Discussion:
Laptop screen dim on battery power
(too old to reply)
Richard Owlett
2024-09-01 10:20:02 UTC
Permalink
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked

Any where else to look?
TIA
Andrew M.A. Cater
2024-09-01 10:50:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
Any where else to look?
TIA
Hi Richard,

That's a fairly old laptop - 18 years old - if it's running on the original
battery it may just be that it's not providing enough voltage to power
anything at full power unless the AC charger is connected to boost the
voltage

It's also quite possible that there is a physical voltage/power regulator
which dims the screen when voltage drops and that its not necessarily under
software control.

With every good wish, as ever,

Andrew Cater
[***@debian.org]
t***@tuxteam.de
2024-09-01 11:20:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
I'd look first at laptop-mode, coming with the like-named package.
It has a man page and a config file.

Is it installed in your box?

Cheers
--
tomás
Richard Owlett
2024-09-01 12:10:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@tuxteam.de
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
I'd look first at laptop-mode, coming with the like-named package.
It has a man page and a config file.
Is it installed in your box?
Cheers
No, it's not installed.
I'll install it when I can update Debian.
Thanks
Andrew M.A. Cater
2024-09-01 13:20:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Richard Owlett
Post by t***@tuxteam.de
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
I'd look first at laptop-mode, coming with the like-named package.
It has a man page and a config file.
Is it installed in your box?
Cheers
No, it's not installed.
I'll install it when I can update Debian.
Thanks
Hi Richard,

I hadn't noticed the version previously.

Debian 10 (Buster) left LTS two months ago on 30 June 2024

Debian 11 (Bullseye) entered LTS two weeks ago on 14th August 2024.
The final point release of Debian 11 for security transfer to LTS
occurred yesterday on 31st August 2024.

As you update, you must update via Debian 11 to Debian 12.
Debian does not support skipping major releases.

Before undertaking any Debian update between major releases, *please* read
the release notes. /etc/apt/sources.list entries have changed, amongst
others and, of course, Debian now includes support for non-free firmware
on install media and as a separate section in the archives.

You may also find that newer software handles power issues more
effectively though 1GB RAM on the R61 might be a constraint. I assume that
you are also still running on the original 120GB HDD.

Hope this helps - with every good wish,

Andrew Cater
(***@debian.org)
t***@tuxteam.de
2024-09-01 16:00:01 UTC
Permalink
On Sun, Sep 01, 2024 at 07:03:40AM -0500, Richard Owlett wrote:

[...]
Post by Richard Owlett
Post by t***@tuxteam.de
I'd look first at laptop-mode, coming with the like-named package.
It has a man page and a config file.
Is it installed in your box?
Cheers
No, it's not installed.
So this is not the culprit.
Post by Richard Owlett
I'll install it when I can update Debian.
Don't (see also Andrew's response in this thread). I suspected this
is the one dimming the screen when off AC. But it seems it's not.

Cheers
--
t
Joe
2024-09-01 11:30:01 UTC
Permalink
On Sun, 1 Sep 2024 05:15:01 -0500
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
Any where else to look?
TIA
The first thought is whether the battery charge is OK, whether the
charge percentage seems to decrease at a reasonable rate with time. It
is probably worth pulling out the battery and reseating it.
--
Joe
Stefan Monnier
2024-09-01 14:20:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
[...]
Post by Richard Owlett
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
Any where else to look?
I'd look at the BIOS settings.


Stefan
David Christensen
2024-09-01 21:10:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Richard Owlett
Lenovo R61 ThinkPad
Debian 10.0 MATE 1.20.4
The screen automatically dims when AC removed.
System->Hardware->Power Management->OnBatteryPower->Display
"Reduce backlight brightness" & "Dim display when idle" unchecked
Any where else to look?
TIA
Check the laptop firmware Setup utility settings.


David
Hans
2024-09-02 07:40:02 UTC
Permalink
Soe Windowmagaers got theire own powermanagement, i.e. KDE is susing
powerdevil. Do not know, if its settings also effect the konsole without X.


You could also check acpi settings, maybe you will find something there.

Just an idea....

Best

Hans

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