Thinkpad function key (Fn+F3) to switch off backlight no longer works

[Ricky Hewitt]

Binary package hint: acpi

In previous versions of Ubuntu, the thinkpad key Fn+F3 would switch off the backlight AND lock the screen. In alpha5, only the screen is locked and the backlight is not turned off.

Running radeontool light off / radeontool light on works as it should.

Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04 (alpha5)
radeontool 1.5+git76606164-0ubuntu2
acpi 1.2-1ubuntu1

[Pbaudis (pbaudis)]

The symbol for turning display off is painted of the F3 key, and that was also the behavior on 10.3. On 11.0, this does nothing. xev shows:

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x75, subw 0x0, time 3059449, (403,294), root:(407,350),
    state 0x0, keycode 146 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    root 0x75, subw 0x0, time 3059449, (403,294), root:(407,350),
    state 0x0, keycode 146 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

[Thoenig (thoenig)]

Hm, newer ThinkPads have a battery symbol on this key.

But on those we get a ACPI event.

Holger, what do you think?

[Hmacht (hmacht)]

Petr, can you please run acpi_listen, press the button and paste the output here? Thanks.

[Pbaudis (pbaudis)]

I'm getting: ibm/hotkey HKEY 00000080 00001003

[Thoenig (thoenig)]

Do you also see an event when running lshal -m?

Thank you!

[Pbaudis (pbaudis)]

06:45:13.646: computer_logicaldev_input_3 condition ButtonPressed = coffee

I have just noticed that when I have the orange LED light turned on and press the key, it gets turned off. The LCD stays on, though. On the other hand, automatically switching output when I insert VGA cable does not work either, I discovered recently - I have to manually set the output with xrandr. So maybe this is more related to the X server?

[Thoenig (thoenig)]

Next question: Do you use KDE or GNOME? We've identified the desktop environment to be responsible. Depending on what DE you're using, please give it a try with the other DE ;-)

In case it doesn't work with GNOME, Holger has verified that gnome-settings-daemon is responsible.

[Pbaudis (pbaudis)]

I use KDE (I don't really know why anymore since kpowersave and knetworkmanager suck so much). I will give GNOME a try next time I log out, but that might take quite a while.

[Pbaudis (pbaudis)]

GNOME does not work either. (Also, curiously, fn-f4 triggers hibernate instead of suspend in GNOME. fn-f12 triggers hibernate both in KDE and GNOME.)

[Thoenig (thoenig)]

OK, thanks for the information. You may configure the behavior in GNOME, but let's leave this aside for now.

Holger, it's been a while since we discussed this (comment #6). Can you still recall what made me write this comment? :)

[Hmacht (hmacht)]

My test that gnome-settings-daemon is responsible was wrong. It's actually gnome-screensaver. I also get

16:48:45.602: computer_logicaldev_input_3 condition ButtonPressed = coffee

which is the FN-F2 here and has a lock symbol on it. Starting

 $ gnome-screensaver --no-daemon --debug

also shows

[listener_dbus_handle_system_message] gs-listener-dbus.c:1481 (16:47:34): obj_path=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer
_logicaldev_input_3 interface=org.freedesktop.Hal.Device method=Condition destination=(null)
[listener_dbus_handle_system_message] gs-listener-dbus.c:1496 (16:47:34): Coffee key was pressed - locking
[gs_manager_set_lock_active] gs-manager.c:418 (16:47:34): Setting lock active: 1

So I've no Idea why at least this doesn't work for you when running gnome. Anyway, reassigning to GNOME maintainers, because the base seems healthy.

[Johannes Hessellund (osos)]

Same issue here.

Running /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank works fine.

Seems fn+F3 is not handeld by acpid anymore. ?

[Johannes Hessellund (osos)]

Seems thinkpad acpi events are handled through HAL now.

See:
/usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/30-keymap-module-thinkpad-acpi.fdi

But how to control what script to run on events ?

[A. Tombol (atombol)]

Bug confirmed on a ThinkPad X23

[Sing-Tai Mok (stmok)]

Bug also confirmed on ThinkPad T43.

[Rooslan S. Khayrov (khayrov)]

Bug confirmed on ThinkPad T41 (2373-2GG), Jaunty release.

[hochebene (hochebene)]

Bug confirmed on Thinkpad X61, Jaunty Kubuntu release. Fn+F2,Fn+F3,Fn+F4 dosen't work.

[A. Tombol (atombol)]

i've found the bug on the novell bugzilla
they say, it's in gnome-screensaver
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=404884

[camper365 (camper365)]

I have that problem with a thinkpad t43

[camper365 (camper365)]

I have that problem with a thinkpad t43.
However, I ran /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank and it didn't lock the screen, only blank it.

[Johannes Hessellund (osos)]

I think the Fn+F3 is now handled by gnome-screensaver !

Hal maps Fn+F3 to screenlock key
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_get_special_keys_to_work#thinkpad_acpi_events

[Sing-Tai Mok (stmok)]

@ Johannes Hessellund

So gnome-screensaver uses HAL now instead of thinkpad-acpi.

That in turn, calls for 0x02:screenlock. In thinkpad-acpi, this was blank screen.

...I just tried Debian "Lenny" 5.0.1 CD 1 install (Gnome desktop), and it does the same thing, as we have experienced.

Is it possible to tie the function key combination with something like:
=> xset dpms force off?

How does the lid button turn off the backlight?

[Johannes Hessellund (osos)]

I'm not sure if that is posible, as it seems gnome-screensaver surpresses the keyevent after it has catched it.

I think the problem here is that the screensaver is responsible for locking the screen, whereas the gnome-power-manager is responsible for saving power by turning dpms off.

At least the screensaver should send and event to the gnome-power-manager to decide if the screen should be turned off.

I think this bug does NOT concern acpi, but a combination of gnome-screensaver and gnome-power-manager!

Personaly I set up a acpi event catching Fn+F1 to call screenblank.sh, which works as predicted. Fn+F1 is still handled by acpid. But this is just a workaround!

[Sing-Tai Mok (stmok)]

You mean like: Create a file like "screenblank" (without quotes) in /etc/acpi/events/ and putting in the following?

# Use Fn+F1 to turn off screen.
event=ibm/hotkey HKEY 00000080 00001001
action=/etc/acpi/screenblank.sh

...Hmmm. I suppose that will work for now.

* Looks at the screenblank.sh file...*
...Oh, I see how it works.
=> screenblank.sh calls => /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank => xset dpms force off

[thinkpad (fellowsgarden)]

"Fn + F3" locks my screen, makes it a little dark, but doesn't turn the backlight off (in Maverick).

In XP, it turns the backlight off but doesn't lock - and this is what I'd like to see in Ubuntu, too.

Is there a consensus as to how best to go about solving the problem (of turning the backlight off (and not locking)) ?

Thanks!

tp

[Larry Finger (larry-finger-lwfinger)]

The version with which you had the bug is now obsolete. I'll close this as NORESPONSE. If you can still reproduce it in current 11.4, please reopen the bug and move it to the appropriate version. Thanks!

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

does this ever occur in precise or later?

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

We'd like to figure out what's causing this bug for you, but we haven't heard back from you in a while. Could you please provide the requested information? Thanks!

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!