[Hardy] [regression] gdm, opengl apps and vlc reset brightness to xbacklight value (i915)

Binary package hint: vlc

Every time I open a video file in vlc brightness is changed to xbacklight value (which seems to bee 33.3 per default). If I use my laptop brightness keys afterwards it jumps to previous brightness postion +- one. This doesn't happen when the X11 output is used.
If I change the driver from -intel to -vesa the problem is gone so I guess it is partly a driver issue. Since Totem and mplayer haven't this problem it is more a vlc one.
If I change the value with xbacklight it directly takes effect but could be changed through the laptop brightness keys. If I set xbacklight to 100 brightness goes always to maximum when vlc plays a video file and if I set it to 0 minimum brightness is shown.

I am using current Hardy and the brightness keys are using sony-laptop.

vlc: Installed: 0.8.6.release.d-0ubuntu5
xserver-xorg-video-intel: Installed: 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu4

It is a little like the Gutsy Alpha Bug #139954 except that it atm only happens with vlc.

The brightness is reseted even after normal gdm start. Normally the screen is very dark after gdm start (xbacklight default value is low) but if I change brightness with xbacklight to 100% percent the screen is very bright after logout.
The same happens with OpenArena and other OpenGL apps I guess so bug Bug #139954 does happen again except that some video players haven't the problem.

This Patch from upstream seems to solve my issue.

I have this problem in Hardy Beta with an Intel 965GM video card (Intel X3100).

I can reproduce the bug with multiple applications (MPlayer, VLC, Xine) and multiple video types (FLV, AVI, OGM, MOV).

I'll try using the patch and seeing what that does.

I'm using:
xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.2.1-1ubuntu5
vlc 0.8.6.release.d-0ubuntu6
mplayer 2:1.0~rc2-0ubuntu8

The patch has changed a little bit. It is available upstream under https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15064 and possibly make it into the driver if no regressions are found.

Thanks for filing upstream, the patch looks good, although I'd like to study it a bit further in case it could lead to regressions for other hardware types.

The patch was commited: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/commit/?id=1450acd046d47e1739a3ffbd146c73ad2974a935

Thanks for chasing down a patch unggnu! I've pulled it into -intel and will upload once I've verified a build.

I'm a little bit worried about Jesse's phrasing of "Looks like more platforms want that than what the current code does", which makes it sound like potentially some platforms may prefer the current code and so might experience regression. However, I'll trust that it will resolve more people's issues than it generates. If you could keep an eye out for relevant backlight bug reports following this upload, and bring them to Jesse's attention hopefully we can get any of those cases covered as well.

This bug was fixed in the package xserver-xorg-video-intel - 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu11

---------------
xserver-xorg-video-intel (2:2.2.1-1ubuntu11) hardy; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/16_legacy_backlight_blc_pwn_ctl.patch:
    - Fixes issue where gdm, opengl apps, and vlc resets brightness to
      xbacklight value on i915, by switching from BCM_LEGACY to BCM_COMBO.
      This won't affect users using the kernel's /sys/class/backlight
      interfaces for managing the backlight, but should produce better
      results for the majority of legacy bit users. (LP: #201933)

 -- Bryce Harrington <email address hidden> Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:41:38 -0700

Two things, after upgrading to 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu11:

I'm still seeing this with OpenGL apps and a Intel GM965/GL960: Start Second Life and bamm! The backlight goes up to max.

Also, could this have caused bug #213745?

No, the thing that caused bug #213745 coincidentally occurred due to a different upload the same day but had nothing to do with this bug.

Also, this bug and its fix were for i915, whereas you have an i965 so probably are seeing an unrelated issue. Note the caveats in the release notes for this bug, and please open a new bug report with as much relevant information as possible.

This bug has not been fixed for me. I have an intel GMA X3100 on an Hasee laptop, and every time I boot into ubuntu I need to adjust the brightness via the gnome-panel applet (fn keys do not work). I also experienced the bug of vlc suddenly turning the brightness all the way down, but that doesn't always happen and also affects totem and mplayer.

@Mike Gratton and vervelover
I guess it is the best to open a new bug report for your issue since this one is fixed for i915.

It is a good idea to recheck your issue with a newer Intel drive from Debian sid. You have to remove the old i810 driver because the new one doesn't work parallel.
sudo apt-get remove xserver-xorg-video-i810 xserver-xorg-video-all
Download the current driver from http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/pool/main/x/xserver-xorg-video-intel/xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.3.1-1_i386.deb and install it.
After that restart X and check if your problem is gone. If it still doesn't work it is the best to report it upstream.

If you want to reset everything do the follow commands.
sudo apt-get remove xserver-xorg-video-intel
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-all

Afterwards you will have the standard hardy driver again.

Maybe you can also undo this patch and compile the driver and test it. The easiest way is to download the source and dependencies with apt-src install xserver-xorg-video-intel and then remove the file ./debian/patches/16_legacy_backlight_blc_pwn_ctl.patch and also remove the 16. entry from ./debian/patches/series . The driver is compiled with fakeroot dpkg-buildpackage. Afterwards you have a Debian package which could be installed with dpkg -i <packagename>.deb .

A workaround is to add blacklist video" in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
That worked for me with a 965GM in hardy

An update solved my issue later in Hardy, but it's back in Intrepid Alpha 6 with all updates. I will try adding the backlist video line.

blacklisting video disables brightness settings and permanently sets brightness to 0. So I would consider this issue reopened for Intrepid Ibex. Or should I open another bug report for my card (GMA X3100 - i965?)?

This issue affects me also. Intel GM960, Intrepid Ibex 8.10

Playing *any* video in VLC causes the screen brightness to change.

Me too , still have the same problem with Intrepid Ibex

Graphics : intel GMA X3100

Its happen to me too, but seems to be related with qt library, since the same occurrs when I start a VirtualBox virtual machine.

Me too, Jaunty beta + VirtualBox, starting/shutting a VM or even maximizing/restoring VM window.

Intel X3100.

Me too,

Everytime I start VLC Player or MPlayer (or SMPlayer) or a VirtualBox Virtual Machine (any guest OS), my monitor brightness goes up to 100%.

My graphics card is a Intel 965 GMA X3100 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron with the 2.6.24-23 kernel and the driver being
xserver-xorg-video-intel Version: 2:2.2.1-1ubuntu13.8