit in rc.local
and the same when suspend the screen is black

problem no. two with this is that sometimes the screen goes into suspend still after i have set the screenlock to never suspend and in power setting that nothing should happend even if i close my lid

i have tried to get help regarding my second but no one can help with this
but still the backlight problem is not solved on my machine

[WLB (wlbates)]

I did the same exact thing and I got the same exact results. I have to
press FN and the left arrow key to get the back light on.

On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Kenneth Thorell
<email address hidden>wrote:

> I did the same with my Emachines g525 ubuntu 12.10 64 bit
> and i did the edit in rc.local
> and the same when suspend the screen is black
>
> problem no. two with this is that sometimes the screen goes into suspend
> still after i have set the screenlock to never suspend and in power
> setting that nothing should happened even if i close my lid
>
> i have tried to get help regarding my second but no one can help with this
> but still the backlight problem is not solved on my machine
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (772050).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Confirmed
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:...

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Emachines e525
Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20 GHz
12.10 black screen.
Latest kernel: Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic
Tryd nomodeset
On booting Ubuntu says it will go to safe mode and reconfigure doesnt work. Nothing works.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Emachines e525
Intel Celeron 900 @ 2.20 GHz
12.10 black screen.
Latest kernel: Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-17-generic
Tryd
acpi_osi=Linux

when booted i change brightness once and
black dissapears and i see all.
CAN
change brightness but doing fn + brightness up gives ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±
And did test if unity supported /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
Yes to all

[sma (m-0622)]

Notebook Acer TravelMate 5735Z-452G32MNSS

1) Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Queezal):
The parameter i915.invert_brightness=1 fixes the bug! :-)

Step-by-step - beginning from installation:
- Boot with the Ubuntu Live-CD or Live-USB-Stick.
- When the display becomes purple press CursorLeft or CursorRight. You see the menu.
- Choose your language and press F6, then press Esc.
- Put the cursor to the end of the line (after --) and enter: i915.invert_brightness=1
- Start the installation. At the end of the installation restart.
- When the Notebook starts to boot again press Shift and hold the key unless the menu of GRUB appears.
- Press the key e (e for edit).
- Put the cursor after 'quiet splash', and enter after a blank: i915.invert_brightness=1 (Note: looks like: .... quiet splash i915.invert_brightness=1). Note: On my Laptop at this time the keyboard has the US-layout, not my common layout!
- Press F10 to boot.
- Open a terminal and enter: gksu gedit /etc/default/grub
- Replace the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash“ by this line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"
- Save the file.
- In the terminal enter: sudo update-grub
- After restarting my Acer TravelMate 5735Z works perfekt. It boots into a bright display. Also after waking up from hibernate and standby the display is bright. :-))

2) Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin):
The parameter i915.invert_brightness=1 doesn't work. But a workaround exists, that has the same result! :-)

Step-by-step - beginning from installation:
- Boot with the Ubuntu Live-CD or Live-USB-Stick.
- When the display becomes purple press CursorLeft or CursorRight. You see the menu.
- Choose your language and press F6, then press Esc.
- Put the cursor to the end of the line (after --) and enter: acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor (Note: this is necessary to turn on brightness after booting by using the keys FN+CursorRight or Fn+CursorLeft).
- Start booting (Option 'Testing Ubuntu without installation'). You will boot into a black screen. Press FN+CursorRight or Fn+CursorLeft to turn on brightness. Start the installation of Ubuntu using the icon on the desktop. At the end of the installation restart.
- When the Notebook starts to boot again press Shift and hold the key unless the menu of GRUB appears.
- Press the key e (e for edit).
- Put the cursor after 'quiet splash', and enter after a blank: acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor (Note: looks like: .... quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor). Note: On my Laptop at this time the keyboard has the US-layout, not my common layout!
- Press F10 to boot.
- Open a terminal and enter: gksu gedit /etc/default/grub
- Replace the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash“ by this line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor"
- Save the file.
- In the terminal enter: sudo update-grub
- In the terminal enter: gksu gedit /etc/rc.local
- Above the line exit 0 enter: echo "1" > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness
- Save the file.
- After restarting my Acer TravelMate 5735Z works perfekt. It boots into a bright display. Also after waking up fr...

[Gilbert Dion (diong)]

2012/11/30 sma <email address hidden>

> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash“ by this line:
> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux
> acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"
>

I added this line and it works for me EXCEPT that I get a lower resolution.
I had 1366 x 768, now it's 1024 x 768. Can it be tweaked?

Acer emachnines e725 with Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
Controller

Gilbert Dion

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

try without acpi_osi and check if works with changing brightness and
if alt+tab gives 3d effect.
if not good then try it should work.
acpi_osi=nomodeset

[Gilbert Dion (diong)]

Both parameters had no effect. The screen backlighting went off, as it did
in the first place.
g

2012/12/8 Kangarooo <email address hidden>

> try without acpi_osi and check if works with changing brightness and
> if alt+tab gives 3d effect.
> if not good then try it should work.
> acpi_osi=nomodeset
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (934707).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Confirmed
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
> MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
> ProcEnviron:
> LANGUAGE=en_US:en
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_...

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Did you really tryd changing brightness when comp has loaded? Using
FN+Right/Left arrow? In all 3 variations?

[Remus Plesca (tibi2150)]

Hey, thanks sma!!! It really worked! Great tip! I've been searching for the answer for a looong time.

I'm using an acer 5732z and i already had ubuntu 12.10 installed. I only followed your advice starting with the grub part and it still worked.

[Gilbert Dion (diong)]

I tried
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor
i915.invert_brightness=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux
acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=nomodeset
acpi_backlight=vendor i915.invert_brightness=1"

All give me the same lower screen resolution (1024 x 768) instead of the
one I used to have (1366 x 768). Changing brightness does not work and
using Alt-Tab reminds me of Windows 3.1.

Merci,

Gilbert

2012/12/8 Kangarooo <email address hidden>

> Did you really tryd changing brightness when comp has loaded? Using
> FN+Right/Left arrow? In all 3 variations?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (934707).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Confirmed
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [...

[Antonin Chambolle (antonin-chambolle)]

Hi everybody
- Dell Latitude E4310 / core i5 with intel graphics chip
- LTS 12.04
This bug is VERY SEVERE on my laptop (actually, it is almost broken now and I will soon need a new one).
reason:
- when it happens there is no backlight and nothing to do, or almost
- it is quite random. I tried almost all of the above tricks (stepci, boot options --- but not yet i915 invert brighness nor the change in rc.local, this is for next time it happens) and it does not work, or sometimes it does but it is never very clear what works, since the bug always reappears later
- I tried (using an external display) : to echo 1 in intel_backlight/brightness, to manually (after login) increase the brightness, etc, etc. No effect.
- I tried also Kamal's kernels (it was almost worst: sometimes instead of going blank in power save mode it was turning white)
- Sometimes (not always) suspending / resuming works
- sometimes rebooting works. last time I rebooted using a different kernel and it worked, I will check whether this is reproducible (next time I get the bug... but I'd rather never have it again)
- sometimes unplugging the battery and waiting for some time works (not anymore, though, it seems)
- sometimes nothing works and my laptop is unusable for some time
- when the backlight is broken, it stays broken even when I boot Windows
- Dell came and changed my display 1 month ago. Now Windows is broken (thanks a lot Dell, I was not using it very often but now I have no choice :-), but the bug happened again after a few weeks (bizarre, uh?)

I'm afraid I will have to forget about using Linux if all recent kernels of all major distributions can break your computer.....
(But what? get a mac?? --- in fact I'll certainly get a different graphics system next time...)
sorry for being so pessimistic, this is the first time I encounter such a severe problem under linux...
Best, thanks to all developers

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

Here i made Gdocs Spreadsheet for accumulating all info.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al_jJwVplfK7dFdPdURaQkdlQlhCaDlfM3hZOGhMa0E
Post ur laptop name and what works and what doesnt and how

[Antonin Chambolle (antonin-chambolle)]

@ kangaroo : thanks
I'll try to get as much info as possible next time I am affected by the bug (hopefully, never). As I told it is very random, the laptop may work for 2 weeks and then suddenly it gets dark and none of the standard tricks wakes it up (or never the same...)
Right now I removed all modifications in grub, etc, and it's been working for one week without trouble.

[Antonin Chambolle (antonin-chambolle)]

News:
my guess is that it is still the randomness of the bug working around, or there has been a substantial improvements in recent kernels/Xorg drivers, but the bug is still present however in the past month EVERY time it occurred I could log in, suspend the computer (not hibernate), wake it up, and after usually one or two trials it went up again (in November/December it was not working even after 10 or 15 rounds).
So now, as far as my Dell E4310 laptop is concerned, it is less critical.
I must make clear that I use NONE of the other tricks (I tried them all in the past months, and none was solving the issue in a stable way, now they are all removed and I'm running the standard 12.04 (amd64) up to date distribution).

[maxicastro (maxicastro)]

in eMachines E725 remains the same at first. (Ubuntu 12.04 up to date)

the fix for the kernel is only the kernel? when implemented in ubuntu?

sorry for my bad english

[Ihorko (ihorchyhin)]

On my HP 62-a35er with integrated intel gpu and discrete radeon gpu fix is not correct. If I don't add kernel parameter acpi_backlight=vendor backlight is off.
As I tested at boot there are 4 items under /sys/class/backlight:
acpi_video0
acpi_video1
intel_backlight
radeon_bl1

After login brightness is controlled under acpi_video1 for some reason.
But brightness was set under intel_backlight to 4394 (maximum 4882).
Kernel version: 3.7.5-1 (currently I use Arch but believe that kernel in Ubuntu is roughly the same)

[Ihorko (ihorchyhin)]

Just found that laptop-mode-tools installed changed brightness under intel_backlight to 4394...
Originally it was set to 0.

[G.TORES (ggom20)]

Hello!
Got semi-erratic troubles with the backlight too:

Laptop Asus N76VZ

Ubuntu 12.10

Starts with a medium- low luminosity so i made shortcut to (french language system): "parametres systeme , then : lumisosité et verrouillage" witch could be translated as something like "system configuration , light and locking".

then suddently light changes to maximum, without any action on cursor.

The standard control doesnt work well as when it goes to screen saving, it comes out with a very low light,
thats why i look for work around.

Been trying to restore keyboard keys for setting the backlight by installing xbacklight:

sudo apt-get install xbacklight

Did also at startup xbacklight =75

And then affected the lumisosity keys to, respectivly,

xbacklight +5
xbacklight -5

This thing as been working , but is erratic , sometimes woks fine ,
sometimes my keys acting as a bistable switch , variing light with only two values.

I'd like to use my keys shortcuts to adress this in a more direct way, like sending the right parameters to
the standard program and uninstalling xbacklight.

There is a problem somewhere.
I fell like it could be related to broken communication between some programs , the variable related to light.

Thanks for the care you take on Linux Systems !

[Paul (alldev)]

Hello.

Friend of mine kept bugging me to look at his problem. He has Gateway NV78 and tried to install ubuntu 12.10. Encountered backlight problem (he thought all was dead).

Tried a few suggestions to no avail. The 'setpci' worked, but did not help after screen-saver/hibernate/etc.

I have not had any real time to spend of this, nor look at source so...
here is a pathetic work-a-round that got him working and not complaining:

file: /etc/rc.local (add):

    if [ -x /lib/init/backlight_workaround ]
    then
        /lib/init/backlight_workaround
    fi

create file '/lib/init/backlight_workaround' and
chmod +x /lib/init/backlight_workaround

put in file: /lib/init/backlight_workaround

    #!/bin/sh
    ( while sleep 1; do /usr/bin/setpci -s '00:02.0' 'F4.B=00'; done & ) &

hope this helps someone else too.
(file name & location used is just an example, but demonstrates the idea).

[Jani Nikula (jnikula)]

If you're having this problem on an Acer/eMachines/Packard Bell/Gateway laptop, try booting with i915.invert_brightness=1 module parameter (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions). If it works, consider filing an upstream bug on Product=DRI, Component=DRM/Intel (https://01.org/linuxgraphics/documentation/how-report-bugs-0) with the output of 'lspci -vmmnn' attached.

[Kenneth Thorell (kenneth-thorell)]

After updating to the latest kernerl 3.8.0.13 on 13.04 somehow the rc.local file is not activeted any more and the fix of "setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00 only works after the computer is ready after boot and i have to use a externa screen to acces terminal window to setpci again
And five times i an row the gpu is frosen and closing with the powerbutton is the only way

is this somehow connected to one and another?

[Tobias Bannert (toba)]

Where is the fix?

Ubuntu 13.04 (I made an usb live stick) nothing fixed.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Petter Reinholdtsen (pere-hungry)]

I believe this problem also affect Packard Bell EasyNote LV. It need i915.invert_brightness=1 to avoid the black screen of death when installing Ubuntu and when booting the installed system. With the setting in place, one can log into Gnome, but when one log into KDE, the screen is turned off again.

See http://www.linlap.com/packard_bell_easynote_lv for my notes about Linux on this machine. I've reported the problem to the kernel developers and as Debian bugs http://bugs.debian.org/710938 and http://bugs.debian.org/711237 .

[m_a_n_u (emmanuel-legrand)]

Boot is (at last) OK with last update in KUBUNTU (kernel 3.8.0-22-generic), on ACER emachines G725.

[Manfred Usselmann (usselmann-m)]

On my system (Ubuntu 13.04 Kernel 3.8.0-25-generic, Acer V3-771G) the issue still exists.

[Jānis Kangarooo (kangarooo)]

How to make this fixed? Why isnt it fixed?

[Gilbert Dion (diong)]

Since I upgraded to 13.04, everything is just fine again. No need of any
extra parameters in grub file.
g

2013/6/13 Kangarooo Jānis <email address hidden>

> How to make this fixed? Why isnt it fixed?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (934707).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/765438
>
> Title:
> On startup, the backlight is off on laptop
>
> Status in The Linux Kernel:
> Fix Released
> Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
> Status in “ubuntu” package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
> Status in “linux” package in Fedora:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> When Ubuntu starts up, the back-light is off on my laptop. I can plug
> it into an external monitor and the display is fine. I can easily
> turn the back-light on with "sudo setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=[HEX]" where
> 00 is the brightest and FF is off. In past distributions, the GUI-
> based brightness utilities did not work and I used this command to
> change by back-light brightness. I know that there are many people
> who can not use back-light GUI-utilities on the past distributions as
> well. This issue also occurs if I close my screen and raise it again.
>
> This issue also effected the installation process as well as when I
> was using the i686 installer.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
> Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
> Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins:
> [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: compiz
> CurrentDmesg:
> [ 29.430043] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
> [ 30.988586] EXT4-fs (sda7): re-mounted. Opts:
> errors=remount-ro,commit=0
> DRM.card0.DP.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
> status: connected
> enabled: enabled
> dpms: On
> modes: 1366x768
> edid-base64:
> AP///////wANr5kVAAAAAAcUAQOAIhN4Cj2VlFZPjigmUFQAAAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBeh1W0lAAHjA8KDYAWMEQAAAYAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAAAA/gBDTU8KICAgICAgICAgAAAA/gBOMTU2QjMtTDBCCiAgAEg=
> DRM.card0.VGA.1:
> status: disconnected
> enabled: disabled
> dpms: Off
> modes:
> edid-base64:
> Date: Mon Apr 18 21:34:59 2011
> DistUpgraded: Fresh install
> DistroCodename: natty
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GdmLog1:
>
> GdmLog2:
>
> GraphicsCard:
> Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0459]
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110413)
> MachineType: eMachines eMachines E527
> ProcEnviron:
> LANGUAGE=en_US:en
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
> root=U...

[Tyler Burton (tylerburtonca)]

I have this problem with 13.04 on a Lenovo y410p (4th gen Intel + nvidia gpu). My workaround was to add

echo 100 | sudo tee /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

to my /etc/rc.local file but this isn't exactly an ideal solution.

[Tyler Burton (tylerburtonca)]

I've actually managed to "fix" this problem without the workaround by adding "acpi_backlight=vendor" to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX of /etc/default/grub

[Alex Wijnstra (alex-wijnstra)]

Bug affects me on precise pangolin:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1229252

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Travis DePrato, 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, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

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

Also, could you 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-v3.13-rc1

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.

[Michael Kogan (michael-kogan)]

I encountered this problem on an HP Compaq CQ58-d69sg right now. The kernel option acpi_backlight=vender fully solved the problem (backlight control with the keyboard also works properly).

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Photon, thank you for your comment. If you would like your problem addressed without any WORKAROUNDs, please feel free to file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal while booted into a Ubuntu repository kernel (not a mainline one) via:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please read the official Ubuntu documentation:
Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Kernel Team: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Michael Kogan (michael-kogan)]

Thanks for the hint, Christopher! Unfortunately, I set up this machine for some relatives of mine, so I don't have access to it any more. However I installed Teamviewer for urgent cases, so if they should encounter any problems and I can get access to it, I will use the opportunity to file a bug report. For now I just permanently added the kernel option to the GRUB configuration.

[Jonatã Bolzan Loss (jbopen)]

Bug still present in Ubuntu 14.04

[penalvch (penalvch)]

jonata, thank you for your comment. So your hardware and problem may be tracked, could you please file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal while booted into a Ubuntu repository kernel (not a mainline one) via:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please read the official Ubuntu documentation:
Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Kernel Team: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Ken (bixler)]

This affected a Gateway NV78 that I installed Ubuntu 14.04 on. I completed the install and repair using an external monitor. Comment #53 fixed the black screen issue without the final kernel changes. Thanks for the help.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Ken, this bug report has nothing to do with a Gateway NV78, and hence is not scoped to you, or your problem. So your hardware and problem may be tracked, could you please file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal while booted into the default Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline one) via:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please read the official Ubuntu documentation:
Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Kernel Team: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

As well, please do not announce in this report you created a new bug report.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs