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GMA3150 screen brightness control

idata
Employee
9,736 Views

I'm having an issue with my Samsung N210 laptop that has the GMA3150 graphics controller (Atom N450 CPU). The problem is that after downloading recent Intel graphics drivers I can no longer change my screen brightness. This problem has been reported long ago elsewhere, at least in the sammynetbook.com forums. Following their advice, I uninstalled the driver and went back as far as version 8.14.10.1972 (the 64-bit version of the driver). The next driver available from Intel's site no longer allows me to change screen brightness, nor does anything newer.

Now, screen brightness on the N210 netbook is controlled by pressing Fn + Up and Fn + Down. It also requires a program from Samsung called "Easy Display Manager". Trying to adjust screen brightness using the latest Intel driver bring up a graphic produced by Easy Display Manager (EDM from now), but the brightness bars in said graphic don't move, nor does screen brightness change.

The problem is not just with Samsung's EDM program. There is a brightness slider in Windows 7 Power Options, and that also doesn't work after installing a driver later than .1972. With .1972 the Windows screen brightness slider works again, just like Samsung's EDM.

What is causing all of this and is there any way to use drivers less than a year old while still being able to control screen brightness via hotkeys? It's an important feature of any laptop. It just HAS TO WORK, don't you think?

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19 Replies
idata
Employee
4,425 Views

I have the same problem on my netbook Samsung NF-310. Only with .1972 it works well, so it would be greatly appriciated if Intel gives us information about their drivers.

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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

I can just verify that this problem exists in such a combination!

Also got a Samsung NF310 netbook with Intel Atom N550 CPU, 2GB Ram and the Intel GMA 3150 graphics chipset.

Meanwhile I tested various combinations of Intel GMA 3150 (x64) drivers together with various Samsung's EDM tool editions.

Result is:

_None_ of them worked so far to get the EDM tool still functioning _after_ installing any Intel GMA 3150 drivers later than .1972 up to currently .2230 as well !!!

Everytime you uninstall the Intel GMA drivers the EDM tool works again without any problems.

But without the GMA drivers you won't have any AERO desktop in Win7(x64) and also not the highest possible resolution.

That's a real mess though as the Samsung support says: "It's not their fault with their EDM tool. Intel needs to fix the GMA drivers!"

And let me guess!

You here at Intel will tell me the same now from your side that: "It's not your fault but Samsung needs to fix their tool here to work with Intel GMA drivers!", right?

But all this is surely _not_ satisfying us customers here in any way, if I may say so now... 😕

Maybe someone will listen and read this anyways here and finally fix this issue in a useful way soon though!

Thanks a regards,

Juergen

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idata
Employee
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I had the same problem with my Samsung N150 (Atom N450 + GMA3150). Luckily someone at sammynetbook.com found the solution:

  • Open Regedit
  • Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000

 

  • There is an entry "FeatureTestControl" with value 184, change this to 84
  • Save, exit, reboot. It should work now 
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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

Sorry, the forum cut off some information.

The directory you have to navigate to is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\

 

SYSTEM\

 

CurrentControlSet\

 

Control\

 

Class\

 

{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\

 

0000
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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

Thank you so much!!! This solved the problem and I'm now using the most current drivers!

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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

Samsung n210 "plus" works for me. Thanks very much!!! been searching for a while.

This could be fixed so easily - shame on the companies.

For those still having issues it's probably worth going in to regedit and searching for the guid, it may be in a different place.

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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

Thanks a lot,

It works for me, Win 7 Ult 64 bit, Samsung NC111 (N570 - GMA3150)

Thank you so much.

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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

Its does't work

i can use windows 8 build 7898 64 bit

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JLama
Beginner
4,425 Views

I have a Samsung N15 plus with Windows 8.1 and i have the same problem. I've tried many things but no results.

Some people said to use third party software like lighter but it doesn't act on backlight.

This problem has been reported two years ago, still no news about it ?.

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idata
Employee
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The workaround suggested above won't help on my Samsung N150 Endi netbook running now under Windows 10 (which otherwise perfoms way better than Win7!) either. COULD INTEL PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FLAWED GMA 3150 DRIVER AT LAST??? This really is shameful, considering that this bug has been reported for 4 years now.

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HHerp
Beginner
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I have fixed this issue on my Samsung N150 netbook about 20 minutes ago. Let me give you the particulars and then BOTH a link to the page I got this info from AND the steps I took to get it working in Windows 10. DTG: 15 August 2015 - 10:48 CDT (U.S.A.) (GMT-6)

Samsung NP-N150-JA02US

Graphics Chip: Intel GMA3150

Driver: Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM 1.0)

Version: 8.14.10.2697

This driver is the one Windows Update is pushing onto my netbook in Windows 10. Like all the other complaints above, it won't let you change the brightness of the backlight, so you drain your battery faster when not plugged in.

First, I fully updated W-10, which included basically forcing me to upgrade to the latest Intel driver for this chip as shown above: 8.14.10.2697.

After the restart, I found (via my desktop while the reboot was happening) this page: http://leetcloud.blogspot.com/2014/10/windows-81-brightness-fix-intel-hd.html http://leetcloud.blogspot.com/2014/10/windows-81-brightness-fix-intel-hd.html

It says to include the following entries into the Windows Registry:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000ffff

- KMD_EnableBrightnessInterface2 dword 00000000 (WILL NEED TO BE ADDED)

- KMD_EnableBrightnesslf2 dword 00000000 (WILL NEED TO BE ADDED)

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000ffff

Then I had to manually enter the key for the third line shown here, as well as its entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\intelkmd (WILL NEED TO BE ADDED)

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000ffff (WILL NEED TO BE ADDED)

 

I cannot confirm which part of ANY of this is what worked, but I know that I did all instructions directly using regedt32.exe (I'm an experienced IT professional, by the way) and my Brightness controls now FULLY WORK after a restart.

I'm keeping these edits in a TXT file on my system in case future graphics drivers break it again. If this works for you guys, I would seriously suggest doing the same.

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idata
Employee
4,425 Views

This does work, indeed, thanks a lot! To speed up the procedure, however, I suggest to copy and paste these lines (which are also listed (w/o comments) in the link you mentioned) into a .reg file to be created using the new Windows 10 "Editor"--and then double-click on it, of course , before rebooting the system.

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HHerp
Beginner
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Now that it's morning, I've had some time to go through line-by-line those added registry keys. I can confirm that I can still control the brightness after removing all the "added" entries above. You only need to change the number value for the FeatureTestControl values to make it work.

 

I had tried changing this value to FFFF and FFFE in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

But this hadn't given me any control. I also noticed that this value copied itself over to the first listing I put above:

HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

But it did NOT change on the 0001 key (HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001). I think once I changed THIS one and rebooted, the system suddenly responded to brightness commands.

 

Because I have read that sometimes the FFFF value might prevent the screen from even turning on after recovering from Standby (http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-8/samsung-n150-plus-i-cant-control-bright/701.html Samsung n150 Plus, I can't control bright), I have changed the values to FFFE and I still have brightness control. I tested my Sleep mode just now and with the FFFE value in all positions, it does in fact come up properly after Sleep. I have Hibernate mode disabled for personal reasons. I don't much care for hibernate. Windows 10 boots up fast enough on its own for me to not care. I am running a Crucial MX100 250 GB SSD drive, after all.

 

I think I'm fully set with Windows 10 now. Everything works, all hot-keys work, all programs work properly (even the Samsung ones off the website). I'm pretty happy with Windows 10. It breaking my SLI on my desktop, however....that's another story. >.

Glad I could help you out. I'm trying to spread the word on how to fix this so people can upgrade to Windows 10 without having to worry about their battery life. Lord knows we can't trust Intel or Samsung to fix their driver packages when they're this old. I've already sent an e-mail to Samsung about this resolution, but I doubt I'll ever receive a reply or that they'll do anything.

CONCLUSION - SOLUTION (verified)

 

If you have a Samsung N150 netbook and you have upgraded to Windows 10 and you can no longer control the brightness of your screen, perform the following registry modifications:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000fffe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000fffe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

- FeatureTestControl dword 0000fffe

You can even do like apastron said and make a registry batch file to do this. Make these three changes and then reboot your computer. You should have brightness control back if you have the Samsung Easy Display Manager software installed. You can get that app from Samsung's website for the N150 (http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/NP-N150-JA03US http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/NP-N150-JA03US).

EDIT: Ok, so the Brightness keys work just fine, but something that still doesn't work are the Brightness sliders in Windows itself. Because of this, the brightness doesn't auto-change when you unplug the power supply and move to battery power and vice versa. I'll continue working on this issue until I have a solution.

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MFoit
Beginner
4,425 Views

Hi FFXIhealer,

after upgrading Windows 10 on my Samsung N220 Netbook with Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM 1.0) I have the same problem to control the screen brightness.

Next problem: I'm not an IT professional.

After opening the regedit in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000

or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

I can only solve it with the solution of the feed from 18.04.2011:

"There is an entry "FeatureTestControl" with value 184, change this to 84"

I can´t see there any value like "dword 0000fffe"

How can I fix my problem?

Thanx

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HHerp
Beginner
4,425 Views

Ok, in the System Registry, most DWORD (32-bit) entries use Hexadecimal notation. This means that each character can go from 0 to F...as in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F. The letters each hold a larger value by 1 than the previous, so F = 15. Just like in Decimal (base-10) when you hit 9, the next number just cycles to 0 and then you add 1 to the next digit place, so 9 + 1 = 10.

In HEX, F + 1 = 10. So 10(16) really equals 16(10). If you continue, 11(17), 12(18), etc. So when you enter FFFE, that's HEX for 65,534 in base number.

So when you look at the Registry entry, it should look something like this:

FeatureTestControl (bunch of space) REG_DWORD (some more space) 0x0000fffe (65535)

Notice that the 0x0000fffe is the hexadecimal value that we talk about FFFE. The DECIMAL (base-10) value you were taught in school is shown in parenthesis behind it, the (65535).

 

True, I booted my netbook up with my old 250GB Hard drive (the one that originally came with the system and still runs Windows 7 Starter) and checked these values. They were all 84 (132). However, using those values in Windows 10 only returned the same problem I had before - not being able to change the brightness.

So I'm still testing different values and registry settings, because even using FFFE, the Windows sliders still don't work. Yes, the FN keys change the brightness just fine. But I want to get the Windows sliders working so that when I plug/unplug the power cable, the brightness will automatically change to fit the change in power profile. To do this, I'll have to really study the entire registry log for that chip in Windows 7 so I can replicate it to Windows 10. I'll keep this thread updated with any progress I make.

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MFoit
Beginner
4,425 Views

It runs.

Thank you very much for the invaluable advice.

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SDhim
Beginner
4,425 Views

I suppose this method is working for most of the people. But for me it doesn't seem to work. I tried to everything as you said. Maybe because i am using an external keyboard to my np150. The only way i can change the brightness is the slider inside the power options. I also tried to install the easy display manager version 3.0.3.11, it got installed but never run.

Please help me to adjust the brightness.

Windows 10

Samsung np150

Internal vga intel graphics driver - 8.15.10.2567

Easy display manager- 3.0.3.11 (not working)

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SDhim
Beginner
4,425 Views

help me in adjusting the brightness please

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Henry_A_Intel1
Employee
4,425 Views

Hello skdhiman;

Checking the information on your system Samsung NP150

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP-N150-JA01US-specs http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP-N150-JA01US-specs

Is running with a

Graphics

Chipset

Intel GMA3150

Maximum Graphics Memory

128 MB Shared

If you can check our web site : http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-034343.htm Graphics Drivers — Supported Operating Systems

I am afraid this model does not have support or drivers for Windows 10. Which can cause that the brightness and other options will not be available.

Regards;

Henry A.

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