Function-F8 causes crazy mouse behavior - Lat D610

Dell Notebook System Software

The above is a previous version, the one released last week has a lot of files missing.

"...Notebook System Software (NSS) is a utility that provides critical updates and patches for your operating system. Install the NSS program to gain support for Dell 3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel Pentium-M processors, CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD drives, Infrared (IR) communications, and USB devices. NSS is necessary for correct operation of your Dell portable computer, including the Dell D/Bay, D/Dock, D/Port, and D/View family of docking devices. NSS automatically detects your computer and operating system and installs the updates appropriate for your configuration. ..."

Alps GlidePoint/StickPointer Driver

Also released last week and works great!

Enhancements:
-------------
- Adds the feature where the touchpad/stick is disabled when a USB mouse is plugged in. This feature is disabled by default but can be enabled via a checkbox on the Devices tab in the Touchpad. When a USB mouse is plugged in a pop up message informs the user that a USB mouse has been detected and that the touchpad/stick has been disabled. A red 'X' appears over the touchpad icon in the systray when it is disabled.

and one more:

Dell QuickSet

Release Date: 11/03/2005
Description: The Dell QuickSet application provides quick access to configuration settings for:
POWER: --------------- - Power management schemes - Battery resource information and health. -
The application also warns user when unsupported power-adapter/dock/battery scenarios are detected.
DISPLAY: ---------------- - Desktop font scaling - Internet Explorer Scaling -
Display brightness -
Presentation mode -

Display switching via Fn+F8

NETWORK/CONNECTIVITY: ---------------------------- -
Radio/Wireless activity - Location Profiler - Internal network card activity (depending on your system)-
The Internal Network Card will be deactivated when user goes to battery mode and the network cable is unplugged.
Inorder to activate it, reinsert AC power source. If you want to bypass the installation of this feature
run setup.exe with the param NO_NIC_PM (setup.exe -NO_NIC_PM) OTHER/SYSTEM SETTINGS: ---------------------------- -
Volume status - Hotkey hibernate - MediaDirect (on certain systems)

Message Edited by Art on 01-24-2006 01:03 AM

Thanks for the reply Art, I have installed all three of the programs you listed, unfortunately I still can't do the switching via Fn-F8 without the same bug popping up.

I wasn't sure if I was right about the bug coming up when I switched through the Display Control Panel, and in fact, I can use that without restarting to go to my external LCD.

So, the issue remains only when I hit the Fn-F8 combo.

You're not alone. This same problem hit me last week. I had previously used Fn-F8 successfully with my D610 and a plasma TV. Last week, I plugged into a projector for a presentation, pressed Fn-F8, and my font sizes went nuts. Now I have the same problem on the plasma, as well as an LCD display.

I have confirmed that I can switch successfully by using QuickSet, just not Fn-F8. Also, I *think* the last time I successfully used Fn-F8 was before I installed the latest version of QuickSet.

Who wants to bet that the new version of QuickSet introduced the bug?

That's outstanding detective work :)

I would be willing to bet that, but how can I roll back to a much older version of quickset?

That's one thing I tried upgrading when this happened to me, but I also got my laptop in October, so I probably had a QuickSet version no older than 5 months old (from now).

If I can roll back to something a year ago, I'd gladly do it, as I don't use its features anyway.

Well unfortunately, I never used Fn-F8 until I got my monitor, which was after I got my wireless mouse and keyboard (MS Natural Wireless Desktop), so I can't be sure which program/drivers may have done it.

I suppose I could do a lot of uninstalls and see if I can use Fn-F8 with quickset and my mouse drivers uninstalled.

Just to make sure we're covering everything, are you running a wireless mouse or a PC sound card? I also installed a Logitech V200 Cordless Mouse and a Creative Audigy 2 sound card last month. I can easily see the Logitech SetPoint drivers being a suspect...

Dell QuickSet, v.3.6.0, A19
Release Date: 02/03/2005
Description: The Dell QuickSet application provides quick access to configuration settings

The site linked above contains the three previous (to first link)
versions. :)

You know what, I just finished restarting my computer no more than 2 minutes before I got notified of your post, and I had just uninstalled Intellitype to find my Fn-F8 working.

I can put my QuickSet back on now (despite never using it), and figure out what to do about Intellitype, maybe an older version of that?

Hey, cheese. It's Microsoft Intellitype. I just spent a delightful evening uninstalling drivers. Uninstalling Intellitype made the problem disappear. As soon as I stumbled across this, I started combing through the MS product support newsgroups, and found a couple other people reporting the same problem.

See if you can get the functions you need without reinstalling Intellitrouble. Before I installed this latest version to support a new MS keyboard, I was experiencing some even wackier problems that I couldn't account for at the time. A posting over in the MS newsgroups now makes me think that was an Intellitrouble problem, too.