It's a new laptop and I haven't tried old releases on it. In the upstream bugzilla (marked duplicate now, but if you follow the master bug) it's said that the general problem started in linux v3.7 when the Linux started advertising itself as "Windows 2012" (Windows 8) to ACPI.
-- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1224415 Title: 8086:0a16 [Acer Aspire V5-573G] Black screen on boot due to low brightness setting Status in The Linux Kernel: Unknown Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu: Incomplete Bug description: On boot the screen is completely black, but the fn-arrow keys can be used to turn the backlight up. This is on Asus Aspire V5 573G. Same problem with mainline kernel. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10 Package: linux-image-3.11.0-7-generic 3.11.0-7.13 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-7.13-generic 3.11.0 Uname: Linux 3.11.0-7-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.12.1-0ubuntu3 Architecture: amd64 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/controlC1: erno 1825 F.... pulseaudio /dev/snd/controlC0: erno 1825 F.... pulseaudio CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'iw' Date: Thu Sep 12 13:49:55 2013 HibernationDevice: RESUME=/dev/mapper/kobol--vg-swap_1 MachineType: Acer Aspire V5-573G MarkForUpload: True ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.11.0-7-generic root=/dev/mapper/hostname--vg-root ro splash quiet vt.handoff=7 RelatedPackageVersions: linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-7-generic N/A linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-7-generic N/A linux-firmware 1.113 SourcePackage: linux UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) dmi.bios.date: 06/28/2013 dmi.bios.vendor: Insyde Corp. dmi.bios.version: V2.13 dmi.board.asset.tag: Type2 - Board Asset Tag dmi.board.name: Dazzle_HW dmi.board.vendor: Acer dmi.board.version: Type2 - A01 Board Version dmi.chassis.type: 10 dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacturer dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnInsydeCorp.:bvrV2.13:bd06/28/2013:svnAcer:pnAspireV5-573G:pvrTBDbyOEM:rvnAcer:rnDazzle_HW:rvrType2-A01BoardVersion:cvnChassisManufacturer:ct10:cvrChassisVersion: dmi.product.name: Aspire V5-573G dmi.product.version: TBD by OEM dmi.sys.vendor: Acer To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/1224415/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp