MacBook display brightness will not adjust

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Level 1

1 points

MacBook display brightness will not adjust

My MacBook display brightness is very low level, the F1 and F2 brightness keys bring up the transparent window and show brightness turned all the way down, but F2 does not increase the brightness. In Preferences, the display section shows the Brightness slider all the way to the top, and if I attempt to slide that down it snaps back to the top, and the actual screen brightness does not change from very low. I also have verified that the function keys are NOT set to lock out the brightness function, so pressing command and F1/F2 does nothing. So nothing from previous forums seems to apply! All other function keys operate properly (multi-window, volume, dashboard).

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Jan 22, 2011 9:51 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

planb77

Level 7

32,434 points

Jan 22, 2011 10:08 AM in response to MrBuzzby

Hello MrBuzzby,
And welcome to  Discussions!

What happens if you hold down the Fn key and press either F1 or F2* to increase or decrease the brightness?

B-rock

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Answer 2

DKay

Level 1

9 points

Jan 26, 2011 9:31 PM in response to planb77

What happens with mine is it blinks bright for 1/10th of a second on the first notch and then returns to black when I try to adjust the screen - with an external monitor the computer works

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Answer 3

Doyen

Level 1

0 points

Mar 17, 2011 7:21 AM in response to DKay

Same problem, is there a solution for this?
I've tried to change under the Display Pref. without success

Help!

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Answer 4

Will___

Level 1

15 points

Mar 18, 2011 4:48 PM in response to Doyen

same here, but with more luck it will stay on 5 min, or even longer, but at times it just blinks and black out

any fix? I hope apple will not be charging me for this when I go in next week!

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Answer 5

Doyen

Level 1

0 points

Apr 1, 2011 9:33 AM in response to Will___

Any luck? I've replaced the inverter cable but it did not solve the problem. Next is the inverter and if that doesn't work I'll have to go for the display (about $300).

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Answer 6

Steve M.

Level 5

4,758 points

Apr 11, 2011 8:20 PM in response to MrBuzzby

I'm experiencing a few similar quirks with screen brightness with my new 15" Macbook Pro. I'm still trying to sort them out. I'm not sure if it's just me or if it's something with the Mac.

Right now for me, the F1 and F2 keys don't seem to have any effect on screen brightness. I have to go to Display in System Prefs to adjust the brightness.

Regards,
Steve M.

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Answer 7

gonuts

Level 1

0 points

May 1, 2011 6:53 AM in response to MrBuzzby

Ctrl F1 or F2 works for me. Give it a shot.

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Answer 8

Aug 1, 2011 10:57 AM in response to MrBuzzby

OK guys, think I found a solution to this one.

My girlfriend's mac had the same problem as yours, and I was motivated to fix it becuase I needed to use my mac for my dissertation and she kept stealing it! 😀

anyway, turn the brightness all the way down, press it up once and you will see the screen flash. do it again, really fast up and down up and down and the scree will stay on as long as you keep playing with the buttons.

next, use this temporary fix to get into system preferences -> displays... and change the resolution to something considerably lower. then it stays on permanently. Not too sure about why this happens, maybe the mac can no longer handle that many colours or complexities?

sod it. enjoy.

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Answer 9

sirhcmcd

Level 1

0 points

Sep 5, 2011 2:41 PM in response to kyleoflondon

Thanks! This resolved my issue as well. I had to connect my wireless keyboard (since mine is actually an Axiotron Modbook), then dim (F1) the screen all the way down, then up (F2) again a couple times, followed by toggling between a couple display resolutions to bring it fully back to normal. I also then applied any software updates that were needed. All back to normal.

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Answer 10

Dec 3, 2011 6:47 PM in response to sirhcmcd

I have a modbook as well and this fixed the issue! I am surprised that I couldn't find this information on Axiotron's forum. @kyleoflondon Much appreciated!

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Answer 11

Dec 29, 2011 3:57 AM in response to MrBuzzby

hey i had the same poblem, but useing just the firt bit of kyleoflondons fix worked for me

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Answer 12

Dec 29, 2011 10:32 AM in response to silent-night

Screen brightness is still a problem I deal with every time I start up my Modbook. Last night, I allowed the computer to fall asleep on its own (screen and hard drive). When I woke it from sleep, the screen stayed lit. This has been the only workaround that has been a consistent solution for me. Wish I knew of a permanent fix.

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Answer 13

Dasdk

Level 1

0 points

Feb 27, 2012 12:50 PM in response to MrBuzzby

Guys SMC reset will sort out your issues...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

it worked for me...

Thanks

D

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