Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop screen brightness wont adjust brighter in Mandriva spring
 

Hello I have a problem on my laptop Dell Inspiron 1525 when installing Mandriva 2010.1 spring edition which I belive is the power management program. Installing went fine with no problems and when I boot up after logging in and when the configuration manager message displays the screen goes dim and after the desktop is loaded I went to the power management battery icon on the panel I adajusted the screen brightness slider and the screen does not change or get brighter.

I also went to the configure the desktop program and clicked on the power management icon and tried to adjust the brightness there and nothing happend. If anyone could direct me on how to fix this problem I would greatly appreciate it.

I also wanted to note I was running Mandriva 2010.0 and the brightness worked fine except I had a problem with the flashplayer in Firefox. I installed Mandriva 2010.1 spring on a desktop and everything works great and I would love to have it on my laptop. I reinstalled Mandriva 2010.0 on my laptop until I can get someone to tell me what files to configure to fix this problem.

Below are some specs of my laptop

Inspiron 1525
Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 560 @ 2.13GHz
2 GB memory

[robin@localhost ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
02:09.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
02:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
02:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g (rev 01)

First, see if X is part of the cause by adding a 3 to the kernel boot options line so the system will start in text mode(init level 3). If the display works normally there could be issues that are with X and not just Power Management.
Note: you can run a quick test, without rebooting, by logout of desktop environmant(BTW, which one?) then use Console Login to stop X and run in text mode.

Turn off Power Management. Stop all PM daemons and set them to not start at boot. You can use Webmin or the Mandriva tools 'services' widget.
Logout & restart X. Unfortunately REBOOT will also prbly be necessary for you ...

If problem does not go away PLEASE report it as a bug to Mandriva Bugzilla. It is, most likely, some X issue -cannot help there as I do not have that chip.
IF PM is not running but X is (you login normally in runlevel 5) and the problem goes away PLEASE report the issue to qa.mandriva.com anyway because the PM should be able to work without the hassle and Mandriva dev's need to know about it.

...

HTH...

(EDIT)
PS: ... Recognizing that PM is essential for mobile devices like notebooks, you can selectively start it again once the issue is resolved.
FWIW, I have not seen|heard about this particular issue but you should check Bugzilla(use search) because if it is general, somebody may have reported it(and there may be a 'fix' for it already).

Thanks I will try that, by the way I am running KDE and I am reinstalling Mandriva Free 2010.1 to do what you told me to do. What I am not sure is do I set the run level when I boot or in the boot configuration in MMC as I have never done that before and I am not sure also what PM daemons need to be shut down.
Thanks Robin

Another way that might be easier for you:
There is a default X desktop that is installed called IceWM that is always installed in addition to your choice(KDE). Use the login option to select that DE and login into it. If the display works as expected, you can probably eliminate X as the culprit. IOW, it is KDE or a program like PM that starts when KDE loads.

The Graphical User Interface(GUI) is runlevel 5(init 5). It is the normal environment for Mandriva("X starts at boot").
The non-GUI is text mode, the way all servers are setup(or should be ...). Text mode with full user access, all programs that are not GUI-bound running, ...etc. is runlevel 3(init 3).
The system automatically goes into init 3 when "Console Login" is chosen for the (init 5) GUI login screen. It is a KDM "Menu" option. KDM is the login manager(among other things) for Mandriva when KDE is the DE.
To boot to text mode, init 3, all that is required is to edit the kernel boot line options and add a " 3" at the end. The kernel will recognize the 3 as a request to boot to init 3 and thru wondrous magic, :), not start all those GUI-only programs.
You can do that by editing the " Boot Options " for the kernel when the GRUB menu is displayed. That edit is a one time deal - at next boot it goes back to the default.
One can also do that by editing the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. The best way is to copy the lines for the default boot and paste them at the bottom of the file. Then just add a 3 at the end of the kernel line and change the name to reflect it is text mode(init 3).
E.g., copy:to bottom of file asSee the 3 at the end of kernel ...line? Note that BOOT_IMAGE was changed also: BOOT_IMAGE=linux_init_3
At next boot the new option will appear in the GRUB menu.
[EDIT: the boot to init 3 is always a good thing to have in the GrUB menu as there are situations that occur with GUI where one needs to boot to non-GUI, text, mode. E.g., installing some graphics drivers requires init 3 as it cannot be done while X is running.)

After the 2010.1 install, the easiest thing to do is select the "Failsafe" boot option and see what happens with your screen brightness. The "Failsafe is init 1([single user (root) mode] so it won't reflect what happens normally but it should show you if there is a really serious problem with the display(unlikely since 2010.0 works).
I would not bother until after running with init 3 but your choice ...

Don't get too far ahead of self. Just start with IceWM and then if still broken with init 3 and see if everything is OK with display. If so then either X or the PM (or both) are probably causing the problem.
Shutting off(or removing) the PM is the only way I know to isolate whether it is PM or something else. ... You will have to find those programs and either remove them or turn them off. The '' plasma-krunner-powerdevil ''(and the associated '' plasma-applet-battery '' battery saver program) is the only PM I know that is installed by default with KDE. You can safely remove it(& battery saver) by using the MCC Install|Remove SW tool. You can re-install it or another later after the issue cause is ascertained and, hopefully, is resolved.

GL!...

PS: for anyone reading this, the BOOT_IMAGE=linux_init_3 is just there to make things look uniform as there is no linux_init_3 image to use. It works just fine without it ...

Hello rjcooks a little information my laptop is a dual boot system with windows vista and when I reboot the screen will stay dim even threw the post screens however when I boot to windows it changes back to a bright screen. I rebooted to IceWM and it booted correctly so I believe it has something to do with KDE and I am not sure what to do now. Note I also started it in safe mode and started X and it boots correctly but then my mouse and keyboard quit working.
Thanks Robin

Another (perhaps easier) way is to switch from the GUI screen to a console screen (CTRL+ALT_F1-6), log in as root, then run the "telinit 3" command (no quotes) to stop the X server. Do the things you need to do while X is off, then restart X with "telinit 5".

Every thing loaded with the GUI is unloaded when you execute the telinit 3 command, then re-loaded with the telinit 5 command.

HTH,

Thanks Ernie I have done that and still have a dim screen but I can access the MCC and I am not sure what to do at this point. I will be honest I am still new to the CLI am not sure what to turn off or on or how to do it. No matter what I do I have to reboot to windows to get my screen back to normal brightness. I can boot to IceWM and have a normal screen but when I use the CLI and startX in KDE the screen goes dim and when I startx in safe mode it boots to a normal screen but the computer locks up.
Thanks Robin

The problem is (most likely) KDE related.
Go into MCC Install|Remove software, find the powerdevil software I mentioned previously and uninstall it.
Logout, restart X (press key combo CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE twice very quickly) then after the login screen starts login to KDE. If it is still going dim, try reboot as the powerdevil stuff might not have been purged from the kernel properly.

What's that about the computer locking up? Details ... ?

OK rjcooks what I mean by my computer locks up the keyboard and mouse does not work and I have to do a hard shutdown however I have found out something i went into my CMOS setup and Dell has the option to adjust the battery brightness and AC brightness and the AC brightness was turned down and I can adjust it back to normal and when I boot to KDE it readjusts it back down so I will try and remove the powerdevil program like you said and see if that works.
Thanks Robin

Thanks rjcooks
(SUCCESS) removing the powerdevil and readjusting the AC brightness in the CMOS setup it worked and I have a normal screen and can enjoy the new edition. Now how do I report this bug to Mandriva since I have never done that before.

And Thanks again nothing makes a person feel better than fixing a problem or having a work around.
Thanks Robin

Great!

Just use the bugzilla link in my post, create an account(sort of like a forum account setup), then run a search for the report to see if one exists(use search terms like powerdevil or Inspiron or even power management). Actually, I don't think you even need an account to do a search so you can search first and make account later.

If no existing report then post a new bug report *against* the program(powerdevil) stating in short, complete sentences what was the problem. Then explain that the only solution was to remove the plasma-krunner-powerdevil and request that MDV investigate the issue. If it is a program error, it needs to be posted at KDE (for powerdevil) but if it is some config that MDV made, they will fix and post an update.

Remember that the Mandriva developers understand French first, English and others second so long, runon sentences are not good for translation.

PS
I hope it is a easy fix and battery power management will be available soon for your system. Maybe there's another program you could use? ...I'm sure there is, just ask around.

This is bad, a really bad thing. It should *never* happen.
It is actually more important to report that problem than the screen/powerdevil issue.
ima little confused on what was done. Was that a boot using "Failsafe" or are you speaking about the "Failsafe" that is in the GUI (KDM) login menu?
Will you explain the steps that got you to the locked status?

Hello rjcooks
I booted up and when the boot menu came up I chose Mandriva spring (safe mode) and when I came to the CLI and entered startx and it booted normally with a bright screen to the GUI and the keyboard and mouse did not work so I had to press the power button to do a hard shutdown to be able to restart the computer.
Robin

Thanks Robin.
Boot menu is the GRUB boot menu. The so-called "Safe Mode" is actually a kernel command line option to boot what is called "failsafe" (or init 1). As I mentioned before, init 1 is a very basic kernel boot and has almost no running programs that one usually would find in init 3(text mode) or init 5(GUI mode). It is meant to be used for repair work on the system software and has little other value. (well, ive not seen|heard of any ...)

The startx program should not even run from init 1 as all the magic necessary to have a stable GUI is not setup. It is a mistake to run startx from init 1 but also a bug that it does because any decent programmer would have forced init 3 before 5 or made sure the proper magic is done before trying to start the GUI. AT the very least it should have silently died and done nothing.

Prbly won't make you feel a lot better but startx from runlevel 1 locks keyboard and mouse here too.

Here's a trick that everyone should remember.
The kernel "magic keys" have to be enabled. Historically they have been on Mandrake but in recent history not so reliable. They are for 2010.1. The "magic keys" will work many times that the mouse and keyboard appear to be locked.
Anyway, press
<CTRL-ALT> SYSRQ S
THEN
<CTRL-ALT> SYSRQ B

The S does an emergency sync and the B forces the kernel to reboot. It is the emergency sync that will save your, um, disk so don't forget to do both the "S" and the "B".
<CTRL-ALT> means hold the CTRL & ALT keys down while pressing first the SYSRQ(PRTSCN) then the other (S or B).

Those "magic keys" worked here so no hard shutdown or reset was needed, ;).

rj

For more info
RE: Magic SysRq

Thanks rjcooks
I did not know that command and I will note that so I can remember it in the future as I said before I am still a novice when it comes to the CLI however I did set up the boot menu in grub to boot to run level 3 like you explained and I am still learning but you don't learn if you don't try or ask questions.
Thanks again Robin