Help Keyboard Light quit working!

[Mako5]

I have a 2.4Ghz Al Macbook. Suddenly my keyboard light stopped working. When I press the keyboard light buttons, all I get is the circle with the cross. I tried to reset the SMC but did not help. Any suggestions?

 

[nmonti]

Are you in a well lit area? If you are the ambient light sensor disables the keyboard light to save battery.

 

[Mako5]

Ok I feel stupid...

... but I will post in case this happens to someone else. I was sitting in a high back chair with my back to a window. When the light hit it just right, the ambient sensor picked it up and shut off the keyboard light. The funny thing is that I started moving my Macbook up and down and I noticed the keyboard kept going on and off and I am thinking "uh oh, loose connection." Not the case at all and everything is fine.

nmonti you are exactly right. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Patriks7]

The area you are in is probably well lit. Just for your info, the sensor is next to the iSight (on the left if I'm not mistaken), so try covering that area and see if it works.

 

[Mako5]

Spot on Patriks7. That was exactly it. Thanks for the reply.

 

[nmonti]

... but I will post in case this happens to someone else. I was sitting in a high back chair with my back to a window. When the light hit it just right, the ambient sensor picked it up and shut off the keyboard light. The funny thing is that I started moving my Macbook up and down and I noticed the keyboard kept going on and off and I am thinking "uh oh, loose connection." Not the case at all and everything is fine.

nmonti you are exactly right. Thanks for the quick reply!

You're welcome.

 

[philipxz]

Are you in a well lit area? If you are the ambient light sensor disables the keyboard light to save battery.

That's funny, I thought that's what it would do. But on my cousin's MB Pro it would light up when there is another source of light and it would dim when there is no other source of light.

 

[Skeletal-dæmon]

That's funny, I thought that's what it would do. But on my cousin's MB Pro it would light up when there is another source of light and it would dim when there is no other source of light.

If the room is pitch black the display and keyboard will dim again as the computer assumes that you can easily see both with no reflections or distractions from other light sources. It also stops you from being blinded by the screen if you wake up in the middle of the night and wake the computer from sleep mode.

Speaking of sleep mode... Its half one, I'm off to bed