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fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

stupid dimming

i had this problem when i was still using ubuntu. there is a light meter on the lid of my laptop. when i cover it up, the screen goes dim. when i turn on a bright light, the screen gets bright. i hate dimming and want it to stop. when using ubuntu, disabling dimming in my bios took care of the situation. it's still disabled, but for some reason, that disabling is getting overridden. any ideas?

edit: laptop-mode-tools seemed to solve the problem.

double edit: not solved

Last edited by fuscia (2008-05-25 23:32:02)

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

Re: stupid dimming

as far as i can tell, it seems to be related to a kernel upgrade this morning (wild guess).

edit: found ls_switch and ls_level in /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop  (i have an asus Z71)

changing the value of ls_switch from 1 to 0 made the screen instantly dim (at least, it did something. that was encouraging). changing the ls_level from ) to 10 made the screen too bright (a pleasant surprise. i could always just wear sunglasses). it seems about right at 5.

Last edited by fuscia (2008-05-26 06:42:42)

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

Re: stupid dimming

dear diary,

this morning, when i rebooted, the reboot knocked out the setting to the ls_level leaving the screen mighty dim. resetting the level to 5 worked again though.

well, that's all for now. i'll write again, soon

fuscia

pelle.k

Member

From: Åre, Sweden (EU)

Registered: 2006-04-30

Posts: 667

Re: stupid dimming

You're talking about an "ambient light sensor", i guess.
Yeah, the max value can often be much too bright. I had this dell laptop a couple of months ago, and at max brightness it was like looking right at the sun if sitting in a dark room.
When you deactivated it i guess it hit the max setting, so why not deactivate it and set it to 5 during bootup (in rc.local)? That's what i do, because gnome-power-manager just makes a mess of things for me right now.

Last edited by pelle.k (2008-05-26 15:32:37)

---

"Your beliefs can be like fences that surround you.
You must first see them or you will not even realize that you are not free, simply because you will not see beyond the fences.
They will represent the boundaries of your experience."
SETH / Jane Roberts

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

Re: stupid dimming

so why not deactivate it and set it to 5 during bootup (in rc.local)?

what would i write in that file? (never heard of it before)

pelle.k

Member

From: Åre, Sweden (EU)

Registered: 2006-04-30

Posts: 667

Re: stupid dimming

Oh, it's just that whatever you place in /etc/rc.local gets executed during bootup, so just place the command to "disable" the ambient sensor, and after that set the backlight to level 5.

echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_switch

assuming that turns the ls (light sensor?) off, and then set the level

echo 5 > /sys/devices/virtual/backlight
#thats what i use, but you may use the line below if it doesn't work
#echo 0 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/ls_level

---

"Your beliefs can be like fences that surround you.
You must first see them or you will not even realize that you are not free, simply because you will not see beyond the fences.
They will represent the boundaries of your experience."
SETH / Jane Roberts

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

Re: stupid dimming

thanks, pelle, that worked. setting ls_switch to 0 makes it dim, but leaving it at 1 and setting the ls_level to 5 is perfect. i appreciate your help.