121
submitted 6 hours ago by ColdWater@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.ml

I can't control my off-brand external monitor brightness connected from my laptop on w11, but I can just fine on Linux out of the box no fucking around needed

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[-] JGrffn@lemmy.ml 4 points 29 minutes ago

Controlling the brightness of my (non-laptop) monitors from within windows was never a thing for me in all my decades using windows. I instantly gained this power on both my monitors as soon as I jumped ship. Windows truly is utter dogshit.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 37 points 3 hours ago

*White magic. It's open, not secretive.

[-] whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 hours ago

Go to windows updates, click the little “optional updates” text.

Usually weird display stuff is in there.

[-] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 hours ago

What distro has ddc/ci support out of the box? I've always had to install a DKMS module to get an external monitor to show up in /sys/class/backlight.

CachyOS (so basically that other user’s arch + kde comment, lol)

[-] gullmar@feddit.it 6 points 3 hours ago

Arch + KDE does that

[-] Tetsuo@jlai.lu 25 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Either Linux's built-in display drivers are black magic or microslop is incompetent

Why not both :) ?

I just realized that since switching to cachyos 4 months ago I have never had to install any driver or driver updates (outside of just running the system update).

Even during initial setup I don't think I installed anything driver related.

It's really a step up from Microslop. Last time I installed my W10 I had to prepare all the necessary drivers and collect them on each manufacturers websites.

It is so much more streamlined on Linux.

[-] pewpew@feddit.it 3 points 3 hours ago

I used Monitorian when I was using Windows years ago, you can find it in the Microslop Store (if it's still available)

Windows power toys added a thing to control the monitor. It lets you do brightness and contrast like monitorian. But it also gives you changing inputs, changing color temperature, and a few other things.

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 23 points 6 hours ago

I am no expert at all, but I am reminded of what a buttload of drivers are included in the package group linux-firmware. Maybe that's why. 🤔🪛🔧

[-] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 hours ago

Yeah maybe, and it's only under 1gb to download, this show how bad and bloated w11 is

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 6 hours ago

Yeah, I only use Windows every now and then in a VM to flash Android devices, because I can't figure out how to use the CLI version of Odin on Linux. 😫 Even then, I use Tiny10 and debloat it with The Ultimate Windows Utility.

[-] elmicha@feddit.org 4 points 4 hours ago

When I still had a Samsung phone I used Heimdall, but apparently it was not touched for 5 years, so I'm not sure if it still works for newer phones.

[-] ISolox@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Does windows let you control external monitor brightness at all? I don't think ive ever seen the option for external displays on windows.

[-] badlotus@discuss.online 5 points 5 hours ago

Windows doesn’t let you do this natively. But you can do this via PowerToys (third-party add-on): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/power-display

[-] techt@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago

It's not third-party -- MS themselves published it. I like it and use it often for work!

https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys

DevToys is third-party, but also very good.

[-] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 hours ago

It show a grayed out slider on mine

[-] BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Can you enable DDC/CI in the monitors on-screen menus?

If so, and if there aren't drivers available (I can't find drivers when searching MF2208-A), then if you can enable DDC/CI you can use 3rd party tools to control the brightness. Display Dimmer and ClickMonitorDDC are 2 I found on a quick google.

If Linux can control the monitor, then it sounds like a lack of drivers for Windows but the display should still support DDC/CI; 3rd party tools do sometimes still work in this scenario for DDC/CI in Windows.

[-] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago

No ddc/ci in the monitor menus

[-] adarza@piefed.ca 1 points 4 hours ago

afaik windows has no native capability to control brightness setting on external displays. an optional driver for the display may be available via windows update which might allow a third-party utility to control the setting directly.

[-] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Isn’t this a driver issue?

[-] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago

Don't think so, this monitor doesn't even have a driver to download

[-] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Gpu driver.

this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
121 points (98.4% liked)

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