Documentation/admin-guide/laptops/sonypi.rst - third_party/linux - Git at Google


            
            ==================================================

            
            Sony Programmable I/O Control Device Driver Readme

            
            ==================================================


            	- Copyright (C) 2001-2004 Stelian Pop <stelian@popies.net>

            
            	- Copyright (C) 2001-2002 Alcôve <www.alcove.com>

            
            	- Copyright (C) 2001 Michael Ashley <m.ashley@unsw.edu.au>

            
            	- Copyright (C) 2001 Junichi Morita <jun1m@mars.dti.ne.jp>

            
            	- Copyright (C) 2000 Takaya Kinjo <t-kinjo@tc4.so-net.ne.jp>

            
            	- Copyright (C) 2000 Andrew Tridgell <tridge@samba.org>


            This driver enables access to the Sony Programmable I/O Control Device which

            
            can be found in many Sony Vaio laptops. Some newer Sony laptops (seems to be

            
            limited to new FX series laptops, at least the FX501 and the FX702) lack a

            
            sonypi device and are not supported at all by this driver.


            It will give access (through a user space utility) to some events those laptops

            
            generate, like:


            	- jogdial events (the small wheel on the side of Vaios)

            
            	- capture button events (only on Vaio Picturebook series)

            
            	- Fn keys

            
            	- bluetooth button (only on C1VR model)

            
            	- programmable keys, back, help, zoom, thumbphrase buttons, etc.

            
            	  (when available)


            Those events (see linux/sonypi.h) can be polled using the character device node

            
            /dev/sonypi (major 10, minor auto allocated or specified as an option).

            
            A simple daemon which translates the jogdial movements into mouse wheel events

            
            can be downloaded at: <http://popies.net/sonypi/>


            Another option to intercept the events is to get them directly through the

            
            input layer.


            This driver supports also some ioctl commands for setting the LCD screen

            
            brightness and querying the batteries charge information (some more

            
            commands may be added in the future).


            This driver can also be used to set the camera controls on Picturebook series

            
            (brightness, contrast etc), and is used by the video4linux driver for the

            
            Motion Eye camera.


            Please note that this driver was created by reverse engineering the Windows

            
            driver and the ACPI BIOS, because Sony doesn't agree to release any programming

            
            specs for its laptops. If someone convinces them to do so, drop me a note.


            Driver options:

            
            ---------------


            Several options can be passed to the sonypi driver using the standard

            
            module argument syntax (<param>=<value> when passing the option to the

            
            module or sonypi.<param>=<value> on the kernel boot line when sonypi is

            
            statically linked into the kernel). Those options are:


            	=============== =======================================================

            
            	minor:		minor number of the misc device /dev/sonypi,

            
            			default is -1 (automatic allocation, see /proc/misc

            
            			or kernel logs)


            	camera:		if you have a PictureBook series Vaio (with the

            
            			integrated MotionEye camera), set this parameter to 1

            
            			in order to let the driver access to the camera


            	fnkeyinit:	on some Vaios (C1VE, C1VR etc), the Fn key events don't

            
            			get enabled unless you set this parameter to 1.

            
            			Do not use this option unless it's actually necessary,

            
            			some Vaio models don't deal well with this option.

            
            			This option is available only if the kernel is

            
            			compiled without ACPI support (since it conflicts

            
            			with it and it shouldn't be required anyway if

            
            			ACPI is already enabled).


            	verbose:	set to 1 to print unknown events received from the

            
            			sonypi device.

            
            			set to 2 to print all events received from the

            
            			sonypi device.


            	compat:		uses some compatibility code for enabling the sonypi

            
            			events. If the driver worked for you in the past

            
            			(prior to version 1.5) and does not work anymore,

            
            			add this option and report to the author.


            	mask:		event mask telling the driver what events will be

            
            			reported to the user. This parameter is required for

            
            			some Vaio models where the hardware reuses values

            
            			used in other Vaio models (like the FX series who does

            
            			not have a jogdial but reuses the jogdial events for

            
            			programmable keys events). The default event mask is

            
            			set to 0xffffffff, meaning that all possible events

            
            			will be tried. You can use the following bits to

            
            			construct your own event mask (from

            
            			include/linux/sonypi.h)::


            				SONYPI_JOGGER_MASK		0x0001

            
            				SONYPI_CAPTURE_MASK		0x0002

            
            				SONYPI_FNKEY_MASK		0x0004

            
            				SONYPI_BLUETOOTH_MASK		0x0008

            
            				SONYPI_PKEY_MASK		0x0010

            
            				SONYPI_BACK_MASK		0x0020

            
            				SONYPI_HELP_MASK		0x0040

            
            				SONYPI_LID_MASK			0x0080

            
            				SONYPI_ZOOM_MASK		0x0100

            
            				SONYPI_THUMBPHRASE_MASK		0x0200

            
            				SONYPI_MEYE_MASK		0x0400

            
            				SONYPI_MEMORYSTICK_MASK		0x0800

            
            				SONYPI_BATTERY_MASK		0x1000

            
            				SONYPI_WIRELESS_MASK		0x2000


            	useinput:	if set (which is the default) two input devices are

            
            			created, one which interprets the jogdial events as

            
            			mouse events, the other one which acts like a

            
            			keyboard reporting the pressing of the special keys.

            
            	=============== =======================================================


            Module use:

            
            -----------


            In order to automatically load the sonypi module on use, you can put those

            
            lines a configuration file in /etc/modprobe.d/::


            	alias char-major-10-250 sonypi

            
            	options sonypi minor=250


            This supposes the use of minor 250 for the sonypi device::


            	# mknod /dev/sonypi c 10 250


            Bugs:

            
            -----


            	- several users reported that this driver disables the BIOS-managed

            
            	  Fn-keys which put the laptop in sleeping state, or switch the

            
            	  external monitor on/off. There is no workaround yet, since this

            
            	  driver disables all APM management for those keys, by enabling the

            
            	  ACPI management (and the ACPI core stuff is not complete yet). If

            
            	  you have one of those laptops with working Fn keys and want to

            
            	  continue to use them, don't use this driver.


            	- some users reported that the laptop speed is lower (dhrystone

            
            	  tested) when using the driver with the fnkeyinit parameter. I cannot

            
            	  reproduce it on my laptop and not all users have this problem.

            
            	  This happens because the fnkeyinit parameter enables the ACPI

            
            	  mode (but without additional ACPI control, like processor

            
            	  speed handling etc). Use ACPI instead of APM if it works on your

            
            	  laptop.


            	- sonypi lacks the ability to distinguish between certain key

            
            	  events on some models.


            	- some models with the nvidia card (geforce go 6200 tc) uses a

            
            	  different way to adjust the backlighting of the screen. There

            
            	  is a userspace utility to adjust the brightness on those models,

            
            	  which can be downloaded from

            
            	  https://www.acc.umu.se/~erikw/program/smartdimmer-0.1.tar.bz2


            	- since all development was done by reverse engineering, there is

            
            	  *absolutely no guarantee* that this driver will not crash your

            
            	  laptop. Permanently.
	==================================================
	Sony Programmable I/O Control Device Driver Readme
	==================================================

	- Copyright (C) 2001-2004 Stelian Pop <stelian@popies.net>
	- Copyright (C) 2001-2002 Alcôve <www.alcove.com>
	- Copyright (C) 2001 Michael Ashley <m.ashley@unsw.edu.au>
	- Copyright (C) 2001 Junichi Morita <jun1m@mars.dti.ne.jp>
	- Copyright (C) 2000 Takaya Kinjo <t-kinjo@tc4.so-net.ne.jp>
	- Copyright (C) 2000 Andrew Tridgell <tridge@samba.org>

	This driver enables access to the Sony Programmable I/O Control Device which
	can be found in many Sony Vaio laptops. Some newer Sony laptops (seems to be
	limited to new FX series laptops, at least the FX501 and the FX702) lack a
	sonypi device and are not supported at all by this driver.

	It will give access (through a user space utility) to some events those laptops
	generate, like:

	- jogdial events (the small wheel on the side of Vaios)
	- capture button events (only on Vaio Picturebook series)
	- Fn keys
	- bluetooth button (only on C1VR model)
	- programmable keys, back, help, zoom, thumbphrase buttons, etc.
	(when available)

	Those events (see linux/sonypi.h) can be polled using the character device node
	/dev/sonypi (major 10, minor auto allocated or specified as an option).
	A simple daemon which translates the jogdial movements into mouse wheel events
	can be downloaded at: <http://popies.net/sonypi/>

	Another option to intercept the events is to get them directly through the
	input layer.

	This driver supports also some ioctl commands for setting the LCD screen
	brightness and querying the batteries charge information (some more
	commands may be added in the future).

	This driver can also be used to set the camera controls on Picturebook series
	(brightness, contrast etc), and is used by the video4linux driver for the
	Motion Eye camera.

	Please note that this driver was created by reverse engineering the Windows
	driver and the ACPI BIOS, because Sony doesn't agree to release any programming
	specs for its laptops. If someone convinces them to do so, drop me a note.

	Driver options:
	---------------

	Several options can be passed to the sonypi driver using the standard
	module argument syntax (<param>=<value> when passing the option to the
	module or sonypi.<param>=<value> on the kernel boot line when sonypi is
	statically linked into the kernel). Those options are:

	=============== =======================================================
	minor: minor number of the misc device /dev/sonypi,
	default is -1 (automatic allocation, see /proc/misc
	or kernel logs)

	camera: if you have a PictureBook series Vaio (with the
	integrated MotionEye camera), set this parameter to 1
	in order to let the driver access to the camera

	fnkeyinit: on some Vaios (C1VE, C1VR etc), the Fn key events don't
	get enabled unless you set this parameter to 1.
	Do not use this option unless it's actually necessary,
	some Vaio models don't deal well with this option.
	This option is available only if the kernel is
	compiled without ACPI support (since it conflicts
	with it and it shouldn't be required anyway if
	ACPI is already enabled).

	verbose: set to 1 to print unknown events received from the
	sonypi device.
	set to 2 to print all events received from the
	sonypi device.

	compat: uses some compatibility code for enabling the sonypi
	events. If the driver worked for you in the past
	(prior to version 1.5) and does not work anymore,
	add this option and report to the author.

	mask: event mask telling the driver what events will be
	reported to the user. This parameter is required for
	some Vaio models where the hardware reuses values
	used in other Vaio models (like the FX series who does
	not have a jogdial but reuses the jogdial events for
	programmable keys events). The default event mask is
	set to 0xffffffff, meaning that all possible events
	will be tried. You can use the following bits to
	construct your own event mask (from
	include/linux/sonypi.h)::

	SONYPI_JOGGER_MASK 0x0001
	SONYPI_CAPTURE_MASK 0x0002
	SONYPI_FNKEY_MASK 0x0004
	SONYPI_BLUETOOTH_MASK 0x0008
	SONYPI_PKEY_MASK 0x0010
	SONYPI_BACK_MASK 0x0020
	SONYPI_HELP_MASK 0x0040
	SONYPI_LID_MASK 0x0080
	SONYPI_ZOOM_MASK 0x0100
	SONYPI_THUMBPHRASE_MASK 0x0200
	SONYPI_MEYE_MASK 0x0400
	SONYPI_MEMORYSTICK_MASK 0x0800
	SONYPI_BATTERY_MASK 0x1000
	SONYPI_WIRELESS_MASK 0x2000

	useinput: if set (which is the default) two input devices are
	created, one which interprets the jogdial events as
	mouse events, the other one which acts like a
	keyboard reporting the pressing of the special keys.
	=============== =======================================================

	Module use:
	-----------

	In order to automatically load the sonypi module on use, you can put those
	lines a configuration file in /etc/modprobe.d/::

	alias char-major-10-250 sonypi
	options sonypi minor=250

	This supposes the use of minor 250 for the sonypi device::

	# mknod /dev/sonypi c 10 250

	Bugs:
	-----

	- several users reported that this driver disables the BIOS-managed
	Fn-keys which put the laptop in sleeping state, or switch the
	external monitor on/off. There is no workaround yet, since this
	driver disables all APM management for those keys, by enabling the
	ACPI management (and the ACPI core stuff is not complete yet). If
	you have one of those laptops with working Fn keys and want to
	continue to use them, don't use this driver.

	- some users reported that the laptop speed is lower (dhrystone
	tested) when using the driver with the fnkeyinit parameter. I cannot
	reproduce it on my laptop and not all users have this problem.
	This happens because the fnkeyinit parameter enables the ACPI
	mode (but without additional ACPI control, like processor
	speed handling etc). Use ACPI instead of APM if it works on your
	laptop.

	- sonypi lacks the ability to distinguish between certain key
	events on some models.

	- some models with the nvidia card (geforce go 6200 tc) uses a
	different way to adjust the backlighting of the screen. There
	is a userspace utility to adjust the brightness on those models,
	which can be downloaded from
	https://www.acc.umu.se/~erikw/program/smartdimmer-0.1.tar.bz2

	- since all development was done by reverse engineering, there is
	absolutely no guarantee that this driver will not crash your
	laptop. Permanently.