Macbook Air Keyboard backlight keep dark and unable adjust.

[anson999]

Macbook Air Keyboard backlight unable adjust after wake up from suspend mode.

System Details Report

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Report details

• Date generated: 2026-01-22 10:43:41

Hardware Information:

• Hardware Model: Apple Inc. MacBookAir8,1
• Memory: 8.0 GiB
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y × 4
• Graphics: Intel® UHD Graphics 617 (AML-KBL)
• Disk Capacity: (null)

Software Information:

• Firmware Version: 2094.40.1.0.0 (iBridge: 23.16.13087.5.3,0)
• OS Name: Ubuntu 25.10
• OS Build: (null)
• OS Type: 64-bit
• GNOME Version: 49
• Windowing System: Wayland
• Kernel Version: Linux 6.18.6-1-t2-noble

[AdityaGarg8]

Share lsusb and cat /sys/class/leds

[anson999]

Here you are!
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 05ac:027a Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

/sys/class/leds$ ls
apple::kbd_backlight input6::compose input6::numlock
input6::capslock input6::kana input6::scrolllock

[AdityaGarg8]

echo 255 | sudo tee /sys/class/leds/apple::kbd_backlight/brightness

Does this turn on backlight?

[anson999]

The commend can turns on backlight but still unable adjust the lightness.

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 05ac:8233 Apple, Inc. iBridge
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 05ac:8514 Apple, Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 05ac:8262 Apple, Inc. Ambient Light Sensor
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 05ac:8103 Apple, Inc. Headset
Bus 005 Device 006: ID 05ac:027a Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

cat: /sys/class/leds/apple::kbd_backlight: Is a directory
cat: /sys/class/leds/input14::capslock: Is a directory
cat: /sys/class/leds/input14::compose: Is a directory
cat: /sys/class/leds/input14::kana: Is a directory
cat: /sys/class/leds/input14::numlock: Is a directory
cat: /sys/class/leds/input14::scrolllock: Is a directory

[AdityaGarg8]

To adjust brightness, decrease or increase the number 255 in the command. Brightness controls themselves get broken due to the DE, which apparently is common in some normal PCs as well.

[anson999]

Got it! Thanks for kind reply.