Brightness can't be adjusted after running nvidia-xconfig (nvidia-experimental-310) on MacBookAir3,1

[Sean Sosik-Hamor]

I've opened up LP Bug #1159269 regarding broken xorg.conf on boot but, even after I got X working properly after running nvidia-xconfig, brightness wasn't adjustable on my MacBookAir3,1. I had to manually edit xorg.conf to make brightness adjustable.

In the "Device" section I had to add Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1":

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 320M"
    Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
EndSection

I'd expect brightness to work "out of the box" after installing an nvidia driver.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: nvidia-experimental-310 310.14-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-13.23-generic 3.8.3
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-13-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia wl
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 310.14 Tue Oct 9 11:52:41 PDT 2012
 GCC version: gcc version 4.7.2 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.7.2-22ubuntu4)
.proc.driver.nvidia.warnings.fbdev:
 Your system is not currently configured to drive a VGA console
 on the primary VGA device. The NVIDIA Linux graphics driver
 requires the use of a text-mode VGA console. Use of other console
 drivers including, but not limited to, vesafb, may result in
 corruption and stability problems, and is not supported.
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
Date: Sat Mar 23 20:11:41 2013
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: raring
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 bcmwl, 6.20.155.1+bdcom, 3.8.0-13-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia-experimental-310, 310.14, 3.8.0-13-generic, x86_64: installed
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:08a2] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Apple Inc. Device [106b:00d4]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-03-23 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Alpha amd64+mac (20130320)
MachineType: Apple Inc. MacBookAir3,1
MarkForUpload: True
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.8.0-13-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers-experimental-310
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 01/24/12
dmi.bios.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.bios.version: MBA31.88Z.0061.B07.1201241641
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag#
dmi.board.name: Mac-942452F5819B1C1B
dmi.board.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Mac-942452F5819B1C1B
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAppleInc.:bvrMBA31.88Z.0061.B07.1201241641:bd01/24/12:svnAppleInc.:pnMacBookAir3,1:pvr1.0:rvnAppleInc.:rnMac-942452F5819B1C1B:rvr1.0:cvnAppleInc.:ct10:cvrMac-942452F5819B1C1B:
dmi.product.name: MacBookAir3,1
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Apple Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.9~daily13.03.20-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.42-0ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.0.3-0ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.0.3-0ubuntu1
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu2b2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.1.0-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.21.5-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.6-0ubuntu3b1
xserver.bootTime: Sat Mar 23 16:49:13 2013
xserver.configfile: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.13.3-0ubuntu3

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

please try with nvidia-310 instead, which has a newer version of the driver

[Sean Sosik-Hamor (sciri)]

Unfortunately I'm unable to test because native Raring became completely unusable on MacBookAir3,1 due to LP Bug #576648 so I switched to running virtualized Raring. I'll continue testing when I switch back to native.

[Jochen Fahrner (jofa)]

This problem still exists in Trusty with current Nvidia driver and Macbokk 5,1. I had to manually edit xorg.conf to make backlight working.