Laptop display maximum dim at startup

Bug #555709 reported by Parenti
84
This bug affects 14 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: xorg

Laptop Lenovo T60 Thinkpad Type 8741-4GU

release -rd
Description: Ubuntu lucid (development branch)
Release: 10.04

apt-cache policy xorg
xorg:
  Installed: 1:7.5+3ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:7.5+3ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1:7.5+3ubuntu1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Display is at full dim after startup, every time. Resolution 1680x1050. Full outlet power. Xfce / Xubuntu.

I can use the keyboard to restore screen brightness to a normal level.

I would expect either full display brightness, or to retain the previous display brightness setting.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xserver-xorg 1:7.5+3ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-19.28-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-19-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Apr 5 08:48:46 2010
DkmsStatus: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
MachineType: LENOVO 87414GU
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=359d6373-a3d2-4a20-a1ea-5bb0423cbb18 ro
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xorg
dmi.bios.date: 08/27/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 7IET36WW (1.17 )
dmi.board.name: 87414GU
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr7IET36WW(1.17):bd08/27/2009:svnLENOVO:pn87414GU:pvrThinkPadT60:rvnLENOVO:rn87414GU:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 87414GU
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T60
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
glxinfo: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: i686
 kernel: 2.6.32-19-generic

Revision history for this message
Parenti (rparenti) wrote :
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
tags: added: xubuntu
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
Changed in xorg (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
memartin (memartin) wrote :

Same behavior here on T42 with ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 and Kubuntu Lucid beta. The display is bright up to the kdm logon. When KDE loads, screen brightness drops to lowest at once.

I am not completely sure if it's the same problem as above, since whole brightness management by powerdevil seems to be broken. I.e. when in battery mode, the screen dims down to lowest after reaching the defined idle timeout. It doesn't come back on when moving the mouse or pressing a key, I have to use the FN-Keys (at least they work, though). When hovering the battery indicator applet, the brightness slider is down to lowest even when the screen is bright. Moving it has no instant effect like it had in Karmic. Changing the profiles doesn't help, too.

From searching for an appropriate bug here I think that it might habe something to do with the dropping of HAL and the open source radeon drivers. I'm using an non-modified X setup from a stable Karmic install and dist-upgraded to Lucid beta. It worked good in Karmic btw.

Please let me know if I can provide some more information.

Revision history for this message
memartin (memartin) wrote :

Another thing I experience is that when I switch to a text console using Strg+Alt+F[1..6] and the switch back to X with Stgr+Alt+F7, the screen brightness goes down as well. Better said: It stays bright when switching towards the text consoles, and instantly goes dark as soon as I switch back to X.

I am completely in the dark whether this has to do with the abovementioned issues, yet I thought it might be interesting in the context.

Revision history for this message
Jeremy Crabtree (jeremylc) wrote :

Thirded. I get this on my eeePC 1001p. The screen is dim in Plymouth, then GDM starts and it flashes bright, then back to dim at the login window. If I then manually increase the brightness (using the brightness keys) and log in it will flicker, then go "maximum dim" when I am fully logged in.

Revision history for this message
Jeremy Crabtree (jeremylc) wrote :

Additional info.

I logged in using the "xterm" session and this did not happen, so I started looking at the various default startup applications. When I disabled the gnome-power-management daemon the screen brightness stayed bright, as expected. So, it seems the gnome power manager is erroneously adjusting the brightness down at login. I haven't tried disabling it for the "gdm" profile to keep it from dimming the login screen.

Revision history for this message
Andrew Novikov (as-asaw) wrote :

I have the same issue with Thinkpad R51 (mob. radeon 9000) and KDE. Whenever I try to change brightness through KDE's power management or battery applet, display dims.

Revision history for this message
Jan Hilberath (yantarou-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Same here on a ThinkPad T42, running KDE.

The screen gets dimmed when manually starting PowerDevil through the Service Manager.

Jonathan Davies (jpds)
tags: added: regression-potential
Revision history for this message
JacobSteelsmith (jacobsteelsmith) wrote :

I am experiencing the same problem after an upgrade to 10.04 (kubuntu). I have an IBM ThinkPad R51e with an ATI Technologies Inc RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200M].

Revision history for this message
Chris Bainbridge (chris-bainbridge) wrote :

Same here. Thinkpad T42p with ATI Radeon FireGL T2. Display goes dim after a few minutes. Can be brightened again using the fn-home key combination.

Same as Memartin: switching to a console with ctrl-alt-f1 then switching back with ctrl-alt-f7 results in the screen being dimmed.

Using KDE desktop. This worked fine in Karmic.

Revision history for this message
Chris Bainbridge (chris-bainbridge) wrote :

Using Gnome the display does not dim on boot, and "ctrl-alt-f1 ctrl-alt-f7" does not dim the screen. Using KDE it does. The KDE battery monitor screen brightness slider does not work - the brightness always gets set to the lowest setting. So it looks like this may be a powerdevil bug (at least, for myself and the other KDE users reporting here). ( https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173930 and https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173930 may be relevant upstream reports).

Revision history for this message
Jim Cauthen (jimcauthen) wrote :

I have the same problem on a T42P that Chris Bainbridge reported on 2010-05-17.

Revision history for this message
Chris Murphy (murphycc) wrote :

I have the exact same problem Chris Bainbridge and Jim Cauthen have. I am using KDE on Thinkpad T42, Lucid 10.04. Display goes to dimmest setting after login. I can then make it brighter manually. Screensaver does not affect it. It also goes dim after display turns off and then back on (I have it set to turn off after 2 hours, even in AC mode).

Revision history for this message
Jussi Mononen (jussi-mononen) wrote :

I have the same problem with IBM T60p with ATI Technologies Inc M56GL [Mobility FireGL V5200]. Power Manamgement settings do not have any effect but I can restore the brightness with function keys.

Revision history for this message
Jesse Bye (jesse-bye) wrote :

Same issue for me too with Kubuntu 10.04, Thinkpad T42.

This issue does not occur when I use Ubuntu 10.04, which makes me wonder whether its really an xorg bug or if it might be something else.

Revision history for this message
Chris Murphy (murphycc) wrote :

Hi everyone,

I discovered a work-around that actually seems to work. It definitely keeps display at proper brightness when I log in. It was posted by 'Kubicle' on kubuntuforums.net.

I have an even more recent version of the kernel than this (-34), and this still fixes it.

What you do is create the file containing the script listed in step 1. ** One thing I will add is to MAKE SURE the file name is '10-thinkpad-backlight.fdi'. He did not have the .fdi on it.

Seems like a good work-around until the kernel really gets fixed.

It works on my T42, Kubuntu 10.04, KDE 4.5 (which, like KDE 4.4.x, still had this display problem until I added this patch).

-Chris Murphy

* * * * * * * * * * * *

kubicle
Kubuntu Veteran

 Offline

Posts: 2876

Thinking Inside the Box

Thinkpad backlight brightness bug in recent kernels [INCLUDES WORKAROUND]
« on: April 13, 2010, 01:45:45 am »
Bug Affects:
Thinkpad T41 (and possibly other models)

Kernels:
2.6.32-18 (Not bugged)
2.6.32-19 (Bugged)
2.6.32-20 (Bugged)

Symptoms:
- Display backlight brightness changes to the lowest value once kde starts to load after logging in from kdm (once hal starts)
- Same happens when switching to X session from tty
- Cannot change display brightness with Powerdevil (kde's power manager), any change dims display
- thinkpad extra buttons for changing backlight brightness (Fn+Home, Fn+End) work normally.

Cause:
Difference in lshal output with nonbugged *-18 and bugged *-20 kernels
Quote
165c149
< laptop_panel.num_levels = 8 (0x8) (int)
---
> laptop_panel.num_levels = 1 (0x1) (int)

Workaround:
1. Create a custom hal policy file for forcing laptop_panel.num_levels value to 8:
file '/etc/hal/fdi/policy/10-thinkpad-backlight' contents:
Quote
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <!-- -*- SGML -*- -->
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
  <device>
    <match key="info.category" string="laptop_panel">
      <match key="linux.sysfs_path" suffix="/backlight/thinkpad_screen">
         <merge key="laptop_panel.num_levels" type="int">8</merge>
      </match>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>
2. Relog to restart hal

Remaining Issues:
Powerdevil display brightness slider still doesn't work as expected, but other issues should be fixed.
This is just a workaround and not a definite fix (seems something was changed between *-18 and *-19 kernel, and everything hasn't catched up with the change yet)

C de-Avillez (hggdh2)
tags: added: regression-release
removed: regression-potential
Revision history for this message
James M. Roche (paedomorphosis) wrote :

I'm having this problem on my HP Pavilion dv7, as I did on my HP Pavilion dv6. I'm currently using Isadora 10 64-bit with kernel 2.6.35-23-generic, (and I experienced the same problem with normal Ubuntu Maverick 64-bit). I can change the brightness as normal using the fn keys and with the normal Gnome or KDE gui tools, but every time I reboot, the display is again at minimum brightness. I don't think I've ever NOT experienced this problem with Ubuntu. It's a minor inconvenience, but it's an annoyance I'd like to see fixed.

Revision history for this message
Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote :

Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here. Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

Changed in xorg (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
importance: Undecided → Low
Revision history for this message
Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote :

Marking the task for gnome-power-manager invalid. This is a bug in the kernel or xorg.

Changed in gnome-power-manager (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Bryce Harrington (bryce)
affects: xorg (Ubuntu) → linux (Ubuntu)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → New
Brad Figg (brad-figg)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Oliver Joos (oliver-joos) wrote :

I mark this bug as a duplicate. If you don't agree just unmark it by clicking top-right on "! Duplicate of..." and remove the number.

Revision history for this message
Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek) wrote :

When triaging bugs against the package "linux", if the hardware does not match and the kernel team advise to, please do not mark as duplicates. The hardware must match exactly, close is not even enough to mark it a duplicate. Thank you for helping with bugs.

Revision history for this message
memartin (memartin) wrote :

I have re-setup my ThinkPad T42 with Oneiric Beta 1 and don't seem to experience that problem anymore now.

Revision history for this message
Simon (nowis74) wrote :

I didn't have this bug when I was on Natty with my hp DV6-6070CA , but since I upgraded to oneiric, Ubuntu keeps setting the brightness to the minimum on startup.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Parenti, could you please confirm this issue exists with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily/current/ . If the issue remains, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the kernel in the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested and remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the text:
needs-upstream-testing

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

no longer affects: gnome-power-manager (Ubuntu)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Parenti (rparenti) wrote : Re: [Bug 555709] Re: Laptop display maximum dim at startup

Hello Christopher,

Frankly I'm quite impressed that you are following up after this amount
of time. Thank you! However I no longer have Ubuntu installed, and I'm
not prepared right now to make space for it on my system. I find it
interesting that you feel it's an upstream problem, since I was running
another distro on that laptop, at that time and ever since, and have not
experienced that issue. Also I only run Gnome libraries to provide
compatability with my DE. Perhaps it will soon be time to give Ubunto
another trial, but in that case it would not be on that now slow and now
limited Thinkpad.

It seems bug tracker has changed their user scheme and I'm no longer a
member. My apologies but if you could make approriate entries for me,
to the effect that the hardware in question is no longer available for
testing, I would be grateful.

Thanks
Parenti

On 10/15/12 13:03, Christopher M. Penalver wrote:
> Parenti, could you please confirm this issue exists with the latest
> development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from
> http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily/current/ . If the issue remains, could
> you please run the following command in the development release from a
> Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically
> gather and attach updated debug information to this report:
>
> apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>
>
> Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Please do not test the kernel in the daily folder, but the one all the way at the bottom. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested and remove the tag:
> needs-upstream-testing
>
> This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the text:
> needs-upstream-testing
>
> If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
> kernel-fixed-upstream
> kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER
>
> where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested.
>
> If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
> kernel-bug-exists-upstream
> kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER
>
> If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, please comment as to why specifically you were unable to test it and add the following tags:
> kernel-unable-to-test-upstream
> kernel-unable-to-test-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER
>
> Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.
>
> ** No longer affects: gnome-power-manager (Ubuntu)
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: Confirmed => Incomplete
>

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Parenti, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/555709/comments/24 regarding how you are no longer using Ubuntu on the reported hardware. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. In the future, if you can still reproduce the problem, please provide the information requested in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/555709/comments/23 , and mark this bug Status Confirmed. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Invalid
Revision history for this message
memartin (memartin) wrote :

FWIW, I still use the same hardware, but haven't seen the bug occur anytime since moving away from Kubuntu Lucid. I'm on a bare-metal install of Precise right now, with full updates, and the dimming problem is gone. However, setting the screen brightness via the slider in the KDE system tools or applets still doesn't work. So maybe the underlying (kernel) problem persists.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

memartin, could you please file a new report by executing the following in a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please see the Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad article:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue

and Ubuntu Community article:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it. Thank you for your understanding.

Revision history for this message
memartin (memartin) wrote :

Christopher, with my comment I meant to agree that the issue of this bug (display dim at startup) has likely been fixed in the meantime, so it is fair for this bug to be closed. I am not experiencing any real problem right now, and I am sure that the remaining display dimming issues I have mentioned are already covered by several other bug reports. I just wanted to state that they seem to exist, not suggest a (re-)opening of this or any other bug.

To post a comment you must log in.
This report contains Public information  
Everyone can see this information.

Other bug subscribers

Remote bug watches

Bug watches keep track of this bug in other bug trackers.