[HOWTO] Sony Vaio FS series FN keys

[harryx]

I have a Sony PCG K15. The sony_acpi module together with
sonyfn does not work as expected. The reason is that on my
laptop it seems not possible to read out the current screen
brightness. Reading from the file proc/acpi/sony/brightness
always returns the same value as reading from
/proc/acpi/sony/brightness_default/ (kind of strange)

I changed sonyfn so that changing the screen
brightness always writes to brightness and brightness_default.
Then everything works fine. Thanks for the program.

[pijalu]

yep, I already notice this behavior an a sony laptop of a friends (i just don't remember the version)
The most funny thing is actually the laptop use "default" value but need a write in brigthness to actually use it...

Anyway, thx for info and model, and confirmation of this "funny" behavior

[Deltaflyer]

Hi,

I tried your sony_acpi Patch on my Vaio VGN-A115M, but the patched Module don't seems to creat a fnkey file in /proc/acpi/sony.

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Drone sony # pwd
/proc/acpi/sony
Drone sony # ls
brightness  brightness_default

Do you think that my Notebook is just incompatible? ( i hope not )
or is it only some pebkac on my side?

[dextermagnific]

Tha patch didn't work for you as for me.
I just added the entries that are in the patch manually in sony_acpi.c (added those entries for the fnkeys)

I have a question : did anyone succeeded in making the fn+f7 (tv-out) keys working ?

Thanks

[pijalu]

Tha patch didn't work for you as for me.
I just added the entries that are in the patch manually in sony_acpi.c (added those entries for the fnkeys)

I have a question : did anyone succeeded in making the fn+f7 (tv-out) keys working ?

Thanks

I didn't succeed to make it work on my machine, plugging/unplugging an external screen generate an acpi event but that all i see so far... the strange thing is the nvidia-settings don't see the additional screen aswell.... the only way i found was to power the laptop with the screen plugged... I still have to play with other screen (the one i use is a really pretty old one...)

[pijalu]

Hi,

I tried your sony_acpi Patch on my Vaio VGN-A115M, but the patched Module don't seems to creat a fnkey file in /proc/acpi/sony.

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Drone sony # pwd
/proc/acpi/sony
Drone sony # ls
brightness  brightness_default

Do you think that my Notebook is just incompatible? ( i hope not )
or is it only some pebkac on my side?

Easy way to check

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sudo strings /proc/acpi/dsdt | grep GHKE

should return GHKE
if not: not supported,
if yes, are you sure you are using the patched version ?
Give a try at the second patch for sony_acpi, this one added a PP, and you should see a 0.2-PP in the syslog
and try

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rmmod sony_acpi
depmod -a
modprobe sony_acpi

and check again

[dextermagnific]

so turning on the computer with an external screen plugged makes the computer display on that screen ?
if so, this is good news for me. I can make my presentation without having to find another laptop that *works* grrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Thanks, i'll try that.

[pijalu]

so turning on the computer with an external screen plugged makes the computer display on that screen ?
if so, this is good news for me. I can make my presentation without having to find another laptop that *works* grrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Thanks, i'll try that.

at least on mine, and work as a dual (crt+lcd)

[Deltaflyer]

so turning on the computer with an external screen plugged makes the computer display on that screen ?
if so, this is good news for me. I can make my presentation without having to find another laptop that *works* grrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Thanks, i'll try that.

I think it should also work with only restarting the Xserver.
So you only have to plug in the Monitor and press crtl+alt+backspace. (you should have configured the 2nd Moinor in your config )

At least that worked for me.

[Deltaflyer]

Easy way to check

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sudo strings /proc/acpi/dsdt | grep GHKE

should return GHKE
if not: not supported,
if yes, are you sure you are using the patched version ?
Give a try at the second patch for sony_acpi, this one added a PP, and you should see a 0.2-PP in the syslog
and try

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rmmod sony_acpi
depmod -a
modprobe sony_acpi

and check again

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Drone ~ # strings /proc/acpi/dsdt
Drone ~ #  

could it be, that this returns nothing?

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Drone ~ # rmmod sony_acpi
Drone ~ # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
Drone ~ # depmod -a
Drone ~ # modprobe sony_acpi
Drone ~ # dmesg | grep -i sony
ACPI Sony Notebook Control Driver v0.2-PP successfully removed
ACPI Sony Notebook Control Driver v0.2-PP successfully installed
Drone ~ #       

and again "strings /proc/acpi/dsdt" returns nothing.

[pijalu]

"strings /proc/acpi/dsdt" returns nothing.

if the strings don't report you the GHKE, it just means your DSDT will not work with this how-to, maybe give a shot to the patched sony_pi
(see http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-36 ... -sony.html)

[pijalu]

so turning on the computer with an external screen plugged makes the computer display on that screen ?
if so, this is good news for me. I can make my presentation without having to find another laptop that *works* grrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Thanks, i'll try that.

I think it should also work with only restarting the Xserver.
So you only have to plug in the Monitor and press crtl+alt+backspace. (you should have configured the 2nd Moinor in your config )

At least that worked for me.

hihi I didn't try that yet... hmmm... that looks interesting...
Will look at that someday
Thx for sharing the info

[Deltaflyer]

"strings /proc/acpi/dsdt" returns nothing.

if the strings don't report you the GHKE, it just means your DSDT will not work with this how-to, maybe give a shot to the patched sony_pi
(see http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-36 ... -sony.html)

hrm,
I'm wondering, why this even don't return GPBR or SPBR.
I have /proc/acpi/sony/brightness and /proc/acpi/sony/brightness_default and they're working. So GPBR or SPBR should be present?!
(I hope thats not too much OT )

[dextermagnific]

About the tv-out :
yes it does work by restarting the X server.
The fact is that the monitor must be plugged before the X server starts. If it is already started, you must restart it.
This is very good news for me. At last I can show my presentation on my own laptop.
F**k non-standard hardware with no specifications !!!
You know i wrote to Sony to get some specifications about the fn keys, here is what i got :

Dear Mr xyz,
Unfortunately we cannot provide you with Linux drivers. Sony doesn't provide support for systems other than the one preinstalled.

This forum was very helpful for me. In 2 days, my fn keys worked and i got the tv-out.

There is still a pb : did anyone succeeded in hibernate ? (echo 4 > /proc/acpi/sleep or echi disk > /sys/power/state)
after freezing the cpu and stopping tasks, the monitor becomes black but the computer doesn't shut down

Thanks

[pijalu]

You know i wrote to Sony to get some specifications about the fn keys, here is what i got :

Dear Mr xyz,
Unfortunately we cannot provide you with Linux drivers. Sony doesn't provide support for systems other than the one preinstalled.

This forum was very helpful for me. In 2 days, my fn keys worked and i got the tv-out.

hmm, most of the constructor just don't want to bother with other systems than windows... it's not just Sony... most of them behave the same... we are not YET a good market (and the PS3 on linux... that's quite funny...)
I really don't get why the IT field is so complicated... One day I writed to Phillips to get the electrical schema of a dish washer.. and i got it the day after without any troubles...

There is still a pb : did anyone succeeded in hibernate ? (echo 4 > /proc/acpi/sleep or echi disk > /sys/power/state)
after freezing the cpu and stopping tasks, the monitor becomes black but the computer doesn't shut down

Thanks

I succeed to hibernate without problem if i am NOT on battery (using swsup) ... On battery it just hangs after the screen blanking... but i didn't go really further, still hold quite important informations on the HD (and honestly, I never use my laptop without power supply...)
The problem seems generic with sony laptops (from what i see)

[pijalu]

hrm,
I'm wondering, why this even don't return GPBR or SPBR.
I have /proc/acpi/sony/brightness and /proc/acpi/sony/brightness_default and they're working. So GPBR or SPBR should be present?!
(I hope thats not too much OT )

Yup, it should... send me your dsdt by mail and i will confirm/infirm

[G2k]

hey guys I was wondering if you know a way to have the system shutdown when the battery is low. Right now the only way I can know my battery status is through torsmo, but it would be nice to have the computer shutdown if I'm not around to do it myself. Any success on the suspending to RAM issue?

Also, will an ebuild for this ever come out cus I've been too lazy to attempt getting the FN keys to work properly.
thanks

[pijalu]

hey guys I was wondering if you know a way to have the system shutdown when the battery is low. Right now the only way I can know my battery status is through torsmo, but it would be nice to have the computer shutdown if I'm not around to do it myself. Any success on the suspending to RAM issue?

* The shutdown on low battery: Take a look at acpid, should be doable (gnome/kde give me warn) - didn't try.... i hate this 'feature'... and i am always around my machine
Take a look at

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cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state
cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/info

this give you needed infos

* Suspend to RAM/HD : nope... and honestly, i am not a "battery" guy anyway... the battery is not even in my laptop...

Also, will an ebuild for this ever come out cus I've been too lazy to attempt getting the FN keys to work properly.
thanks

No ebuild yet, didn't find time to do it... but maybe give a shoot at http://developer.berlios.de/project/sho ... up_id=4604
I put there a project for it with sound-mind, no docs (yet) in the tar ball but here they comes:


Gentooist: new overlay ebuilds at http://download.berlios.de/fsfn/fsfn_overlay.tar.bz2
* untar this in your overlay dir
* emerge fsfn
* add sony_acpi to your modules autoload list
* jump to the rc-update part


Install (if needed) the patched sony_acpi
and then

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wget http://download.berlios.de/fsfn/sony_acpi.tar.gz
tar zxvf sony_acpi.tar.gz
cd sony_acpi
make && sudo make install

Check if the module fit your kernel

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modprobe sony_acpi
ls /proc/acpi/sony

You should see

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brightness  brightness_default  fnkey

If ok, add sony_acpi to your autoloaded modules

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echo sony_acpi >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

Install xosd (if needed)

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emerge xosd

Install the new sonyfn (called fsfn - didn't want to put sony in the short name... good machines... bad PR)

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wget http://download.berlios.de/fsfn/fsfn-1.0.tar.gz
tar zxvf fsfn-1.0.tar.gz
cd fsfn-1.0
./configure && make && sudo make install

If you want a init.d script, you can copy the one included in the gentoo dir or get it using svn

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cd /etc/init.d/
sudo wget "http://svn.berlios.de/viewcvs/*checkout*/fsfn/trunk/fsfn/gentoo/fsfn?rev=1" -O fsfn
chmod +x fsfn

Note: For debian/fedora based people, you can find a initscript in the debian/fedora sub dir or on svn:
debian(thanks go to messenjer for this one) / fedora

Autostart the handler (remove previous version manually from local or from previously posted init script)

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rc-update add fsfn default

Some infos:
This will launch a deamon to handle the key (like sonyfn) , should be run as root

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fsfn

or (best solution )

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/etc/init.d/fsfn start 

If you use X , add to kde/gnome/xsession the call to

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/usr/local/bin/fsfn -o

This is normally give you nice visual feedback about volume/brightness thanks to sound-mind. This can be run as a normal user

More infos: rtfm !

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man fsfn

==> Informations on fsfn

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man 5 fsfn

==> Informations of /etc/fsfn.conf (configuration for fsfn)

Hope it helps
Btw, any contrib welcome ...

EDIT:
* 2005-12-13 : Updated for ver 1.0 [ new version - man - gentoo overlay]
* 2005-11-25 : Updated for ver 0.3 [deamonize corrected + debian initscript included]
* 2005-11-25 : Updated for ver 0.3-r1 [more details errors messages]

[G2k]

everything went smoothly until

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# pwd
/etc/init.d
# rc-update add fsfn default
 * fsfn not executable; skipping
# /etc/init.d/fsfn start
-bash: /etc/init.d/fsfn: Permission denied

[pijalu]

everything went smoothly until

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# pwd
/etc/init.d
# rc-update add fsfn default
 * fsfn not executable; skipping
# /etc/init.d/fsfn start
-bash: /etc/init.d/fsfn: Permission denied

sorry, a

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chmod +x /etc/init.d/fsfn 

should help (corrected previous post, thx)

[G2k]

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/etc/init.d/fsfn start
 * Caching service dependencies ...                                       [ ok ]
 * Starting fsfn key handler ...
Failed to generate key: No such file or directory                         [ ok ]

I love it how there's an [ ok ] there anyways
and one last thing: where exactly do I have to add the line /usr/local/bin/fsfn -o ?
thanks for your time

[pijalu]

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/etc/init.d/fsfn start
 * Caching service dependencies ...                                       [ ok ]
 * Starting fsfn key handler ...
Failed to generate key: No such file or directory                         [ ok ]

I love it how there's an [ ok ] there anyways
and one last thing: where exactly do I have to add the line /usr/local/bin/fsfn -o ?
thanks for your time

the error is not good, won't work... it's when the deamon try generate a key for /proc/acpi/sony

Before launching, do a

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modprobe sony_acpi

then relaunch

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/etc/init.d/fsfn restart

if it don't complain, do

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echo sony_acpi >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

to load sony_acpi directly

[pijalu]

To add fsfn at start of your X session, in a clean and easy way:
* gnome
Desktop Menu - Preference - Sessions, then Startup program tab, choose add
enter for Startup Command : "/usr/local/bin/fsfn -o"
and set Order to 99 (last one to start)

* kde
copy this code in a file called fsfn in ~/.kde/Autostart/fsfn

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#!/bin/sh
/usr/local/bin/fsfn -o

and then do

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chmod +x of ~/.kde/Autostart/fsfn 

then you should have a nice output of brightness/sound changes

[G2k]

uh...I think I got everything to run properly cus I didn't get any other errors. However the Fn key is not working do I have to reboot or something? I know...it's not windows...but still I tried restarting the service and it still doesn't work (and again, I get no errors). I also ran fsfn -o as a background process...still nothing.

[pijalu]

uh...I think I got everything to run properly cus I didn't get any other errors. However the Fn key is not working do I have to reboot or something? I know...it's not windows...but still I tried restarting the service and it still doesn't work (and again, I get no errors). I also ran fsfn -o as a background process...still nothing.

reboot should not be needed...
Let's do some research
As root

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killall fsfn
rmmod sony_acpi
dmesg -c
modprobe sony_acpi
ls /proc/acpi/sony
ls /dev/input
fsfn -n
(try a few hit)
dmesg

This will start fsfn in a "non background" mode, to check what's going on..
If not working, send the result of the 2 ls and the last dmesg