Hello, I tried searching the forums for my problem, but have not found it. I have a week old 13 Macbook pro 2.53. The problem I am having is when I set the keyboard backlight to "Never" turn off it still does. I even set it to 5 minutes and it still shuts off at like 4. I have tried disabling it etc...and it still turns off when set to "Never". Thanks for any help!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
13 Macbook Pro Keyboard Light settings
- Thread starter jeffro2k
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
spinnerlys
Guest
Does this happen when it gets brighter in the room?
The keyboard backlight does shut down when it is bright enough wherever you are, it can't be switched on during those bright times.
The keyboard backlight does shut down when it is bright enough wherever you are, it can't be switched on during those bright times.
it turns off/on depending on the light sensor's perception of the light in the room. The setting on the keyboard is just how bright it is when it's on.
No, it happens when it is dark also. It does dim correctly when it's bright out. I just want it to stay on all the time and the setting in preferences doesn't seem to be working. I even tried repairing the permissions and that didn't help.
zachplaysguitar
macrumors 6502
You cannot have it on all the time, OS X will not allow you to turn it on when it is bright, or when it deems it unnecessary.
Then what does the option under "Turn off when computer is not used for:" "Never" there for? There are times for 5 sec, 10, sec, 30, sec etc... the "never" implies that you "never" want it to turn off.
zachplaysguitar
macrumors 6502
Yes this is interesting, its the same slider as in the energy saver preferences. They should behave the same way. Hmm.
I was thinking that I may need to reset the SMC, but I don't know how to do it on these, since you can't remove the battery like you could on the old ones.
spinnerlys
Guest
If the computer is on, turn it off by choosing Shutdown from the Apple () menu.
Connect the power adapter to a working power source.
On the built-in keyboard, press (left) Shift-Control-Option along with the power button once.
Wait 5 seconds and press the power button to start the computer.
from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
Connect the power adapter to a working power source.
On the built-in keyboard, press (left) Shift-Control-Option along with the power button once.
Wait 5 seconds and press the power button to start the computer.
from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
pacmania1982
macrumors 65816
you must be misreading, it means exactly what it says ...
**Illuminate in low light conditions**
choose 5 secs > never.
The keyboard only illuminates in low light conditions.
So "Turn off when computer is not used for:" "Never" means the light should never illuminate? I don't think so, "never" should mean "never" "Turn off when computer is not used". If someone can better explain this I will accept it. I think it is a bug. Someone else try it and tell me what yours does when you set it to "never".
Firstly, you choose if you want to illuminate the keyboard in low light conditions, then you choose for how long you want the illumination to stay on after you stop using the computer. "Never" means the backlighting will never turn off after you stop using your computer (as long as it is in low light conditions) Keyboard illumination does not activate in high light conditions. whew!
I am in low light conditions and it is set to "never" and it still shuts off after 4 or 5 minutes. That is my whole problem.
Does it coincide with the dimming of your display? I have noticed that when the display sleeps (or dims prior to sleep) it shuts off the keyboard illumination too.
maybe somethings wrong with your ambient light sensor. Since you already reset the SMC, I would probably re-install the OS next before calling Apple. Let us know how you resolve it.
Good luck.
I don't think it's the sensor, it seems to dim etc... fine. The only thing I think is that possibly the Firmware SMC update it did maybe messed it up. It's not that big a deal to take it to Apple. I will wait and see what 10.5.8 does or Snow Leopard. Thanks for the help, and let me know if anyone finds a solution in the future!
geoffreak
macrumors 68020
Is your screen dimming slightly when the keyboard backlights go off? This is completely normal.
If your display is on the lowest brightness setting, it will not dim, but the keyboard backlight will still go off.
Finally, why on earth do you want the keyboard backlight to stay on? It only goes off when you aren't using the computer anyways.
If your display is on the lowest brightness setting, it will not dim, but the keyboard backlight will still go off.
Finally, why on earth do you want the keyboard backlight to stay on? It only goes off when you aren't using the computer anyways.
i have the same problem.
and i'm sure it is an actual problem, a bug. just to be clear:
in a dark room:
if i set the backlight to go off after one minute of inactivity, it goes off after one minute.
if i set the backlight to go off after three minutes of inactivity, it goes off after three minutes.
if i set the backlight to go off after five minutes of inactivity, it goes off after four minutes.
if i set the backlight to "never" go off due to inactivity, it goes off after four minutes.
it will never stay on for more than four minutes, even if i set it for longer. except... if i set my "put the display to sleep when the computer is inactive" to "never" instead of my usual 20 minutes. then it works ok. and no, i don't have "automatically reduce the brightness of the display..." checked, and no, i don't have the screen brightness on the lowest setting, i have it on the highest.
why on earth do i want to do this? when i'm reading, [edit - not movie watching i guess] writing, anything where i might pause for a while. 20 minutes is about right to assume i've left the computer and the passworded screensaver should come on. 4 minutes is not.
and i'm sure it is an actual problem, a bug. just to be clear:
in a dark room:
if i set the backlight to go off after one minute of inactivity, it goes off after one minute.
if i set the backlight to go off after three minutes of inactivity, it goes off after three minutes.
if i set the backlight to go off after five minutes of inactivity, it goes off after four minutes.
if i set the backlight to "never" go off due to inactivity, it goes off after four minutes.
it will never stay on for more than four minutes, even if i set it for longer. except... if i set my "put the display to sleep when the computer is inactive" to "never" instead of my usual 20 minutes. then it works ok. and no, i don't have "automatically reduce the brightness of the display..." checked, and no, i don't have the screen brightness on the lowest setting, i have it on the highest.
why on earth do i want to do this? when i'm reading, [edit - not movie watching i guess] writing, anything where i might pause for a while. 20 minutes is about right to assume i've left the computer and the passworded screensaver should come on. 4 minutes is not.
pbasser2
macrumors member
i had problems with all my lighted keyboards. software is glitchy. I put lab tick on my powerbook and never had a problem since. try it
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/labtick.html
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/labtick.html
i've tried labtick. giving up nearly 3% of my cpu power all the time isn't worth it to me.