Thinkpads Forum

Hey, I looked through the previous posts, and tried several of the ideas, but nothing worked. My T60 when switching from AC to battery power will not lower the screen brightness.

I checked the setting in the bios and in the TP configuration. It is set to normal. So instead of the screen brightness dropping to 1 like to should, it stays at 7. Any ideas how to fix this, or should I send my TP in for repair.

I think how Lenovo implemented this is confusing.
When you set LCD configuration to normal, the screen dims slightly on battery power and is brighter on AC. The confusing part is that the brightness control still shows your brightness at 7.

So if you have max brightness #7 on AC and max brightness #7 on battery, the screen will be dimmer when on battery. So double check to see if indeed the screen is getting dimmer.

Also check power manager. If you edit your settings, you can set what brightness level the laptop uses when on AC or Battery. For example, I have mine set to 5 on battery and 7 on AC. I also have my LCD config to high brightness so if I turn up the brightness to 7 on battery, it will match the AC brightness.

I agree this is a problem... The original poster did not say he was having a problem with the "normal/bright" dimming -- he, as I, want it to dim to the selected brightness (as specified in the power manager and BIOS) when on battery.

We've also discussed the problem here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=30165

Yeah,
I read your post and still no luck. I can recall on my T43 that when the power source switched, it would indeed dim the screen to the desired brightness as set in the power manager.

The T60, at least my T60 however, does not do this. I am curious to know how many other T60 owners are experiencing this issue. I plan on contacting Lenovo today, and will let you know if they have a viable solution.

Mine switches, have you tried uninstalling the software, powering down, then reinstalling the software, and once again powering down? It's important to wait and allow the T60 to power down by itself, by the way.

It sound like another version of the same old disjointed dual power management scenario.

What PM profile are you modfiying to make the change? If it's one of the basic windows provided ones it doesn't support that function. The single and 2 stage dimming is supported by the IBM/Lenovo Power Manager and its' profiles.

IBM/Lenovo implements their own Power Manager that has more capabilities than the stock WinXP tool does. The 2 programs attempt to manage the same registry entries and conflict with one another because one has setpoints that the other doesn't.

Take a look at this thread and see if it helps.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 738#179738

Well,
Called tech support, and I am sending my T60 in for repairs. Lets see if it gets fixed. I'll let everyone know what the solution is or might be.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

rosemarycane wrote:My T60 when switching from AC to battery power will not lower the screen brightness.

I think that you need to look here:

Start ThinkVantage > ThinkPad Configuration
In the Display menu select LCD
Here you can set "Brightness when running on batteries" to Normal or High. If it's set to High, then LCD brightness will be the same regardless of whether you are running on batteries or AC power.

Well, got my thinkpad back from ez-serv. Still the problem is not fixed. The computer will not change the brightness when switching power sources.

Any other suggestions on how to fix this problem?

rosemarycane wrote: Any other suggestions on how to fix this problem?

Did you see my posting last week (the one preceding yours of today)?
Did that not work?

There is a setting in the BIOS to enable/disable the dimming of the LCD when on battery. During your troubleshooting, I would confirm that dimming is enabled.

To access the BIOS, power-on your system and hold down the F1 key. You will get a prompt that your are "Entering BIOS". Once in, you can poke around and find the setting.

RonS wrote:There is a setting in the BIOS to enable/disable the dimming of the LCD when on battery.

If you mean the same setting as I referred to a week ago, it's available in

ThinkPad Configuration > Display menu > LCD

I have tried both in the bios and the LCD settings. Doesn't work. The on-screen brightness display does not go down from 7 to 1 like it should for power source optimized.