Fn buttons

[mike142sl]

OK, I had to re install Win 7 HP x64 last week - fresh install as I couldn't get the resore CD to work?
Had a few issues with drivers and have got a couple of 'other devices' showing up in Device manager as not having drivers. One is my HP Printer which IS installed and shows up twice under printing devices - one of which is disabled. printer works fine so I'm not worried about that. The other is something called a PCI simple communication controller. Toshiba have sent me the supposed driver for it but it still shows up as not having a driver.

Anyway my main concern is that the Fn buttons don't work after the install. A common problem by all accounts. I've downloaded all the Toshiba drivers and software that is supposed to work them and have half a solution, in that I can now move the mouse to the top of the screen and the 'flash cards' appear so I can change settings or turn Wi Fi on and off etc. BUT the Fn buttons do not work???? Toshiba tell me it's drivers that should install with Win7 and there is nothing they can do.
Is this right, and is there a way of installing the driver without trying a re install?

Forever hopeful

Mike

 

[TrainableMan]

The F1 thru F12 keys don't work or are these special function keys? The reason I ask is that the F1-F12 function keys are typically part of the standard 101/102-key keyboard drivers but extra keys such as email or calculator buttons, etc require special software. If you do not have that program installed to watch for the extra keys then they will not function.

 

[mike142sl]

It's the Fn F1 to F12 that doesn't work (Not sure about just F1 etc) The driver I have is the standard PS2 keyboard driver. I've tried uninstalling it and allowing it to find a new driver but it just puts the standard one back as mentioned here.
In short, I can't use the keyboard to change settings such as screen brightness, Wi Fi On/Off, etc....
Toshiba tell me it's a MS Win7 issue and that it might be down to the order the drivers load? which doesn't sound quite right.

 

[TrainableMan]

OK, I don't see where you specify which Toshiba Satellite L555 model you have. The Toshiba site needs L555-S????. For instance I notice for L555-S7001 there is a BIOS update from 5/20/2010, it won't fix this issue but may affect many things so if you have a BIOS update you should apply that. There are also LAN drivers and WiFi drivers. And there is a Multimedia Application - Media Controller <<-- this is likely your current issue, please try installing that. There are like 4 pages of drivers etc. Always try the latest version first - example LAN drivers from 2009 and from 2010 - get the 2010.

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/home.jsp
Click Product Support. Enter your Satellite model. Click the Downloads tab. Enter W7 64bit for your OS.

There are a lot of drivers and some reference materials available there; you should spend a lot of time there making sure your drivers are up to date.

 

[mike142sl]

Thanks, I have the L555-11K and have spent time selecting various drivers from the Toshiba Support download list as advised by Toshiba. The main one is the Value Pack which includes most I believe, and that provided me with the flash cards that I can use with the mouse.
Might just have to download each one but BIOS updates scare me, plus it worked with this BIOS before the re install.

 

[TrainableMan]

Well if you have problems with waking from sleep or hibernation I would definitely try the BIOS update.

I don't see L555-11K in the list but when you look up your laptop if you see "Multimedia Application" - "Media Controller" please give that one a try.

 

[mike142sl]

No problems waking from sleep, except it freezes if the external usb hard drive is connected.
Link to my toshiba support is http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/jsp/supportMyProduct.do?service=UK but no sign of the multimedia application? its the Satellite L555-11k

 

[TrainableMan]

There is a file called "controls driver" for XP (Jun 2010) - there is none listed for W7. Either W7 is supposed to handle it with native drivers or you need a file like this. Typically drivers for XP will not work in W7-64 but it's possible this is just a program; as I mentioned it is a program resident in memory that would be looking for keystrokes. You mentioned talking to Toshiba so I guess they are still providing you support; I would either try downloading and running the exe in that zip, or I would call Toshiba support..