Lock FN Key?

Hey
I've been searching for a while, and want to see if anybody has come up with an answer to this question:

How do you lock the FN key, so that I don't need to hold it down to quickly turn the volume / screen brightness up, or turn off my wifi. Right now, I have to hold it down then press the required button (f1-12). Is there any way to get around this?
Thanks for your help

 

Duct tape the key down.

 

i LOL'D hard when i read this...

but seriously tho im wondering the same exact thing

 

Fn is a special key because it doesn't actually send a scan code into the OS, hence why it can't be mapped to game controls.

If this is at all possible, you would have to look in BIOS.

 

I think my response is the most helpful.

 

It may be possible in a future BIOS update. Some systems (my XPS 15 does this) have the option in BIOS to set the default behavior for the F keys. You can choose between the standard Fn keys or multimedia controls. I'm hoping this is implemented in a future update.

 

I hope so too. By default, on my Inspiron 14, you had to press Fn for F1, F2, F3, etc.

 

drats...i was hoping this could be done too. i guess it's not a huge deal, but it is kind of annoying

 

So theres no other way other than a bios update?
no software I could use?

 

Perhaps this will help

Map Any Key to Any Key on Windows 7 / XP / Vista - How-To Geek

 

Hmm.. will try this out when I get home. Will let you know.

 

I've tested out this program, it somewhat works. If only allows a key to be remapped to a single keystroke. Can't map to a compound keystroke such as Alt+Tab.

If you try to manually type the keystroke to re-map to, same results, no compound keystrokes. It doesn't even register pressing the Fn key.

The good news is that some of the keys can be remapped. I've looked through all available keys, including testing out every Unknown key on the list. The picture below shows all remaps that actually work.

Working remaps:
F3 (WiFi Control) - Remap to Unknown: 0xE004 (E0_04)
F6 (Eject) - Remap to Unknown 0xE00A (E0_0A)
F7 (Mute) - Remap to Media: Mute (E0_20)
F8 (Volume Down) - Remap to Unknown: 0xE02D (E0_2D)
F9 (Volume Up) - Remap to Unknown: 0xE028 (E0_28)
F10 (Previous Track) - Remap to Media: Prev Track (E0_10)
F11 (Play/Pause) - Remap to Media: Play/Pause (E0_22)
F12 (Next Track) - Remap to Media: Next Track (E0_19)

Non-Working:
Trackpad Button - Unknown: 0xE001 (E0 -01)
If remapped it will only show the Trackpad status when pressed. Will not toggle on/off

F4 (Screen Brighter) - Unknown: 0xE006 (E0_06)
F5 (Screen Dimmer) - Unknown: 0xE005 (E0_05)
If remapped these keys will show the level, but will not change it.

For now, I'm using this to remap only the media keys, those are the ones I use most anyway.

 

Thank you for this! +rep

 

There's no other programs that do all the keys?

 

I was looking for this also. I have a Dell Studio 14z that has it in the bios. Maybe we can all spam Dell for a feature request to add it in the next bios revision? Doubtful but the feature would be useful. More so if they made a software toggle for it as I have found there are times I would like to switch it back on my Studio without rebooting.

 

I'm very keen for this feature. Such simplicity, for me (atleast) I very very rarely use the "F_" keys.

Maybe PremaMod could put it in his bios!?