Ubuntu 16.04 Samsung R580 Display Brightness Keyboard Shortcut Issues
Andrew Henderson 
I have read many posts on the display brightness keyboard shortcuts issues in Ubuntu. Most have answers for Ubuntu 14 or prior, so I want to include as much information as possible.
What Happens
Upon boot, I login and brightness adjustment keyboard shortcuts are ineffective and brightness is at max. I logout (without restarting), log back in, and the keyboard shortcuts are effective.
What Should Happen
Whether first, second, third, or additional login, keyboard shortcuts for brightness control should work without having to log out and log back in.
Background Details
- Computer: Samsung NP-R580-JSB1US
- OS + type: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64-bit
- Graphics: GeForce 310M/PCIe/SSE2
- Graphics Driver: NVIDIA binary driver - version 340.96 from nvidia-340 (proprietary, tested)
- Keyboard Shortcut(s): Fn+↑ | Fn+↓
- NVidia Conf Location:
/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf - NVidia Conf Contents:
# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 361.42 (buildd@lgw01-18) Tue Apr 5 14:33:28 UTC 2016
Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Layout0" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "type1" Load "freetype" Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "auto" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "Monitor" # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Chi Mei Optoelectronics corp." HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0 VertRefresh 60.0 Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device" Identifier "Device0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "GeForce 310M" Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
EndSection
Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Device0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "Stereo" "0" Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0" Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0" Option "SLI" "Off" Option "MultiGPU" "Off" Option "BaseMosaic" "off" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection
EndSectionThis file was generated by the NVidia X Server Settings Application as you can see by the file comment-header, but was modified with the Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1" and then saved to the indicated location (because I gathered through research that this was the new way of storing these .conf files).
Conclusion
This is more of an annoyance than anything else, but if anyone else has experienced this or has an idea of where I can begin to look for a solution, please let me know.
Much appreciated!
1 Reset to default
