Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

analca3 · 2013-06-05 21:31:01

Hi. I have a problem, my Packard Bell keys work correctly (without Fn, I use Fn for F1-F12 keys). Only backlight keys don't work! I have tried use xev to mapping keys, but it don't recognize them... I don't know what should I do. I have tried some things but nothing...

Anyone can help me?

I have system up to date . In my old installation (I had to format system some months ago...) work correctly! Furthermore, xbacklight order work perfectly.

Thanks all!

Regards!

Last edited by analca3 (2013-06-05 21:33:54)

WonderWoofy · 2013-06-05 21:33:20

This is a bit sparse on details...

analca3 · 2013-06-05 21:34:38

I can give you all information you need, you only have to ask me .

Regards!

WonderWoofy · 2013-06-05 21:37:51

See thats the thing... there should not be the expectation that others will try to pry information out of you.

I mean, you didn't even indicate what kind of hardware you are using... you know... the obvious things.

ewaller · 2013-06-05 21:46:17

Lets work this from both ends. First, press the backlight keys a couple times then post the last couple dozen lines from dmesg output.
Second, look in /sys/class. Is there a backlight directory there? If so, descend into it and look for files like brightness. If you find that file, what are its contents?

what if you write a different number to that file?

ewaller$@$odin ~ 1001 %cat /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
0
ewaller$@$odin ~ 1002 %echo 5 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
zsh: permission denied: /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
ewaller$@$odin ~ [1]1003 %sudo bash -c "echo 5 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness"
[sudo] password for ewaller:
ewaller$@$odin ~ 1004 %cat /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
5
ewaller$@$odin ~ 1005 %

analca3 · 2013-06-05 21:51:33

Ok, I'm sorry .

My laptop is Packard Bell Easynote TS44-HR-260SP. Intel core i7-2630QM, nVidia GeForce GT540M with Optimus.
In the kernel line of GRUB2 I have set acpi_backlight=vendor. If not set, I can't set backlight with xbacklight (In my old installation, keys work correctly with this config).
I can set baklight in Settings manager of KDE, too. The only problem is the keys... backlight adjustment work correctly.

@ewaller:

[antonio@Antonio-Arch ~]$ cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness 
390
[antonio@Antonio-Arch ~]$ xbacklight = 10
[antonio@Antonio-Arch ~]$ cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness 
97
[antonio@Antonio-Arch ~]$

I can set brightness with that method, I did it a long time until I discover xbacklight XD.

dsmeg don't recognize the keys... It's the same behaviour than the keys that work correctly, like "shutdown display", volume+-, mute...

PD: Sorry for my English .

Regards

Last edited by analca3 (2013-06-05 21:53:52)

ewaller · 2013-06-05 22:01:53

analca3 wrote:

I can set brightness with that method, I did it a long time until I discover xbacklight XD.

Good

dsmeg don't recognize the keys... It's the same behaviour than the keys that work correctly, like "shutdown display", volume+-, mute...

Ouch

Have you xev installed (extra/xorg-xev) ?? does xev see those keys?

analca3 · 2013-06-05 22:07:54

No, xev don't see these keys... But "shutdown display", "shutdown touchpad", keys neither, and work correctly. "Social networks" key (A stupid Packard Bell key) is not seen by xev, but dsmeg gives me:

[ 3098.341714] atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x9a on isa0060/serio0).
[ 3098.341721] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e01a <keycode>' to make it known.

So I could map it with some work... But backlight keys are not seen by xev nor dsmeg. It's too strange

Regards!

ewaller · 2013-06-05 22:19:29

I am running out of ideas. You say it worked in an old installation? What if you were to boot from whatever ancient media you used to install back then, and use lsmod to see what kernel modules were loaded? Compare that to the list from your latest update and see what might be missing.

analca3 · 2013-06-05 22:26:43

Well, I can use an Live media and compare lsmod... Tomorrow I'll try it! Thank you so much, I'll tell you news when I discover anything.

Regards!

analca3 · 2013-06-07 13:15:47

Ok, I can tell you some tests. In Ubuntu 13.04 Live and my Arch install:

- If I have acpi_backlight=vendor line in GRUB, I can set backlight with xbacklight or /sys/class/... plain text file. But keys don't work. Xev and dsmeg don't recognize them in Arch.
- If I don't have that line, keys work correctly in Ubuntu, but backlight is not set. In Arch, Xev recognize the key but the brightness OSD don't work correcly unless I push keys repeatly and "alternate-ly" xD. Backlight is not set, too.

I don't know what can I do. I can make work keys or backlight setting, but no both... I think that is "new" kernel problem...

I attach sorted lsmod in Arch and Ubuntu, but I think that is useless...

Arch

ablk_helper             1972  1 aesni_intel
ac                      2536  0 
acer_wmi               23782  0 
aesni_intel            45449  1 
aes_x86_64              7399  1 aesni_intel
ahci                   22696  3 
arc4                    2000  2 
ath                    15489  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
ath9k                 100317  0 
ath9k_common            2096  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              373150  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
battery                 6970  0 
bbswitch                6150  0 
button                  4669  1 i915
cdrom                  35104  1 sr_mod
cfg80211              452012  3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
coretemp                6102  0 
crc16                   1359  1 ext4
crc32c_intel           14249  0 
crc32_pclmul            3019  0 
cryptd                  8537  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
drm                   229990  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
drm_kms_helper         35086  1 i915
ehci_hcd               47375  1 ehci_pci
ehci_pci                4120  0 
evdev                   9912  14 
ext4                  486052  2 
fuse                   70985  3 
gf128mul                6018  2 lrw,xts
ghash_clmulni_intel     4501  0 
hid                    87539  2 hid_generic,usbhid
hid_generic             1153  0 
i2c_algo_bit            5391  1 i915
i2c_core               22479  6 drm,i915,i2c_i801,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,videodev
i2c_i801               11269  0 
i915                  562678  3 
intel_agp              10936  1 i915
intel_gtt              12664  2 i915,intel_agp
intel_powerclamp        8802  0 
iTCO_vendor_support     1929  1 iTCO_wdt
iTCO_wdt                5407  0 
jbd2                   85240  1 ext4
joydev                  9695  0 
kvm                   390263  1 kvm_intel
kvm_intel             125437  0 
libahci                21201  1 ahci
libata                170065  2 ahci,libahci
libphy                 20172  1 tg3
lpc_ich                12849  0 
lrw                     3565  1 aesni_intel
mac80211              487534  1 ath9k
mbcache                 5930  1 ext4
media                  10309  2 uvcvideo,videodev
mei                    58110  0 
microcode              13204  0 
mmc_core               94486  2 sdhci,sdhci_pci
Module                  Size  Used by
mperf                   1267  0 
mxm_wmi                 1467  0 
pcspkr                  2027  0 
pps_core                8889  1 ptp
processor              27555  0 
psmouse                84588  0 
ptp                     8324  1 tg3
rfkill                 15626  3 cfg80211,acer_wmi
scsi_mod              129660  3 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod
sdhci                  28462  1 sdhci_pci
sdhci_pci              11379  0 
sd_mod                 30858  4 
serio_raw               5041  0 
snd                    58893  11 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec         145704  3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     29298  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek    30893  1 
snd_hda_intel          35816  2 
snd_hwdep               6364  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_page_alloc          7330  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm                76860  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              18687  1 snd_pcm
soundcore               5418  1 snd
sparse_keymap           3114  1 acer_wmi
sr_mod                 14930  0 
tg3                   150152  0 
usb_common               954  1 usbcore
usbcore               177027  5 uvcvideo,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid,xhci_hcd
usbhid                 40892  0 
uvcvideo               72921  0 
vboxdrv              1823175  0 
video                  11138  2 i915,acer_wmi
videobuf2_core         27541  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops        2367  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_vmalloc       3304  1 uvcvideo
videodev              105273  2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
wmi                     8347  2 acer_wmi,mxm_wmi
xhci_hcd               89447  0 
xts                     3007  1 aesni_intel

Ubuntu 13.04Live

ablk_helper            13597  1 aesni_intel
acer_wmi               32467  0 
aesni_intel            55399  0 
aes_x86_64             17255  1 aesni_intel
ahci                   25731  5 
arc4                   12615  2 
ath                    23827  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
ath9k                 149924  0 
ath9k_common           14055  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              413680  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
bluetooth             228619  10 bnep,rfcomm
bnep                   18036  2 
cfg80211              510937  3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
coretemp               13355  0 
cryptd                 20373  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
dm_crypt               22820  0 
dm_log                 18529  3 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror,dm_raid45
dm_mirror              21946  0 
dm_multipath           22843  0 
dm_raid45              76725  0 
dm_region_hash         20820  1 dm_mirror
drm                   286313  7 ttm,i915,drm_kms_helper,nouveau
drm_kms_helper         49394  2 i915,nouveau
gf128mul               14951  2 lrw,xts
ghash_clmulni_intel    13259  0 
i2c_algo_bit           13413  2 i915,nouveau
i915                  600351  3 
isofs                  39815  1 
jfs                   185045  0 
joydev                 17377  0 
kvm                   443165  1 kvm_intel
kvm_intel             132891  0 
libahci                31364  1 ahci
libcrc32c              12615  1 xfs
lp                     17759  0 
lpc_ich                17061  0 
lrw                    13257  1 aesni_intel
mac80211              606457  1 ath9k
mac_hid                13205  0 
mei                    41158  0 
microcode              22881  0 
Module                  Size  Used by
mxm_wmi                13021  1 nouveau
nls_utf8               12557  1 
nouveau               939088  1 
overlayfs              28003  1 
parport                46345  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
parport_pc             28152  0 
ppdev                  17073  0 
pps_core               14080  1 ptp
psmouse                95870  0 
ptp                    18621  1 tg3
reiserfs              241608  0 
rfcomm                 42641  0 
scsi_dh                14843  1 dm_multipath
sdhci                  32522  1 sdhci_pci
sdhci_pci              18590  0 
serio_raw              13215  0 
snd                    68876  16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
snd_hda_codec         136453  3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     36913  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek    78399  1 
snd_hda_intel          39619  3 
snd_hwdep              13602  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm                97451  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_rawmidi            30180  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                61554  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi           13324  0 
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              29425  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
soundcore              12680  1 snd
sparse_keymap          13890  1 acer_wmi
squashfs               36522  1 
tg3                   153796  0 
ttm                    83187  1 nouveau
uvcvideo               80847  0 
video                  19390  3 i915,acer_wmi,nouveau
videobuf2_core         40513  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops       13202  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_vmalloc      13056  1 uvcvideo
videodev              129260  2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
wmi                    19070  3 acer_wmi,mxm_wmi,nouveau
xfs                   869118  0 
xor                    17116  1 dm_raid45
xts                    12885  1 aesni_intel

Thanks for helping.

EDIT: Ouch, double post, I'm sorry (

Regards!

Last edited by analca3 (2013-06-07 13:16:39)

Lekensteyn · 2013-06-09 12:29:16

Please install acpidump from AUR (not iasl, that one has a broken acpidump program). Then run sudo acpidump > acpidump.txt and paste that file on pastebin or gist.

analca3 · 2013-06-09 12:57:14

Thanks for helping . I don't understand anything from acpi dump LOL.

http://pastebin.com/g0x7bsL9

Regards!

Lekensteyn · 2013-06-13 15:58:43

The following two methods are called when pressing the decrease and increase brightness hotkeys respectively:

\_SB_.PCI0.LPCB.EC0_._Q11
\_SB_.PCI0.LPCB.EC0_._Q12

The methods are similar. For instance, _Q11:

 2808                     Method (_Q11, 0, NotSerialized)  // _Qxx: EC Query
 2809                     {
 2810                         If (LMST) // read a value from RAM (no idea what)
 2811                         {
 2812                             Store (One, Index (^^^WMID.FEBC, Zero))
 2813                             Store (HTBN, Index (^^^WMID.FEBC, One))
 2814                             Notify (WMID, 0xBC) // call some Windows Management Interface (WMI) function
 2815                         }
 2816 
 2817                         If (LGreaterEqual (OSYS, 0x07D6))   // If Windows 2006 or newer
 2818                         {
 2819                             If (LEqual (OBV, 0xFF)) // OBV is a field from PCI config space, if FF then the device 00:02.0 is off
 2820                             {
 2821                                 Notify (^^^PEG0.PEGP.DD01, 0x87) // decrease brightness on display attached to nvidia
 2822                             }
 2823                             Else
 2824                             {
 2825                                 Notify (^^^GFX0.DD03, 0x87) // decr brightness on intel
 2826                             }
 2827                         }
 2828                         Else
 2829                         {
 2830                             If (LNotEqual (OBV, 0xFF))
 2831                             { // if discrete video card is off
 2832                                 Store (BRTS, Local1)  // read current brightness
 2833                                 Add (Local1, One, Local1)
 2834                                 ^^^GFX0.AINT (One, Multiply (Local1, 0x0A))
 2835                             }
 2836                             Else
 2837                             { // if dscrete video card is on
 2838                                 Notify (^^^PEG0.PEGP.DD01, 0x87)
 2839                             }
 2840                         }
 2841 
 2842                         If (LMST)
 2843                         {
 2844                             Store (BRTS, Index (^^^WMID.FEBC, One))
 2845                             Store (0x04, Index (^^^WMID.FEBC, Zero))
 2846                             Notify (WMID, 0xBC)
 2847                         }
 2848                     }

Any chance that you are using bbswitch? (bumblebee?) What happens if you enable the video card (e.g. `optirun bash`)

As a quick test (which may break other stuff), can you try appending the following boot parameter:

acpi_osi="!Windows 2006" acpi_osi="!Windows 2009"

Last edited by Lekensteyn (2013-06-13 15:59:59)

Thorsten Reinbold · 2013-06-13 16:24:42

Just to be sure: you have read this?

Lekensteyn · 2013-06-13 16:26:15

Given that the Nvidia video card is off, I doubt that the option will help in this case (where the display is hooked to the intel GPU).

analca3 · 2013-06-13 16:41:14

OMG, you rock, my friends! I tried acpi_osi options and it works correctly. Nvidia card is off, so like Lekensteyn says it no helps, but thank you, Thorsten Reinbold .

Lekensteyn, I remove acpi_backlight=vendor line and put yours, all is OK now. I don't see any broken thing. Should I look for anything more?

Thank you .

Regards!

Lekensteyn · 2013-06-13 16:50:01

analca3, this is not a permanent solution. I suggest you to open an issue on https://bugzilla.kernel.org/. Do not forget to attach your acpidump and maybe refer to this forum topic.

analca3 · 2013-06-13 17:16:04

All right, we wait for answers . Thank you for all!

Regards!

Arch Linux

#1 2013-06-05 21:31:01

Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#2 2013-06-05 21:33:20

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#3 2013-06-05 21:34:38

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#4 2013-06-05 21:37:51

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#5 2013-06-05 21:46:17

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#6 2013-06-05 21:51:33

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#7 2013-06-05 22:01:53

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#8 2013-06-05 22:07:54

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#9 2013-06-05 22:19:29

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#10 2013-06-05 22:26:43

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#11 2013-06-07 13:15:47

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#12 2013-06-09 12:29:16

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#13 2013-06-09 12:57:14

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#14 2013-06-13 15:58:43

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#15 2013-06-13 16:24:42

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#16 2013-06-13 16:26:15

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#17 2013-06-13 16:41:14

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#18 2013-06-13 16:50:01

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

#19 2013-06-13 17:16:04

Re: Backlight keys don't work. Other keys work correctly...

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