[SOLVED]Hi! Brightness Controls

[FaiT]

I have a Sony Vaio VPCCW21FX Laptop. I have just installed Natty and am very new to linux. My laptop has a few problems with Kubuntu but the newest version has fixed all of them except the brightness controls. They don't work at all and it is very frustrating because not only is it blinding but my battery life has taken a dive. I have a Windows 7 partition that I can boot to if necesary. Also CTL+ALT+F1-6 doesn't work, instead of Konsole I just get a black screen. Its a problem with the nvidia drivers and if I need to I could uninstall them so that it works. I've dabbled in linux but have never switched because it wasn't working right on my computer, now it is and this is the last problem I need to solve. Thanks in Advance - Any Advice is Welcome! .

[Snowhog]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Add noapci or apci=off to the kernel boot options. The Sony VAIO contains (at least it did in my old VAIO) a buggy BIOS. It works well in Windows, but Linux is pickier.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Thanks so much for the response. I tried both but neither worked . Any other ideas would be welcomed and appreciated. Thanks again.

[Snowhog]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

If you reboot and enter the BIOS, are there switchable settings for the special keys?

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Not much in the way of options - System Date - Time, Intel virtualization technology, Set Machine Password, External Device Boot - Network Boot - Boot Priority. And that's it.

[Guest]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Wow I had this problem before and even has someone from Sony on the phone but they weren'tmuch help. I actually had to give up with my VAIO but I've heard similar stories so I'd love to know the answer if and when you guys find a solution. Sorry I couldn't be any help. :-X

[Snowhog]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

The Sony VAIO utilizes the fn+F5/F6 keys to control the brightness. The fn key is used in conjunction with the labled Function keys. Are you able to adjust sound volume with fn+F3/F4? If you are, then the keys are working correctly, and the brightness contols should work as well. If none of the Sony special keys are working, then it is a BIOS (buggy) issue. Normally, disabling ACPI allows these keys to function. At least, that's what I had to do with my VAIO many years ago.

As problem solvoing becomes more complex when adding additional changes, remove the noapci or apci=off kernel boot option (assuming you added either permanently).

Check the package manger to see if the package acpi-support is installed. If it isn't, install it. No guarantee this will help, but it won't hurt either.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Sound works just fine, function keys and all. But brightness doesn't work no matter how I try to adjust it. I just edited the options on boot not even sure how to edit grub options permanently.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Acpi support was already installed.

[Snowhog]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Check your package manager for the package smartdimmer. Is it installed? If it is, it's likey due to your nvidia card, and if so, open a console and type:

smartdimmer --help

The options:

Options:
-g --get Query brightness level.
-s --set <level> Set brightness level (15-100)
-i --increase Increase brightness with one level.
-d --decrease Decrease brightness with one level.
-h --help Prints this help text.

Again, no guarantee.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

"Unable to shadow the video bios
Error!
Smartdimmer is only supported on certain (HP/SamsungSony/Zepto) laptops using a
Geforce 6200/7x00Go/8x00Go. If you want support on your laptop contact the author"

Thanks for trying though.

[Snowhog]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Was a long shot, but worth checking out.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Well..... I found a solution....

The answer is....... jump ship (erm, distro)!

OpenSuse works with my brightness controls and that includes the keyboard shortcuts.

Only problem is that its off. when I use the controls the whole bar will light up but it its stuck on max brightness until it gets to the far left. It will go from max to 50% to off so I only have effectivley two settings half and full. Now I fully understand that this is a Kubuntu forum and that kubuntu is derived from Debian which is very different from OpenSuse but if you have any insight on how I would adjust the brightness levels I would be very grateful, and/or point me in the right direction. Thanks for everything!

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

I updated through YAST and guess what? No more brightness controls. I'm going to reinstall and then NOT update the kernal (which is what I'm guessing is responsible) If anyone has more insight I'm open ears.

[FaiT]

Re: Hi! Brightness Controls

Yep, that was it - the description of the kernal update even said "Desktop Version" and that "non-desktop" components had been removed. In Kubuntu my laptop would not "Sleep" properly. It would go to sleep but then when returning it would simply reboot. I'm haveing the same issue in OpenSUSE. Again I'm not really expecting help for another distro, just putting it out there in case its not distro specific or someone on here has OpenSUSE experience.