MacBook brightness adjustment does not work in Hardy

I can confirm this; same exact problem on my second generation Macbook Core 2 Duo, with the same kernel and gnome-power-manager versions as above (running latest 8.04 beta). Using xbacklight (which uses the RandR extension), though, I can adjust the brightness from the terminal successfully.

can second schalkpd's observations.
xbacklight works. also pommed works, allowing the f1/2 keys to control backlight.
2nd gen mb c2d.

I can confirm this.
The affected package is hal, gnome-power-manager fails because addon-macbook-backlight can't mmap.
See my attached hal.log.

To create the hal.log
sudo /etc/init.d/hald stop
sudo hald --verbose=yes --daemon=no 2>&1 | tee /tmp/hal.log

[snippet]
21:13:46.595 [D] hald_dbus.c:3294: udi=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/macbook_backlight
21:13:46.595 [I] hald_dbus.c:3320: AddonIsReady on udi '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/macbook_backlight'
21:13:46.595 [D] hald_dbus.c:3589: singleton_addon_is_ready
21:13:46.595 [I] hald_dbus.c:3616: SingletonAddonIsReady recieved for 'hald-addon-input'
21:13:46.595 [D] hald_dbus.c:3629: Signalling device added for queued devices
21:13:46.595 [D] hald_dbus.c:3633: device added for '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_logicaldev_input'
21:13:46.622 [D] hald_dbus.c:3429: singleton_signal_device_changed about to send message to connection 0x80b32e0

** ERROR **: failed to mmap
aborting...
21:13:46.622 [I] hald_runner.c:110: runner_server_message_handler: destination=(null) obj_path=/org/freedesktop/HalRunner interface=org.freedesktop.HalRunner method=StartedProcessExited
21:13:46.622 [I] hald_runner.c:125: Previously started process with pid 11401 exited
21:13:46.622 [I] hald.c:84: in addon_terminated for udi=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/macbook_backlight
21:13:46.622 [E] device.c:1705: In hal_device_inc_num_ready_addons for udi=/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/macbook_backlight but all addons are already ready!

To clarify I should add that addon-macbook-backlight provides g-p-m with GetBrightness/SetBrightness.
pommed can mmap just fine.

It worked with the Hardy Beta Live CD which uses hal 0.5.10+git20080301-1ubuntu3, so changes must have occured since then.

MacBook2,1 using pommed has no problem with LCD brightness adjustment.
Actually I am struggling with the LED keyboard of NUM Lock and Caps Lock they don't light up.

Is that with Gutsy or Hardy?

On 4/3/08, mabovo <email address hidden> wrote:
> MacBook2,1 using pommed has no problem with LCD brightness adjustment.
> Actually I am struggling with the LED keyboard of NUM Lock and Caps Lock
> they don't light up.
>
> ** Attachment added: "dmesg"
> http://launchpadlibrarian.net/13089587/dmesg.txt
>
> --
> macbook brightness adjustment does not work in hardy
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/206921
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

--
Sent from Google Mail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Tested a few packages:
hal 0.5.10+git20080301-1ubuntu3 works, but the next upload to hardy hal 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu1 breaks it.
addon-macbook-backlight.c wasn't changed much. Couldn't find anything, the debiff is huge :/

Hello,
I don't want to start new bug but I've found similar problem on HP Pavilion notebook (dv2025nr, dv2000 series). After update (it might happened this week) brightness adjusting stopped working, I can't change it via FN+F7/F8 and applet. However, it can be adjusted via procfs, using file /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness (echo 60 > /proc/acpi/video/VGA/LCD/brightness as root).

cat /var/log/acpid
(...)
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] received event "video LCD 00000087 00000000"
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] notifying client 5735[110:122]
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] notifying client 5883[0:0]
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] notifying client 5883[0:0]
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] executing action "/etc/acpi/video_brightnessdown.sh"
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] BEGIN HANDLER MESSAGES
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] END HANDLER MESSAGES
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] action exited with status 0
[Fri Apr 4 08:28:08 2008] completed event "video LCD 00000087 00000000"

/etc/acpi/video_brightnessdown.sh produces no output, same as "acpi_fakekey 224" (it's command..)..

root@sim:/# strace acpi_fakekey 224
execve("/usr/bin/acpi_fakekey", ["acpi_fakekey", "224"], [/* 23 vars */]) = 0
brk(0) = 0x804a000
access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
mmap2(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb7fa0000
access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY) = 3
fstat64(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=64080, ...}) = 0
mmap2(NULL, 64080, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0xb7f90000
close(3) = 0
access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3
read(3, "\177ELF\1\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0\3\0\1\0\0\0\260e\1"..., 512) = 512
fstat64(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=1364388, ...}) = 0
mmap2(NULL, 1369712, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0xb7e41000
mmap2(0xb7f8a000, 12288, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x149) = 0xb7f8a000
mmap2(0xb7f8d000, 9840, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb7f8d000
close(3) = 0
mmap2(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb7e40000
set_thread_area({entry_number:-1 -> 6, base_addr:0xb7e406b0, limit:1048575, seg_32bit:1, contents:0, read_exec_only:0, limit_in_pages:1, seg_not_present:0, useable:1}) = 0
mprotect(0xb7f8a000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0
munmap(0xb7f90000, 64080) = 0
open("/dev/input/event0", O_RDWR) = 3
ioctl(3, 0x80404521, 0xbffdff50) = 64
close(3) = 0
open("/dev/input/event1", O_RDWR) = 3
ioctl(3, 0x80404521, 0xbffdff50) = 64
write(3, "\240\203\4\10\364\277\370\267\1\0\340\0\1\0\0\0", 16) = 16
write(3, "\240\203\4\10\364\277\370\267\1\0\340\0\0\0\0\0", 16) = 16
exit_group(0) = ?
Process 12686 detached

mabovo and Marcin: Could each of you please open a new bug?

If I revert the changes in hal 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu1 in addon-macbook-backlight.c it works again.
Couldn't apply the same fix to -ubuntu5 thought. The introduction of policykit broke things.

Same problem here on a Core Duo MacBook (mid-2006) using the latest Hardy packages.

Same on first-gen MacBook (core duo) -- Brightness controls don't work neither do the LED lights on the CapsLock/NumLock buttons.

When I push one of the brightness controls the little meter appears on screen but wont go above zero and the brightness doesn't change.

I can confirm this bug too. I have a first gen core duo macbook which also runs brightness at 100% on hardy (2.6.24-15-generic). F1 display the brightness meter but does not change the level.

I removed pommed because it was crashing in Hardy so the LCD brightness still works without problem on my MacBook 2.1 version 1.0 (may-jun 2007).

Hi,

I've been hit by this bug too. However, since I've installed isight firmware tools and reinstalled the kernel it seems that brightness is working through hardware. I mean, no events in acpi log appear and "Not supported" is the message of the brightness config files, but its working. I also have pommed installed.

Regards
Adrian

I would like to suggest upgrading the importance of this bug, as backlight brightness being on 100% all the time can't be good for the hardware or your eyes.

In fact, in OS X it says that leaving the screen at full brightness "may shorten your display's life" (to paraphrase).

I have been using xbacklight as a work around. Works well.

alex@fizz:~$ xbacklight -get
No outputs have backlight property
alex@fizz:~$ xbacklight -set 10
No outputs have backlight property

No sale!

Installing pommed makes the hardware keys work, seemingly independent
of GPM, however.

Same problem here with a first-generation MacBook. Downgrading HAL fixes it - evidently something in the new HAL update caused this. Could this be looked at for Hardy final? This seems like a bad regression to have...

Same problem (with Macbook second-generation) ... still don't work ...

Ok, we know that pommed works. addon-macbook-backlight in hal doesn't work. Thats strange, because pommed code and hal code are basically the same for adjusting the Macbook brightness.
The introduction of PolicyKit/ConsoleKit broke that part of code in hal.

I've run hal with more debug information (see attached patch) and got:
[E] addon-macbook-backlight.c:145: failed to mmap: errno:
'Success'

** ERROR **: failed to gain access to the video card
aborting...

I have no idea why this mmap fails.

To those who have a second or higher generation Macbook:
Do you run x86_64? Maybe this just doesn't work on 32bit.

Hi, Im on the newest macbook (4.1 is it?) and running x86_64. It doesnt work here.

I'm on an October 2007 MacBook Pro, with AMD64.

Running 8.04 RC 32-bit here on a Macbook 2,1 (Core 2 Duo) and can confirm this bug

Doesn't look like a fix will be released before the final version. Any chance of a fix being released by the time 8.04.1 comes out?

This patch should fix it. Problem is that we're doing bitwise arithmetic on a signed long that happens to be negative. Wackiness ensues, making the result an invalid offset for mmap(). Changing the long to unsigned fixes it.

This patch should fix it. Problem is that we're doing bitwise arithmetic on a signed long that happens to be negative. Wackiness ensues, making the result an invalid offset for mmap(). Changing the long to unsigned fixes it.

Well done!

Tried it. It works. At least with F1/F2 keys.

Thanks a lot! I'll apply this in intrepid soon, and will do a stable release update for hardy.

http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-dev/hal/ubuntu/revision/231

Uploaded to hardy-proposed, awaiting review and accepting now.

SRU ack.

Accepted into hardy-proposed. Please test the packages from the archive and give feedback here. Thank you!

Yes, on my MacBook (Core Duo, August 2006), hal 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu8 fixes the problem for me, thanks!

Should I assume that waiting a few hours I'll be able to download the update simply using aptitude? Of course, I have hardy-proposed repository enabled. Im also using pommed and managing brightness directly through hardware, will it be any conflicts?

thanks
Adrian

The package will take a while to distribute on to the mirror network.
You can try the main archive if you want an up-to-the-minute test.

Also, you should remove pommed to test this. Granted, pommed works
system-wide (so you can change your screen brightness as soon as it
starts during boot, e.g.), while GNOME Power Manager is strictly (and
stupidly, IMO) per-session, so it's not quite a replacement.

Just updated and rebooted, no dice. Same behaviour.

alex@fizz:~$ dpkg --status hal
Package: hal
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: admin
Installed-Size: 1900
Maintainer: Ubuntu Core Developers <email address hidden>
Architecture: amd64
Version: 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu8
Depends: acl, adduser, consolekit, dbus (>= 0.61), hal-info (>=
20070402), libc6 (>= 2.4), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.1.1), libdbus-glib-1-2
(>= 0.74), libexpat1 (>= 1.95.8), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1-21),
libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.16.0), libhal-storage1 (>= 0.5.11~rc2), libhal1 (>=
0.5.10), libpolkit2, libsmbios1, libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1-21),
libusb-0.1-4 (>= 2:0.1.12), lsb-base, mount (>= 2.13), pciutils,
pm-utils, policykit (>= 0.7), udev (>= 0.065), usbutils, zlib1g (>=
1:1.2.3.3.dfsg-1)
Recommends: eject, libsmbios-bin
Suggests: gnome-device-manager
Conffiles:
 /etc/default/hal f505ed84310d5614ac67abe95828d519
 /etc/init.d/hal 39864c1cadce17122780e30d9a3abe2c
 /etc/udev/rules.d/95-hal.rules 1afe5cd68445909b1df6c63b405eead3
 /etc/hal/fdi/policy/preferences.fdi 02a0788d8d5599fa703963e120c8c4ac
 /etc/dbus-1/system.d/hal.conf 476bb09bf3ab178b66513d85d8938883
Description: Hardware Abstraction Layer
 HAL provides an abstract view on hardware.
 .
 This abstraction layer is simply an interface that makes it possible to
 add support for new devices and new ways of connecting devices to the
 computer, without modifying every application that uses the device.
 It maintains a list of devices that currently exist, and can provide
 information about those upon request.
Homepage: http://hal.freedesktop.org/
Original-Maintainer: Utopia Maintenance Team
<email address hidden>

alex@fizz:~$ dpkg --status libhal1
Package: libhal1
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: libs
Installed-Size: 196
Maintainer: Ubuntu Core Developers <email address hidden>
Architecture: amd64
Source: hal
Version: 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu8
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.4), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.1.1)
Description: Hardware Abstraction Layer - shared library
 HAL provides an abstract view on hardware.
 .
 This abstraction layer is simply an interface that makes it possible to
 add support for new devices and new ways of connecting devices to the
 computer, without modifying every application that uses the device.
 It maintains a list of devices that currently exist, and can provide
 information about those upon request.
 .
 This package contains shared libraries to be used by applications.
Homepage: http://hal.freedesktop.org/
Original-Maintainer: Utopia Maintenance Team
<email address hidden>

Copied to hardy-updates.

This should fix it for many people. For everyone else (Alexander Jones), please file a new bug against hal, and do the steps on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingHal (with the latest version 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu8). Thank you!

This bug was fixed in the package hal - 0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu9

---------------
hal (0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu9) intrepid; urgency=low

  * Add 03_increase_helper_timeout.patch: Increase helper timeout from 10 to
    20 seconds. Some CD-ROMs are too slow to do all the detection in 10
    seconds. (LP: #218834)

hal (0.5.11~rc2-1ubuntu8) hardy-proposed; urgency=low

  * debian/hal.postinst: If hal has any start rc symlinks, force them back to
    24. A lot of people end up with priority 12 for some reason, which races
    with dbus startup, especially with CONCURRENCY=shell. (LP: #25931)
  * Add 00upstream-fix-macbook-backlight.patch: Fix backlight control on
    MacBooks. Thanks to godlygeek! (LP: #206921)

 -- Martin Pitt <email address hidden> Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:00:07 +0200

Done. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hal/+bug/226894

I'm using intrepid
hal :
Version: 0.5.11-3~ubuntu8

backlight control is not working. It just sets 2 values (looks like it's minimum and maximum backlight) randomly when I move the slider. F1 and F2 are not working at all and xbacklight has the same issue
i.e.
xbacklight -set 84 <- minimum brightness
xbacklight -set 95 <- maximum brightness
xbacklight -set 96 <- mininum again..
and so on.

On boderline values the brightness shuts off completely.

i just upgraded to intrepid and both, F1/F2 screen brightness and F8-F10 keyboard light stopped working. the sound level adjustment using F3-F5 works fine.

Hi, I'm experiencing the same problem here, I've got a macbook1,1 and just installed intrepid beta from dvd, all worked untill i did an upgrade to the latest packages. Now only sound mute/-/+ works, brightness keys and eject key don't.

Hi- I have an HP dv2000. A recent upgrade has made it impossible for me to control my screens backlight as well. The fn F7/F8 keys don't work, and the gnome brightness applet does not work. Also, non of the mentioned work-arounds appear to be working on my machine either. Everything worked when I first installed Intrepid- this just broke with a recent update.

Martin Pitt wrote:
> This should fix it for many people. For everyone else (Alexander Jones), please file a new bug against hal

OK, done: bug 321030

I've still this bug with a MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo Penryn), Ubuntu 8.10 (64-bit) and hal 0.5.11-4ubuntu4. The keys F1/F2 (brightness) and F5/F6 (backlight) don't work. Press these keys (with fn or not) does nothing. The brightness is always at 100% and the backlight doesn't work.

I also have this bug on my Macbook Pro 4,1 (Santa Rosa) running Ubuntu x86. F1/F2 keys and F5/F6 keys suddenly stopped working after last week's updates. I can also confirm this same issue on the same hardware with Ubuntu x64.

Is there a status on this issue? Is there a fix available? I tried pommed and it did allow for keyboard and display brightness adjustment, with some configuration, a side effect was an extremely sensitive track pad and disabled the muti-touch trackpad functionality.

I've been searching for weeks for a fix. Unless I missed it somewhere, which is altogether possible, can someone point me to it?

thanks :)

I am having the same problem with my macbook 5.5 and ubuntu 9.10, i can not change the brightness, how can I execute this ( http://launchpadlibrarian.net/13831729/macbook-backlight-mmap.patch ) to fix it?

thanks