Acer Aspire - Brightness Control

1st Official Post

    Recent purchase of a like-new Acer Aspire One 725-0802 laptop (netbook.) Under Ubuntu & Windows FN+up/down (audio) & FN+left/right( (brightness) works normally. Under LE 8.2.2 same audio keys control Kodi volume with duplicate effect as F9/F10 (the Kodi control, not underlying system control) & the FN+left/right for brightness do nothing leaving the screen at 100% bright. My best guess here is that the drivers are incorrect for that keyboard, but everything else works flawlessly. Windows reports it as "Standard PS/2 Keyboard". Debug log of D-Bus calls attached. Any ideas, or is there something I've missed? Thanks.

    Understood and thank you. I'd like to request this functionality in an update or add-on if anyone is interested. I use laptops out of the house for video and when dark, brightness needs to be decreased. And LE is my preferred OS. Thanks again.

    Does FN + left/right control the brightness when Kodi is running under Ubuntu & Windows ? I would think FN + left/right would be independent of the OS.

    Edit: It seems there is an FN Key driver involved and it may not be compatible with all operating systems. Since Libreelec is not a true (full-size) operating system, it may not contain the FN Key drivers necessary to control brightness up/dn on your laptop.

    Read the paragraph titled "Fix 3. Update the Fn keys driver" on this page: [Solved] Function Keys Not Working on Laptop - Driver Easy

    Edited once, last by blueribb (January 21, 2018 at 12:19 AM).

    • Official Post

    Laptops are not target hardware for this HTPC box oriented project so it's the kind of thing where we'd ask the user to figure out what changes are required; then we can evaluate their proposed solution for inclusion. We are not against supporting things, but we also need to keep focussed on what our target audience is, and we are constantly striving to avoid "the death of a thousand cuts" where many "little" code additions accumulate and become significant over time.

    Quote from blueribb

    Does FN + left/right control the brightness when Kodi is running under Ubuntu & Windows ? I would think FN + left/right would be independent of the OS.

    Edit: It seems there is an FN Key driver involved and it may not be compatible with all operating systems. Since Libreelec is not a true (full-size) operating system, it may not contain the FN Key drivers necessary to control brightness up/dn on your laptop.

    Read the paragraph titled "Fix 3. Update the Fn keys driver" on this page: [Solved] Function Keys Not Working on Laptop - Driver Easy

    This same laptop has 3 boot options: (1) Internal HD Win-7 functions work, (2) USB3 w/Ubuntu 16.04 functions work, (3) USB2 w/LE no function. Concerning drivers, they're correctly loaded for Windows (Driver Easy is for Windows only) & Ubuntu. Thanks for the thought, I appreciate your input.

    Quote from chewitt

    Laptops are not target hardware for this HTPC box oriented project so it's the kind of thing where we'd ask the user to figure out what changes are required; then we can evaluate their proposed solution for inclusion. We are not against supporting things, but we also need to keep focussed on what our target audience is, and we are constantly striving to avoid "the death of a thousand cuts" where many "little" code additions accumulate and become significant over time.

    Completely understood and one of my 'loves' is how small, streamlined and quick LE is. My thinking is that an add-on for a relatively limited number of users such as myself (...user, not programmer) might be an option, but I'm only guessing and suggesting.