Quick Tip – Fixing a Dim Screen on my Toshiba Satellite

Late, the other evening I was working on my computer. Since I didn’t expect to be using it for long I didn’t plug it in. Of course, I got distracted and ended up going to bed without shutting it down. No biggie, right? It will just put itself to sleep.

Yes, kind of.

For some reason the battery still ran down over the course of the night. Okay, I must not have had my sleep settings etc. right under Linux. (I dual boot Linux Mint Debian Edition and Windows 7 on this laptop.) Still, no big deal, I’ll plug it in and boot it up, letting the computer charge the battery while I have breakfast.

Nope.

The battery charged okay but the screen was so dim as to be nearly unreadable on my initial boot into Windows 7 and all my boots into Linux. Strange.

After changing settings and doing some research I finally found someone who had a similar problem. Their fix worked like a charm.

Simply:

• Unplug Power Cord
• Remove Battery
• Hold Power Button Down For 60 Seconds
• Plug in Power Supply
• Turn On Computer
• Put Battery Back in Computer after doing all of the above.

Yep, it was that simple! On the way to this solution I had run into various posts about scripts and modifications to make. All of which can be a potential headache to remember maintain over time and future upgrades. Haven’t had a problem since.