Cannot adjust the brightness in Windows 10 1803

Anonymous
2018-05-12T01:25:19+00:00

I have a Dell L501X laptop with an i5-460m processor with Intel HD graphics first gen (driver 8.15.10.2900). After upgrading to Windows 10 vers. 1803 I've noticed that the brightness control is not working.  Because of this, I had to waste MY TIME and downgrade to ver 1709. Now I have to disable the windows update service in order to prevent the "feature upgrade". 

I contacted your support technicians and they told me that the brightness feature was removed in ver 1803. They always seem to be unprepared and they try simple tests that waste customer's time; in the end, I had to give up and downgrade to 1709... What's the point of having this mess MS???

Note: I tied to downgrade to Intel HD driver 2253 but it didn't help. 

Also, I tried to adjust the brightness from the Windows settings!!! I had been doing that for the last 2.5 years in Windows 10. Please share this message with the MS dev team so they can fix this bug in the upcoming KBs... of 1803!

DO NOT mark this post as SOLVED until a clear solution is posted!

Update: I discovered that if you disable the sensor service in services.msc the issue can be reproduced in v1709... It seems that MS has a bug with the sensor service in v 1803... hope this will help the MS dev team to fix in the next updates! We are MAKING PROGRESS!!!

UPDATE 2: changing the testfeaturecontrol to f810 from f800 in v1803 does not solve the issue. No progress, unfortunately!

UPDATE 3: Microsoft just released a KB4284835 for v1803 that addresses the brightness issues on certain laptops ... can someone confirm if the issue is resolved? The latest KB fixed the brightness issue!!! Thank you, Microsoft!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2018-06-09T13:58:12+00:00

Finally I have found a very clear situation, that explains all symptoms and why anyone has a solution that may work and may not!

First: Dell LX501X has two video adapters, primary Intel, secondary Nvidia GT 420M.

For Nvidia, DO NOT use WindowsUpdate Driver, because it corrupts Registry; use last driver available at Nvidia Site.

BUT this has no relevance for brightness problem, that is related to the Intel Video Adapter only!

Do not search for other versions of video Driver! Someone referred to version 2239 or other previous to 2900.

The problem is not driver version: it is OK the WindowsUpdate 8.15.10.2900; the problem is not the "FeatureTestControl" value: F800 found in 1709, remains unchanged in 1803 and is ok, no need to change it!

The problem is Windows kernel, and I explain why.

We all agree that in 1709 all works fine.

In 1803 brightness does not work, BUT, if I REINSTALL the SAME video driver ALREADY INSTALLED (forcing installation, even if the same version: it is possible, selecting "have a disk"), after this action, brightness WORKS FINE.

BUT, it works ONLY until NEXT BOOT: after next boot, the problem is present again.

So, in conclusion, to have brigthness working, I have to REINSTALL video driver AFTER EACH Pc power on!

Everyone, I think, must agree that this behaviour is a Windows Kernel Problem (in the area of variuos modules hierarchy linkage)!

It is a BUG that MUST be corrected BY Microsoft!

BE AWARE that brigthness, when works, works ONLY by means of keyboard Keys: the various Windows sliders have no effect; the situation is VERY CRAZY: moving the sliders, brigthness does not change; using keyboard Keys, sliders move according to...!

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T18:49:28+00:00

    You talked to a tech that did not know all.

    Here is a screenshot from one of my laptops.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T15:15:24+00:00

    Thank you! you saved me a half-day work! I hope MS will address this issue before the end of 2019 (Windows 10 v1709 end-life support cycle)

    MS support tech (form help and support) told me that they intentionally removed the brightness feature in 1803 in order to get the device MFG to provide the drivers...

    Sounds like planned obsolescence to me! 

    I hope MS will address this issue soon. I don't believe it's a kernel issue... I believe it's a motherboard chipset driver issue. I don't have brightness control in safe mode in v1709 but the function works as expected once the drivers are loaded.

    I was able to get the brightness to work in v1803 once when I downgraded the Intel HD driver to 8.15.0.2253 and disable/enable the monitor... this worked until I rebooted the system! After that, I tried the same thing again but it did not work...

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T14:06:40+00:00

    Brightness works fine in 1709, does not work in 1803, in my computer.

    Disabling SensorService has no effect in my computer.

    I repeat, it is not a problem of evolute services and/or drivers, in my opinion, because it happens identical in the 1803 recovery console and in all safe mode boots.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T13:21:12+00:00

    I have this problem only in v1803. That's the reason why I downgrade it! Did you try to disable the sensor Service in Services then restart your PC?

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