Brightness control does not work on Dell Studio 1555

[Sayak Banerjee]

Using kernel 2.6.31-16-generic with a 64-bit Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic copy.

The brightness initially works after booting up, for a minute or two (only using the brightness keys though -- powerdevil slider doesnt work at all). After some time, the brightness keys do not do anything. Hence to change brightness, the only way is to reboot the computer.

Please post if any other information is required.

[Philip Muškovac (yofel)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Unfortunately, we can't fix it without more information.

Please run the following command after you encounter the issue which will attach necessary information:

apport-collect 494512

Bear in mind that you may need to install the python-launchpadlib package from the universe repository with 'sudo apt-get install python-launchpadlib'. Additionally, when prompted to give apport-collect permissions for Launchpad you will need to give it at least the ability to "Change Non-Private" data as it will be adding information to your bug report.

If you cannot use apport please at least add the following information (pay attention to lspci's additional options):
First run the following commands:
1) uname -a > uname-a.log
2) dmesg > dmesg.log
3) sudo lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log
4) cat /proc/version_signature > version.log
then attach the files separately to the bug report (not pasted into comments or tar/zip-ed).

For your reference, the full description of procedures for kernel-related bug reports is available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies. Thanks in advance!

[Sayak Banerjee (sayakb-deactivatedaccount)]

Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog]
   Subdevices: 2/2
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
   Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: sayakb 2548 F.... pulseaudio
                      sayakb 2557 F.... kmix
 /dev/snd/controlC1: sayakb 2557 F.... kmix
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfc500000 irq 22'
   Mixer name : 'IDT 92HD73C1X5'
   Components : 'HDA:111d7675,102802be,00100103'
   Controls : 23
   Simple ctrls : 14
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'HDMI'/'HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfc010000 irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'ATI R6xx HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:1002aa01,00aa0100,00100100'
   Controls : 4
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card1.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined
   Playback channels: Mono
   Mono: Playback [on]
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=d528a166-4a21-44b7-86fa-e7316dc56286
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Studio 1555
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic root=UUID=522e01a1-3fa8-4760-9c73-a2547d34bc47 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=en_IN
 LANGUAGE=
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.52-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-16-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.25
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic x86_64
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
XsessionErrors: (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2554): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
dmi.bios.date: 11/07/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A08
dmi.board.name: 0C234M
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A08
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: A08
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA08:bd11/07/2009:svnDellInc.:pnStudio1555:pvrA08:rvnDellInc.:rn0C234M:rvrA08:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrA08:
dmi.product.name: Studio 1555
dmi.product.version: A08
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Sayak Banerjee (sayakb-deactivatedaccount)]

Added apport-collect data.

[cgarre (cgarre)]

This is a nagging problem and it has been fixed in kernel 2.6.32 which is in 10.04 ubuntu only. So if you are with 9.10 then you are out of luck. Also if you think of upgrading to 10.04 alpha 1 wait ... ATI proprietary graphics wont work , so you are in for a bigger problem.

Check this old bug which talks about it https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/392812