Comment 109 for bug 415023

Shannon #103. This is not the workaround offered in the release notes. But I'm a relative newcomer to Ubuntu, I have virtually no linux skills, and it works well for me:

1. Add the brightness applet to the top panel.

2. Each time you boot, wait until the desktop is fully up (panel icons included) then "right click" with the mouse button for two or three seconds. This will stop the flashing, and after a few seconds the on screen brightness indicator will disappear.

This process adds just a few seconds to boot time, and seems like nothing more than a minor quirk.

Your friend may create a new folder through doing this. Just have him or her highlight and delete.

3. If your friend needs to change the screen brightness, have him or her do it by clicking on the brightness applet, and sliding the slider. They should not use the Fn F7/F8 keys.

Usually this will just change the brightness, with no resulting flashing.

Very occasionally, there is flashing after changing the brightness via the applet. Again, "right clicking" with the mouse button (as in 2.) will make it stop.

And that's it. It's certainly not a permanent solution, it's a bit "quick and nasty" and your friend will need to do it every boot. But it doesn't involve any code, and I'm more than content with it.

It just seems like "boot, press mouse button, problem gone for this session."

(As an afterthought, some people seem to be having problems with the flashing after resuming from suspend. I'm not having those problems so I can't comment on whether this fixes that.)