Brightness Issue on HP - Dv6

[JordanGfx]

Thanks i will look on the link that jerry mentioned about more recent kernels and try your steps to see if a newer kernel will resolve the issue (after i reformat, snapshot, try grub steps... snapshot restore if fails.. then try diff kernels)

Thanks again everyone!

[firenice03]

 with the results mentioned above (so i'm going to reformat, take a snapshot of OS and then try the last step again, then i may look at patching the kernel which i don't have the faintest clue how to start with that but that will be my next logical step i believe.

@JordanGfx


That's easy... Go to Lite Tweaks - Kernel Installer / Remover
You can easily install any kernel - you will need to reboot...
I would try in an order, older to newer as the newest kernel will be the default at boot.


You can select kernel at boot - Hit shift at power on - select Advanced Options from GRUB - select desired kernel
*Also should a kernel give undesired results - reboot go back to a working.


Then remove any you no longer need..


Test other functionality too.. Wi-Fi or ?? when testing... I think you mentioned it but a backup is ideal --- Time Shift in LL4.x

[JordanGfx]

This is my first time using linux but im familiar with command prompt, tweaking code etc so trying all those steps wasnt tricky for me, just doesnt seem to play ball with this setup yet.

Can you run "inxi -Fxrz" and post the output here? (surrounded by code tags, the "#" button at the top of the editor). The "z" option will remove ip address, home-directory name, etc.  When you say LL doesn't play well with your laptop, I'm curious what it is. (Others might recognize something.).

Hang in there. I've used a few distros. Linux Lite is up in my top 2-3 (I don't have a #1, they're all best in their own ways.). The mistake you made was probably messing around with the grub. I stay away from that. (If I could ever get my hands on whomever dreamed that up, I would land a series of repetitious blows about his head and shoulders.). If you get into it, it starts to make sense. But... you'd think something so basic wouldn't be so primitive. Sometimes I hit "e" to edit the grub commands (remove "nosplash quiet" and see what's happening). When I edit that, it's like 1990 all over again. 1200baud modem. Press an arrow key, what a second for the cursor to move. WTH? Stuff like that makes me believe we really do live in a simulation, and people outside our dimension are laughing at us.

Have you checked whether Dell has updates for your bios? If so, look at the release notes for every version above yours. If nothing about the brightness keys were affected, it might be better not to update just for the sake of updating. Sometimes you can "brick" your laptop.

Hi there i've ran the command to get  the info you requested please see below:

(i'm going to reformat today though as i tried some steps from the most recent responses and it allowed me to move the brightness bar again but no movement in brightness.

I tried the grub edit of

Code: [Select]

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_backlight=vendor"

then i tried the one for intel cards (which mine appears to have):

Code: [Select]

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi= acpi_backlight=intel"
 with the results mentioned above (so i'm going to reformat, take a snapshot of OS and then try the last step again, then i may look at patching the kernel which i don't have the faintest clue how to start with that but that will be my next logical step i believe.

Apologies, info you requested here:

Code: [Select]

System:    Host: jordan-HP-Pavilion-dv6-Notebook-PC Kernel: 4.15.0-88-generic x86_64
           bits: 64 gcc: 7.4.0
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.31) Distro: Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
Machine:   Device: laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC v: 0593110000204610000620100 serial: <filter>
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 17F9 v: 10.31 serial: <filter>
           BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: F.02 date: 10/03/2011
Battery    BAT0: charge: 13.9 Wh 45.1% condition: 30.8/62.2 Wh (50%)
           model: Hewlett-Packard 5600 status: Discharging
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3-2330M (-MT-MCP-)
           arch: Sandy Bridge rev.7 cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8780
           clock speeds: max: 2200 MHz 1: 935 MHz 2: 946 MHz 3: 925 MHz
           4: 956 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series]
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.19.6
           drivers: modesetting,ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: [email protected]
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile
           version: 3.3 Mesa 19.2.8 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-88-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 4000 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: em1 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 [Rainbow Peak]
           driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 0d:00.0
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.9% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST9500325AS size: 500.1GB temp: 17C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 458G used: 8.9G (3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 31.0C mobo: N/A gpu: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list
           deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu bionic partner
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/apandada1-ubuntu-brightness-controller-bionic.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/apandada1/brightness-controller/ubuntu bionic main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release-bionic.list
           deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ bionic main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxlite.list
           deb http://repo.linuxliteos.com/linuxlite/ diamond main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/otto-kesselgulasch-ubuntu-gimp-xenial.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/otto-kesselgulasch/gimp/ubuntu bionic main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teejee2008-ubuntu-ppa-bionic.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu bionic main
Info:      Processes: 192 Uptime: 8 min Memory: 623.0/5907.8MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.201) inxi: 2.3.56

[Jerry]

Looks like it will be fixed, regardless. Luck of the model you are using

https://askubuntu.com/questions/162409/brightness-not-working-on-an-hp-pavilion-dv6-with-a-ati-radeon-hd6770m

The cold hard truth...

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/backlight-and-kernel-4-9-3/15716/8

"The HP Pavilion dv6 has a non-working acpi_video0 backlight interface
and an intel_backlight interface which works fine. Add a force_native
quirk for it so that the non-working acpi_video0 interface does not get
registered.

Note that there are quite a few HP Pavilion dv6 variants, some
woth ATI and some with NVIDIA hybrid gfx, both seem to need this
quirk to have working backlight control. There are also some versions
with only Intel integrated gfx, these may not need this quirk, but it
should not hurt there."

You could also try one of our newer kernels via Lite Tweaks, Kernel Installer to see if it's been patched.

Post #9 - https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1724933

Happy hacking!

[JordanGfx]

Hey thanks, i am super overtired from work (and lack of sleep lately) so just popped on to give you the model number for now.

Then i can action any of the mentioned steps on the weekend in the day, as at this time the brightness is not doing me any favors just now LOL

Thanks again for all who are helping out!

model number is dv6-6b50sa

[TheDead]

Hi,

I could be mistaken since there's a gazillion HP models but I think the exact model / Part number (could be written as MN or PN) is on a sticker under the battery.
Not on the battery itselft, but in the battery compartment.

[Jerry]

There are a lot of DV6 variants. If you could give us the full model number (underneath?) we'll go from there. Cheers.

[JordanGfx]

I'm being a complete div, my wifes laptop is dell ive not slept well lately and overworked/stressed.. my laptop is infact a hp dv6, im literally going insane, apologies for that guys!!

So embarrassing.

Might help us assess the situation better, yeh the grub thing i edited as adding the splash = vendor thing but now i will search for some hp dv6 guidance and report back, will also try some of above advice, will report back to you all asap, its 6am now so just getting ready for work.

Thanks again for all your input, help and patience, will update you all asap.

Will also edit post subject when im home tonight to HP dv6.

[Jerry]

I can't locate a 'Dell DV6' in Google, only HP. We'll need the exact make and model to accurately help you with this.

[az2020]

This is my first time using linux but im familiar with command prompt, tweaking code etc so trying all those steps wasnt tricky for me, just doesnt seem to play ball with this setup yet.

Can you run "inxi -Fxrz" and post the output here? (surrounded by code tags, the "#" button at the top of the editor). The "z" option will remove ip address, home-directory name, etc.  When you say LL doesn't play well with your laptop, I'm curious what it is. (Others might recognize something.).

Hang in there. I've used a few distros. Linux Lite is up in my top 2-3 (I don't have a #1, they're all best in their own ways.). The mistake you made was probably messing around with the grub. I stay away from that. (If I could ever get my hands on whomever dreamed that up, I would land a series of repetitious blows about his head and shoulders.). If you get into it, it starts to make sense. But... you'd think something so basic wouldn't be so primitive. Sometimes I hit "e" to edit the grub commands (remove "nosplash quiet" and see what's happening). When I edit that, it's like 1990 all over again. 1200baud modem. Press an arrow key, what a second for the cursor to move. WTH? Stuff like that makes me believe we really do live in a simulation, and people outside our dimension are laughing at us.

Have you checked whether Dell has updates for your bios? If so, look at the release notes for every version above yours. If nothing about the brightness keys were affected, it might be better not to update just for the sake of updating. Sometimes you can "brick" your laptop.

[JordanGfx]

Thanks, i will wait a few days then reformat and reinstall.

I will try the command you suggested before that if no joy, then i will reinstall and try with command if it works and if not will have to maybe add and replace that file and reboot everytime depending on time of day i plan to use laptop if all else fails.

So i can have wither super dim or super bright upon a fileswap and reboot.

This is my first time using linux but im familiar with command prompt, tweaking code etc so trying all those steps wasnt tricky for me, just doesnt seem to play ball with this setup yet.

Thanks again!

Will give a update regardless.

[az2020]

I don't know how to tell you how to undo the changes you made. But, apparently the brightness can be controlled from the command line using xrandr. I've never done it. I found that googling. There are other how-tos about using that command for that purpose.

If someone were good at scripting, they could write a script to get the current value, increment/decrement that value, and set it. In that way, the script could be assigned to a keyboard combination. Like Windows + q (and Windows + w) to increment & decrement. Pass the script a parm to tell it which way it's supposed to go.

I've never understood grub. I think it saves a copy somewhere. I don't know if the commonly-used "boot-repair" tool would get you back to before that change. (I'd wait for someone to suggest that before trying it.).

[JordanGfx]

Hello Guys,

I have an old dell dv6 laptop, all working well apart from the brightness graphic would slide up or down with the hotkeys but brightness would not change.

So I looked through all your threads on fixing the brightness control issue, i tried the fix where i add the app called brightness and add an entry to the start up applications, with the command that was something like xbrightness -20 or whatever value.

This did nothing.

So i then did the fix where i added the file called '20-intel.conf' to a certain folder and rebooted (with some commands in there). This actually made my brightness permanently more dim which was much easier on the eyes, but still impossible to alter up or down after this point.


So then it tried the fix in this link and this sucessfully updated the grub file: once i added the new commands:

https://www.debugpoint.com/2016/10/2-ways-fix-laptop-brightness-problem-ubuntu-linux/

Then when i rebooted my brightness was stuck on MAX and the slider wont move at all now, also the GUI based brightness app i then installed from this link but appears nowhere on the system, so maybe only works with AMD graphics cards or not this version of linux?

Could someone please help me in the right direction?

I've tried to now undo all these steps and go back to the 20-intel.conf method to atleast lower my brightness so i can use my laptop without it keeping me awake all night, but even that wont work now and i dont have a snapshot from the fresh install.

Will I have to reformat and re-install all over again ?

Poor first time experience of Linux Lite so far, but everything else is amazing and it has worked wonders on reviving my wifes old laptop so would love some advice as love everything else about this Distro of linux so far!!