Xfce Forum

Sub domains
 

You are not logged in.

#1 2014-09-09 11:41:06

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

There use to be a GUI control in either All Settings> Desktop or All Settings> Display .  In the lastest XFCE, that is gone.  How do I restore this GUI?  I have looked in power manager but no setting in there controls default screen brightness.  The only brightness control I saw was if you were away for a period of time.  I am using Linux Mint 17.

Offline

#2 2014-09-09 12:19:29

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Which version of xfce4-power-manager is shipped/installed with Mint 17?

If its the new 1.3, then the brightness panel plugin has been moved to the Battery Indicator Plugin (or Power Manager plugin). Make sure you add it to the panel. It displays the battery icon, and if you click on it, you'll also see the brightness slider.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#3 2014-09-09 13:51:14

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

The power manager is 1.2.0-3ubuntu4.1

Offline

#4 2014-09-09 16:05:29

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

For Ubuntu/Mint in xfce4-power-manager 1.2, it's packaged in xfce4-power-manager-plugins. It's a panel plugin that gets added to the panel.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#5 2014-09-09 18:37:15

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

The problem is it is not in the power manager and it is also not in its previous location.

Offline

#6 2014-09-09 19:10:46

MountainDewManiac
Member
From: Where Mr. Bankruptcy is Prez
Registered: 2013-03-24
Posts: 1,115

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Mint 17 here. It IS in the power manager... plug-in (? I always called them panel applets, lol). Click on "On AC" or "On Battery," and then the Monitor tab.

Or, as mentioned, add the brightness plugin to a panel. I cannot remember whether or not it is pre-installed - if not, run Synaptic Package Manager and type "xfce4-brightness-plugin" into its search box and install it (double-click the file, or right-click on it and select "Mark for Installation," then click on the Apply button).

Regards,
MDM

PS  The brightness plugin may (I don't remember) be installed when the user installs the xfce4-goodies package. But it is definitely installed when done so by name.


Mountain Dew Maniac

How to Ask for Help <=== Click on this link

Offline

#7 2014-09-09 20:15:04

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

That monitor brightness control is only for when your away.  There is nothing for setting its value while your using the computer.

Offline

#8 2014-09-09 22:45:06

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Ryu945 wrote:

The problem is it is not in the power manager and it is also not in its previous location.

What does the following return?

apt-get policy xfce4-power-manager-plugins

If its installed, right-click your panel and select "Panel >> Add new items..." and add the Brightness plugin.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#9 2014-09-10 03:41:15

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Invalid operation policy

Offline

#10 2014-09-10 10:24:33

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Oops, sorry about that. Wrong program. Try:

apt-cache policy xfce4-power-manager-plugins

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#11 2014-09-10 11:31:38

MountainDewManiac
Member
From: Where Mr. Bankruptcy is Prez
Registered: 2013-03-24
Posts: 1,115

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Ryu945 wrote:

That monitor brightness control is only for when your away.  There is nothing for setting its value while your using the computer.

Whoops, you're correct. I hadn't done more than just glance at it when I posted - I just use the panel brightness plugin because it's so quick and easy to just click on its icon and then adjust the slider that pops up (wish it had a keyboard command to open it in addition to the actual adjustment, though).

If the plugin isn't enough for your requirements, I'm not really sure what you're looking for - so I'll just go into lurk mode and let ToZ try to help.

Regards,
MDM


Mountain Dew Maniac

How to Ask for Help <=== Click on this link

Offline

#12 2014-09-10 12:40:43

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

As far as I know, there is only one place in Xfce to manually change the brightness on the fly using a gui and that's the xfce4-power-manager brightness slider. In versions 1.2 and prior, its called the "Brightness Plugin". In Xubuntu 14.04 (and mint I believe, since its derived from Xubuntu), its packaged in the xfce4-power-manager-plugins package.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#13 2014-09-10 22:16:29

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

That command gives:

xfce4-power-manager-plugins:
  Installed: 1.2.0-3ubuntu4.1
  Candidate: 1.2.0-3ubuntu4.1
  Version table:
*** 1.2.0-3ubuntu4.1 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.2.0-3ubuntu4 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe amd64 Packages



Also, I have tried the brightness control you put on the bar before but moving it has no effect on the brightness.

Offline

#14 2014-09-10 23:02:22

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Ryu945 wrote:

Also, I have tried the brightness control you put on the bar before but moving it has no effect on the brightness.

This may be indicative of a bigger issue. Do you have any brightness control of your computer?

And perhaps you can tell us more about your computer:

1. The make and model.

2. Your current kernel boot parameters:

cat /proc/cmdline

3. Info about your video card(s):

lspci -k | grep -iA2 VGA

4. Info about your recognized backlight interfaces:

for interface in /sys/class/backlight/*; do echo -e "\n $interface"; cat $interface/{brightness,max_brightness,actual_brightness}; done

5. The list of your currently loaded kernel modules:

lsmod

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#15 2014-09-10 23:28:57

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

I have found no way to control brightness yet.  The option to dim when away in the power manager doesn't even work.


1)  Battalion 101 W650SR  .  I don't know the actual type of computer

2)  BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-24-generic root=UUID=898a68e8-3bdd-4405-9daf-1ef84226de67 ro quiet splash

3)  00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)
    Subsystem: CLEVO/KAPOK Computer Device 6565
    Kernel driver in use: i915

4)  /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0
0
100
0

/sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight
1054
1054
1054


5)  Module                  Size  Used by
ctr                    13049  1
ccm                    17773  1
bbswitch               13943  0
pci_stub               12622  1
vboxpci                23194  0
vboxnetadp             25670  0
vboxnetflt             27613  0
vboxdrv               339502  3 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt,vboxpci
rfcomm                 69160  8
bnep                   19624  2
binfmt_misc            17468  1
snd_usb_audio         153411  2
snd_usbmidi_lib        29215  1 snd_usb_audio
ip6t_REJECT            12939  1
xt_hl                  12521  6
ip6t_rt                13537  3
nf_conntrack_ipv6      18894  8
nf_defrag_ipv6         34768  1 nf_conntrack_ipv6
ipt_REJECT             12541  1
xt_LOG                 17717  10
xt_limit               12711  13
xt_tcpudp              12884  18
xt_addrtype            12635  4
nf_conntrack_ipv4      15012  8
nf_defrag_ipv4         12758  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
xt_conntrack           12760  16
ip6table_filter        12815  1
ip6_tables             27025  1 ip6table_filter
nf_conntrack_netbios_ns    12665  0
nf_conntrack_broadcast    12589  1 nf_conntrack_netbios_ns
nf_nat_ftp             12770  0
nf_nat                 21798  1 nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack_ftp       18638  1 nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack           96976  8 nf_nat_ftp,nf_conntrack_netbios_ns,nf_nat,xt_conntrack,nf_conntrack_broadcast,nf_conntrack_ftp,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ipv6
iptable_filter         12810  1
ip_tables              27239  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               34059  13 ip6table_filter,xt_hl,ip_tables,xt_tcpudp,xt_limit,xt_conntrack,xt_LOG,iptable_filter,ip6t_rt,ipt_REJECT,ip6_tables,xt_addrtype,ip6t_REJECT
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     46207  1
snd_hda_codec_via      27860  1
mxm_wmi                13021  0
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    14205  0
intel_powerclamp       14705  0
coretemp               13435  0
kvm_intel             143060  0
kvm                   451511  1 kvm_intel
snd_hda_intel          52355  5
crct10dif_pclmul       14289  0
arc4                   12608  2
crc32_pclmul           13113  0
ghash_clmulni_intel    13259  0
snd_hda_codec         192906  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_via,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13602  2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm               102099  4 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
aesni_intel            55624  2
ath3k                  13318  0
btusb                  32412  0
ath9k                 164164  0
aes_x86_64             17131  1 aesni_intel
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
lrw                    13286  1 aesni_intel
bluetooth             395423  23 bnep,ath3k,btusb,rfcomm
gf128mul               14951  1 lrw
ath9k_common           13551  1 ath9k
glue_helper            13990  1 aesni_intel
ath9k_hw              453856  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
ablk_helper            13597  1 aesni_intel
dm_multipath           22873  0
snd_seq_midi           13324  0
cryptd                 20359  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
scsi_dh                14882  1 dm_multipath
snd_rawmidi            30144  2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
ath                    28698  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
joydev                 17381  0
mac80211              626489  1 ath9k
serio_raw              13462  0
snd_seq                61560  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
cfg80211              484040  3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
lpc_ich                21080  0
snd_timer              29482  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
mei_me                 18627  0
rtsx_pci_ms            18151  0
mei                    82274  1 mei_me
memstick               16966  1 rtsx_pci_ms
snd                    69238  27 snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_via,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
soundcore              12680  1 snd
mac_hid                13205  0
wmi                    19177  1 mxm_wmi
parport_pc             32701  0
ppdev                  17671  0
lp                     17759  0
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
dm_mirror              22135  0
dm_region_hash         20862  1 dm_mirror
dm_log                 18411  2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
hid_generic            12548  0
usbhid                 52616  0
hid                   106148  2 hid_generic,usbhid
rtsx_pci_sdmmc         23274  0
i915                  783485  5
psmouse               102222  0
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 i915
ahci                   25819  2
r8169                  67581  0
drm_kms_helper         52758  1 i915
libahci                32168  1 ahci
rtsx_pci               45956  2 rtsx_pci_ms,rtsx_pci_sdmmc
mii                    13934  1 r8169
drm                   302817  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
video                  19476  1 i915





Other useful information:  I have a dual graphics card.  My interface is ran on the intel one.  On certain programs, I tell it to run with primusrun to use the Nvidia GeForce  GT 740M

Offline

#16 2014-09-11 01:02:02

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

The dual video cards may complicate matters.

As a first suggestion, try this 20-intel.conf adjustment. It will force X to use the intel_backlight interface.

If that doesn't work, then try temporarily booting your computer with the video.use_native_backlight=1 kernel parameter as detailed in the "Temporarily Add a Kernel Boot Parameter for Testing" section of the KernelBootParameters wiki page. If it works, you can make the change permanent by following the "Permanently Add a Kernel Boot Parameter" section of the same wiki article.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#17 2014-09-11 14:57:53

Ryu945
Member
Registered: 2014-09-09
Posts: 9

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

video.use_native_backlight=1 is what ended up working.

Offline

#18 2014-10-09 19:48:02

ljharp
Member
Registered: 2014-09-16
Posts: 28

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

I need to start this thread back up.

I've downloaded the "power manager plug-in" and added it to my panel. But....... it is dimmed out, with a red "x" at the bottom. When I hover over, it says "no device found". Am I doing something wrong? Or possibly, I've not done enough??

Thanks for any help in advance.


Video card info -

prepress@pc1:~$ lspci -k | grep -iA2 VGA
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV516 [Radeon X1300/X1550 Series]
    Subsystem: Dell Device 0402
    Kernel driver in use: radeon

Last edited by ljharp (2014-10-09 19:50:37)


.... the artist formerly known as harpllo. smile

Offline

#19 2014-10-09 22:26:05

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

Which backlight interfaces are identified?

for interface in /sys/class/backlight/*; do echo -e "\n $interface"; cat $interface/{brightness,max_brightness,actual_brightness}; done

EDIT: And also:

xfce4-power-manager --dump

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#20 2014-10-10 12:54:28

ljharp
Member
Registered: 2014-09-16
Posts: 28

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

/sys/class/backlight/*
cat: /sys/class/backlight/*/brightness: No such file or directory
cat: /sys/class/backlight/*/max_brightness: No such file or directory
cat: /sys/class/backlight/*/actual_brightness: No such file or directory



ToZ wrote:

EDIT: And also:

xfce4-power-manager --dump

---------------------------------------------------
       Xfce power manager version 1.2.0
With policykit support
With network manager support
With DPMS support
---------------------------------------------------
Can suspend: True
Can hibernate: True
Can spin down hard disks: True
Authorized to suspend: True
Authorized to hibernate: False
Authorized to shutdown: True
Authorized to spin down hard disks: False
Has battery: False
Has brightness panel: False
Has power button: True
Has hibernate button: True
Has sleep button: True
Has LID: False


.... the artist formerly known as harpllo. smile

Offline

#21 2014-10-10 14:00:03

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

The reason why its not working is that you don't have any defined backlight interfaces in your system.

Are you using any kernel parameters?:

cat /proc/cmdline

Have you tried the video.use_native_backlight=1 kernel parameter as noted in my post #16?

Have you tried installing the catalyst drivers (if they still support your card)?
Nevermind, it doesn't look like ATi supports this card anymore (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Hardware). Looks like your stuck with using the radeon driver.

Last edited by ToZ (2014-10-10 14:05:14)


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#22 2014-10-10 14:05:35

ljharp
Member
Registered: 2014-09-16
Posts: 28

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

ToZ wrote:

The reason why its not working is that you don't have any defined backlight interfaces in your system.

Are you using any kernel parameters?:

cat /proc/cmdline

Have you tried the video.use_native_backlight=1 kernel parameter as noted in my post #16?

Have you tried installing the catalyst drivers (if they still support your card)?

Output in Terminal:

BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-37-generic root=UUID=e735b252-f4c6-499e-bf13-9a6fbea093a7 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7


I will fumble around with the native backlight suggestion later today, and shall keep you updated. Thanks ToZ smile


.... the artist formerly known as harpllo. smile

Offline

#23 2014-10-10 17:07:40

ljharp
Member
Registered: 2014-09-16
Posts: 28

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

No dice..... grub config didn't work. Got any other thoughts?


.... the artist formerly known as harpllo. smile

Offline

#24 2014-10-10 17:11:19

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,948

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

If that kernel parameter fails to create a backlight interface, then please try these others one at a time:

- acpi_osi=
- acpi_osi=Linux

Hopefully you can get your acpi subsystem to provide a backlight interface.

It also looks like you have a dell system of some sort. If so, do you have an dell wmi kernel modules loaded:

lsmod

...as one of them may be able to assist.


Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

Offline

#25 2014-10-10 18:14:45

ljharp
Member
Registered: 2014-09-16
Posts: 28

Re: GUI Brightness Control missing on new XFCE

No dice.... still no brightness control.

Actually ToZ, I'm running a HP both at home and here at work.


Module                  Size  Used by
bnep                   19624  2
rfcomm                 69160  4
bluetooth             391136  10 bnep,rfcomm
snd_hda_codec_realtek    65580  1
snd_hda_intel          56451  3
snd_hda_codec         192906  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep              13602  1 snd_hda_codec
hp_wmi                 14062  0
sparse_keymap          13948  1 hp_wmi
snd_pcm               102099  2 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc         18710  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_midi           13324  0
snd_seq_midi_event     14899  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi            30144  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                61560  2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
kvm                   451552  0
snd_seq_device         14497  3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer              29482  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
radeon               1522526  3
serio_raw              13462  0
joydev                 17381  0
snd                    69322  16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
edac_core              62291  0
edac_mce_amd           22617  0
k8temp                 12978  0
soundcore              12680  1 snd
ttm                    85150  1 radeon
sp5100_tco             13979  0
i2c_piix4              22155  0
drm_kms_helper         55071  1 radeon
drm                   303102  5 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon
i2c_algo_bit           13413  1 radeon
wmi                    19177  1 hp_wmi
mac_hid                13205  0
parport_pc             32701  1
ppdev                  17671  0
lp                     17759  0
parport                42348  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
pata_acpi              13038  0
hid_generic            12548  0
usbhid                 52659  0
hid                   106148  2 hid_generic,usbhid
tg3                   166442  0
psmouse               106678  0
pata_atiixp            13271  0
ahci                   25819  2
ptp                    18933  1 tg3
pps_core               19382  1 ptp
floppy                 69418  0
libahci                32716  1 ahci

Last edited by ljharp (2014-10-10 18:16:23)


.... the artist formerly known as harpllo. smile

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB