Sager NP8130 Missing Brightness Control

The brightness control (slider) in the Power Options of my laptop (Windows 7 x64 Ultimate) is missing. The Fn+F8/F9 buttons also don't work if that slider is not present. What I did was to reinstall the whole OS and installed all drivers. The brightness control went back and functioning normal again. This was just last night.

Today, I continued installing all my usual software, all Windows Udpates, and the like. To my surprise when I tried looking again under Power Optionss, the brightness control is missing again. So this has got to do something with conflicting software or what not. It can even be because of Windows Updates? I don't know.

I see that this is a common problem for most laptops now. I would appreciate some help guys. Thanks!

EDIT: By the way, I'm using the latest WHQL from Nvidia 296.10 as my driver. I already tried to reinstall it and the same problem persists.

 

BUMP! 10char.

 

This is usually due to a graphics driver/chipset driver issue. You can try reinstalling the older versions of each to check. It would have been helpful if you'd noticed after which piece of software it was broken, but that can be a hassle to check.

I can almost guarantee it's not an application issue though, as it's usually only drivers that will cause that.

 

Well, yes but how do you explain it working the other day with the same nvidia driver version? And of course I want to use the latest version.

 

Pretty sure he said it was an issue with the graphics driver. Im sure he doesnt know specifically whats wrong with it. Could be just be glitchy or a bad install that caused the brightness controls to disappear after a reboot or after stressing the gpu or something.

Remove the driver in safe mode with driver sweeper and see if it helps..

And what benefit is there from the latest driver that you have to have it? I dont hava a mobile nvidia card so I wouldnt kniw if there's some drastoc game improvement with the latest driver.. With graphics driver, newer is not always better..

 

Already did that with Driver Sweeper, same results. So what now?

Yeah, I know it's not always newer is better for nvidia drivers. I just am reading that 296.10 is stable and fixes some problems with 3D-capable screens like the BenQ XL2420TX.

 

Have you tried some previous drivers?

 

Not yet, which one in particular though? I would want to use drivers that are already tested to have brightness control. By the way, before I reformatted my laptop (last week) I was using 285.62 and it also had no brightness control as stated in the OP.

 

which gpu do you have?

edit: also does it show a brightness control that works when you do ctrl + x? do you have the latest BIOS? and check device manager to see what driver you have installed for you monitor..

 

Try the older drivers, fixed my friends laptop this way it had the EXACT same "problem"

 

I have the GTX 560M.

Nothing happens when I press Ctrl+X, is that shortcut supposed to be universal for all Windows 7 laptops? Yes, I have the latest BIOS and I don't think it has to do something with the BIOS. For my monitor it says PnP-Monitor (strandard) and I have the 95% gamut screen. Oh by the way, the Fn+F8/F9 works when I'm in the BIOS setup screen which means that it has got to do something when the OS is initiated.

Which laptop does your friend have?

 

Ctrl + x is supposed to open the windows mobility center which has like brightness, power settings, wifi, etc.. Thought it was universal..

Could try reinstalling monitor drivers then..

Edit: Crap! Not ctrl x, that's cut. Windows key + x.. Dur. My bad..

 

Lol, that's what I thought, that's CUT. No brightness in the windows mobility center that popped up.

As I've said in the OP, I already tried reinstalling the drivers (296.10) even with the use of Driver Sweeper.

 

I was talking about Monitor drivers, not gpu drivers.. Device manager, pnp monitor, Update drivers and choose from a list. Just use whatever the basic pnp driver pops up. Might reset any screen calibrations though.

Uninstall 296.10 and use something else. Even look at the beta drivers and try like 295.xx or something older. Doesn't matter which one really, just trying to see if an older driver fixes the issue. If it does, you can update your drivers to the next newest one to see if causes a problem. If not, then update to the next newest one..

 

After reformatting my laptop I knew what was the cause. It was simply the monitor driver installed by TeamViewer!

 

That's interesting, I wonder why that software overrides the graphics drivers. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time it comes up for others since this is the first case I've seen where it's not been a chipset/video driver problem.

Glad to hear you sorted it out.

 

Yeah. At the very start I was skeptical of even doing anything about the graphics drivers since I saw this version (296.10) work after fresh install. What Teamviewer did was to install its own monitor driver which kind of messed up some functions (including that brightness control). The default monitor driver that is working for me now is "Generic PnP monitor".

 

So I was on the right track there at the end glad you got it fixed

 

Yes, you definitely were man. Thanks for the tip