Screen is very dark [Solved]

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Ignoramus
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Screen is very dark [Solved]

Post by Ignoramus »

Hello,

Full disclosure: I am in no way a techie; in fact, imagine a techie then imagine the exact opposite of them and that's what I am.

However, despite my ignorance I decided to try to re-invigorate a HP Compaq 6735s laptop that's at least 10 years old by putting Linux on it,and i think I've managed to do that. I followed instructions on a website called opensource, although I had to improvise a bit as some things seemed to have changed in the eight or so years since the guide was written.

As recommended in the guide, I used something called Unetbootin to get the download or whatever, although I ended up getting the Linux Mint ISO (had never heard of one of those before, btw) from this website. I created (as far as I know) a bootable USB. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts - a message about there not being an ISO file or something - I think I've got Mint on the computer. Please don't ask me if it's Cinnamon, in a compatibility mode or otherwise, (plain) Mint ditto. I seem to have got all the folders and bells and whistles etc, and they seem to open etc. However... the screen is really, really dark - it's almost like there's a semi-opaque grey overlay over it, even though I've used the F key on the laptop to maximise the brightness - and when I checked the settings in Linux, the brightness came up at 100%. The Windows Vista that's already on the machine isn't dark, so I'm thinking the issue has to be with the software (or my installing ofit) rather than the machine.

can anyone tell me what's gone wrong, please, and, moreimportantly, if/what I can do to to put things right?

please bear with me if I don't respond straightaway to any replies - I've been driven to revive the HP laptop because my 'proper' one has died, so at the moment I'm 'borrowing' someone else's computer but only when they're not using it.

Thanks for reading,
Alison
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
mikeflan
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by mikeflan »

and when I checked the settings in Linux, the brightness came up at 100%.
I don't fully understand that. That makes it sound like the screen is not always dark.
or my installing ofit
How did you install ofit? Do you know how to uninstall it?

It sounds like the screen was not dark right after your installation.

Please type this in a terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxrz
Post the output to this forum in "Code" tags. The button that inserts these tags is marked </>, which is in the mini toolbar above the edit box where you type your reply.
motoryzen
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by motoryzen »

Please type this in a terminal:
CODE: SELECT ALL

inxi -Fxxxrz
Post the output to this forum in "Code" tags. The button that inserts these tags is marked </>, which is in the mini toolbar above the edit box where you type your reply.
To break down a little bit what Mikeflan is asking you to do ( which is in step 5 of how to get help link in pink color background above)..

1. Left click on that </> button ( fifth one from the left just above this white window where you type your responses, hit that space bar twice (you'll understand why in a second.
2. Open a terminal command window ( you can either left click that on your panel if you haven't remove it, OR press and hold ctrl AND alt and press t), and you can either hand type inxi -Fxxxrz or you can come back here highlight that command anywhere here right click and select " copy" or press and hold any Ctrl button and press c ..does the same thing
3. go back to the terminal window. right click in there and select " paste" or do ctrl and shift AND v to do the same thing. Now press Enter
4. Left click and drag everything to highlight everything in it ( except of course that original command..just everything under it), and now copy all of that ( same either way you copied the inxi command it self )
5. Now come back here , left click anywhere in between the two codes with brackets , and paste those results . I asked you to press the space bar twice to make it easier to "aim" between the two [ code] deals ;)

Here's an example of mine

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.13.0-21-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.7 tk: GTK 3.24.20
           wm: muffin 5.0.2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: X570 Taichi serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: P4.40
           date: 06/23/2021
CPU:       Info: 12-Core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 rev: 0 cache: L2: 6 MiB
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 177600
           Speed: 2199 MHz min/max: 2200/3700 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2199 2: 2216 3: 2193 4: 2195
           5: 2196 6: 2199 7: 2198 8: 2196 9: 2199 10: 2197 11: 2199 12: 2200 13: 2199 14: 2197 15: 2198 16: 2196 17: 2196
           18: 2199 19: 2200 20: 2193 21: 2200 22: 2197 23: 2198 24: 2200
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590]
           vendor: Sapphire Limited Nitro+ driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus-ID: 0c:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67df class-ID: 0300
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: amdgpu,ati unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa
           resolution: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 96
           OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.41.0 5.13.0-21-generic LLVM 12.0.0) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.0
           direct render: Yes
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: Sapphire Limited
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0c:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aaf0 class-ID: 0403
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
           bus-ID: 0e:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.13.0-21-generic running: yes
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 13.99.1 running: yes
Network:   Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASRock driver: igb v: kernel port: f000 bus-ID: 06:00.0
           chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
           IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 19.83 TiB used: 10.13 TiB (51.1%)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEDMW800G4 size: 745.21 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD
           serial: <filter> rev: 8EV10174 temp: 32.9 C scheme: MBR
           ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD
           serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: MBR
           ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 4TB size: 3.64 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter>
           rev: 4B6Q scheme: GPT
           ID-4: /dev/sdc vendor: Toshiba model: HDWR31G size: 14.55 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200
           serial: <filter> rev: 0601
Partition: ID-1: / size: 732.02 GiB used: 86.11 GiB (11.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
           ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 4 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:      ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 25 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 34.1 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 49.0 C
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 842
Repos:     Packages: 3152 apt: 3136 flatpak: 16
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
           1: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list
           1: deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ernstp-mesarc-focal.list
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ernstp/mesarc/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gezakovacs-ppa-focal.list
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ppa/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxuprising-apps-focal.list
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxuprising/apps/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lunarg-vulkan-1.2.182-focal.list
           1: deb https://packages.lunarg.com/vulkan/1.2.182 focal main
           2: deb-src https://packages.lunarg.com/vulkan/1.2.182 focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris-team-lutris-focal.list
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/lutris-team/lutris/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
           1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport
           2: deb http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/linux/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/linux/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://mirror.cogentco.com/pub/linux/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openshot_developers-ppa-focal.list
           1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openshot.developers/ppa/ubuntu focal main
Info:      Processes: 423 Uptime: 6h 35m wakeups: 0 Memory: 125.73 GiB used: 3.67 GiB (2.9%) Init: systemd v: 245
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 Shell: Bash v: 5.0.17 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.07
I realize this at first seems like a lot of steps, but please trust me when I say getting used to posting this command's results is good practice AND these results save everyone much time and speculation. In a nutshell, it tells us how Linux Mint sees and deals with your PC overall and it doesn't give any personally identifiable info either. :D

Alt tab is also your friend ;) And you can always adjust your shortcuts within Terminal down from ctrl shift c and ctrl shift v....to ctrl c and ctrl v ..just like how it works system wide and in websites just like this one . You can do this via selecting Edit button/tab up top within Terminal window, Preferences, Shortcuts on the left side, and where you see the Downward error and then Edit right next to it all under the Action section.... double left click on which you want to change and then press that two-key keyboard button combo. :D

You don't have to do this, but it's a definitely a way to make things more consistent and is a good simple keyboard shortcut to get in the habit of using.

Alison, we believe in ya. Just take things one step at a time as slowly as you need. It's all good. You can perform posting those inxi results in whatever way you need to. If the hotkey ways aren't your thing. it's no problem :D Do it as you wish.
Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 5.8.4
asrock x570 taichi ...bios p5.00
ryzen 5900x
128GB Kingston Fury @ 3600mhz
Corsair mp600 pro xt NVME ssd 4TB
three 4TB ssds
dual 1TB ssds
Two 16TB Toshiba hdd's
24GB amd 7900xtx vid card
Viewsonic Elite UHD 32" 144hz monitor
Ignoramus
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hi, Thank you motoryzen and mikeflan for your responses. However, is there any way I can get the information you need without signing in to this forum/accessing the internet on the laptop in question? I'm writing this on my mother's laptop as the screen on mine is so dark it's almost unusable - I'm hoping I've attached a picture of that screen in use versus this screen to show you the difference. I selected "Start in compatibility mode" when I booted up from the USB, and this is what happened - as I hope you can see from the pic, I went into the display settings, which show the brightness is (supposedly) at 100% (I tried to boost the brightness using the fn key too, but it made no difference whatsoever)
two laptops.jpg
.
I've just tried to boot my mother's laptop from the USB,to see what Linux looked like on that, but clicking 'esc' (which appears on 'my' laptop) wasn't an option, and I didn't want to mess around too much with the fn keys in case I ended up knackering her computer as much as I've knackered my own (my usual one, the one I'm not trying to use Linux on. Not yet, anyway).
I'm really sorry for taking so long to get back to you; this is the first chance I've had to use my mum's laptop when I've had the peace and quiet I need to follow your replies. (Not helped by having to help my 80-yr-old father build a partition [as in the house thing, not the Linux thing!]; it's brilliant that he's still physically so active, but it's as time-consuming and challenging as making jam tarts with a five-year-old, only rather more stressful seeing as it involves more power-tools and less control over what's going on.)
If I have to sort getting the internet on 'my' laptop then I'll be only too glad to do it, but if there's any other way of getting it that would be so great.
Thanks, and apologies, again,
Alison
motoryzen
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by motoryzen »

I selected "Start in compatibility mode" when I booted up from the USB, and this is what happened - as I hope you can see from the pic, I went into the display settings, which show the brightness is (supposedly) at 100% (I tried to boost the brightness using the fn key too, but it made no difference whatsoever)
It's a chance a more experienced Linux Mint user here may consider this question/suggestion silly or dumb, but have you tried to boot from that usb in just the regular option? ( as in not compatibility mode ) If that can get you to the live desktop environment, then you can run that inxi -Fxxxrz terminal command.
Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 5.8.4
asrock x570 taichi ...bios p5.00
ryzen 5900x
128GB Kingston Fury @ 3600mhz
Corsair mp600 pro xt NVME ssd 4TB
three 4TB ssds
dual 1TB ssds
Two 16TB Toshiba hdd's
24GB amd 7900xtx vid card
Viewsonic Elite UHD 32" 144hz monitor
acerimusdux
Level 5
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Posts: 635
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:36 pm

Re: Screen is very dark

Post by acerimusdux »

However, is there any way I can get the information you need without signing in to this forum/accessing the internet on the laptop in question?
It's obviously a hardware, video driver, display configuration type of problem, so you need to be able to run a couple of commands on it just to see what the current configuration is.

This is probably too obvious, but I would uncheck that box that dims the display when idle. Even if that's not the main problem, having it get 70% dimmer every time it sits 90 seconds isn't going to help.

Then, try Ctl-Alt-F2 to get a console. I'm curious here if the console is also unusually dim. From there, you can login to the console and run this command:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxrz> inx.txt
This is just the same command recommended above, but this time sending the output to a text file.

If you then Ctl-Alt-F7 to get back to the graphical session (if it's not F7 try F8), you should be able to use your file manager to find the inx.txt file in your home directory, and copy it to a usb thumbdrive to transfer it to your other machine for posting here.

The other thing I would recommend is going into "settings" on that machine and running the "Driver Manager" program, to see if there are any new drivers available for your hardware. Many graphics cards require a new driver to be installed when fist booting for full functioning to be available.
Ignoramus
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Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:43 pm

Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: alison-HP-Compaq-6735s Kernel: 4.15.0-54-generic i686 bits: 32 
  compiler: gcc v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.2.3 wm: muffin 4.2.2 
  dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: Linux Mint 19.2 Tina base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq 6735s v: F.08 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 30E4 v: KBC Version 94.1D serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68GPP Ver. F.08 date: 12/15/2008 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 33.2 Wh condition: 34.2/34.2 Wh (100%) volts: 12.3/10.8 
  model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion serial: <filter> 
  status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Single Core model: AMD Sempron SI-42 bits: 64 type: UP 
  arch: Turion X2 Ultra rev: 1 L2 cache: 512 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 bogomips: 4199 
  Speed: 2100 MHz min/max: 1050/2100 MHz Core speed (MHz): 1: 2100 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RS780M [Mobility Radeon HD 3200] vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0 chip ID: 1002:9612 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RS780 (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.15.0-54-generic LLVM 8.0.0) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 19.0.2 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-54-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Marvell 88E8042 PCI-E Fast Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 11ab:4357 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 7.44 GiB (5.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHZ2160BH G2 size: 149.05 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 8909 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 62.67 GiB used: 7.44 GiB (11.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 58.4 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com tina main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info:
  Processes: 155 Uptime: 20m Memory: 738.9 MiB used: 417.5 MiB (56.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.4.0 alt: 7 Shell: bash 
  v: 4.4.19 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.32 
  
Ignoramus
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Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2021 4:43 pm

Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hi,
Motor and Zen (and anyone else who might have replied but I've missed because I'm still not used to the 'look' of this forum (especially when the screen is so dark!), thanks (again) for your help.
I think I've got the info you wanted; I've posted it in a separate reply box in the hope that it makes it easier for you to look at.
I've done it on the computer I have the problem with; after spending ages trying to establish a wifi link, I looked on here, and elsewhere and realised I could used a wired connection; it's like being back in the days of dial-up and I'd rather it wasn't a permanent thing, but I'll cross the wifi bridge when/if I can get across the brightness one.
I've now installed Linux on this computer, rather than booting from a USB; having the USB sticking out of the laptop was a real pain, plus, I suppose, I was half-hoping actually installing it might solve the brightness thing, but it hasn't... I was having a look around after I'd installed it and I spotted "Driver Manager"; I thought that might be worth looking at, It updated the cache, apparently, and then said "Loading software ??? (I can't read what I wrote here but I expect y'all know what is was!), then got a message "No proprietary drivers installed".
Oh, I forgot to add, I think I did a factory reset of the computer too. This is a measure of how dense I am: I spent ages yesterday trying to boot from the USB and having Windows launch instead. I thought I must have 'damaged' something somewhere, so I went for the HP Recovery option from the boot menu (or whatever the thing that comes up when you click on esc is called). And it was while the laptop was going through all that that I realised that I had been trying to boot from the USB on which I'd saved all the files from this laptop before I even started messing with Linux, not my Linux boot USB ... The screen was still dark in Linux, but it's as bright as anything in Windows, as it always has been.
Oh, apparently, the Linux that's installed itself (I just clicked on the 'install linux" icon) is Mint Cinnamon 19.2 32-bit. Whatever that means...
Thanks, again, for your help, patience, and wonderfully clear and simple instructions,
Alison
Ignoramus
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hi, y'all,
I've just discovered that the screen is bright when it's running off the battery - it's only when it's plugged into the mains that it's dark, but it's the reverse with Windows - it's dark on the battery but blindingly bright on the mains. I would be OK about using it just off the battery but it's not ideal as the battery runs down very quickly.
SimonPeter
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by SimonPeter »

Ignoramus wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:40 am Oh, apparently, the Linux that's installed itself (I just clicked on the 'install linux" icon) is Mint Cinnamon 19.2 32-bit. Whatever that means...
Ignoramus wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:22 am System:
Host: alison-HP-Compaq-6735s Kernel: 4.15.0-54-generic i686 bits: 32
compiler: gcc v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.2.3 wm: muffin 4.2.2
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq 6735s v: F.08
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: AMD Sempron SI-42 bits: 64 type: UP
Memory: 738.9 MiB used: 417.5 MiB (56.5%)
Observations:
1) You're running a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit machine.
2) Your machine has a single-core CPU.
3) Your machine has only <750MiB of RAM.
4) You're using a relatively old Linux Mint version (19.2).
5) You're using the Cinnamon edition, which may not be great for low-spec systems (consider the XFCE edition).

Considering these, I think you should use any one of these:
1) Recommended -- Linux Mint 20.2 XFCE 64-bit -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290
2) Linux Mint 19.3 XFCE 64-bit -- use this if #1 doesn't work properly -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=278

After downloading the ISO, flash it to a USB pendrive and boot from it.
Ignoramus wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:40 am I was half-hoping actually installing it might solve the brightness thing, but it hasn't...
It is extremely rare that something like this doesn't work in a Live USB but works in an installed system, unless you need some extra drivers (eg. nvidia graphics) / a new kernel (eg. very new hardware).
Last edited by SimonPeter on Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
Ignoramus
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hi, SimonPeter et al,

The weirdest, weirdest thing .... I haven't changed anything since I last posted but I put the computer on today and the screen is bright in Linux. The boot options or whatever screen that came up when i switched it on was dark, but once Linux was open etc, the screen was bright, and has stayed that way for the past hour or so. I'm as sure as i can be that the darkness wasn't down to some 'physical' issue with the computer - I've moved the screen and it's stayed bright, unplugged then re-plugged the connection to the mains and all has stayed good. The only thing I can think of is that there could be an issue with the 'computer end' of the charger/power cable (although if it was, why was Windows bright when Linux was dark - unless I'd caught the cable while switching it off and on again?)
Either way, I'm really happy (so far - famous last words...!) I cannot wait to start exploring Linux, now I can see it properly.
What should I do about this post now, please? Should I finish/close it or something? If so, how do I do it? Or should I leave it open, in case I get my issue again?
Thanks (again) to everyone who has been so generous with their help. My sis (who has been a Linux user for a while but couldn't help me with my screen problem) said this was a friendly forum and she was right!
Alison
SimonPeter
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by SimonPeter »

Ignoramus wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:16 pm The weirdest, weirdest thing .... I haven't changed anything since I last posted but I put the computer on today and the screen is bright in Linux. The boot options or whatever screen that came up when i switched it on was dark, but once Linux was open etc, the screen was bright, and has stayed that way for the past hour or so. I'm as sure as i can be that the darkness wasn't down to some 'physical' issue with the computer - I've moved the screen and it's stayed bright, unplugged then re-plugged the connection to the mains and all has stayed good. The only thing I can think of is that there could be an issue with the 'computer end' of the charger/power cable (although if it was, why was Windows bright when Linux was dark - unless I'd caught the cable while switching it off and on again?)
Have you tried the simplest fix - adjusting the brightness from the battery icon on the panel.

To get the most from that computer (with relatively poor hardware), I think you should use any one of these ISOs and install again (backup important data on that computer, if any):
1) Recommended -- Linux Mint 20.2 XFCE 64-bit -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290
2) Linux Mint 19.3 XFCE 64-bit -- use this if #1 doesn't work properly -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=278
Anyway, your current setup (32-bit OS on a 64-bit system) may work, but gives VERY inefficient performance and may also be less stable.
So, use a 64-bit OS (like those 2 listed before) on a 64-bit system to get the most of it.


Ignoramus wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:16 pm Thanks (again) to everyone who has been so generous with their help. My sis (who has been a Linux user for a while but couldn't help me with my screen problem) said this was a friendly forum and she was right!
Yes, she is right.
Ignoramus wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:16 pm Either way, I'm really happy (so far - famous last words...!) I cannot wait to start exploring Linux, now I can see it properly.
Welcome to the world of Linux Mint and GNU/Linux (="Linux") . :D :D
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SMG
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by SMG »

I did a search on "HP Compaq 6735s display brightness problem" and have a plethora of results on multiple operating systems. People in this thread Display Brightness Problem with HP 6735s describe the same phenomena you have seen (ie. brightness seems to work when it wants to work). One person indicated updating the BIOS helped fix it while another indicated disabling the onboard modem in the BIOS cleared the issue.

The last post in this thread ArchLinux: Can't setup LCD brightness on HP 6735s indicates, "HP Compaq 6735s needs the bios from Sept. 14, 2009 for working brightness control."

Here is the information you posted which indicates you have an older BIOS version. There are directions in that post #8, but I do not know if the links are still valid since it is an old post.
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq 6735s v: F.08
serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter>
Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 30E4 v: KBC Version 94.1D serial: <filter>
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68GPP Ver. F.08 date: 12/15/2008

So it seems the reason the brightness is not working is because there was a bug in the system and it took HP a while to get out a fix for it in a newer BIOS version.

If updating the BIOS is not possible, here are three other options to try.

1. You can see if there is an onboard modem mentioned in BIOS which you could disable.

2. You mentioned you noticed a difference between running on battery and the person in this thread Solved Screen Brightness Problem said, "I ended up turning the laptop off, unplugging it and removing the battery, and leaving it overnight. In the morning it was back to normal."

3. You can try adding a kernel parameter acpi_backlight=vendor. You can use the following information How to add a kernel parameter to temporarily or permanently add the parameter. If you add it temporarily and it does not work, all you have to do is reboot to clear it from the system.

You would be changing the line

Code: Select all

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to

Code: Select all

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor"
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A woman typing on a laptop with LM20.3 Cinnamon.
Ignoramus
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hello, everyone,

I'm so sorry for not replying (much) sooner. I decided to step back from the laptop/Linux thing before I likely went into meltdown. I'd already had more than a week of trying to get into a crashed Windows laptop (and with it the stress of worrying about missing work), then I try to try to revive another laptop by installing Linux, and I end up with another computer I can't fix...

So I went back to the Windows laptop and managed to get into it (I'm writing this on it). Once I've caught up on everything I've missed, though, I have every intention of trying to get Linux working on the other one, because, when I could see it, it looks really good (I'm also really stubborn and refuse to be beaten!).

Thanks ever so much to everyone who has helped so far; if - when - I do get Linux working properly on my machine, I will report back, I promise.

Thanks, again, everyone!
Ignoramus
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Re: Screen is very dark

Post by Ignoramus »

Hello, anyone who happens to see this,

It's still (very) early days, but it looks like my dark screen issue may well be solved.

As SimonPeter recommended/suggested, I swapped Cinnamon for xfce, but an earlier version, 19.3, I think. I'm not sure whether or not that made a difference (I don't have the technical nous to judge, and it does run rather slow - frustratingly so at times - so I may well end up posting again asking for help in speeding it up, but that's not an issue I can deal with here).

I then used SMG's suggestion of adding a kernel parameter (or whatever it's called). It took me a while to realise, but you do this from the start-up menu-y thing that comes up when you switch on, ie the list of operating systems on the computer. I went to the one I was using (the mint xfce one) pressed 'e' on the computer keyboard to get into edit mode and then added the acpi_backlight=vendor thing, as advised by SMG, then proceeded with the start-up. And it worked! OK, so the screen was still dark, but I could make it brighter using the power management settings.

I read the "How to add a kernel parameter", as recommended by SMG, but I needed some clarification, so I added this post, How do I install a kernel parameter permanently? viewtopic.php?f=46&t=367103&p=2132863#p2132863and got it. And now my screen is no longer dark!

So a massive, massive "THANK YOU!!!" to everyone who has helped me get here!
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