Keyboard flashlight on macbook pro in Zorin lite

General Help
1

Hi guys,

How can I turn on keboard flashlights in Zorin?

thanks for help!

2

Hi, I think you meant 'backlight'?

I don't know if Zorin 17 Lite came with Wayland enabled, if it didn't then ignore the first part below. I used xubuntu 22.04 in search criteria as that is what Zorin 17 Lite is a fork of.

" Switch from Wayland to Xorg (required for older methods):
Ubuntu 22.04 defaults to Wayland, which does not support xset led on . To fix this, edit the GDM configuration:

sudo nano /etc/gdm3/custom.conf

Uncomment or add the line:
WaylandEnable=false
Save (Ctrl+X , then Y , then Enter ) and reboot.

Use brightnessctl for modern control :
Install brightnessctl if not already installed:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install brightnessctl

List available devices:

brightnessctl -l

Look for a device like smc::kbd_backlight or apple::kbd_backlight .
Set brightness (e.g., to 50%):

sudo brightnessctl --device='smc::kbd_backlight' set 50%

Or set to maximum:

sudo brightnessctl --device='smc::kbd_backlight' set 255

Alternative: Direct sysfs control :
If the device is smc::kbd_backlight , manually set brightness:

echo 255 | sudo tee /sys/class/leds/smc::kbd_backlight/brightness

To turn off:

echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/class/leds/smc::kbd_backlight/brightness

Make it persistent :
To avoid running commands manually, create a script and bind it to a keyboard shortcut (e.g., F6 or Scroll Lock ) via Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts.

Note : Some users report that the apple::kbd_backlight path is used instead of smc::kbd_backlight . Use brightnessctl -l to confirm the correct device name.

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts."

3

Do you have keys on your keyboard which you can use to turn the backlight on?

If not, you can try the following.Enter the commands shown in the script.
You can also simply elevate to root

nautilus admin:/

and go to

/sys/class/leds/brightness/smc::kbd_backlight/brightness

and set a value there (1 or 2 or..- the maximum you can see at file max_brightness) in the same folder.
Then save the file.

4

Hi, don't forget it might be apple instead of smc.

5

that was super easy there is button on keyboard lol

sorry guys for wasting your time and big thx for help anyway

1 Like
6

Marked your last post as solution. Good it was simple fix.