2002 pontiac grand am instrument panel lights?

[Will Lindberg]

so on my wife's 2002 grand am, the instrument panel lights do not come on. The "idiot" lights come on (sometimes) but go off once the car has been started, but the illumination lights will not come on at all. Sometimes the radio clock will come on, but usually it doesn't. I've checked most of the fuses (and all of the fuses for the IPC) but i cant for the life of me figure out why no lights are on. I would think bad light bulbs, but if the clock light comes on sometimes and stays off most of the time, i am thinking it is something else?

any help is appreciated... im also leaning towards the interior light dimmer switch, since i've heard that could be an issue... but when i turn all the dome lights on, the dimmer switch works for them...