Keyboard backlight keeps dimming on its own

Question

Level 1

15 points

Keyboard backlight keeps dimming on its own

My keyboard backlight keeps resetting to its dimmest level. I push F10 when the backlight is on to make the keyboard as bright as possible and a few minutes later I notice the keyboard seems dimmer. When I press F10 again I notice that the settings are at their dimmest as if I had pressed F9 to dim it manually. Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Sep 19, 2007 8:02 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 19, 2007 10:19 PM in response to lleach

The keyboard on the Macbook Pro will typically dim for this main reason:
You haven't used the computer in a couple minutes or so, so the Auto-Dim feature on the
MBP kicks in and dims the keyboard as to save power. OR
You, whether knowingly or not knowingly, allowed some light source to be picked up by
the Macbook Pro's sensors (even the slightest change can cause it to turn off)
In order to fix the first problem, you need to go to your System Preferences, then Keyboard & Mouse, then under the Keyboard tab near the bottom there will be an option to Illuminate the Keyboard in low light conditions along with a slider to determine how long 'til the keyboard automatically turns off this feature.

You need to be more descriptive as to what you are doing when it dims (aka are you continually using the keyboard? Did you allow some more light to reach the keyboard's sensors?)

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Answer 2

Poha

Level 1

90 points

Sep 20, 2007 7:43 AM in response to lleach

Yeah that is aggravating when the lighting changes, like even the glare from a bright web page can change it ... end-run this "helpful" feature (freeware, and, read its reviews there: sound familiar?):
Lab Tick - 0.6.3 backlight control for PowerBooks/MacBook Pros
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30309
" ... Product Description:
Have you ever been annoyed by the fact that you could not turn on your PowerBook's or MacBook Pro's keyboard illumination in daylight? If so, here's your solution. Lab Tick gives you total control over the backlit keyboard. ..."
Thank You, VersionTracker!

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Answer 3

lleach Author

Level 1

15 points

Sep 20, 2007 7:45 AM in response to MBP Tyler

Thanks for the response. I have the "illuminate in low light conditions" checked and the slider set to never. I understand the the backlight will fluctuate when light reaches the sensor. That happens too but I understand that. My problem nearly always occurs after I close the computer and then come back to it. I don't know if it is supposed to keep the setting that I was using prior to closing the computer or not. I think it should. It is also happening when I am just simply using the computer and I notice that the keyboard backlit is dimmer than it was and when I check it is like I pressed F9.

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Answer 4

lleach Author

Level 1

15 points

Sep 21, 2007 8:32 PM in response to Poha

Thanks for the tip. I downloaded it and immediately had problems but I don't think they were related to labtick. I shut it off for a while until I could get everything working correctly and I have it back on now. Once I checked the right box on the labtick preferences it is overriding OS X which would still be dimming the backlight (I can tell by pressing F10 and seeing that would have dimmed). The only bad part is that the light stays on even in bright light unless I manually turn it off. I was hoping labtick would shut the backlight off in bright light and remember that I wanted it fully lit in dim light and override the OS dimming. I don't know if there is a combination of settings in labtick that will do that or not. I guess it is less annoying to manually turn the backlight on and off than it is to be turning the backlight up every few minutes.

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Answer 5

Nov 25, 2007 5:15 PM in response to lleach

Hello,

I am working on improving Lab Tick's power management features for the next versions, so you will perhaps see a change soon. For now, you can set a hotkey in Lab Tick so that you can turn the illumination on or off using a simple key combination.

Hope that helps,
Alex

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Answer 6

lleach Author

Level 1

15 points

Dec 20, 2007 8:03 PM in response to Alex Repty

Thanks. I look forward to the updates.

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