Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Ive recently purchased a number of newly released Toshiba portege R700-15U business laptops. There was (and still is) very little linux related support information available due to it being a very new model so I have started to document the hardware compatibility under ubunutu 10.04. This is not intended to be a review or discussion of the laptop features, but a collation of compatibility info and fixes for this laptop under linux for owners or those looking to to buy one.
The R705 shares almost all the same components as the R700. It just lacks a number of features (bluetooth? fingerprint reader, express slot?, 5400rpm drive?) present on the R700 so there is no reason why it cant be tracked here also.
Feel free to post updates and I will keep this chart fresh.
Test OS: Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx amd64. Alternate installer, for encrypted LVM setup. Apart from that it was a standard install.
Test Firmware: Initial Release firmware
Legend:
Works (maybe with a patch or fix)
A number of small bugs are present,
Could be a potential deal breaker for someone moving from windows to ubuntu
Webcam
- Hardware is detected
- Works in Chesse & Skype.
- Can adjust the resolution/brightness/settings correctly.
Suspend to RAM / Suspend to Disk
- The laptop goes in and out of sleep/hibernate cleanly.
- Wifi/LAN comes up automatically on resume.
- Fixed in 2.6.35
If you have an SD card mounted in the slot the laptop WILL NOT suspend to disk or RAM.. the screen blanks out with the fan running and requires a hard reset to get it back.
- FIXED enough (see acpi script in thread)
Brightness is locked after resume. Brightness indicator moves up and down when changed, but doesn't affect the display levels.
- FIXED:
Even when set to suspend to ram on idle the R700 is hibernating
Multi Card Reader
- Tested OK with an SD & SDHC card.
- Not an ubuntu specific issue, but I cant boot from the SD card
Express Slot
- Shows up in an lspci and is supported under linux
- Untested at the moment
Fingerprint reader
- Shows up in lspci, but isn't detected by pam_fprint_enroll or fprint_demo.
- No OS drivers exist for the device
Wifi / Bluetooth
- Intel wifi works 100%
- Full WEP/WPA/WPA2 support
- Wifi wont turn off/on via keyboard hotkey
- Wifi status LED will not turn off even with card manually disabled
- Bluetooth works, pairs, transfers files, connects to my bluteooth HID device
- Even when disabled, bluetooth seems to renable itself sometimes after a reboot or resume from suspend... still chasing this up. I suspect its still drawing power even when disabled
Hard Drive
- The hard drive accelerometer/impact sensor/protection system is not supported by hdapsd.
Touchpad
- Generally works well.
- Two finger scrolling greyed out via the ubuntu mouse settings but can be turned on easily by running a few synclient settings on login to X (I run them automatically on startup)
Code:
#!/bin/bash
sleep 10
synclient VertTwoFingerScroll=1
synclient HorizTwoFingerScroll=1
synclient EmulateTwoFingerMinW=5
synclient EmulateTwoFingerMinZ=48
- Touchpad disable button (both keyboard shortcut & dedicated button) do NOT function
- Touchpad automatically disables itself when typing and required no setup
Keyboard
- 2 dedicated hardware buttons (email & web in windows i think) can be assigned to a function via keyboard shortcuts... but they both appear as the same button "Mod4+X"
- F1-F12 are the default action, with Fn being secondary
- Display switch hotkey works
- Most Fn modifiers work fine. Can vol+ & vol-, mute, suspend, numberpad etc
- Touchpad & Display switch Fn modifiers dont function, and are not programmable. Triggering them does not register any type of keypress. Suspect these are hardware set and will never be accessible.
- Wifi hotkey only turns Bluetooth module on and off. Could be fixed with some acpi scripting if needed
Sleep&Charge
- When enabled in the bois the esata/usb port will charge even when the laptop is not on. This works fine in Ubunutu and the laptop is not woken up.
NIC
- Throughput is in line with 1Gb port
- When using toshset tool to disable the NIC it cant be re-enabled without going into the bios
Display
- FIXED enough (see acpi script in thread)
Display brightness cannot be changed after the laptop has resumed from a suspend to disk or RAM.
Video
- Intel video card is fully supported.
- Compiz is on by default and all desktop effects work great
- Full SD (720p) playback works 100%
- VGA & HDMI outputs are recognized
- VGA & HDMI outputs can be configured as secondary or mirrored devices and detect/display correctly.
- Have had this plugged into both a TV and LCD monitor and everything works flawlessly.
- After removing the HDMI cable the laptop display goes to full brightness and cant be lowered if you have resumed from a suspend!
Battery
- Ubuntu misreports battery capacity and charge levels.
- After a week of testing battery level predictions are still very poor, despite some error correction being performed
- "Ubuntu Power Statistics" (accessible from the battery icon) gives an average of 25% prediction accuracy for both charge and discharge cycles. Less than ideal :)
- Full charge predicts a 3½ - 4hr battery life... but when the laptop gets to 5mins remaining it can still last up to another 1hr.
- Battery reports that after a week of use that it is only capable of 90% original capacity. I suspect this is incorrect too.
- Despite these issues, the battery still gives 3½-4½ hours of use, its just difficult to predict when it will run out or when its fully charged.
Audio
- Sound playback through speakers works with a clean install of lucid (works in Maverick atm)
- HDMI audio output works. This can be switched on and off via volume panel settings
- Headphone & Mic jack do not function
- Inbuilt mic is muted by default, but works fine when unmuted via
- Fixed in 10.10 (2.6.35 kernel)
I built alsa from source it fixed the headphone & mic jack issue, but after a kernel update it broke again. Running the script again fixed the issue again
For those interested here are some specs:
Code:
connect404@pez:~$ lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information <?>
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0007
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 35
Memory at 90000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
Memory at 80000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
I/O ports at 3050 [size=8]
Capabilities: [90] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [a4] PCIe advanced features <?>
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
Memory at 94727000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [8c] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LC Gigabit Network Connection (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 33
Memory at 94700000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
Memory at 94725000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
I/O ports at 3020 [size=32]
Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [d0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [e0] PCIe advanced features <?>
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
Kernel modules: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at 94726c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0
Capabilities: [98] PCIe advanced features <?>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 37
Memory at 94720000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [60] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [70] Express Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel <?>
Capabilities: [130] Root Complex Link <?>
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00004000-00004fff
Memory behind bridge: 94600000-946fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 000000007c100000-000000007c2fffff
Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00005000-00005fff
Memory behind bridge: 94500000-945fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 000000007c300000-000000007c4fffff
Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 06)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
Memory behind bridge: 92500000-944fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000090400000-00000000923fffff
Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 06)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00006000-00006fff
Memory behind bridge: 92400000-924fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 000000007c500000-000000007c6fffff
Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+), MSI 00
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
Memory at 94726800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [58] Debug port: BAR=1 offset=00a0
Capabilities: [98] PCIe advanced features <?>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6) (prog-if 01)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=06, sec-latency=32
Capabilities: [50] Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information <?>
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06) (prog-if 01)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 34
I/O ports at 3048 [size=8]
I/O ports at 305c [size=4]
I/O ports at 3040 [size=8]
I/O ports at 3058 [size=4]
I/O ports at 3000 [size=32]
Memory at 94726000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [a8] SATA HBA <?>
Capabilities: [b0] PCIe advanced features <?>
Kernel driver in use: ahci
Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
Memory at 94724000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable-
01:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e822 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device 0001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at 94600000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [50] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
Capabilities: [78] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [80] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel <?>
Capabilities: [800] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 6000 Series (rev 35)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1301
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 36
Memory at 94500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [d0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable+
Capabilities: [e0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number c0-c1-01-ff-ff-10-27-00
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn
Kernel modules: iwlagn
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 8086
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
lsusb
Code:
connect404@pez:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0930:0c05 Toshiba Corp.
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:58f5 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 08ff:168b AuthenTec, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
hdparm with the standard 320gb 7200rpm drive
Code:
connect404@pez:~$ hdparm -tT /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 1746 MB in 2.00 seconds = 873.13 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 320 MB in 3.01 seconds = 106.36 MB/sec
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
I read your post on notebookreview.com, thanks for starting this thread.
I've been waiting to get my hands on the R700-15Q for weeks but Toshiba are (understandably) feeding the market with higher spec'd models first.
Given the importance of Toshiba's "ECO mode" for regulating temp/fans/noise/power consumption in Windows, how does the R700 score on these points under Ubuntu?
Is the Toshset project deprecated or still of use on the R700?
Re BIOS: I can't find release notes for B1.30-EC1.30-WIN so it's impossible to know what's been tweaked. I'm a bit disappointed that BIOS updates are coming as Windows executables only.
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
anydroid
I read your post on notebookreview.com, thanks for starting this thread.
I've been waiting to get my hands on the
R700-15Q for weeks but Toshiba are (understandably) feeding the market with higher spec'd models first.
Given the importance of Toshiba's "ECO mode" for regulating temp/fans/noise/power consumption in Windows, how does the R700 score on these points under Ubuntu?
Is the
Toshset project deprecated or still of use on the R700?
Re BIOS: I can't find release notes for B1.30-EC1.30-WIN so it's impossible to know what's been tweaked. I'm a bit disappointed that BIOS updates are coming as Windows executables only.
Good luck getting your R700, mine were delayed a couple of times and the supplier ended up getting Toshiba to dispatch them direct to me.
I dont have much to comment on regarding the ECO mode. Though from reports from the notebookreviews thread my battery life seems to be on par with Windows7 users so i can see any major discrepancy without all the toshiba windows tools running.
Had a look in my bios last night and it seems I already have 1.30. Not sure what toshiba is up too here...
AFAIK toshset uses HAL. I tried both the omnibook module and toshet tools on the laptop but they didnt do anything. Couldn't access extra hotkeys, turn bluetooth on/off etc. Sure there is more investigating to be done, but on the surface they are just too old to support this laptop.
Toshset does still mostly work on this laptop, not all functions have the desired effect, but its enough to get by.
Im sure youll like your R700, and please update the thread as you get linux issues resolved!
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Thanks for the post! It has been very useful for some one as new to ubuntu as me :D I am using 10.04 on R700 S1330. Regarding the inbuilt microphone, it works for me! I got the mic sound after switched off the microphone mute.
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Hi all!
What about the built-in UMTS Modem? Is anyone online using Ubuntu and 3G?
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
connect404
I
UPDATE: Toshiba have just release an updated firmware B1.30-EC1.30-WIN . Its and exe so will require a non linux startup disk to install. Will update & test soon.
1.40 has been released. Downloaded and installed it with Toshiba's update utility before wiping windows.
Quote:
Fingerprint reader
- Shows up in an lspci and is supported under linux
- Have not personally tested it, but can if someone really wants to know.
- Read unconfirmed reports that it can be configured.
Shows up in lspci, but isn't detected by pam_fprint_enroll or fprint_demo.
Quote:
Keyboard
- Wifi, Touchpad & Display switch Fn modifiers dont function, and are not programmable. Triggering them does not register any type of keypress. Suspect these are hardware set and will never be accessible.
Can we use one of the dedicated hardware buttons for Display switch?
Scenario: Laptop is connected to external display and laptop display is off. External display is disconnected from laptop, but laptop screen doesn't turn on. Need to switch display back to just laptop before disconnecting external display. Pressing display switch-button should help?
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
Thanks! This is such a useful post!
I have the 15U as well, and I love it -- apart from the headphones issue and I'm having battery life issues. Not sure what's up there, but I'm starting to think I have a dud battery. I'm only getting about 2.5 hours on Ubuntu and same on W7 even with Eco mode running. That's with nothing but tweetdeck, chrome and notepad/gedit open.
I'm going to try the bios update.
The script for the headphones/mic but I'm a bit worried. Not great with command line yet.
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
I've got an R705, and I think I've found a solution to the "Brightness is locked after resume" problem. It's a little kludgy, but it works.
I've added a script to /etc/pm/sleep.d directory called "99_dpms_post" (made it executable, since everything else in there is), with the following contents:
Code:
#!/bin/bash
if [[ ${1} =~ (thaw|resume) ]] ; then
test -f /usr/share/acpi-support/state-funcs || exit 0
. /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs
. /usr/share/acpi-support/policy-funcs
. /etc/default/acpi-support
/usr/bin/toshset -bl on
for x in /tmp/.X11-unix/*; do
displaynum=`echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.X11-unix/X##`
getXuser;
if [ x"$XAUTHORITY" != x"" ]; then
export DISPLAY=":$displaynum"
chvt 1
sleep .5
/usr/sbin/vbetool post
sleep .5
chvt 7
sleep .5
. /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank
sleep .5
su $user -c "xset dpms force on"
fi
done
fi
Probably a few things in there that are not 100% necessary (for example, I didn't test whether all the "sleep" ones were, but I personally don't care at all about an extra few seconds on resuming... if anyone does, you're welcome to try removing them, I'd be interested to hear if it still works).
UPDATE: Better solution posted below. You should ignore this one; I'm leaving it here for the "historical record", and in case there is anything in it that might prove useful for solving some other problem now or in the future.
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
The alsa upgrade worked great -- now I can use headphones. That was driving me nuts.
Omerp --
How do I make that script for the resume bug executable? Or do I just create the file and save it?
Re: Toshiba Portege R700 / R705 Linux Hardware Compatibility Thread
JacquiOh: I've found a better, cleaner, and -- most importantly -- more reliable solution to the brightness-control-after-resume problem.
Here it is:
Create the files "tosh-brightness-down" and "tosh-brightness-up" in /etc/acpi/events/ (you can use, e.g., sudo cp <some-file-already-in-that-folder> tosh-brightness-up to copy an existing file from /etc/acpi/events/, that way all the permissions and so forth will be as they should be, and then replace the contents of the created files with the contents given below, using sudo <your favorite editor>).
tosh-brightness-down :
Code:
event=hkey VALZ 00000001 00000140
action=/etc/acpi/tosh-brn-down.sh
tosh-brightness-up:
Code:
event=hkey VALZ 00000001 00000141
action=/etc/acpi/tosh-brn-up.sh
Then, in a similar fashion, add the following two files to /etc/acpi/ (the parent directory of the one where the previous two files were).
tosh-brn-down.sh:
Code:
#!/bin/sh
test -f /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants || exit 0
. /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants
DeviceConfig
toshset -bl on
tosh-brn-up.sh: (the file is identical to "tosh-brn-down.sh", but I think it's worth having them separate for good order, in case we find out their content should be differentiated somewhere down the line)
Code:
#!/bin/sh
test -f /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants || exit 0
. /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants
DeviceConfig
toshset -bl on
Note: This solution assumes you have the toshset package installed on your system (sudo apt-get install toshset to install).
Reboot your system for the changes to take effect (or, you can just restart acpid and acpi-support).
This solution is non-ideal, in the sense that it only fixes changing brightness via the Fn-keys, not other ways of changing brightness (e.g., through gnome-power-manager). Ideally, there would be some way to hook onto *any* change in the brightness the system has established, and run toshset -bl on immediately (which is essentially what all this does, only just for Fn-key driven brightness events).
If anyone knows of any more general brightness-hook of this sort, please let me know.