Inspiron 1090 - Brightness Decreases only when Docked and cannot be adjusted

Hi Bbaumgardner,

Welcome to Dell Community Forum.

A brighter display uses more power, which reduces battery life hence the Power Management options may be set for maximum power savings on your computer. If the LCD has extremely dim video, adjust the brightness or connect an AC adapter to eliminate a power management conservation setting in the BIOS.

Click on the link below for useful information and a User's Guide on your Dell Inspiron Duo and Audio Station.

http://www.dell.com/support/Manuals/us/en/04/Product/inspiron-duo

Additionally, the Microsoft link below has useful tips for saving battery power and changing power options in Windows 8.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows-8/tips-save-battery-power

Hope this helps resolve the issue for you. Let us know if further help is needed.

Thanks and regards,
Babita S
#iworkforDell 

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

Hi Bbaumgardner,

Unfortunately we have not received feedback from you on this topic. If you need continued support, please respond to my post.

Thanks and regards,
Babita S
#iworkforDell 

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

Thanks for your reply, these methods you mentioned were the first to be tried. The brightness does not change when docked... at all.

When the system first starts up in the sound dock the brightness is where I want it... bright. The power is of course plugged in to the dock and my Duo brightness settings are at maximum.

During the start-up phase when the Windows 8 login screen before I enter my pin/password the brightness cuts to about 50%.

Again, none (and I mean none) of the brightness controls do anything when docked, they are all at maximum but the brightness is still cut in half.

When the Duo is removed from the sound dock the brightness reverts back to my preferred settings. Then when redocked the brightness reverts back to half once more.

If I was a gambling man i'd bet it had something to do with the sound dock, its settings WRT the Duo and/or associated drivers.

As I mentioned in my initial post the only way I have been able to restore the brightness is to uninstall the Intel 3150 display adapter driver and reinstalling it (manually or by scanning for hardware changes). Really though, if i'm talking about drivers, I probably already know how to adjust the brightness and power settings on the PC, but of course you can't assume, I know, I know...

If there is a way to look at the settings for the sound dock or know what drivers it influences I might be able to do this on my own, but so far I have not been able to find either.

Thanks,

Brad B

Hi Brad B,

Thank you for your reply. I understand that you have already done a lot of troubleshooting regarding this issue and apologize if some of the steps seem repetitive or such which you may have already attempted before.

Generally, when the laptop is docked, there are power saving options which may already be set to dim the brightness when the system is docked so as to conserve battery power.

Please click on the links below for steps on How to Turn On or Off Automatic Dim Display Brightness in Windows 8 and Change Power Plan Settings.

http://bit.ly/10OX5eR

http://bit.ly/TC8lmv

I hope the issue is resolved by following the steps mentioned in the links above. Please keep me posted on the results. In the meanwhile, I am still researching on the issue and will try to find a working resolution.

Thanks and regards,
Babita S
#iworkforDell 

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

Hi Brad B,

We hope the issue has been resolved.

If not, please try creating a new user profile and check if the brightness is dimmed on the new user profile when docked.  Also, is the system charging when docked to the Audio Station?

Please let me know the results.

Thanks and regards,
Babita S
#iworkforDell 

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

Hi Brad B,

As requested in my previous post,  please let us know if you were able to create a new user profile and check if the system dims when signed in through the new user profile on docking? Also, when docked to the Audio Station, does the system still charge?

Unfortunately we have not received feedback from you on this topic. Please keep us posted on the results.

Thanks and regards,
Babita S
#iworkforDell 

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

Dear Babita,

Has anyone at Dell tried to duplicate Brad's problem?  I ask, because your replies do not address the specific question he is asking; you only offer help on general Windows laptop power settings.

I have the same issue with my Inspiron Duo when it is docked -- the brightness cuts in half and no power setting changes within Windows makes a difference.

-- Dan --

I found the solution.  Go into the Advanced Power Settings and disable the Auto-brightness as described here:

theunlockr.com/.../how-to-disable-auto-brightness-in-windows-8

Works great!

 -- Dan --