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My brightness controls weren't working before, but I didn't really care, but somehow I lowered my screen brightness while downloading league through playonlinux. Now the brightness controls aren't working with the FN keys or in the settings, and its stuck on very low.

I tried this http://itsfoss.com/fix-brightness-ubuntu-1310/, and everything here https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/display, but they didn't do anything.

I am on a Lenovo Z500 using Intel graphics. I have a Nvidia GeForce GT 635M but don't use it.

I have noticed that there are the folders ideapad, intel_backlight and thinkpad_screen in /sys/class/backlight/, each with the files actual_brightness, brightness, and max_brightness. Only in intel_backlight is actual_brightness set to the maximum value. It says, though, that I don't have the permissions to change them with sudo.

Workaround: I got brightness back up by using the brightness FN keys outside of Ubuntu (before it starts or in the BIOS settings), but still whenever I press either of the brightness buttons it goes really dim and cannot be changed.

Kalle Richter
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Toby
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2 Answers2

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Two years ago I bought this laptop which works pretty well with Linux. When I upgraded to my new distro, Elementary OS Freya, I noticed the problem that backlight was unable to change. I could change it only on grub screen. After trying every guide on the internet I partially solved the issue by downgrading the kernel (and the related Intel graphics driver) to version 3.13. Yesterday I gave another try. It was very lucky :)

Here the solution:

On the grub configuration file /etc/default/grub modify the following line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

by adding this string: acpi_backlight=vendor.

In my case it is:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor"

Update grub by launching:

sudo update-grub

Then create a xorg configuration file like this:

/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/80-backlight.conf

and copy in it this text:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
    Driver      "intel"
    Option      "AccelMethod"     "sna"
    Option      "Backlight"       "ideapad"
    BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Save the file, Reboot, Enjoy :-)

This trick could work on other Lenovo Ideapad laptops. I tested on Lenovo Ideapad z500 on Elementary OS Freya and Debian 8 Jessie.

If you have complitely another laptop you can try this way: Modify grub like in the first part of the guide, update grub, reboot, then verify what backlight "drivers" (I don't know what they are) are being listed. Give:

ls /sys/class/backlight/

and if it gives:

backlight_driver1
backlight_driver2
backlight_driver3

Then create the xorg file with one of the drivers in the list:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
    Driver      "intel"
    Option      "AccelMethod"     "sna"
    Option      "Backlight"       "backlight_driver1"
    BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

And reboot. If it works, enjoy, otherwise modify the file with another one in the list the same way.

Kalle Richter
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Lorenzo Gabriele
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  • On some laptops the first step is enough to fix it. – Błażej Michalik Jan 23 '18 at 00:26
  • While this answer provides a solution, it doesn't provide for a way of setting upper and lower limits on the brightness. (Pushing the brightness up too high results in the brightness dropping down to its lowest limit again, probably due to an overflow of some kind.) – Agi Hammerthief Dec 17 '18 at 08:17
  • Grub + 80-backlight.conf have worked for me. I've created 20-intel.conf using other guides before, so to make it work need delete this file, staying with 80-backlight.conf only. (Lenovo Z500). – egorlitvinenko Mar 07 '19 at 21:08
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    works great on ubuntu 18.04 – Yashar Mar 20 '19 at 19:38
  • Tested on Xubuntu 20.04. While brightness slider is now working, FN keys are still not working as intended. I am also not sure if %100 brightness is the maximum possible .It seems to me that it is the same %100 I achieved when I used the workaround the question mentioned, which is still not bright. – Frou-Frou Fox Oct 11 '20 at 12:49
1

You could try this

  1. Add GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_backlight=vendor" to /etc/default/grub.
  2. Update grub and reboot. Execute sudo update-grub && reboot.