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Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:26 pm
by FMiguelez
Hello.
Every time I restart the computer (Intel iMac), it insists on resetting the brightness of the monitor to maximum, despite the fact that every time I turn it on I set it to minimum.
It sounds to me like it's a preferences problem. I see a lot of system-related plists in my Home Folder's Library.
I tried deleting the "com.apple.systempreferences.plsit", but it didn't work.
Does anyone have an idea of exactly which plist I should delete?
Is this a preferences problem in the first place, or am I on the wrong track?
Thanks!
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:50 am
by cuttime
I'd try resetting the NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) settings:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:34 pm
by FMiguelez
Thank you, Cuttime.
I tried it, and unfortunately it didn't work.
I Googled this issue and I found there are lots of people with the same problem, with no apparent solution.
This particular machine has ALWAYS been like this.
That thing is SO BRIGHT! Oh, well. Doing it with the keyboard is faster than setting the preferences, so I guess I can live with it.
If I find a solution I'll post it.
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:13 pm
by cuttime

mmm...sounds like it could be a faulty light sensor. Try un-checking "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" in the display preference.
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:07 am
by mikehalloran
Is it your MacBook or another?
If a Mac Pro, I'd replace the PRAM battery first.
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:22 pm
by Michael Canavan
cuttime wrote:
mmm...sounds like it could be a faulty light sensor. Try un-checking "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" in the display preference.
+1
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:18 pm
by FMiguelez
Thank you all for the suggestions.
Unfortunately they didn't work...
I tried resetting the NVRAM, unchecking the "automatically adjust brightness" thing, trashing some preferences files, but no dice
This seems to be a very common issue with them. I found a couple of complaints in Apple's forum, but none seemed to find a solution

Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:26 pm
by FMiguelez
I guess the next step is to create a new account and try setting it there to see what happens.
I'll test this on Monday.
Re: Stubborn computer with monitor brightness setting!
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:51 pm
by FMiguelez
Hmmmm....
Now it works!
The trick? To manually (with the keys) set the brightness to ALMOST the lowest setting. It never remembered it when it was all the way to the left, but it does if I leave a little square of brightness
Weird, huh?