Ambient light sensor issues on macbook pro early 2011 Edition.

I have just bought a macbook pro 2011 ( Ive had it for like a week now)  I have been looking forward to using this ambient light feature.
I went to the keyboard section in the system preferences and checked the box labelled "automatically illuminate keyboard in low light" I have also done a similar thing in the display setting checking the "automatically adjust brightness" However when I turn off the light in my room (even at night when its pitch black) nothing changes. Am I supposed to turn up the brightness on the keyboard while changing the settings or something like that? I wanted to use that feature at least when i was on the charger. I am unable to even get a flicker.  Could I please get some help regarding this issue? I am pretty sure that all the macbook pros in this line have the ambient light sensors am I right? If not then sorry for wasting time.

You may want to read this Apple support article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Post in this thread if you have any additional questions, and we'll come up with a solution!

Similar Messages

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    EtreCheck version: 2.0.4 (89)
    Report generated 16 October 2014 14:01:30 BST
    Hardware Information: ℹ️
      MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) (Verified)
      MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
      1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
      4 GB RAM Upgradeable
      BANK 0/DIMM0
      2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
      BANK 1/DIMM0
      2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
      Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
      Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Video Information: ℹ️
      Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
      Color LCD 1440 x 900
      AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB
    System Software: ℹ️
      OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 9 days 1:39:24
    Disk Information: ℹ️
      ST500LM012 HN-M500MBB disk0 : (500.11 GB)
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /  [Startup]: 499.25 GB (104.69 GB free)
      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB
      MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898 
    USB Information: ℹ️
      Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
      JMicron Samsung S2 Portable 1 TB
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      J-Unit (disk2s1) /Volumes/J-Unit : 1 TB (162.07 GB free)
      Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
      Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
    Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
      Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
    Gatekeeper: ℹ️
      Mac App Store and identified developers
    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
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      [loaded] org.pqrs.driver.Karabiner (10.2.0 - SDK 10.9) Support
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      [loaded] com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.9) Support
      /Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned
      [loaded] com.avast.PacketForwarder (1.4 - SDK 10.9) Support
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      [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge (7.0 15095.768120) Support
      [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.prl_usb_connect (7.0 15095.768120) Support
      [not loaded] com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic (7.0 15095.768120) Support
      /System/Library/Extensions
      [not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio2DJDriver (2.4.23) Support
      [not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio4DJDriver (2.4.23) Support
      [not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBHardwareDriver (2.4.23) Support
      [not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorAudio2Driver (2.4.23) Support
      [loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolS4Driver (2.4.23) Support
      [not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolX1Driver (2.4.21) Support
      [not loaded] com.native-instruments.driver.NIUSBDeviceHelper (1.0.8) Support
      [loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74) Support
      [not loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.74) Support
    Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist Support
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      [running] com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist Support
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      [loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid-user.plist Support
      [running] org.gpgtools.Libmacgpg.xpc.plist Support
      [loaded] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.fix.plist Support
      [running] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.shutdown-gpg-agent.plist Support
      [loaded] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.updater.plist Support
    Launch Daemons: ℹ️
      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
      [invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.init.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.update.plist Support
      [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support
      [running] com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon.plist Support
      [running] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist Support
      [loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid.plist Support
    User Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
      [invalid?] com.avast.home.userinit.plist Support
      [loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist Support
      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
      [not loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist Support
    User Login Items: ℹ️
      smcFanControl Application (/Applications/smcFanControl.app)
      iTunesHelper ApplicationHidden (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
      Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
      Spotify UNKNOWN (missing value)
      TorBrowser UNKNOWN (missing value)
      Android File Transfer Agent Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)
      Wondershare Helper Compact Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)
      SE Media Sync Helper ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Sony Ericsson Media Sync.app/Contents/Resources/SE Media Sync Helper.app)
      Karabiner Application (/Applications/Karabiner.app)
      NIHardwareAgent ApplicationHidden (/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Hardware/NIHardwareAgent.app)
    Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support
      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
      Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Mismatch! Adobe recommends 15.0.0.189
      OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 Support
      DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 Support
      Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
      SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.5 - SDK 10.6 Support
      Scorch: Version: 6.2.0 Support
      Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
    User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
    Safari Extensions: ℹ️
      AdBlock
      wrc
    3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
      DivX  Support
      Flash Player  Support
      GPGPreferences  Support
      Native Instruments USB Audio  Support
      Perian  Support
    Time Machine: ℹ️
      Skip System Files: NO
      Mobile backups: ON
      Auto backup: YES
      Volumes being backed up:
      Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 394.56 GB
      Destinations:
      Stampatron II [Local]
      Total size: 499.76 GB
      Total number of backups: 8
      Oldest backup: 2014-10-08 21:14:51 +0000
      Last backup: 2014-10-09 04:18:39 +0000
      Size of backup disk: Too small
      Backup size 499.76 GB < (Disk used 394.56 GB X 3)
      Backup [Local]
      Total size: 499.94 GB
      Total number of backups: 1
      Oldest backup: 2014-09-20 07:40:57 +0000
      Last backup: 2014-09-20 07:40:57 +0000
      Size of backup disk: Too small
      Backup size 499.94 GB < (Disk used 394.56 GB X 3)
    Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
          5% WindowServer
          3% bluetoothaudiod
          2% com.avast.daemon
          1% iTunes
          1% Safari
    Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
      205 MB Safari
      106 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
      90 MB com.avast.daemon
      69 MB Finder
      43 MB iTunes
    Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
      34 MB Free RAM
      1.03 GB Active RAM
      1.01 GB Inactive RAM
      1.27 GB Wired RAM
      20.97 GB Page-ins
      2.19 GB Page-outs

    You  have Avast installed which could be causing some problems for your Mac's operation. Use the Avast uninstaller and get rid of it.
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    Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.
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    Also worth noting is that I was running out of free disk-space on my system disk. The disk is 250 Gb and free space was about 5-10 Gb (less than 5%). I also make the macbook pro dump contents of memory to disk (since my disk is encrypted it resides safely there).
    So, my fear is that Apple hasn't used A-grade controllers for the disk drives (I've had drive corruption before, a Crucial 6 GB/s drive trashed less than a week before a presentation) and doesn't handle "unexpected events" nor signal/noise ratio very well. Maybe free space on disk was less than the 8 Gb needed to dump RAM (shouldn't have needed the full 8 Gb though) and this caused some kind of panic overwrite which trashed the controller?
    Anyways, I've attached an image of the motherboard and I am wondering - what does the top cable which reaches over the optical drive do? Is it connected to the logic-board?

    sspott wrote:
    ** The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.
    Looks to me like a fatal error on the hard disk. IMHO, the only solution is to boot from an external device, reformat the hard drive, and restore from backup. If you don't have a backup, you're in trouble. Boot from the external device, try to mount the int'l drive, and, if successful, back up as much as possible. Also, try running Disk Utility—it may be possible to fix it while booted from a different device, thought I wouldn't bank on it. At any rate, make sure to run an AHT afterwards, to check for possible hardware issues with the drive.
    If the machine is still covered by AppleCare, take it to the store by all means. But they won't try to recover anything from the int'l drive, just check it, erase it if they don't find hardware issues, and re-install a fresh copy of the OS.
    That's why you should always have at least 1 up-to-date backup (2, with one kept off-site, is better).

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