Brightness Crash and Fan issues in 12.04.1
- by S.A. McIntosh
I would just like to state beforehand that I am a total novice in using Ubuntu when it comes to the more complex issues. So I thought it would be best to finally come here and ask for help before being re-directed or closed out for a solution. I have already looked high and low on this board for one but nothing came up for my particular case, so I might as well take a shot asking for the first time here.
This is what I have at the moment:
-Dell Insprion 1764 w/ 64-bit Intel i5 Core
-Dual Boot: Windows 7/Ubuntu 12.04.1 32-bit (from 12.04 install)
-Unity shell
-Linux kernel: 3.2.0-32 generic-pae
...and this is my fglrxinfo:
OpenGL vendor string: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series
OpenGL version string: 4.2.11627 Compatibility Profile Context
The one issue I have with using Ubuntu is brightness. With the driver in every time I use the slider in the brightness and lock settings or use the keyboard function, it freezes, goes black and comes up with a scrambled colors page like this in the video.
So I have looked all over this board and the web for answers looking for a solution that might have an answer. This is what I have done so far to fix this:
-First Solution:
Looking around, I found this small fix using terminal:
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
followed by adding this into "rc.local"
echo # > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness
This works rarely with the graphics driver still in and I often get lucky say during restart but reboot would only snap back the brightness at max.
-Second Solution
Simply remove the graphics driver while leaving the solution of first behind. This solves the issue but results in having the monitor flicker and flash at startup which in itself is not a problem to me but maybe not so good for monitor health. Also it causes the fan to speed up throughout the session and render any program that needs the driver useless.
-Third Solution
This is the most obvious. Just simply use the brightness on AMD Catalyst Control Center software that came with the driver, and I can say that it's form of brightness is HORRIBLE compared to the actual settings.
Which leads up to where I am now, back to the driver to stop the fan speed-up and seems that the only solution to the brightness crash is to use the keyboard-controlled brightness at the login screen NOT the desktop if I want the issued effect but will just snap at max bright again if I restart. Fan speed problem is dealt with but now run the risk of crashing my computer if I so much touch the brightness settings. Speaking of which I found this on launchpad and it seems that the issue has been going far since June of 2012. Any help, redirect link or reference would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
