It turns out that un-installing the proprietary nVidia video driver fixes this (though it eliminates 3D acceleration).
-- No backlight control on MacBook Pro https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/551454 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to gnome-power-manager in ubuntu. -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs
