i have a mac book pro and it has the illunimated keyboard feature. it is great, but when it is on it is constantly (every 3-5 seconds or so) dimming itself, or turning off, etc. This happens even when the lighting in the area does not change. any ideas on how to fix this?
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lit up keyboard
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yeah if you get tired sometimes and you put your hands on the sensor than it will do that. Or if your in a dark area and your screen becomes bright (big white document) than it can illuminate your keyboard (and the sensors) making the sensors think that they can be turned off because there is now light.
MBP - Survey of Ambient Light Threaholds
I received my MBP 17" two days ago and wasted hours trying to figure out its keyboard backlighting. Initially the only way I could confirm the backlighting worked was using Alexander Repty's incredibly useful freeware "Lab Tick" (http://web.mac.com/alexander.repty/iWeb/Alexander Repty/Software.html). What I discovered was that my backlighting works fine but is almost never triggered by the ambient-light sensors (locaton of which is discussed in this thread). After a lot of trial and error, I discovered that my ambient-light sensors activate my keyboard backlighting ONLY at night in a room with NO light sources (other than the computer screen). When I say no light sources, I mean it: a 60W table lamp ten feet away was sensed by my MBP17 as adequate lighting. The Apple "upper level" tech I talked to yesterday insisted that the ambient light threshhold is indeed a room at night with no light sources in it. If the tech is right, then Apple should say the keyboard is lit only in complete darknsss.
I'm thinking of having my MBP17 replaced but not if ALL MBPs keyboards work only in pitch dark. Hence a quick survey. I'd appreciate MBP owners describing what their ambient light threshld is--pitch dark only, dimly lit rooms, cloudy days, etc.
Thanks.
I received my MBP 17" two days ago and wasted hours trying to figure out its keyboard backlighting. Initially the only way I could confirm the backlighting worked was using Alexander Repty's incredibly useful freeware "Lab Tick" (http://web.mac.com/alexander.repty/iWeb/Alexander Repty/Software.html). What I discovered was that my backlighting works fine but is almost never triggered by the ambient-light sensors (locaton of which is discussed in this thread). After a lot of trial and error, I discovered that my ambient-light sensors activate my keyboard backlighting ONLY at night in a room with NO light sources (other than the computer screen). When I say no light sources, I mean it: a 60W table lamp ten feet away was sensed by my MBP17 as adequate lighting. The Apple "upper level" tech I talked to yesterday insisted that the ambient light threshhold is indeed a room at night with no light sources in it. If the tech is right, then Apple should say the keyboard is lit only in complete darknsss.
I'm thinking of having my MBP17 replaced but not if ALL MBPs keyboards work only in pitch dark. Hence a quick survey. I'd appreciate MBP owners describing what their ambient light threshld is--pitch dark only, dimly lit rooms, cloudy days, etc.
Thanks.
On the survey question, my 17" starts to kick in about when you'd expect it to: very dim room (late twilight outside, or a bedside lamp on (maybe 40W equiv), and if the room is completely dark the brightness goes up a notch or so.