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Brightness control missing on iMac using Ubuntu 20.04.3 Gnome - apparently only programmers are allowed the secret solution.

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iMac'd

iMac'd

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 18, 2021
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This seems to be a fairly common issue but an extensive search on various Forums has revealed no solution; some seem to advise a solution but they all seem to have high level IT language or slang so I could never find something like Copy this.... and paste it in Terminal or even post the following 6 lines in Terminal individually. I'm using a 2015 iMac with an SSD and booting Ubuntu from a Flashdrive. I didn't particularly want this version of Ubuntu it just happened to be one that had support and happened to boot when (I think I discovered the missing instruction which seems widespread - in this case; plugging in the BT keyboard). So two questions: Does anyone know how to get some keys to control brightness - written in plain English or knows of another Linux OS where this has been sorted out?
 
Draeconis said:
Give Fedora 35 a go :)
Click to expand...
A quick look online using Fed. 35 plus Brightness located someone who at comment 32 on a thread found a way to get it working. I've found a way of doing it with terminal; is there any particular reason to think that Fed. 35 is better in this area.
 
iMac'd said:
This seems to be a fairly common issue but an extensive search on various Forums has revealed no solution; some seem to advise a solution but they all seem to have high level IT language or slang so I could never find something like Copy this.... and paste it in Terminal or even post the following 6 lines in Terminal individually. I'm using a 2015 iMac with an SSD and booting Ubuntu from a Flashdrive. I didn't particularly want this version of Ubuntu it just happened to be one that had support and happened to boot when (I think I discovered the missing instruction which seems widespread - in this case; plugging in the BT keyboard). So two questions: Does anyone know how to get some keys to control brightness - written in plain English or knows of another Linux OS where this has been sorted out?
Click to expand...
It may help if you most a link to the solution you found and maybe somebody could simplify the instructions or help with where you’re getting stuck
 
Lihp8270 said:
It may help if you most a link to the solution you found and maybe somebody could simplify the instructions or help with where you’re getting stuck
Click to expand...
Yes, thank you; I presumed while wading through some Linux site that the solution would be at the next comment (again and again) and didn't keep a forensic record of what I'd tried. The solution on Fedora 35 mentioned above was a new driver for their particular ...whatever; it seemed rather specific so it looks like its an inherently problematic area for Linux.
 
iMac'd said:
Yes, thank you; I presumed while wading through some Linux site that the solution would be at the next comment (again and again) and didn't keep a forensic record of what I'd tried. The solution on Fedora 35 mentioned above was a new driver for their particular ...whatever; it seemed rather specific so it looks like its an inherently problematic area for Linux.
Click to expand...
No problems of that kind with Linux Mint 20.3. Cinnamon. Works great on my imac i7 late 2010??
 
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Pop!_OS brightness works by default.
iMac'd said:
This seems to be a fairly common issue but an extensive search on various Forums has revealed no solution; some seem to advise a solution but they all seem to have high level IT language or slang so I could never find something like Copy this.... and paste it in Terminal or even post the following 6 lines in Terminal individually. I'm using a 2015 iMac with an SSD and booting Ubuntu from a Flashdrive. I didn't particularly want this version of Ubuntu it just happened to be one that had support and happened to boot when (I think I discovered the missing instruction which seems widespread - in this case; plugging in the BT keyboard). So two questions: Does anyone know how to get some keys to control brightness - written in plain English or knows of another Linux OS where this has been sorted out?
Click to expand...
 
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lanzbulldog said:
No problems of that kind with Linux Mint 20.3. Cinnamon. Works great on my imac i7 late 2010??
Click to expand...
In my experience, Linux Mint and Ubuntu are functionally interchangable.
If one works, so will the other one.
If one does not work, the other won't either.

I reccommend Ubuntu over Linux Mint because of Snap and Livepatch.
Without Livepatch, you have to restart your computer way too often.
 
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