Thinkpads Forum

--- update: OFFICIAL SOLUTION ---

OK, after I started this thread, search the web, and try several settings in my Thinkpad, it still not work. So I end up calling the Thinkpads support team (perhaps the best way).

Once I describe to him about the issue, he immediately answer "Oh, that's easy."

You do NOT need to re-install / update any OS or drivers again.

In short, let me explain the solution here:

1. Thinkpads loaded with Power Manager utility, which is controlling all the power settings for the machine, override the Windows one.

2. This utility contains several Power Plans, for example "Energy Star" and "Maximum Performance", with different settings.

3. The inside settings of these preset plans CANNOT be modified. You can, of course, modify it to have instant result (like brightness bar) but after you reboot the machine it will return to the original setting of that plan. That's normal.

4. Therefore, in order not to let the brightness "reset" to maximum upon every reboot (Here I assume you using "Energy Star" power plan), CREATE a new power plan by yourself and apply it instead of those preset plans. As this new plan you created can set everything as you want, include the brightness.

Hope this can help you guys. Thanks

Dear All T61p users,

I am currently using T61p running Vista Home Premium. Whenever I set the brightness using the Fn key or the Power Management options, it will restore to the Maximum Brightness setting after I reboot the machine.

Is there something override the brightness setting? Or is it the driver bugs issue?

Any solution? Thanks a lot.

There seems to be a problem with no definite answer yet:

1

2

I suggest you update your BIOS and GPU drivers to the latest available version from lenovo:

Drivers and software - ThinkPad T61, T61p.

There is a "fix" for this (seems to be a feature of Vista):

Control Panel > Power Options

Click the "Adjust the display brightness" link on the left side panel.

This is the brightness that it defaults to when starting up, resuming from sleep or hibernate.

Hi smartins,

I have followed the steps that you mentioned but the problem still there. Did I miss something during the process? Can you explain more in detail?

Thanks a lot~

smartins wrote:There is a "fix" for this (seems to be a feature of Vista):

Control Panel > Power Options

Click the "Adjust the display brightness" link on the left side panel.

This is the brightness that it defaults to when starting up, resuming from sleep or hibernate.

apoon204 wrote:snipped

Have you moved the slide bars on that screen (for AC and Battery) to a position other than the right most position?

Hi smartins,

Yes I did. But it still restore to maximum brightness upon every reboot.

And strange thing is, even it is maximum brightness, the brightness bar in power management option is still display at 35%(I set before) for both battery and AC. When I just slightly move the bar, the screen immediately get dimmer (as what I set before). Seems like there is some error?

Should I try install/update any drivers too?

Thanks.

smartins wrote:

apoon204 wrote:snipped

Have you moved the slide bars on that screen (for AC and Battery) to a position other than the right most position?

I must say I have the same "Maximum Brightness" problem too.

I have XP Pro and I didn't have that brightness issue until I downloaded and applied the Lenovo Power Manager v.1.17 update last Friday.

Before the PM update, BIOS was flashed to the latest.

After the PM update, I could no longer set LCD Brightness without having it to return to maximum by itself in 2~3 seconds automatically. It happens no matter what power profile I choose to use.

[EDIT]

I just did another image restore, just to confirm again it really worked without any problem before I used the PM 1.17 update, and I guess I was wrong. I have exactly the same problem with PM 1.14 too.

[EDIT 2]

Ok, here's what I have found after I restored yet another image that was created around the beginning of September. Note, my TP is a T61p with Nvidia 570M card running Win XP Pro.

After the image was restored, I did not have any problem setting LCD brightness. Then I ran Windows updates and downloaded the "latest" Nivida 570M driver update (said to be a release in August).

Bingo! The LCD brightness could no longer be manually set - it always go back to maximum brightness (although OSD doesn't show maximum).

Next, I restored the same image again and this time, I ran through the Lenovo updates including PM driver and PM utility, instead of Windows updates. After the PM updates, I had no problem with LCD brightness.

So, I decided not to use the Nvidia 570M driver update from MS.

I'll try the driver update from Lenovo later this week and see what is going to happen.

For me at least, it seems to be a problem with the Thinvantage Power Manager Utility and not with the OS (Vista) itself. I've tried uninstalling the Power Manager utility while in safe mode, and lo and behold, when resuming from sleep mode, the brightness actually holds the setting i have chosen.

The Power Manager utility with its battery icon is useful though because it shows the amount of time you have left on the battery charge (something the OS's battery icon does not do), so i have decided to keep it installed for now. There's more compatibility issues with the Thinkvantage Power Manager utility in Vista, so hopefully Lenovo will release a fix sometime in the near future.

blau wrote:I must say I have the same "Maximum Brightness" problem too.

I have XP Pro ...

For those who have problems, do you have ATI or Intel graphics?

Same problem here on T61 with intel graphics. It's not the OS. I have XP pro. Every restart kicks it back to max brightness. The problem goes away if I uninstall the Intel graphics driver and use the XP generic display driver. It doesn't matter if the driver comes from Lenovo or Intel.

Ok, here's how I fixed the problem I reported earlier on my T61p running XP Pro.

Go to "Control Panel" and run "NVIDIA Control Panel". From there, select "Mobile" options. Adjust the settings (called SmartDimmer) there!

I completely missed these settings and their default values were set to maximum brightness regardless the computer was on AC or battery.

Hi blau,

May i know where you download and install the Nvidia Control Panel?

My T61p running Vista Home Premium. The Nvidia Control Panel does not have that "Mobile" options. Will that because of ThinkVantage has override the setting?

Thanks.

blau wrote:Ok, here's how I fixed the problem I reported earlier on my T61p running XP Pro.

Go to "Control Panel" and run "NVIDIA Control Panel". From there, select "Mobile" options. Adjust the settings (called SmartDimmer) there!

I completely missed these settings and their default values were set to maximum brightness regardless the computer was on AC or battery.

I'm sorry that I have no answer to your question, because I didn't download the NVIDIA control panel. It was installed as part of the Video driver.

But again, please note that I am running Windows XP not Vista.

Any update information about this issue? Any ppls still have this problem with T61p Vista Home Premium?

Thanks~

Please read the first post for solution, thanks

apoon204 wrote:Please read the first post for solution, thanks

The solution does not work on the T61 here.

I already defined a custom power scheme in Power Manager from day 1. Brightness = 8/15 for both AC and Battery, yet it always goes to 15/15 on every single Windows XP boot.

Well, i used the solution I suggested a few posts above and it worked on the two T61's I tried (6460):

Control Panel > Power Options

Click the "Adjust the display brightness" link on the left side panel.

This is the brightness that it defaults to when starting up, resuming from sleep or hibernate.

smartins wrote:Well, i tried the solution I mention a few posts above and it worked on the two T61's I tried (6460):

Too bad that's not applicable for Windows XP.

hi sugo,

My T61p running Vista Home Premium and works fine since creating a new power plan.

Perhaps you call the Thinkpad support team and see if they have any information about this issue with Windows XP?

sugo wrote: Too bad that's not applicable for Windows XP.

blau wrote:Ok, here's how I fixed the problem I reported earlier on my T61p running XP Pro.

Go to "Control Panel" and run "NVIDIA Control Panel". From there, select "Mobile" options. Adjust the settings (called SmartDimmer) there!

I completely missed these settings and their default values were set to maximum brightness regardless the computer was on AC or battery.

have you found any solution to disable SmartDimmer? I want to control brightness by TP keys and not by nVidia drivers.

DenisBY wrote:

blau wrote:Ok, here's how I fixed the problem I reported earlier on my T61p running XP Pro.

Go to "Control Panel" and run "NVIDIA Control Panel". From there, select "Mobile" options. Adjust the settings (called SmartDimmer) there!

I completely missed these settings and their default values were set to maximum brightness regardless the computer was on AC or battery.

have you found any solution to disable SmartDimmer? I want to control brightness by TP keys and not by nVidia drivers.

[Edit: just noted that your T61 has a 140M card, which is not what I have, so whatever I used or did might not be applicable to your case.

Everyone please note, I have a T61p running Win XP Pro.]

All you need to do is to disable SmartDimmer from the Nividia Control Panel.

Now that you asked, I found that SmartDimmer is no longer in the Nividia Control Panel (version 1.4.200.13) that came with the most recent 570M driver (version 6.14.11.5672) by Windows Update.

Interesting....

I have XP Pro too. but I have 169.04 from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/ind ... owforum=72 and there is SmartDimmer but I don't found how to disable it.

DenisBY wrote:I have XP Pro too. but I have 169.04 from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/ind ... owforum=72 and there is SmartDimmer but I don't found how to disable it.

When SmartDimmer was there (in the previous version of Nvidia Control panel), I had an option box to check or uncheck SmartDimmer.

I'm sorry but I don't use the drivers from LaptopVideo so I can't tell. I'm not sure what extras you get from using those customized drivers because I can get >8300 3dMark05 scores using stock drivers.

Hi there

This is my first post here. I have a 2 weeks old T61 using N140 display card and have the same problem too. However, it doesn't apply to every start after using hibernate mode.

My friend who has the same problem too with his T60...

Why are people having diverse results here?