Vaio SZ function keys

I'm sure this has been answered before but I've searched the forums and can't find any solutions that work for me. I'm trying to do a Windows XP clean install on my vaio SZ and I can't get my function keys to work. I've installed the sony shared libraries, sony utilities and vaio event service and have had no luck. I've got all the drivers installed (I used nLite so it did them all during the windows installation) and I've installed the vaio control centre and still had no luck. I've checked my processes and both hkcmd.exe and vesmgr.exe are running. If I close vesmgr.exe on my main install the hotkeys stop functioning, yet this services seems to do nothing when running on the clean install. Is it actually possible to get them working on a clean install?

 

The Sony laptops are hell to install drivers for to get them working 100%. I've tried the downgrade personally and couldn't get selected drivers working and have just stuck to Vista.

In your case, I've gotten the Fn keys to work by installing the drivers in a specific order. Refer to http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=138509 for help. It tells you the specific order to install them in to enable the use of the fn keys. That guide should give you a good working path. I also recommend installing XP again from the beginning before attempting to resolve the issues. This will eliminate any corrupted installations done previously and the incorrect installation order. This will ensure a clean working area. Hope this helps and good luck, I know what it is like to not have your vaio working 100%. Happens to me all the time, sadly!

 

I basically agree with jamste - it takes a bit of experimentation to get the order right, but it is possible to get the FN keys working on a clean install. One thing to try before giving up and doing a full repave is to just reinstall the most likely drivers (notebook control utilities, event service, and shared libraries).

 

So basically they only seem to work if you install things in the proper order? I just find it weird that VESmgr.exe appears to be responsible for making the Fn keys work, yet I have it running on 2 installations and it only works properly on the original Sony one.