[Gutsy] Sony Vaio VGN-FZ* Fn Keys Not Working

[Michael Lustfield]

Running: VGN-FZ240E

Installed sensors-applet sjog spicctrl

My mute fn key started working after these installs.

My bightness keys still do not work. I tried emulating these key presses by running /etc/acpi/thinkpad-brightness-down.sh and /etc/acpi/thinkpad-brightness-up.sh The screen brightness applet - along w/ w/e appears on the screen - showed the change correctly. (Running it as sudo)

Unfortunately my screen brightness doesn't actually change.

I can't find any useful logs either.

[Daniel Torres (lolikapuxa)]

same here

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

I noticed this in tty8 and reproduced it in a terminal. (Identical)

michael@eaglei:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/laptop_mode
Laptop mode enabled, not active.
/usr/sbin/laptop_mode: line 1527: /sys/class/backlight/sony/brightness: No such file or directory
michael@eaglei:~$ ls /sys/class/backlight/
acpi_video0
michael@eaglei:~$ ls /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/
actual_brightness brightness max_brightness power subsystem uevent

--------------------------------------------------------
This is my Hot Key Test

Sony Corporation
VGN-FZ240E
C6001VST

Key - Action - Working - Output
___________________________________________________________
Fn+F2 - Mute - Works - 0xe0 0x20 0xe0 0xa0
Fn+F5 - Bright Up - Doesn't Work - Nothing
Fn+F6 - Bright Down - Doesn't Work - Nothing
Fn+F7 - LCD -> CRT - Haven't Tested - Nothing
Fn+F10 - Magnify? - Haven't Tested - Nothing
Fn+F12 - Sleep - Doesn't Work - Nothing
Fn+Num Lock - Scr Lk - Works - 0x46 0xc6
Fn+Insert - Pause - Works - 0xe1 0x1d 0x45 0xe1 0x9d 0xc5
Fn+Delete - Break - Works - 0x1d 0xe1 0x1d 0x45 0xe1 0x9d 0xc5 0x9d

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

I'm also noticing an issue where spicctrl doesn't adjust the brightness correctly.

michael@eaglei:~$ sudo modprobe sonypi
michael@eaglei:~$ sudo spicctrl -B
0
michael@eaglei:~$ sudo spicctrl -b 1
michael@eaglei:~$ sudo spicctrl -B
0

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

Daniel Torres Confirmed

[Henrik Nilsen Omma (henrik)]

Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch for guidance on collecting debugging info on hotkeys. Thanks!

This bug was nominated for Gutsy but does currently not qualify for a 7.10 stable release update (SRU) and the nomination is therefore declined.
According the the SRU policy, the fix should already be deployed and tested in the current development version before an update to the stable releases will be considered. With 7.10 now released, that policy applies to this bug. See: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates .
The bug is not being closed as work will continue on fixing it for the next release, Hardy Heron (8.04). If the state of this bug should change such that it qualifies for the SRU process, please contact the person who originally declined it and ask them to re-evaluate it. To help improve the state of this bug see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/HowToTriage .

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

All the information I listed I got either from the HotKeyResearch or from my own meddling. Sorry, I mistook what was needed for a nomination. I'll still try to figure out how to patch this and see if we can get it working for 8.04.

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

I am changing status from Incomplete to New. If more information is needed, please let me know. I would rather not leave as incomplete now that I have added a lot of information to this bug.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Michael,

I see you are loading the sonypi module. It is my understanding that sonpi module has been obsoleted in favor of using sony-laptop. Care to try using that driver instead and reporting back your results? Thanks.

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

Still not working - doesn't seem like anything changed.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks for the update Michael. Just a first quick note, if you could attach each file individually rather than as a tarball we'd appreciate it.

Next, the Hardy Heron kernel was recently uploaded for testing. We'd really appreciate it if you could try testing with this newer kernel and verify if this issue still exists. Unfortunately, the Hardy Heron Alpha1 LiveCD was released with the older 2.6.22 kernel. You'll have to manually install the newer Hardy Heron kernel in order to test. This should not be the case for Alpha2 which is set to come out around Dec 20. However, here are the instructions to install if you choose to do so, otherwise just wait for Alpha2 to come out:

1) edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list and add the following line:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy main restricted

2) sudo apt-get update
3) sudo apt-get install linux-image-2.6.24-1-generic
4) reboot and select the new kernel from the grub menu

After you've tested, please feel free to revert back - ie boot into the old kernel, sudo apt-get remove linux-image-2.6.24-1-generic, and remove the line from /etc/apt/sources.list . Please update this report with your results. Thanks in advance!

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Also just adding a note that this report will remain open against the actively developed kernel, hence the 'linux (Ubuntu)' task. However, against linux-source-2.6.22 this bug does not meet the criteria for a stable release update and is being closed. Thanks!

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

It appears that I'm still having the exact same problem with the new kernel. I'll repost the same files that I have been adding but from the new output if you want. If I'm going to add them though, it would be nice to know how to add all of the files in one post.

I installed the kernel on my current system and tried it out. I ran into a few issues trying to go back, but nothing horribly major.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Michael,

Sorry for the inconvenience with regards to adding mutliple files at once. It's a cabability that isn't yet possible with launchpad. However, I've got a script that will do it all for you if you want to give it a try. You can download it from here:

http://people.ubuntu.com/~ogasawara/kernel-attachments.py

Make sure the script is executable, and then run it as: sudo ./kernel-attachments.py 162684

It'll ask you to enter your launchpad id, but that's just a one time thing. Let me know if it works.

With regards to going back to the previous kernel, can you elaborate on the issues you ran into? It would be useful to know and if the instructions I've given could be more robust. Thanks!

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

Keys seemed to have the exact same effect. (Nothing)

And the fun part...

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks Michael,

Your dmesg output that was attached seems a bit odd. Care to try capturing it again, maybe after a fresh reboot? Or maybe attach /var/log/kern.log.0? Thanks.

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

That output was taken from the live cd. I just grabbed both files.
Sorry for the long wait. I've been extremely swamped.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks MIchael. I just have one more thing to ask (sorry I should have asked earlier). Can you post the keycodes for the keys that are not working? Your previous comment didn't have the keycods for the non working keys. The following should help with getting this info: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch . Thanks.

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

That was in my second post actually. The keys in question here don't produce any output. F5 controls brightness down. It doesn't produce any output.

I don't know what they should be producing but I'm pretty sure it's not nothing. Any keys in the second post marked with nothing means it produces no output.

[bgerlich (bgerlich)]

This is an issue not addressed in Linux at all (there are no drivers for XP too for that matter). Sony VAIO FZ governs backlight brightness through Nvidia chip. The newest NVclock supports backlight dimming only on NV4* chips. At this time there is no possibility of dimming the backlight on laptops with newer Nvidia cards (the ones using the Nvidia chip for LCD backlight control of course).

I think the bug should be reclassified as something else than just not working special keys. Entire LCD backlight control is not present, not only in VAIO but also in other laptops (i.e. Samsung R70).

[Michael Lustfield (michaellustfield)]

I believe the fix has been committed. I don't see see any evidence of this bug existing on this hardware anymore.

[huiii (a00ps)]

Hello!
Good News!
I can report, that brightness is working now on my Sony VAIO FZ31M. (nvidia 8400M GT)
thanks to the guide of "frank17" here (it is in italian):
http://www.frank17.it/linux/fz18m.htm from http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/

it is a real solution:
the nvclock from cvs, provided in that site, is able to control the brightness of my laptop!
I wated for that now very long...

check it out!

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.