Hello all,

I hope this is posted to the correct forum, apologies in advance if I am in the wrong place. Deep breath, here goes...

I recently installed KDE on existing Ubuntu installation (running gnome) on an old IBM ("Lenovo") R51 Thinkpad with an Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller. Immediately upon reboot the display went noticeably dim, really dim. Dim to the extent that I was convinced that the machine had (coincidentally)developed a problem with the display adapter somewhere down on the bare metal. I decided to make sure, so rather than parting out my old buddy (I can be far too sentimental at times) I deleted the partition and reinstalled Ubuntu [NB: not (K)Ubuntu] and all was well.

Here's something strange. The problem spanned boots to another OS (who's name will go unmentioned here, but its initials are XP) on the same machine, so it doesn't look like a driver issue. Any ideas?

Thanks. --sb

Your screen will automatically go progressively dimmer if the battery is in the low or warning state.

I also find that, if I have been using the battery previously and I have gone past the low and the warning levels and I then plug in the mains, it does not immediately go bright again.

Thanks, John. This, in fact is what is happening. I was locked onto the idea that since the problem spanned boots that something more "sinister" might be happening. A simple function key turns everything back up.
It's the silly one's that get me every time.