Mexxii

Hey everybody,

as you might know, Laptops natively support switching through several video output options natively by using a combination of the Fn plus an F-key. However, upon installing ATI-drivers, the ATI Hotkey Poller intercepts this native function and executes it through the drivers instead of letting the Laptop handle it natively. Here's where my problem starts.

I installed Omega's drives (4.8.442) on a fairly old Notebook that sports XP Lite. The whole machine is streamlined for maximum efficiency. Especially the memory footprint is one of my biggest concerns. The mentioned ATI Hotkey Poller loads itself into memory twice (Does anybody know why??), wasting 7MB of RAM to replace a function that any Laptop out there is capable of handling without drivers. My question is if anybody happens to know how to revert ATI's override? Just stopping the Hotkey Poller service from loading sure saves my precious RAM, but it also leaves my Fn-key functionless. I already checked the registry values that store the driver settings in the hope to find a switch that would stop the driver from intercepting that Fn-key-press. Does anybody have a clue or knows of a non-memory-resistant tool to enable the Fn-key after the Hotkey Poller has been disabled? Any hints are welcome. Thanks in advance.

iPlayer

There's got to be something assigning those functions. Could be some software that came with the laptop or is it bios set?

I don't think I have this kind of functionality in my laptops.

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Mexxii

I don't know if this function is controlled by the BIOS, but it certainly is not software dependend, because the screen switching already works during boot up. So it's a real hardware-controlled function.

I'm not sure if there are types of notebooks that don't feature this function. I haven't come across one yet. You can check your laptop's manual. You could also try to locate the Fn-key. It usually sits left from the left CTRL-key. The monitor switching key is usually F4, but that might vary depending on the brand. On my machine and also many others I used so far, I can always switch the video output with Fn+F4.

Tyrsonswood

It's in the BIOS if it works before Windows boots. Can you just install drivers without the ATI software?

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iPlayer

Have you tried reinstalling the ATK drivers or checked your bios for options on it?
Seems like that kind of device from your description at least.

What brand is your laptop btw?

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Mexxii

I'm using Omegadrivers and those don't offer that option. I remember the original ATI-drivers being split in two (drivers+catalyst control center), however, I tried installing the original drivers in the first place, but that only crashed my comp on boot up. The omegadrivers work excellent and I like their control panel, so I don't want to leave them or mess with the system any more than needed. You know, never change a running system


I have a Targa Visionary XP-210. The BIOS offers only a few options and none that deal with this problem. What would re-installing the drivers be good for? Installing them makes them interfere with the key-presses. Re-installing them will just do the same thing. It's one of their "features" and not a bug, so re-installing won't remove it. I'm rather hoping for a way to revert ATI's interference by tweaking the registry or for a tool that can re-enable my function keys after killing the Hotkey Poller manually without being a driver.

iPlayer

Oh, I didn't mean the graphics drivers. There's probably an application for those quick keys in your laptop's installation disc/s.

Btw looks like the ati hotkey poller also does other things, like auto downclock the gpu when not using 3d apps and resetting it once it does.

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Mexxii

It would have been great if the manufacturer actually had put a tool on the driver disc, but there is none. I also checked another Laptop's driver disc and there was also no tool for the Fn-key. It wouldn't have made much sense anyway, because this is a low-level function that doesn't require any tools to work. I doubt that the Laptop manufacturers are actually aware of what ATI is doing.

I also read that the Hotkey Poller does other things among recognizing hotkey combinations, but I'm not really concerned with downclocking and such. The machine only uses a Radeon 9600. Nothing that would be too fancy. I also have one in one of my older desktops and its power consumption is minimal, so downclocking is not really important. In fact, I doubt that the old 9600 chipset even supports this feature. This is something that rather affects newer cards and usually those from the high-end segment.

iPlayer

Ye we pretty much ascertained it's a bios derived function, but I thought you could try the quick key app since you didn't find anything there. That and the bios last update was about 5 years ago.

Said app is mentioned in your laptop's manual.

You are probably stuck with ATI's Hotkey Poller if you want that functionality while using those drivers. : /

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Mexxii

The quick key app is used for other quick keys (email, internet) and also only for pre Windows 2000 operating systems. I tried it anyway and apart from the fact that it also stays resident in memory and adds an ugly icon to the task bar, the function keys still don't work. I guess there's no way around the Hotkey Poller unless I find the newest ATI driver version before the Hotkey Poller was introduced and replace those old dll's manually with newer ones, but that would probably be overkill. For now I'll contact AMD and ask them about a way to deactivate the keyboard interception.

Anyway, thanks a lot and merry christmas