Zorin Forum

New System76 Lemur Pro - Installed Zorin OS and cannot adjust screen brightness!

Hardware Support
#1

I am a first time Linux user. I just bought a new System76 Lemur Pro laptop and I didn't like the pop!_OS they had as default, so I watched a few youtube videos about which Linux OS I should get and the one that I liked the most was Zorin OS.

So the other day I installed it no problem. Felt like a true hacker. And now that I've spent some time setting everything up to be basically 100% exactly how I want it, I notice that the bloody screen brightness cannot be adjusted!

Using the [Fn]F8/F9 commands don't work. There is no brightness slider tool in the panel at the bottom. There is no keyboard shortcut option in the device settings.

I have absolutely no idea what to do. I've read several other people posting about the same issue and I've tried a few things that were given to them as solutions and I still have had no success.

Linux is so overwhelming and it literally took me a few days to find the OS I like, and now to find that I can't change the screen brightness is just painful. Here is the configuration of my laptop as it came in the mail recently:

  • 14.1" Matte 1080p FHD Display
  • Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
  • 4.2 GHz i5-1135G7 (8MB Cache – 4 Cores – 8 Threads)
  • 16 GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 3200 MHz (2 x 8GB)
  • 500 GB PCIe Gen3 Seq Read: 2400 MB/s, Seq Write: 1750 MB/s

I honestly don't even know if that information would be relevant but I just want to be able to adjust the screen brightness already I've been at this for more than 2 days and I just want to use my new laptop already :frowning:

P.S. I have sensitive eyes and I usually always use a few different bluelight blocking filters + glasses + screen stickers on as well as a low screen brightness so this is honestly a huge deal for me not to be able to control this one little thing.

Please help :sob:

#2

The application brightnessctl should work:
https://packages.ubuntu.com/source/bionic/brightnessctl

sudo apt install -y brightnessctl

This guide includes Brightnessctl, as well as many other options.

You might also look into redshift GUI (Graphical User Interface)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/redshiftgui/files/0.2.1/

Download the .deb file and you can install by double clicking it from your downloads folder.

1 Like
#3

Oh my goodness that looks complicated hahah. Thank you for that though, I'm sure the solution is somewhere in there. I will update this when/if I'm successful #wishmeluck

#4

Yay I sort of got something to work lol. I wasn't able to get the brightnessctl to work at all but I was unaware of the "software manager" thing so I went there and found a rather mediocre app called "Change PC Brightness" that has a little button in the corner that I have to click and scroll and I can adjust the screen brightness that way. I guess it gets the job done so I'm pretty stoked on that despite it's rather user-unfriendliness tbh haha.

I have heard about the Redshift thing and was unable to get it to work via the link you sent me and same thing when I went into the Software Manager. I guess I'll just have to order a bluelight blocking sticker like my old laptop has.

Not 100% successful in terms of satisfaction to be perfectly honest, but the mere fact that I got SOMETHING to work and that I can now adjust my screen brightness would be considered a success indeed.

Thanks for your help!

#5

You may also want to check software update for any available updates. Kernel 5.4 introduced new drivers that may allow your system to recognize the brightness keys. I know that Zorin16 has support for most newer laptops, so if you can hold out, when beta or the official version is released you should have no issues.

I've been doing a little research on this and have found something that may help until then, using your backlight function keys, if you want to try. It will basically add files to your /etc/acpi directory and use a shell script to adjust the brightness. I'm assembling the links, files and commands and will post if you're willing to attempt it. I don't know how new to linux you are and whether you're willing to attempt a customization of this level. If you are, post back and I'll include the instruction.

1 Like
#6

Ah okay beautiful a light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks for the info there. I am so new to Linux that I literally know how to "sudo apt update" and that's about it unless I'm copying and pasting direct text from somewhere hahah. So I will definitely pass on your instructions but I appreciate the offer.

#7

If you are feeling bold, and crave that functionality, the detailed step by step instructions are posted here: