Basic backlight support for MacBook Pro
September 11th, 2006
I made some modifications to the original bl1.c program from Nicolas Boichat. In summary, this modifications allow:
Specify an absolute brightness value
Let x be the absolute brightness value, such that 0<x<16, that is, the value must between 1 and 15, where 1 is the minimum brightness level before turning off the screen, and 15 is the maximum brightness supported by the LCD screen.
For example:
./bl1 15
./bl1 1
Specify an increment or decrement (delta)
Let d be the delta, and x the current brightness value, then the new brightness value y is y=x+d, and 0<y<16.
y = min(max(1, x + d), 15)
Source code
/*
* Apple Macbook Pro LCD backlight control
*
* Copyright (C) 2006 Nicolas Boichat <nicolas @boichat.ch>
* Copyright (C) 2006 Felipe Alfaro Solana <felipe_alfaro @linuxmail.org>
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
* GNU General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
*
*/
#include <stdio .h>
#include <sys /io.h>
#include <stdlib .h>
void init()
{
if (ioperm(0xB2, 0xB3, 1) < 0)
{
perror("ioperm failed (you should be root).");
exit(2);
}
}
int get_current_value()
{
outb(0x03, 0xB3);
outb(0xBF, 0xB2);
char t = inb(0xB3) >> 4;
return t;
}
int calculate_new_value(const char *arg)
{
int val, new = atoi(arg);
if (arg[0] == '+' || arg[0] == '-')
val = new + get_current_value();
else
val = new;
if (val > 15)
val = 15;
else if (val < 1)
val = 1;
return val;
}
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
if (argc > 2)
{
printf("Usage:\n");
printf("%s : read current value\n", argv[0]);
printf("%s value : write value [0-15]\n", argv[0]);
exit(1);
}
init();
if (argc < 2)
{
printf("Current value : %d\n", get_current_value());
exit(0);
}
if (argc == 2)
{
int value = calculate_new_value(argv[1]);
outb(0x04 | (value << 4), 0xB3);
outb(0xBF, 0xB2);
printf("new value: %d\n", value);
}
return 0;
}
November 5th, 2006 at 10:46 PM
[...] On 11/5/06, Felipe Alfaro Solana wrote: > On 10/4/06, Artur Boicu wrote: > > Dear friends, > > How cand I install Ubuntu on my Mac. It asks me to set up a partition > > called Yaboot. > > Could you give me a step by step instructions? > > Maybe these posts I wrote some time ago may help you: > > http://felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2006/08/19/installing-ubuntu-linux-on-a-macbook-pro/ > http://felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2006/09/19/installing-refit-on-the-hidden-efi-system-partition/ > http://felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2006/09/11/basic-backlight-support-for-macbook-pro/ > http://felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2006/09/11/modifying-screen-brightness-on-ac-state-changes/ > [...]
January 8th, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Thank you, this works great on iMac version “5,1″ as well (also known as “Late 2006″).
March 29th, 2008 at 4:27 AM
i’m looking for a toll like that but i’m newbie… i’ve got an iMac Alu (mid 2007) 20″ with ATI HD2400Pro.
How to make bli.c work on my computer (i’m under Ubuntu Gusty – Studio version)
Reply at : bouboulabulle[at]caramail.com
Thx !
May 18th, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Hi. I could not get your source file to compile. I fixed one error — extra spaces in the include files. But there must be other errors that I don’t understand. Fortunately, I found a pre-compiled binary on another Ubuntu page. You were credited with program.
Here are the errors:
backlight.increment.c: In function ‘calculate_new_value’:
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\230’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\231’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: expected expression before ‘||’ token
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\230’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:48: error: stray ‘\231’ in program
backlight.increment.c: In function ‘main’:
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: ‘Usage’ undeclared (first use in this function)
backlight.increment.c:65: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
backlight.increment.c:65: error: for each function it appears in.)
backlight.increment.c:65: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘:’ token
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:65: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: expected expression before ‘%’ token
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:66: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: expected expression before ‘%’ token
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:67: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: ‘Current’ undeclared (first use in this function)
backlight.increment.c:75: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘value’
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:75: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:82: error: stray ‘\303’ in program
backlight.increment.c:82: error: stray ‘\227’ in program
backlight.increment.c:82: error: expected ‘)’ before numeric constant
backlight.increment.c:82: error: too few arguments to function ‘outb’
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: ‘new’ undeclared (first use in this function)
backlight.increment.c:84: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘value’
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\342’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\200’ in program
backlight.increment.c:84: error: stray ‘\235’ in program
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Some compilers (e.g Linux) don’t support back quotes, so you need to review your code and replace any such with quotes you type yourself, particularly if you copied your code from some place.
i.e instead of ” ’n’ ” you should enter ” ‘n’ “
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Umm – the back quotes in my example haven’t come out clearly in my posted reply, but I hope you caught my gist
.
Alternatively make sure any double quotes in your program are really double quotes and not read as two adjacent single quotes.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:04 AM
[...] In any install, there are always little niggles that need fixing. The most obvious is a way to control the brightness of the screen which by default is far too bright. There may well be better solutions out there, but a bit of C coming from http://www.felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2006/09/11/basic-backlight-support-for-macbook-pro [...]
July 4th, 2009 at 7:45 PM
hey can somebody help me set this up i am a complete newbie w/ linux and i am using it on an intel mac but the brightness is KILLING MY EYES. thanks
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 AM
Thank you for this fix! Works great!
Just copied your code into gedit(not my editor of choice) dropped it in my home directory, checked and fixed syntax
ran
cc brightnesscontrol.c
at the command line
then ran sudo ./a.out 11
and now my eyes are happy once more!
cheers
October 17th, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Hi,
seems to be working OK on iMac8,1.
Thanks a lot!
G.
October 25th, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Hello,
I’m running ubuntu 10.10 on iMac 24″. Compilation of the code was successfull, but then when I run the code, the returned current value is ok, but the brightness is not changed… See:
$ sudo ./a.out
Current value : 15
$ sudo ./a.out 10
new value: 10
$ sudo ./a.out
Current value : 15
This thing is still killing my eyes!! Help!
December 9th, 2010 at 2:53 PM
Works great….had a WAY too bring iMac.
December 15th, 2010 at 4:23 PM
Running ubuntu studio 10.10 on iMac10.1. Code compiled, binary running but not changing the values. Same as “kokoklems”.
December 15th, 2010 at 4:54 PM
Ok, I’m back. I managed to adjust the brightness through the compiz setting manager application (install compizconfig-setting-manager from synaptic). I have maped my brightness keys to do the job although this only works for active aplication. If you find a way to make it work for the whole system please let us know.
January 13th, 2011 at 5:13 PM
The code works great for me (Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10 with aliminum iMac 21″ and 27″).
Thanks.
May 12th, 2011 at 9:48 PM
Here, on an iMac 10,1 (21.5″, ATI Radeon HD 4670), the code compiles and runs but has no effect.
May 17th, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Here, on an iMac 11,1, the code compiles and runs and has an effect, for brightness levels 0 through to 15, but brightness level 0 is some way above the lowest brightness set by Mac OS X. If I set the brightness to minimum in Mac OS X and then boot to Ubuntu, I get what I want. It is as if there may be another port for the scaling factor.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:34 PM
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January 9th, 2012 at 12:53 PM
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January 12th, 2012 at 12:52 PM
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