Hi,
I have a laptop running Kubuntu 11.04, and the keys for adjusting the screen brightness with the onscreen display don't work. The same keys work fine under Gnome. I can adjust the brightness manually by running 'echo 200 > /sys/devices/platform/pwm-backlight/backlight/pwm-backlight/brightness' as root.

Does anyone know how I can get the control working?

Same problem on my ThinkPad T410. However, if I switch to another console, say to #1 using [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F1], then the keys work. After I set the brightness to what I want, I go back to X with [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F7].

I think it's slightly different for me - the keys aren't implemented as specialised function keys, they're just random keys that I mapped to the Raise/Lower Monitor Brightness shortcut. Outside of X/KWin, they have no special meaning.

What I really wanted to know was how to tell KDE how to control the brightness...

I think Solid listens to whatever UPower feeds it, or so I think, since UPower is in charge of handling that kind of thing. In my EeePC the brightness keys work, however I don't remember if I see the OSD.

On my Asus system, the keys are managed by the hardware it seems, and I see no OSD.
In your case, they seem to be pure software.

Open System Settings > Shortcuts & Gestures > Global Keyboard Shortcuts. Change the drop down to "KDE Daemon", and you should see "Decrease Screen Brightness" and "Decrease Screen Brighness" shortcuts which you can then configure.

bcooksley wrote:On my Asus system, the keys are managed by the hardware it seems, and I see no OSD.
In your case, they seem to be pure software.

Open System Settings > Shortcuts & Gestures > Global Keyboard Shortcuts. Change the drop down to "KDE Daemon", and you should see "Decrease Screen Brightness" and "Decrease Screen Brighness" shortcuts which you can then configure.

I already set the shortcuts there. My problem is that even when I press the keys, there's no response. I set the volume controls the same way and they work fine.

Do you have PowerDevil enabled?

bcooksley wrote:Do you have PowerDevil enabled?

Not sure if this is what you mean, but the Power Management service under Service Manager is running. Stopping it has no effect.

Ok, it is running then.

Please file a bug report at bugs.kde.org against Power Devil.