Revised post about touch pad mouse not working on FE11S

[speedoman]

Hi, I’ve got the SONY VAIO VGN-FE11S, the touch pad mouse has stopped working. The BUILT IN POINTING DEVICE is enabled in the VAIO CONTROL CENTRE and the laptop works fine with an external USB mouse.

I've carried out the following but without any success:

1 system restore going back 1 day

2 loaded safe mode from advanced boot options

3 loaded last known good configuration from advanced boot options

4 disk defrag / scan disk

5 Mice and other Pointing Devices in device manager is not listed, however if i connect an external USB mouse to the laptop then it is listed and when I double click Mice and other Pointing Devices it shows HID-compliant mouse.

In c:\drivers there is a folder called pointing, all the files are in BLUE text and there are 5 application files listed together with other files.

However I’ve downloaded the drivers package from the sony web site and again there is a folder called pointing, all the files are in BLACK text, but the files are the same together with the file dates and again there are 5 application files listed together with other files. Double clicked 4 files and nothing happens except one file, the uninstaller file, double click it and OK to uninstall, tells me the driver is uninstalled, check device manager and again just the HID-compliant mouse is showing for the external USB mouse.

Restart and in device manager the touch pad mouse is now showing, it says ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO with a quotation mark and yellow background, I go to update driver and choose windows to search for update, installs files to program files\apoint and then tells me to restart, after restarting ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO is missing from device manager, but program files\apoint is still their, also note the pointing folder which I downloaded from sony onto my desktop has now disappeared from my desktop but the original pointing folder in c:\drivers is still their

Carried out the above again, downloaded driver from sony web site, but this time removed the driver from uninstall in program files\apoint, restarted, chose a manual location to install from in device manager this time, restarted, ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO missing from device manager.

Just to confirm I have not touched the BLUE text files in c:\drivers (yet). I know reinstalling windows is a possibility that it may fix this problem but just wanted to hear any comments maybe from anyone first, thanks!!

ERROR CODE IN DEVICE MANAGER: Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

[Thalamus.]

Hi Speedoman,

Welcome to Club Vaio..

Have you compressed the Pointing driver folder..?

To check this go to C:\Drivers, right-click the Pointing folder and then click Properties.
In the Pointing Properties window select General tab and click Advanced.

If there is tick in compress contents to save disk space Remove the tick and then click OK.
In Confirm Attribute Changes, click the option you want and click OK.

Hopefully the files in c:\drivers\pointing should now be black text..

If not delete the pointing folder and replace with the pointing drivers that you downloaded from sony web site..

Then Goto Device Manager, double click Mouse and Other Pointing Devices.

Then right click once on HID compliant mouse and select properties.

Select the 'Driver' tab and click on Update driver.

A new Hardware Update Window will appear, select Install from a list or specific location (advanced) and click next

The window now changes select 'Don't search I will choose the driver to install' and click next.

If 'Alps Pointing-device' (possibly Alps Pointing-device for Vaio) appears in the new window, select it and click next.. (if the 'Alps Pointing-device' does not appear in the list remove the tick from 'Show Compatible Hardware' and select Alps Electric from the Manufacturer column then 'Alps Pointing-device' (possibly Alps Pointing-device for Vaio) from the model column and then click next.

Wait for the driver to install then click Finish, a System Settings Change window should now appear prompting you to Restart your Computer and click Yes to restart.....smile

[speedoman]

hi thalamus

thanks for your reply and for the advice, not good news i'm afraid!

1 their was no tick in compress contents in the pointing folder with the blue text

2 followed your steps in moving the downloaded driver from sony and moving it to c:\drivers, you mentioned right clicking on HID-compliant mouse in device manager but when i got to the stage about looking for Alps Electric from the Manufacturer list it wasn't their

so i right clicked on ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO in device manager instead which was showing a quotation mark and yellow background and followed your instructions again from their, i didn't have to go to the manufacturers list because Alps Pointing-device and Alps Pointing-device for Vaio were BOTH listed in that window box, but after restarting touch pad still not working, ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO not showing again in device manager and program files\apoint is still their, obviously i can get the ALPS POINTING DEVICE FOR VAIO with a quotation mark and yellow background back into device manger as i mentioned in my post,

i did update my post this afternoon with the following, not sure if you saw this or if it means anything to you..........

ERROR CODE IN DEVICE MANAGER: Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

anyway thanks for trying and if you think of anything else, will be happy to try anything

thanks again, doron

[Thalamus.]

Hi Speedoman,

Delete and replace the Alps drivers again in C:\Drivers\Pointing, then go to Start > Run and type devmgmt.msc..

In Mouse & Other Pointing Devices remove all the mouse entries and then restart your Vaio, hopefully your touchpad should re-install with the new drivers..

[Blencogo]

Hi Speedoman,

If all else fails you can try the old trusted Code 39 error fix.

I have absolutely no idea if it will work for your touchpad - it is usually used when the correct drivers will not load for a DVD/CD-ROM drive. It is a complete shot in the dark. However, I don't think it can do any harm and is worth a try if you get stuck for a new idea!!!

1.Click Start > Run and type: REGEDIT , and hit enter.
2. Navigate to –

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

click on this and locate UpperFilters in the righ-hand window, (if it exists) right click on this and select Delete and then OK.
3. Under the same Registry Key locate LowerFilters , (if it exists) right click on this and select Delete and then OK.
4. Quit Registry Editor and re-boot the computer, new registry values will be created that will hopefully cure the problem.

[speedoman]

hi thalamus, thanks, i do smile each time i restart the pc! but no joy again, only device under mouse and other pointing devices at that time was the HID compliant mouse which i right clicked and uninstalled then restarted, before booting i unplugged the USB Mouse just to see if that made any difference

just a guess but could it be anything also to do with the pointing device utility in the vaio control centre, i do check it often and its always enabled (ticked)

[speedoman]

hi, no, still not working, both files were deleted!!

[rich912]

This, I’m afraid to say, is looking like a hardware problem. If the touchpad is not recognised in Device Manager (in any shape or form) there is little that can be done with uninstalling/reinstalling drivers

[speedoman]

Hi Rich

Thank you for your reply and information!

I'm borrowing a spare SATA hard drive on friday, just on the off chance i'm going to install windows on that hard drive and see if the touch pad then works, but i won't hold up my hopes!!!

I do build my own desktop computers and from previous experience i know when the mouse has stopped working and the problem is not software related, it has been the motherboard at fault!

I have spoke to Sony support on 0870 2402408 and they do not supply just parts, only supply and fit, do you by any chance know of any parts suppliers for this laptop in the UK or abroad?

Not sure if i'm asking the right person, but would you say its the touch pad at fault or the motherboard or something else?

Thanks for any info!!!! Regards Doron

[rich912]

Hi Doron,

…but would you say its the touch pad at fault or the motherboard or something else?

Difficult to say but the usual cause is cabling between the hardware and motherboard. It could just be a bad connection or a faulty cable. Assuming that you are out of the warranty period you could try opening the unit and checking the connections are secure.

The usual source of parts is Nexttronics but they are US based and don’t list your model. I am informed that support will bend the rules and supply of parts, depending on the difficulty of fitting – tell them you are a computer tech with years of experience in repair of Sony notebooks