Opensuse boot to dim screen on Gateway NV78

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I was installing opensuse 12.2 as a dual boot with windows 7 on Gateway NV78 laptop.
Installation went great but when i boot opensuse is running with dim screen very dim almost dark and hard to see. The screen is good during boot menu, it only gets dark when opensuse login and afterwards.

If i select advanced option with recovery mode from boot menu, it runs ok with the screen light @ 100% brightness.

The video graphics processor is: Intel GMA 4500MHD dynamic video memory technology 5.0

Please help,

Thanks

2

When you login (and it then goes wrong), you login inti a desktop. Which one (KDE, Gnome, …).

3

My desktop is KDE.

The screen is good when am on boot menu, once I selected the option, then the screen goes dark with the login screen. I barley see the login and I am able to login and opensuse desktop appear with dim/dark screen.

4

What video card? Have you installed any video drivers?

5

The video card is:

Mobile Intel(R) 4 series express chipset family

I don’t recall updating on windows 7. I

I didn’t update the driver in opensuse because i am not sure what caused the problem yet.

Thanks

6

I have the exact same Gateway laptop. It’s a longstanding problem that has not yet been fixed, AFAIK, but there is a workaround in this thread:

https://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/how-faq-forums/unreviewed-how-faq/477362-back-light-fix-black-screen-intel-4500-hd-laptops.html

7

Thanks foresthill,

I tried to follow the instruction but having problems. I am a first time Linux user so not familiar with the commands very well.
The desktop I use is KDE, gnomesu is not working so I tried kdesu on terminal as:

getinet@linux-8n51:~> kdesu gedit /usr/local/bin/set-brightness

and I get the following dialog

Cannot execute command ’ /usr/local/bin/set-brightness’.

Would you please give me initial command i need to use.

Thanks

8

Try substituting “kate” in each of the commands where you see “gedit”. AFAIK, kate is the default text editor for KDE, though I could be wrong. I’m currently on Ubuntu, so I can’t try out the command myself.


kdesu kate /usr/local/bin/set-brightness
9

I tried, using kate and also KWrite, but got the same error message as above.
Any other idea ?

10

Hi Foresthill,

is there any other way to create a script in a different way than you suggested in the thread. [Thread: Back Light Fix for Black Screen on Intel 4500 HD Laptops]
Specifically you wrote:
*Create a script to set the brightness to your liking. In /usr/local/bin create a file called set-brightness:
*user@hostname ~ $ gnomesu gedit /usr/local/bin/set-brightness *

*Is there any other way to accomplish that in opensuse12.2 with KDE?

thanks

**

11

Hi Foresthill,

is there any other way to create a script in a different way than you suggested in the thread. Thread: Back Light Fix for Black Screen on Intel 4500 HD Laptops]

Specifically you wrote:
*Create a script to set the brightness to your liking. In /usr/local/bin create a file called set-brightness:
*user@hostname ~ $ gnomesu gedit /usr/local/bin/set-brightness *

*Is there any other way to accomplish that in opensuse12.2 with KDE?

thanks

12

Hello Foresthill,

Thank you so much.

Finally, I am able to fix the problem by following the step you gave on the thread. I wasn’t writing the command correctly. I used KWrite instead of small letter kwrite.

Thanks again.

13

Glad to hear you were able to figure it out, and no, I’m not aware of any easier method of fixing this problem. Unfortunately, I have been knocked on my a$$ for the past 3 days by the worst flu I have had in 20 years.

I have used this fix on Ubuntu versions 11.04 and later (as well as OpenSuse) and while it does work, you might have problems with getting the backlight to come back on if it shuts off during suspend. So if you encounter this problem, see if you can go into your display settings and adjust them so that the screen stays on when the computer is inactive or perhaps a screen saver comes up, the important thing being the the backlight stays on.

Good luck and good work. :slight_smile:

14

> the worst flu I have had in 20 years.

some BAD stuff out there this time…drink LOTS of water, and rest a
plenty!!

–
dd

15

Thanks much DD. Last 3 days I have been absolute agony. Forced myself to eat some soup yesterday, but I wasn’t able to digest it properly and wound up feeling much worse. Today, I tried mixing some powdered Gatorade with water, and that seems to be helping me feel quite a bit better (for now anyway).

Someone needs to invent some sort of non-prescription medication that will help people get through this kind of thing without so much pain. Although I suppose you still would have to be awake enough to hydrate and relieve yourself, but it’s a shame we still have to suffer like this in the 21st century. :frowning:

16

Getis, I am having the same problem with my Gateway NV78, and the same problem understanding (the recommended link), exactly, how the scripting process is constructed. If you have the time to give me a step-by-step to how you resolved the issue, I would very appreciative.

17

My understanding was that he just replaced the word “gedit” with the word “kwrite” in each of the commands where it says “gedit”. Essentially what you are doing is telling the terminal to open the specified file in the default text editing program, with root privileges, so you can edit it. In Gnome, “gedit” is the default text editor, while in KDE, it’s “kwrite”.

It’s very easy to just copy and paste the commands into the terminal (don’t waste your time retyping them). Should take you less than 5 minutes to run the whole series of commands.

HTH

18

Thanks,

The following steps were taken to enable a complete functional screen on a Gateway NV 78:

3 Line Script:
##############
!/bin/sh -e
setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=00
exit 0
##############

  1. Copied the above 3 Line Script into, KWrite editor, and saved it as: “set-brightness.sh”
  2. Moved, “set-brightness.sh” into the “bin” directory, in the path, “root/usr/bin”
  3. Opened the existing “boot.local” file, in the path, root/etc/init.d/boot.local, and
  4. Copied the above 3 Line Script into, the exiting “boot.local” file, and
  5. Saved the existing “boot.local” file.

After a re-boot, I was able to, finally, see a very nicely done OS. I appreciate the previous posters input.

19

You’re most welcome.

I was curious if you guys who did the fix are having any problems with your laptop coming out of suspend? Namely, does the backlight come back on or does it stay off, forcing you to do a hard reset?

Thanks in advance.

20

I had that happen, I think it was only once, and I made adjustments to everything I could find that might have some control over the screen. That being screen saver, sleep settings, low battery, and etc. I do get a black screen shortly after the initial boot process begins, but its only for ~ 30 seconds and then everything seems to be normal.