The only way that I know of to activate the number pad is to touch and hold the number pad symbol for a moment. Then it switches on. When it's on, the other symbol, the triangle with the circles at the corners, changes the brightness from high to low. You could try touching the number pad symbol for a couple of seconds and then touch the brightness symbol to see if it does anything, but I doubt that it will make a difference if you're not seeing the number pad turn on at all. It sounds like it is probably defective. Sorry.