[SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

jeslinmx · 2010-11-21 14:47:29

after installing the nvidia non-free drivers from the nvidia website (nvidia 96xx does not work on xorg 1.9) my lenovo y450 is stuck at maximum brightness. fn+updown causes the brightness dialog to show up and the bar to move but nothing happens. adjusting power management also fails. currently using compiz to negative my screen to preserve sanity. any suggestions?

Last edited by jeslinmx (2010-11-29 13:46:40)

litemotiv · 2010-11-21 14:59:17

Did you check if backlight entries were created in sysfs? Look under:

/sys/class/backlight/

or

/proc/acpi/video/

jeslinmx · 2010-11-21 15:16:46

i have the blank file acpi_video0 in sys/class/backlight and blank file vga in /proc/acpi/video/. beginner question: what is a backlight entry?

litemotiv · 2010-11-21 15:32:54

You mean both files don't show any contents when you 'cat' them? And are you sure that they aren't directories, instead of files?

A backlight entry is what your system actually uses in the background to change the brightness, this can be either through /proc/ or /sys. If your backlight is supported, there should be a file called (usually) 'brightness,' which value you can change by echoing another value.

For instance, on my system i can do:

cat /sys/class/backlight/mbp_backlight/brightness

Which gives back '6'. If i then echo a different number (as root user, not sudo):

echo 10 > /sys/class/backlight/mbp_backlight/brightness

The brightness increases.

Now if you don't have any entries under either /sys/ or /proc/, then your backlight is not supported by default and you probably need extra drivers. In this case, you can also try if the 'smartdimmer' utility in AUR works for you, this is a small tool to change the brightness for Nvidia based laptops.

jeslinmx · 2010-11-22 01:07:15

dangit. well, thanks for the help i'm kinda stuck until i work out how to use the AUR, but i'll read up elsewhere. strangely, i can adjust my brightness with the fn keys before x starts, so it's a workaround for now.
thanks!

litemotiv · 2010-11-22 09:10:16

In that case, you might need to add:

Option  "RegistryDwords"  "EnableBrightnessControl=1"

To the Device section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

jeslinmx · 2010-11-24 00:41:13

that seems to break x for me. i have no 20-nvidia.conf file.

thestinger · 2010-11-24 00:45:03

jeslinmx wrote:

after installing the nvidia non-free drivers from the nvidia website

What do you mean by this?

nvidia, nvidia-173xx and nvidia-96xx are all different versions of the proprietary driver, nvidia is the modern one, the other two are legacy - you didn't have to install the drivers from the website, the same ones are in the repos.

nouveau is the open source driver

jeslinmx · 2010-11-24 05:00:53

http://www.archlinux.org/news/xorg-18-moves-to-extra/
and i heard that 1.9 also does not support.
the wiki said that the ones from the website would though. so i tried.

litemotiv · 2010-11-24 11:21:11

jeslinmx wrote:

http://www.archlinux.org/news/xorg-18-moves-to-extra/
and i heard that 1.9 also does not support.
the wiki said that the ones from the website would though. so i tried.

Ew, the wiki needs to be changed then, it should work fine now. Making people install from the Nvidia (or any other) site is the worst advice.

jeslinmx, on which wiki page does it mention that?

jeslinmx · 2010-11-24 12:51:46

litemotiv wrote:

Ew, the wiki needs to be changed then, it should work fine now. Making people install from the Nvidia (or any other) site is the worst advice.
jeslinmx, on which wiki page does it mention that?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginner's_Guide#NVIDIA_Graphics_Cards and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Nvidia#Installing
thanks for the advice. don't really like that thing on my system without pacman knowing about it.

jeslinmx · 2010-11-24 12:55:24

what happens to be the uninstall process, by the way?

litemotiv · 2010-11-24 13:54:21

Thanks jeslinmx.

jeslinmx wrote:

what happens to be the uninstall process, by the way?

You should be able to run the Nvidia installer with the --uninstall flag, after that you can pacman -S nvidia like normal.

jeslinmx · 2010-11-28 10:55:36

hmm. that broke X for me. something about the gdm display lasting for 0.something seconds and checking the x server log for details. i have like 5 xorg logs in the /var/log directory so...which is it?

litemotiv · 2010-11-28 11:36:17

Xorg.0.log

P.s., don't forget to reboot after the nvidia installation.

jeslinmx · 2010-11-29 12:06:28

yup, still failing. so here's all the details.
nvidia geforce 210m. there was some kernel26 update to .36 listed as dependency when i installed the nvidia-96xx driver from pacman
at startup i get this

gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 1.004464 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.051377 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.035337 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.034949 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.035340 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmDisplay: display lasted 0.034970 seconds.
gdm-binary[2131]: WARNING: GdmLocalDisplayFactory: maximum number of X display failures reached: check X server log for errors.

calling startx later gave this in the X server log

[   319.845] 
X.Org X Server 1.9.2
Release Date: 2010-10-30
[   319.846] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[   319.846] Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.35-ARCH x86_64 
[   319.846] Current Operating System: Linux jeshua-laptop 2.6.36-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Nov 24 00:39:57 CET 2010 x86_64
[   319.847] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda6 ro
[   319.847] Build Date: 01 November 2010  10:29:19PM
[   319.847]  
[   319.847] Current version of pixman: 0.20.0
[   319.847]     Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
    to make sure that you have the latest version.
[   319.848] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
    (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
    (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[   319.849] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Mon Nov 29 19:46:06 2010
[   319.850] (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
[   319.850] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[   319.850] (==) ServerLayout "X.org Configured"
[   319.850] (**) |-->Screen "Screen0" (0)
[   319.850] (**) |   |-->Monitor "Monitor0"
[   319.850] (**) |   |-->Device "Card0"
[   319.850] (**) |-->Input Device "Mouse0"
[   319.850] (**) |-->Input Device "Keyboard0"
[   319.850] (==) Automatically adding devices
[   319.850] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[   319.850] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[   319.850]     Entry deleted from font path.
[   319.851] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[   319.851]     Entry deleted from font path.
[   319.851] (**) FontPath set to:
    /usr/share/fonts/misc/,
    /usr/share/fonts/TTF/,
    /usr/share/fonts/Type1/,
    /usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,
    /usr/share/fonts/75dpi/,
    /usr/share/fonts/misc/,
    /usr/share/fonts/TTF/,
    /usr/share/fonts/Type1/,
    /usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,
    /usr/share/fonts/75dpi/
[   319.851] (**) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[   319.851] (WW) AllowEmptyInput is on, devices using drivers 'kbd', 'mouse' or 'vmmouse' will be disabled.
[   319.851] (WW) Disabling Mouse0
[   319.851] (WW) Disabling Keyboard0
[   319.851] (II) Loader magic: 0x7d3360
[   319.851] (II) Module ABI versions:
[   319.851]     X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[   319.851]     X.Org Video Driver: 8.0
[   319.851]     X.Org XInput driver : 11.0
[   319.851]     X.Org Server Extension : 4.0
[   319.852] (--) PCI:*(0:1:0:0) 10de:0a74:17aa:38fe rev 162, Mem @ 0xcc000000/16777216, 0xd0000000/268435456, 0xce000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x00002000/128, BIOS @ 0x????????/524288
[   319.852] (WW) Open ACPI failed (/var/run/acpid.socket) (No such file or directory)
[   319.852] (II) "extmod" will be loaded. This was enabled by default and also specified in the config file.
[   319.852] (II) "dbe" will be loaded. This was enabled by default and also specified in the config file.
[   319.852] (II) "glx" will be loaded. This was enabled by default and also specified in the config file.
[   319.852] (II) "record" will be loaded. This was enabled by default and also specified in the config file.
[   319.852] (II) "dri" will be loaded by default.
[   319.852] (II) "dri2" will be loaded. This was enabled by default and also specified in the config file.
[   319.852] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[   319.852] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[   319.855] (II) Module glx: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[   319.855]     compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.855]     Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[   319.855] (II) NVIDIA GLX Module  96.43.19  Wed Oct 27 10:08:09 PDT 2010
[   319.855] (II) Loading extension GLX
[   319.855] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[   319.855] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri2.so
[   319.856] (II) Module dri2: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.856]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.2.0
[   319.856]     ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 4.0
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension DRI2
[   319.856] (II) LoadModule: "extmod"
[   319.856] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libextmod.so
[   319.856] (II) Module extmod: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.856]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.856]     Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[   319.856]     ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 4.0
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DGA
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension DPMS
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension XVideo
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension X-Resource
[   319.856] (II) LoadModule: "dbe"
[   319.856] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdbe.so
[   319.856] (II) Module dbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.856]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.856]     Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[   319.856]     ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 4.0
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[   319.856] (II) LoadModule: "record"
[   319.856] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/librecord.so
[   319.856] (II) Module record: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.856]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.13.0
[   319.856]     Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[   319.856]     ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 4.0
[   319.856] (II) Loading extension RECORD
[   319.856] (II) LoadModule: "dri"
[   319.857] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
[   319.857] (II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.857]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.857]     ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 4.0
[   319.857] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
[   319.857] (II) LoadModule: "nvidia"
[   319.857] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nvidia_drv.so
[   319.857] (II) Module nvidia: vendor="NVIDIA Corporation"
[   319.857]     compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.857]     Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[   319.857] (II) NVIDIA dlloader X Driver  96.43.19  Wed Oct 27 09:46:48 PDT 2010
[   319.857] (II) NVIDIA Unified Driver for all Supported NVIDIA GPUs
[   319.857] (--) using VT number 7

[   319.860] (II) Loading sub module "fb"
[   319.860] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
[   319.860] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
[   319.861] (II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[   319.861]     compiled for 1.9.2, module version = 1.0.0
[   319.861]     ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[   319.861] (II) Loading sub module "ramdac"
[   319.861] (II) LoadModule: "ramdac"
[   319.861] (II) Module "ramdac" already built-in
[   319.861] (==) NVIDIA(0): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
[   319.861] (==) NVIDIA(0): RGB weight 888
[   319.861] (==) NVIDIA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[   319.861] (==) NVIDIA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[   319.861] (**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration
[   319.861] (II) NVIDIA(0): Support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X extensions is
[   319.861] (II) NVIDIA(0):     enabled.
[   319.868] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device PCI:1:0:0. 
[   319.868] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     Please see the COMMON PROBLEMS section in the README for
[   319.868] (EE) NVIDIA(0):     additional information.
[   319.868] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
[   319.868] (EE) NVIDIA(0):  *** Aborting ***
[   319.868] (II) UnloadModule: "nvidia"
[   319.868] (II) UnloadModule: "fb"
[   319.868] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[   319.868] 
Fatal server error:
[   319.868] no screens found
[   319.868] 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
     at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[   319.868] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[   319.868]

this is my xorg.conf

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 256.53  (buildmeister@builder97.nvidia.com)  Fri Aug 27 20:55:22 PDT 2010


Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "dri2"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "record"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName      "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"

        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "SWcursor"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "HWcursor"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAccel"                # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"               # <i>
    Identifier     "Card0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Card0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

and my 20-nvidia.conf in xorg.conf.d

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Default nvidia Device"
        Driver "nvidia"
        Option "NoLogo" "True" 
EndSection

tell me if you need more details.

RobertMe · 2010-11-29 12:18:08

jeslinmx wrote:

yup, still failing. so here's all the details.
nvidia geforce 210m. there was some kernel26 update to .36 listed as dependency when i installed the nvidia-96xx driver from pacman
at startup i get this

So if I understand you right you have a geforce 210M and installed the nvidia-96xx driver? If that's the case, you'll need to install the plain "nvidia" driver, the 96.xx drivers are meant for really old cards (as is the 173.xx driver, but that is for newer cards as the 96.xx driver, but still for older cards). The "nvidia" driver should at least work from the geforce 7000 series till the latest cards (gt400 or so) AFAIK

jeslinmx · 2010-11-29 13:18:20

oooh. i think i misunderstood the beginner's guide because i used it as a guide on which driver i should get. on my way to test the other driver now.

jeslinmx · 2010-11-29 13:46:26

aand it works! thanks! [SOLVED]!

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-21 14:47:29

[SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#2 2010-11-21 14:59:17

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#3 2010-11-21 15:16:46

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#4 2010-11-21 15:32:54

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#5 2010-11-22 01:07:15

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#6 2010-11-22 09:10:16

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#7 2010-11-24 00:41:13

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#8 2010-11-24 00:45:03

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#9 2010-11-24 05:00:53

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#10 2010-11-24 11:21:11

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#11 2010-11-24 12:51:46

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#12 2010-11-24 12:55:24

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#13 2010-11-24 13:54:21

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#14 2010-11-28 10:55:36

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#15 2010-11-28 11:36:17

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#16 2010-11-29 12:06:28

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#17 2010-11-29 12:18:08

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#18 2010-11-29 13:18:20

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

#19 2010-11-29 13:46:26

Re: [SOLVED]screen brightness adjustment with nvidia non-free on x64

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