# Fn-Keys on Sony VAIO VGN-SZ5MN not working

## hoacker

The FN-Keys on my Sony VAIO VGN-SZ5MN do not work. The only key that has an effect is "Brightness -". When I press this key, the OSD shows a reduced brightness value but the brightness itself does not change. (The Fn-Keys work out of the box on Kubuntu 7.04 AMD64 with sony_acpi.)

Kernel: gentoo-2.6.22-r8

Arch: amd64

Tried various settings in .config

CONFIG_SONY_LAPTOP=m or =y

CONFIG_SONYPI_COMPAT=y or not set

The symptoms are the same for any permutation of these settings.

Anyone has an idea what is wrong?

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## WakkaDojo

Have you installed any sony_acpi packages? There aren't any ebuilds, but some source exists. Scroll down the following page, there's a couple of lines (really, the only important part is the wget): http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Sony_Vaio_VGN-TX3

Also, you will need the fsfn key drivers for soni: 

```
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

```

 (*extraction from the tutorial listed below*)

That got brightness control working for me.

This link is also useful: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-2722251.html#2722251

Except that it does the same thing in a slightly more complicated way. 

I've had more success with the first method. 

NOTE: Don't forget to do this if you want soni_acpi to load automatically:

```
echo "soni_acpi" >> /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

rc-update add fsfn default
```

That will make it so the modules boot with the kernel and you don't need to run /etc/init.d/soni_acpi start every time you want it to work.

If my tips were too unorganized for you to follow, just let me know and I'll try to straighten things out.

Good luck!

IMPORTANT: Each time you recompile your kernel, you need to reinstall the soni_acpi package to put the soni_acpi module back in. Since it's not native to the kernel you can't enable it as an option to compile every time.

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## hoacker

 *WakkaDojo wrote:*   

> Have you installed any sony_acpi packages?

 

sony_acpi was renamed sony_laptop from kernel 2.6.21 on, or am I mistaken?

 *WakkaDojo wrote:*   

> Also, you will need the fsfn key drivers for soni

 

The driver is almost 2 years old. I didn't expect I'd still need it. I give it a try...

Thanks for your help, WakkaDojo

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## hoacker

 *hoacker wrote:*   

> The driver is almost 2 years old. I didn't expect I'd still need it. I give it a try...

 

No, doesn't work. 

fsfn requires sony_acpi and does not work with sony_laptop. Tried to install sony_acpi from sources but can't load the module.

So, still no Fn-keys on my laptop...

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## WakkaDojo

You need both the fsfn package and the sony_acpi package. The soni_acpi should be able to load whether or not you have fsfn, though you won't be able to change the brightness without the function key.

Why can't the soni_acpi load? All you need to do is a make && make install, then add soni_acpi to the modules load list for your kernel type (99% sure this is 2.6, see my previous post about how to do this). Were you getting an error, or was it just not loading? Or was it loading and you couldn't do anything with it because you didn't have fsfn?

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