Manually keep backlight keyboard on Sony Vaio Z21

Hi,

I just bought new sony vaio 21 and was wondering how can i keep the backlight keyboard on all the time? or manually switch it on and off?
Thanks,

 

VAIO Control Center> Keyboard and mouse.

 

No option exists to keep it on all the time. It has a auto-shut off at max length of 60 seconds (when KB not used). I too wish an option existed to keep it on in the dark all the time.

Software seems fairly buggy (as always).

 

Could you elaborate on this and explain how to do what he is asking? That is if it can be done.

 

Why would you want to keep it on for more than 60 seconds? I have my display turn off after 2 minutes.

Quick way to turn on the backlight without disturbing anything is to press the shift key. Pressing the caps lock key twice is also good.

EDIT: are you thinking about putting the laptop in a display or something? Is that whay you want the keyboard backlit all the time?

 

Why not? I have my SC's KB light on at all times when it's plugged in...

Then again, I'm a former Alienware owner, so maybe it's just a different camp of thought

EDIT: though on the battery, it shuts off after 10sec, and only activates if it's dark.

 

It does have a 'do not turn off' option... you just need to update the vaio control center manually from a recent newwer laptop model like SA. Sony update sucks in its stupid micro-management of software across different product lines.

 

Hey! That's a good trick. Do you know which model's Control Center I should try to use? I have a VPCZ1.

 

How do u update to the SA version? Also I wish that this keyboard backlight was more even and brighter, like the macbooks

 

I just read this thread and it made my head spin a bit.

First, is it understood that the OP wants to be able to turn on the keyboard backlight at will, not only when the sensor thinks it's dark enough?

Second, on the reccommendation that a "newer" Vaio Control Center be downloaded, such as the one for the SA, what could be newer than the Z21 the OP has? The SA has been out for months, and the Z21 for one month. Perhaps the SA has had a newer update?

Third, I've had the same concern with my Z11 and I resoved it in a very low tech way: placed a tiny, carefully cut piece of black electrical tape over the sensor. I still have to press a key to get the light to go on, and it will turn off after no activity after whatever shut-off time is set, but it's really not very inconvenient. I find it easiest to just go for the Ctrl key in the lower left, using it like a keyboard light on switch.

Hope this helps. It was just a little disconcerting to read a thread when it seemed like no one got the point of the OP's request.

 

Everyone got the point. Not everyone saw why, however.

The tape trick has one issue: the stops the auto backlight gain (for the screen itself) from working properly, if it matters to you.

As anytimer said, the S 2011 owners found the SA's Vaio CC/Event service had the option, while all others in the S 2011 line didn't. Merely installing the SA's VCC and Event service made the lower models work like the SA.

 

Ok, so maybe it was I who misunderstood the comments.

But help me out, you are still referring to S series computers, and the OP has a Z21. Do you think that the programs are the same for the CC/ES for the S series as the Z, particularly the new and radically redesigned Z21?

 

If this allows the "do not turn off" option, you are my new best friend. This is one of the features I miss from the Z1

I tried to do this, unsuccessfully, with the Z1x control center. I also tried mod'ing the XML, but didn't have any luck there either.

 

I was kinda refering to both. I'll note the SC's normal Vaio CC and Event service is several versions behind the SA's. However, I doubt they are the same programs between different lines, as I myself would not dare try this myself (and the wrong software can perma-brick a device/component - like the Dell m15x A05 BIOS and stock AlienFX program killing off the LED control unit).

 

I'm trying now

 

Well, in that case, extract the SA's stuff with UniExtractor, and uninstall the Vaio CC + Event service beforehand.

 

No need to extract, the SA installers seem to be OK with the Z2.

The VPCSA2SG/T seems to have the newest stuff.

EDIT: Spoke too soon, the notebook utilities no likey the Z2

 

So, do you think it's fine to install the SA programs in the Z as long as you extract them, or is it a high risk thing to try?

Also, If you cannot install drivers and programs across Sony model lines, can you always use the drivers for the most recent model in your series, eg, Z13 drivers for Z11 and Z12, newest SA with SB/SC?

 

I'll be calling shenanigans on the "upgrade to get new features" bit. Didn't work.

Everything worked OK, just the same way.

 

lol. As I ntoed above, the SA had newer versions than the SC, so for the SC owners, including me, it was definately an upgrade I remember talking with bladestorm and one other person, and we eventually figured it out.

 

That's not what analyzer123 said. Definitely not my new best friend

 

Heh, I think everyone currently in the Sony area is okay

However, maybe the rumored Z22 refresh will clean this up, and we can, err, appropriate a newer version off of that (since I'm now just waiting on the Z22).

 

Don't think so. Sony never changes functionality after it is launched.

 

Just search for any SA model and install the latest one from there. Actually I just installed a vaio care update (it may infact have been from the EU webpage). No signing or extracttor required at all.

it does have the 'do not turn off' i am using it right now. What it doesnt have is 'keep it always on' - so it has to be started in some way - either the light is in fact dim, or just cover the sensor for a few seconds. After that, it'll stay on.

as i said, sony's driver updates delivery across different lines is horribly inconsistent - and more so in different countries. Just something we'll have to live with.

 

^^err.... mine has an "always keep on" and it stays on reguardless of brightness settings. Again, you have to remove, then install both the CC and the Event service.

 

Can you tell me the versions of these files?

VESUSBKeyboard.dll
VESKBStatus.dll

They are located here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\VAIO Event Service

EDIT: One more

C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Setting Utility Series\KBDBacklightSetting.dll

 

This is a screenshot.

 

um, u have a SC, not a Z2?

 

VESKBstatus.dll 5.5.0.01140 (product version)
VESUEBKeyboard.dll 5.5.0.01140(product version)


and I don't have a settings utility folder (never installed the SC update for it, and the SA CTO seems to be missing it).




Also, I think the OP was asking for something like so:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
(BTW, so you don't have to crop in the future, "alt+prntscrn" will cap only the current, active, focused window )

 

Thats right. However, software settings options should have been made consistent by sony across all lines. There's no reason why SC should have particular backlight options and Z2 another.

 

Especially so when its the software that is doing the majority of the work. Its odd to me that they would have excluded so many things on their top of the line model. Its not that it isn't capable its that it is all excluded or locked down.

OpenGL
Screen Rotation (especially on screens attached to the PMD)
Wake on screen lid open
Keyboard backlight always on

All missing or locked down on the Z2. C'mon Sony.

 

Sony doesn't need a reason to do things that makes no sense! Need I supply a list of the top 10 off the top off my head?

As far as Zoinks' comment that Sony doesn't change functionality with model refreshes, I know of at least one time they did so with the Z1s. This thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/497093-how-fix-dim-screen-vpc-z.html explains how to change screen brightness settings with a very simple registry hack. But the Vaio Event Service update for the Z11 did not give access to those settings in the registry. By installing a newer version of Sony Utilities (including VES), voila! The settings were there to change. They never put it in the VCC, but it was like cake to do.

For that matter, has anyone gone into the Z2's registry to look for the keyboard light adjustment?

If anyone knows how to do this, it would be beaups. Someone should PM him

 

^^lol. I think someone said it best: Sony knows how to almost make the best laptop. They get about 90% right, and always manage to screw up the last 10%

 

Sony has this idiotic software delivery system where every model in every country could potentially have different software versions! IMHO, they should separate out their software page into 2 sections - one dedicated to drivers, which actually depend on the underlying hardware. Another generic URL to download vaio software - which is the same and completely independent of the hardware. Any required detection can be done in the software itself.


imagine if sony wrote windows OS - you'd have a different version of every windows component based on the vaio

 

Hahaha! I never heard that one. So true. What's bizarre is that when Apple cuts corners or fails to give you features that computers half the price have, they do so knowingly, and they don't do it half-baked. With Sony, it's like they really get it 100% right, then have a dept. in charge of making it worse by 10%, I guess so owners will always yearn for and flock to the next model refresh. Too bad the Z2 didn't improve any of the Z1's shortcomings - eg, the terrible sounding speakers got worse, this very keyboard light situation didn't get fixed, limited gpu remained limited (the 6650 is about the same place in the pecking order as the 330/325 was at the time the first Z1 was made in early 2010: decent, but no gamer's card.) And for good measure, they put a worse touchpad in the Z2 - this is where they broke something that was "fixed."

This stuff makes you want to go to the new product team and say: "What were you thinking?!!

 

so i didnt get how you guys did it but i have a z21 and want the keyboard light always on if possible - or as long as possible. how can i do this. if i need tape - where the heck is the light sensor on the z21 - there's nothing on top of the f9 button (else i guess i could be blind haha). thanks and sorry for bumping an old topic.

 

The Z22 packages didn't change the function.

I tried transplanting the KBDBacklightSetting.dll from the Z1, but it made all the backlight settings disappear from the Control Center.

Dunno what else to do.

 

It would be interesting to see what registry settings are in the SC for:
HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Sony Corporation\Vaio Event Service\Settings\VESAutoDimmer

In the Z, it has the following:

Code:

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sony Corporation\VAIO Event Service\Settings\VESAutoDimmer]
 "P00BrightnessLevel0"=dword:00000007
 "P01BrightnessLevel1"=dword:0000000a
 "P02BrightnessLevel2"=dword:0000000e
 "P03BrightnessLevel3"=dword:00000016
 "P04BrightnessLevel4"=dword:00000023
 "P05BrightnessLevel5"=dword:00000036
 "P06BrightnessLevel6"=dword:00000053
 "P07BrightnessLevel7"=dword:0000007a
 "P08BrightnessLevel8"=dword:000000b6
 "P09CorrectionCoefficientLx10"=dword:0000000a
 "P10TypicalIlluminanceLow"=dword:0000007d
 "P11TypicalIlluminanceHigh"=dword:00000000
 "P12LowThreshold"=dword:00000055
 "P13HighThreshold"=dword:0000006e
 "P14PWMChangeRateForEvent0"=dword:00000001
 "P15IntervalForEvent0"=dword:00000023
 "P16PWMChangeRateForEvent1"=dword:00000002
 "P17IntervalForEvent1"=dword:00000001
 "P18SensorInterruptRate"=dword:00000004
 "P19AmbientLightCompensationRate"=dword:00000037
 "P20KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceLow"=dword:0000000c
 "P21KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceHigh"=dword:00000000

There is the small possibility that you may be able to change it directly in the registry rather than using the Vaio Control Center.

e.g. (and this is a complete guess), maybe setting P21KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceHigh (sic) to 0C (the same as P21KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceLow) might put the backlight on in light as well as dark conditions. But it may do nothing, and don't blame me if it breaks your PC in some way!

 

I looked around a bit this afternoon and here's what I've found so far:

While I couldn't find anything useful in the Registry, I did find a pretty interesting file in C:\Users\{your user id}\App Data\Roaming\Sony Corporation\Vaio Control Center.

There's an XML file in there called CurrentSettingProfileData. I'm pretty sure that this is where the options are set, although I can't quite nail it down.

The file appears to carry a series of option GUID's followed by setting GUID's. I was convinced that the first option set was for the keyboard backlighting, but I am unable to reproduce this reliably.

Will play some more.

EDIT:

The first key/data pair in this file is the last option page you were on when you hit the OK button. e.g. Keyboard & Mouse, Power Settings, etc.

The second key/data series is the location of the Control Center's window when it was last closed.

Haven't figured out the third entry yet, but it isn't any particular data setting that I've found so far. Certainly not the keyboard backlight settings.

 

A little more information:

The English MUI file for the KBDBacklightSetting.dll has the following text in it:

"
Turn backlight on when surroundings dark

Time until backlight turns off when no keyboard operation

10 seconds
30 seconds
1 minute
Do not turn off (always on when dark)
"

This is not the text one sees in the Control Center so there must be another way to get to this DLL. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be managed code and I can't just reference it in a c# app.

 

Keep looking, if you would. I really, REALLY want the always-on function.

The Z1 has the right functionality, but I've been unable to cross pollinate the installers.

How about this:

Bounty:
I will paypal $250 USD to whomever figures out how to mirror Z1's KB back light settings and functions on the Z2. All other stock Z2 functionality needs to be maintained.

Dearest Mods, I don't know how you feel about bounties. They seem to work over at XDA Developers and I'm completely serious about paying. If this isn't kosher, let me know.

 

$10 from me if it happens

 

Here's where I'm at:

I've pretty well convinced myself (I'm good at listening to myself!) that the Control Center is not updating the timeout period into either the Registry or the Win7 file system.

That leaves (at least) two other places that it might be updating to:

BIOS
Hidden partition

(BTW, as part of this exercise I booted into the instant web browser, covered the sensor and observed that the keyboard lights up.)

I'm now exploring the hidden partitions but am not seeing anything useful.

Will begin to focus on the BIOS next.

 

The file on the Z1 is:
C:\ProgramData\Sony Corporation\VAIO Control Center\CurrentSettingProfileData.xml

When you change the duration of the keyboard backlight to "do not turn off", it changes the very last line of the file to:

Code:

'< SettingData >[COLOR="Red"][B]3[/B][/COLOR]< /SettingData >< /Item >< /Class >< /CurrentSetting >'

(it's 0 for '10 seconds').

Couple of additional points for the Z1:
- When I manually change this line in a text editor (i.e. not using VCC), save, and reboot, the backlight duration matches the new version of this file. That means that the setting is not just being used by VCC for its own internal purposes - the system does actually use this file to determine the backlight duration.

Before windows boots up, the system always has a 10-second backlight turn off, no matter what setting is in VCC.

Therefore, you may want to try manually editing the file in the Z2 to see if that changes it. But, of course, the Z2 may take a completely different approach.

 

^ You're right. It's the same file for the Z2.

Now people just have to fiddle around until they can find the right combination of values.

 

I just want to say that the contributors to this thread are all awesome! Once you have this nailed for both Z1 and Z2, you should be entered into the Sony Z hall of fame, lol. Actually, who ever gets there first for the Z2 will get $250 from Zoinks, so there really is a reward prior to heaven!

Thanks, really.

 

Well, I tried any number of value combinations, all without success. There is the possibility that it just can't be done at the "source" level.

 

I know this is a little bit off-topic, but I was correct with my guess a few posts back.

With the Z1, if you want the keyboard backlight to be on when it's light (i.e. not just dark conditions), you just need to change the following registry setting and then reboot:

HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Sony Corporation\Vaio Event Service\Settings\VESAutoDimmer
P21KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceHigh: change from 00 to 0C

It may work on the Z21 too.

 

So, I tried it on my Z1 and it worked, just as you said - nice work! +1 Thing is, I really don't want it running all the time, during the brightness of daytime, because it will suck battery life and, I assume, lead to sooner burnout of the LEDs, or do they last for, like years and years? What it needs is a convenient way to turn the keyboard light back off when you don't want it on, and changing the registry back and rebooting is not quite what I'm thinking for "convenient." Which tends to lead me back to my deck-colored square of tape so the sensor always thinks it's night, then I can regulate how much the kb backlight is on in the VCC. Is there a quicker way you know of to turn the backlight off at will once you have changed the registry setting?

 

The way to do it without rebooting is to restart the "VAIO Event Service"

(by going to control panel->Admin tools->Services. Clicking on "VAIO Event Service", and clicking restart)

It will then "take" whatever setting you've put for P21KBDBacklihgtIlluminanceHigh.