Brighness keys temporarilly not working after boot-up

[Rashid-C]

A month ago I had refreshed Windows. After which I installed any drivers recommended by HP, so that now I am told that I am up-to-date by HP's driver page: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/

My problem is that the brightness keys do not work for maybe 30-60 seconds after the machine has booted up. This was not an issue prior to the Windows refresh.

Thank you for any help!

[Echo_Lake]

@Rashid-C

Thank you for posting on HP Support Community.
 

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, I have a few troubleshooting steps we could try to fix the issue:  
Hard Reset: Follow steps from the link: https://hp.care/2GnkMa8. (Refer to the removable and sealed battery)
BIOS default:(do not skip any troubleshooting steps even if you feel steps are repeating)

1. Turn off the computer and wait five seconds.
2. Press the Power button to start the computer and repeatedly press the F10 key to enter the BIOS setup menu.
3. On the BIOS Setup screen, press F9 to select and load the BIOS Setup Default settings.
4. Press F10 to Save and    Exit.
5. Use the arrow keys to select Yes, then press Enter when asked Exit Saving Changes?
6. Follow the prompts to restart your computer. 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Rashid-C]

Sorry for the delay, I've been wrapped up. I'll try to get to your suggestions later this week. Thank you for the help!

[Echo_Lake]

@Rashid-C

Thank you for posting back. 

Work on it as per your convenience and keep me posted on the results.

[Rashid-C]

Thanks again.

(BTW, I do like the "Echo Lake" handle, as there is there is a band of the same name which I am a fan of.)

I tried the steps suggested, but neither has addressed the issue.

However, with both the hard reset and the BIOS default steps, the brightness keys DID work at boot-up right after performing the steps. But all subsequent boot-ups still express the issue.

A further detail: The issue also is expressed when the computer wakes up (for example, closing and re-opening the laptop lid), not just at boot-up.

   I also tried running "HP Operating System Check", and it did not report any issues.

   I do not know if it's related, but there was also an issue I experienced with my trackpad the other week. I have a USB mouse, and I've enabled the windows setting to disable the trackpad while the mouse is plugged into the USB port. A couple of times, I noticed that this was ignored: the touchpad moved my pointer despite the mouse being plugged in. Opening the mouse settings dialog caused the disable-trackpad setting to work again.

   I've tried booting up the machine without the USB mouse connected, and it still has the brightness-key issue.

[Echo_Lake]

@Rashid-C

Thank you for posting back. 

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue. Let's try few more steps in order to isolate the issue. 

Firstly, perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant: (do not skip any troubleshooting steps if you feel steps are repeating) 

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool.

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Rashid-C]

Thank you for the help.

Everything is up-to-date from both Windows Update and HP Support Assistant. Alas, the issue still occurs.

[Echo_Lake]

@Rashid-C

Thank you for posting back. 

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue. I would suggest performing system factory reset will put the computer back to the original factory settings in this way all corrupted and outdated software will be removed. 

While doing the recovery there is an option to back up your personal files. If you have not previously done one now is a good time. 

Restoring Files that were Backed Up Using HP Recovery Manager (Windows)You can also contact HP support for assistance. They can remotely access your system to help alleviate difficulties: www.hp.com/contacthp/

The HP Cloud Recovery Tool allows you to download recovery software to a USB drive. You can use the downloaded recovery image file in order to install the Windows operating system. 

• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04758961#AbT3to perform System Recovery (Windows 10) 
• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c06162205 to Use the HP Cloud Recovery Tool (Windows 10)

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Rashid-C]

Thank you for the suggestion. Although, this issue first appeared as a result of doing a Windows refresh. If the purpose of doing a reset is to remove outdated/corrupt system files, it seems that would already have been done by the refresh. Am I correct in thinking that?

[Rashid-C]

It is the case that in performing the Windows refresh, I first copied most of the files in my Users/---/AppData directory, and restored those files after the refresh. This includes the files in "AppData/Local/Microsoft" and "AppData/Roaming/Microsoft", so maybe something there doesn't align.

   When I can spare loosing all my apps for a while, I'll try a reset (or maybe another refresh). I'll also make sure to look for the issue after the reset but before copying over old files, and I'll be sparser about which files are copied over. I'll keep the forums posted on how it goes.

Thanks again,

-R