Wireless Keyboard Brightness Keys Not Working

Question

Level 1

40 points

Wireless Keyboard Brightness Keys Not Working

Hello.

Since an update a while back the brightness adjustment keys for screen brightness on my apple keyboard have stopped working. These are the F1 and F2 keys normally.

On my Macbook Pro keyboard they work fine but the wireless keyboard keys do not.

Anyone having the same issue or know a fix?

2.53 GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.5), 4 GB

Posted on Dec 26, 2010 5:09 AM

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Answer 1

Russa

Level 4

1,343 points

Dec 26, 2010 5:33 AM in response to erugalatha

My function keys operate as expected. After an update you should run "repair permissions" in Disk Utility, and restart your Mac.

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Answer 2

Mar 15, 2011 7:33 PM in response to erugalatha

I had the same problem, minor but annoying. I found the cause, It is a combination of factors. If the following are true:

• You're using a laptop
• You are running 10.6.x (not sure which revision, true of 10.6.6)
• You have an external display connected
• The external display is non-Apple, or you don't have a USB connection to an Apple display
• You are using an Apple Wireless bluetooth keyboard
• You have the menu bar *on the external display*
Then the brightness keys won't adjust the brightness of the laptop's display.

The apparent logic is that if your main (menu bar) display is external, and you're using an external keyboard, then you must want the brightness keys to control the external display. The bug in the logic is that it doesn't check to see if the external display is capable of brightness control. So, it appears that the brightness keys don't work at all. Note that Max OS X can only adjust the brightness of an internal display or an external Apple display with a USB connection.

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Answer 3

FINAO

Level 1

0 points

Jul 6, 2011 8:23 PM in response to David Amis

David, you're exactly right. I had this problem and after making my laptop screen the "primary" instead of my non-apple external monitor the keys worked right away.

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Answer 4

lolspeak

Level 1

0 points

Nov 27, 2011 8:46 PM in response to David Amis

I had this same problem, using my macbook pro with an apple 24 cinema display. The monitors usb was not plugged in. Once it was plugged in, brightness keys worked right away. I guess I never notice this issue before.

Thanks for leading the way.

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