i'm using osx 10.4.6 JaS ppf1 patched in Fusitsu p7120

and PowerManagement (with ACPI Support) Software patched.

but i can't use Fn+Bright up/down

and other Fn keys work well


what can i do for changing brightness?

if im not mistaken brightness is linked to the bios on laptops not the OS since no matter when FN up and down for me at least always works. Even during the first stages of booting or if there is no boot media avaliable.

that is not always the case, it depends on the unit. nvidia based sony laptops use smartdimmer so it is software dependent. As fot the starters comment, I have noticed that on newer laptops, the best one i can think of off-hand is the x60, the acpi fn brightness worked in 10.4.3 but broke after : (. Sorry

huh didnt know that seems a little stupid to be software base cause it will cause problems like this on Linux even. I understand the point of having the main one then a software powered one kick in as well but one just software thats about retarded on sonys part imo

its a blessing actually, Let me explain, well at least for osx86. We can use the X60 as an example, acpi hardwired Fn keys magically stop working, so you are screwed : (. On a vaio there is a little linux app that does it, the code is really protable, accept for one file, its about a 20 minute hack. So on a vaio(when ever i get my lazy ass around to hacking the file) I will allways be assured that i will have brightness controls on any unix system that supports acpi, plus i can do fancy stuff like wire it to the bezelUI so it acts as if it is just like an MBP. Only time when i am screwed is if apple decide to get ride of acpi, but seeing as the mbp uses it, i think i am safe : ).

FYI - I've got a P7120 as well. It's working great with an install of JaS 10.4.6 DVD and patched with 10.4.7 and 10.4.8 JaS patch packages...

However, I screwed some stuff up by installing B512's (I think that's his name) 915 packages and it reverted my graphics card to be listed as generic VGA - at this point the brightness controls worked. So, I'd have to say that there's something with the GMA900 packages that overrides the controls for brightness on this laptop - nothing to do with bios settings. It is strange that all the other buttons work (volume, mute, pointer on/off).

Just thought you'd like to know.

ps. I was able to get my res to go to 1280x768 using SwitchResX - great success!

Maybe you found useful SHADES, it¡'s a freeware utility. Follow this link

Won't save me any battery life though.

I think the QE, CI and Rotate stuff is dependent on your Monitor driver more than the graphics card driver, at least in recent OS X's

It's something I'm working on for the Fuji Lifebook T421X series. . . The screens suport brightness and rotate, but they get detected as "Generic Onboard TFT" for which the cool stuff is not enabled. I could do with all of CI, QE, Rotate and brightness on my system as I use a tabletPC...

Can't do it on my Toshiba unless I boot to Windows, change brightness, then restart (since it requires software). My friend's Acer Aspire is hardware-based (Fn+up/down arrow) and most Dells (I think) can let you force the brightness when on battery/AC. I've been looking for a solution for this for a while, but it looks like there's no hope.

Take solace in knowing that you're not killing your backlight, though, since running it on 100% is much better than the lower extremity (which most manufacturers, such as Apple, will omit (that's why it'll jump a whole lot from the lowest setting to "off"). I'd like to be able to just turn off the backlight, though, which the kernel seems to be able to do before sleeping, closing the lid with Insomnia.kext, etc.

Have you tried the free "Brightness Control" ?

<http://splasm.com/downloads/brightnesscontrol/Brightness%20Control.dmg>

G

on my config: bad axe 2, XFX 7300 GT
with ACD 23" i can do everything !
brightness butons works and shows brightness conroll, also in display pref. i'm too able to adjust it.

The issues with brightness control are universal for all Laptop users who haven't got Apple hardware or the identical gear. OS X has drivers for the Apple Cinema Display, but not for standard screens. Thus: Rotation, QE, CI, Brightness and Geometry are all disabled on non-standard-apple screens.

It's the same as Shades in that it doesn't actually change the brightness of the backlight.

This is not entirely true, and I'm not sure why you'd say something like this...

there are already too many people on this forum that are spreading misinformation.

My LCD is certainly NOT "Apple Hardware" or "identical gear", but it supports CI and QE.

A display type of "LCD" certainly looks like a "standard screen" to me.

I was able to get 1280x768 using SwitchResX

Interesting.

Misinforming is unintentional. But The display driver does play some part in the setting of QE and CI.

One of the issuews on the T4210 is the inability to activate Geometry and rotation on the internal display, or my external syncmaster - Both of which are designed for it.

I did a little digging and found that QE, CI, Geometry, Rotation etc. . . Are all driver dependant. So if your QE and CI work out of the box, clearly you're using hardware with an enabled compatible driver. Mine doesn't. Have a root through /System/Library.
If you enabled QE and CI through the Prefernces file edit, or through any other program, then I think it can safely be said that it's not automatically supported and is running by hack.


My suystem has an intel GMA945GM chipset, with the latest Apple-Provided drivers with OpenGL. If it was solely a chipset thing, it'd be enabled on mine.

Misinformation?


Oh yeah, and the "Default" Driver for unrecognised monitors is "Display". LCD seems to be a recognised format.

It worked for me (OSX10.5.2 Toshiba A205) with an observation:
If I boot first into Ubuntu and set the brightness with the Brightness Applet to a value less than 100%, say 60%, and I reboot to OSX then the BrightnessControl only adjust between 0-60%.