windows 10 brightness control on 2009 MBP

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Level 1

8 points

windows 10 brightness control on 2009 MBP

I just upgraded my Mid-2009 15-inch Macbook Pro from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and the Bootcamp drivers for controlling the brightness no longer work. I tried reinstalling Bootcamp but because Apple doesn't officially support anything higher than Windows 7 on my computer I cannot reinstall it. I tried installing individual drivers such as the keyboard and NVIDIA but nothing has fixed the issue. Other keyboard shortcuts (ie volume, keyboard brightness) still work. I am not even able to change the brightness using the brightness slider in the Bootcamp menu in the taskbar (it will still slide and I can Apply changes, but it doesn't actually make any changes). The only thing I've found that works is to open the NVIDIA icon in the taskbar and choose to modify brightness with that directly, which is very inconvenient considering I can no longer adjust brightness using the F1 and F2 keys. I've read a lot of other posts but none of the solutions I've found worked (mostly all say reinstall bootcamp drivers). Does anyone know how to make it so the brightness controls on the keyboard work again? Thanks for any input.

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.53 GHz), OS X Mavericks (10.9), Two hard drives, no optical drive

Posted on Aug 29, 2015 9:28 PM

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Answer 1

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Aug 29, 2015 10:17 PM in response to marcellus.mc

You can't, because your Mac does not support Boot Camp 6, and it provides the drivers needed to manage brightness and volume through the keyboard (these ones can only be installed through the official Boot Camp installer, not installing the drivers individually).

Boot Camp 5 also works with Windows 10 on some Macs, but your Mac does not even support that Boot Camp version, so you're out of luck. At this point, I suggest you to install Windows 10 on a virtual machine instead of using Boot Camp, or go back to the previous Windows version you had.

A virtual machine is a solution for most users because you can run Windows and OS X at the same time while keeping good performance for both of them, but avoid it if you need Windows for high demanding apps.

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Answer 2

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2015 7:41 AM in response to mende1

No, ALL of the keyboard shortcuts WORK with the exception of the brightness control (which doesn't even work manually adjusting in the Bootcamp app). Bootcamp is still installed, it is just that the brightness control stopped working with the upgrade and I cannot reinstall. Undoing everything and using a virtual machine is NOT a solution for me - I would sell my MacBook and buy a Windows only machine before that (I stopped using the OS X side awhile ago because everytime they update it seems the only point is to add integration with IOS devices (which I don't have) and it results in my computer slowing down.) A native experience is by far better than any emulation, even with it being slowed artificially by Apple because they forced Windows to install on an emulated BIOS for my particular model.

I tried a couple third party brightness apps but they don't seem to be capable of reducing the brightness. The NVIDA controls sort of work, but not very well.

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Answer 3

Aug 30, 2015 9:23 AM in response to marcellus.mc

Use Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp - Apple Support

Your model/year is no longer supported. There are no Boot Camp Windows 10 drivers for your computer as already indicated by mende1.

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Answer 4

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2015 11:07 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

"I tried reinstalling Bootcamp but because Apple doesn't officially support anything higher than Windows 7 on my computer I cannot reinstall it."

"You can't, because your Mac does not support Boot Camp 6"

"There are no Boot Camp Windows 10 drivers for your computer"

As the above from previous posts indicate, I know that Bootcamp is not supported: I am looking for alternate options. Right now I am still using the NVIDIA controls and I calibrated my screen using the NVIDIA controls for brightness and contrast during the process. This is still a clunky bandaid instead of a good fix, but it makes the computer usable. Please if anyone knows something else that works, post here.

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 30, 2015 11:17 AM in response to marcellus.mc

Can you go back to the drivers for W7 from Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support for your specific MBP and install them with Administrative rights and compatibility set to W7 individually? Once you verify that the drivers are correctly installed, test.

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Answer 6

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2015 1:25 PM in response to Loner T

Thank you, that was a more helpful response. Unfortunately, I tried that and even with compatibility mode am unable to reinstall Bootcamp. I can install individual drivers but the old NVIDIA drivers in the Bootcamp pack will not install (same issue, they are for Windows 7 and compatibility mode does not fix the issue).

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Answer 7

Aug 30, 2015 1:46 PM in response to marcellus.mc

I don't know how many times it needs to be posted. Windows 10 is not supported on your computer. It does not matter what drivers you install there are no Windows 10 drivers. You need to go back to whatever version of Boot Camp Support software is supported and install the Windows version supported by those drivers.

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Answer 8

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 30, 2015 3:13 PM in response to BobTheFisherman

Despite the fatalism here on the forums, I found a decent solution!

The software at the link below, Dimmer, can used to dim the screen further than I can with the NVIDIA controls. It is also very simple and stays in the taskbar (so it is not a pain to quickly change brightness settings). It is also free, the developer just requests donations.

http://www.nelsonpires.com/software/dimmer/

I hope this helps others who are experiencing the same issue. Never give up, there is always a solution!

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Answer 9

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 12, 2015 9:27 PM in response to marcellus.mc

You can!!! You can!!! No third party software required. Here is the link I used to fix the brightness issue:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-fix-windows-10-brightness-control-not-working-issue -1514636

Here is what it says in case the auto-play videos and popups are too annoying for you:

Go to Start Menu > Search and type "Device Manager" and then launch the Device Manager app
Scroll down to the Display Adapters entry in the device list and expand the option. Right-click on the installed display drivers, and choose Update Driver Software from the context menu.
In the ensuing interface menu, choose Browse my computer for driver software.
Then choose the option "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer"
In the next screen, select Microsoft Basic Display Adapter from the list under Show compatible hardware section. Then hit Next to continue.
Windows should now install the selected driver and the display driver issue should no longer affect your screen brightness feature. You should now be able to increase or decrease display brightness without any hassles.

If you don't have anything positive to add, don't try to bring the problem solvers down. Solutions are out there...

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Sep 13, 2015 6:04 AM in response to marcellus.mc

You should be aware of the limitations of the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver. Screen resolution is one that should be tested.

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Answer 11

Sep 18, 2015 8:51 PM in response to marcellus.mc

The "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" solution worked, but hardware acceleration features were gone. I followed http://catch404.net/2013/07/brightness-unchangeable-in-windows-8-on-a-macbook-wi th-nvidia/, I switched back to an nVidia driver and added the registry entry "EnableBrightnessControl" set to 1, as decribed in the page. Now I have brightness control and a real nVidia driver.

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Answer 12

marcellus.mc Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 18, 2015 8:54 PM in response to juricapinjp

juricapinjp, wow that is an even better solution, thank you! It is working great for me. I tried to mark your response as the "Correct Answer" but apparently because I already marked the Basic Display Adapter solution as one, it won't let me change it. Adding the registry entry and using the NVIDIA drivers is a much better overall experience than using the Basic Display Adapter.

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