Fn HotKey and ALS sensor driver for Asus Notebooks

[EMlyDinEsH]

Hello everyone,

This is an ACPI driver to control the Fn Keys and ALS sensor found in Asus Notebooks, developed by me based on the ideas from linux asus wmi, hokoffy (insanelymac user) WMI controller source and my own research on ACPI and OS X API. Also I've introduced many new features with customizations along the way and improved several things. Some of the Fn keys require DSDT patches in order to work.
 
The Fn keys which my driver controls are:
Fn +

F3 Does OS X function (Misson control/Dashboard)/Keyboard Backlight Down (If supports)
F4 Does OS X function (Launchpad/Desktop)/ Keyboard Backlight Up (If supports)
F5 Brightness Down
F6 Brightness Up
F7 Screen Backlight On/Off (Soft mode)
F8 Video Mirror
F9 Touchpad (only if you use my Smart Touchpad driver)
F10 Mute
F11 Volume Down
F12 Volume Up
C - Rewind
V - Fast
A - Toggles ALS Sensor on/off (If supports)
Asus Instant Key - Does OS X function (Launchpad) (If supports)
Space - Play/Pause
Left Arrow - Previous
Down Arrow - Play/Pause
Right Arrow - Next
Up Arrow - Toggles Media Functions Fast/Rewind and Prev/Next between C,V & Left, Right Arrows and 
           Toggles OSX Functions for F3, F4
           Toggles Finer and Normal Brightness, Volume control

Supported Functions by F3, F4 and Asus Instant keys are:
Edit the plist  entries "F3KeyAction" and "F4KeyAction" with the below values to assign different functions
 

0 - Default Functions
1 - Launchpad
2 - Misson control
3 - Dashboard
4 - Desktop
5 - Application window 
6 - Eject
 
For Notebooks with compact Keyboard (without Numpad):
 Fn +

C  - Previous
V  - Next
Space - Play/Pause 

 
CONFIG DEFAULT PREFERENCES:
Edit the file "info.plist" file located inside my kext "AsusNBFnKeys.kext/Contents/"
 
Look for the secton "IOKitPersonalities->AsusNBFnKeys->Preferences" to change Fn key controls

• HasMediaFnKeys - Notebook has multi media fn keys Play/Pause, Next, Previous? 
• SoftDisplayBacklightOff -  Enable backlight on/off in soft mode? Useful it native backlight control is not working.
• DimBacklightOnAC/DC -  Enable brightness pop up on AC/DC to notify? Useful for AC/DC status.
• MediaKeysDoFastRewind -  Enable Media keys should do fast/rewind instead next/previous?
• FingerBrighntessControl -  Enable finer brightness control which provides more steps?
• FinerVolumeControl -  Enable finer volume control which provides more steps?
• DimBrightnessByLevels - 0 - 15, Default value is 3.
• KBackLightlvlAtBoot - 0-3 / 0-15
• F3KeyFunction - 0 - 6
• F4KeyFunction - 0 - 6
• InstantKeyFunction - 0 - 6
• IdleKBacklightAutoOff -  Enable idle auto keyboard backlight off?
• IdleKBacklightAutoOffTimeout - Default 10000 ms, idle timeout value.

 

Look for the secton "IOKitPersonalities->AsusNBFnKeys->Preferences->ConfigForALS" to change ALS sensor controls

• EnableALSLogs - Enable logging to see values it reports?
• DisableOnAC - Disable ALS on AC?
• DisableOnFnControl -  Disable Auto backlight when Fn key used to manually control?
• EnableAtBoot - Enable ALS sensor at boot?
• SamplesToProcess - Number of samples used to control backlight in background.
• TimerInterval - Interval used for checking the ALS in background.
• LevelxBrightness - Brightness level for the level 'x'. There are 5 levels for x = 1 - 5.
• LevelxRangeStart - ALS range start value for the level 'x'.
• LevelxRangeEnd - ALS range end value for the level 'x'.

 

Note:

For some dsdt files, you need to replace "\_SB.ATKD.IANE (0xXX)" with "Notify (ATKD, 0xXX)".

Use the attached patches in DSDT Editor app to patch your DSDT only if there is something not working.
 
Must Needed patches:
Brightness Fn keys patch:
Modify the method _Q0E and _Q0F in DSDT for the ATKP conditional clause code:

      Method (_Q0E, 0, NotSerialized)  
        {
            If (ATKP)
            {
                \_SB.ATKD.IANE (0x20)
            }
        }
        Method (_Q0F, 0, NotSerialized) 
        {
            If (ATKP)
            {
                \_SB.ATKD.IANE (0x10)
            }
        }

Keyboard backlight patch:

Use the dsdt patch and config to plist from this link manually or attached patch file: https://osxlatitude.com/index.php?/topic/5966-details-about-the-elan-touchpad-features/&do=findComment&comment=32299
 
ALS sensor patch:
Use the dsdt patch attached.
 
 
Supports: Mac OSX 10.7 or greater
 
How to install:
1) Remove my kext from System (Optional).
2) Install my kext using your favorite kext installers.
 

For support just PM me (post in this thread too) in forums or send a mail to [email protected]

 
Change Log
 

Update v2.6 Released

• Major code optimizations
• Some improvements, bug fixes and optimizations

Update v2.5.5

• Improved ALS
• Some improvements, bug fixes and optimizations

Update v2.5

• Reworked ALS sensor driver integration
• Updated DSDT patches
• Several improvements, bug fixes and optimizations

Update v2.4

• Fixed "GPU not found" bug in some systems
• Fixed a bug in keyboard backlight read for some systems
• Added auto detection of Nvidia GPU (Removed DisplayUsesNvidiaGPU option in plist)
• Added Finer controls for brightness and Volume to get more steps of brightness/volume levels (Can be enabled/disables in plist) like Shift + Option does.
• Minor bug fixes and optimizations

Update v2.3.5

• Reworked on some sections for improvements
• Added new _HID value "PnP0C14" found in new Notebooks DSDT to load my kext
• Removed debug logs which was on before
• Some bug fixes and optimizations

Update v2.3

• Added support for old Asus models.
• Added support to auto detect the Keyboard backlight and ALS sensor support from DSDT.
• Added support for Asus Instant key found in some models.
• Added Eject function for F3, F4 and Instant key customization.
• Some bug fixes
• Optimized code 

Update v2.2

• Fixed ALS sensor screen backlight changes not working issue
• Fixed Media Next and Previous key press to work everywhere
• Added NVRAM support for keyboard backlight levels (need to use new DSDT patch)
• Added 16 Levels support for keyboard backlight (need to use new DSDT patch)
• Added idle auto off support for keyboard backlight (need to use new DSDT patch)
• Added automatic detection of my asus backlight driver use(removed plist option)
• Updated code to work with new version of my AsusBacklight driver
• Minor bug fixes
• Optimized code 

Update v2.0

• Enabled F3 and F4 keys to OSX functions which was not used in Full sized keyboard 
• Integrated two kexts used in previous versions into a Single kext 
• Assigned Fast, Rewind and Play functions to C, V and Space keys which was not used before in Full sized keyboard
• Assigned Up Arrow to toggle the actions of media keys and F3,F4
• Optimizations to the code for some improvements
• Bug fixes 

Update v1.7.2

• Fixed some bugs introduced in v1.7 which made kext not working
• Added screen backlight on/off for Fn + F7 for those whose backlight is not working (it is done in soft mode, but you can use attached patch for hard wired backlight control in zenbooks, credits: qwerty12)
• Improved support for ALS sensor of Zenbooks which is reported to be working well

Update v1.6

• Added support for the Fn key Fn+ F9 to enable/disable touchpad with my Elan touchpad driver
• Added support for Asus Backlight driver to match Apple brightness bezel values to Asus brightness levels
• Added support for old Asus notebooks with different _UID for ATKD device in dsdt (still in progress so need testers with _UID ASUSxxxx in dsdt)
• Added experimental support for ALS sensor in new Zenbooks (still in testing phase so it won't work for now)

Update v1.4.1(Remove AsusNBWMI kext before installing this)

• Renamed the kext name from AsusNBWMI to more sensible name "AsusNBFnKeys" and did some code changes for future improvements

Update: v1.4

• Integrated both compact keyboard version and normal version in single kext
• Added plist options to choose keyboard backlight at boot and map media buttons to c,v and space keys
• Optimized code

Hoping this helps for many.  
 

CREDITS: Hotkoffy (InsanelyMac) for his WMI source and to Linux OS

 
PS: I've worked very hard in this and need your support , so I request you to consider a small donation if possible which helps me and allows to spend some time on this for future updates.
 
Paypal:


Thanks for the support.

AsusNBFnKeys_v1.4.1.kext.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v1.6.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v1.7.2.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.0.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.2_Final.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.3.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.3.5.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.4_Final.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.5_Final.zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.5.5.zip

Asus DSDT patches (Update2).zip

AsusNBFnKeys_v2.6.zip

[linarense]

Thanks, I use them on my Asus K55VM with Moutain Lion and work perfectly.

[resheph]

This kext does not completely seem to work for the UX31A. I have checked the DSDT and it seems like the _UID=ATK and _HID=PNP0c14 however only the volume keys seem to work. The fn key functions are mapped exactly like what you have above. I have attached the DSDT. I'd donate man! Good work

[EMlyDinEsH]

This kext does not completely seem to work for the UX31A. I have checked the DSDT and it seems like the _UID=ATK and _HID=PNP0c14 however only the volume keys seem to work. The fn key functions are mapped exactly like what you have above. I have attached the DSDT. I'd donate man! Good work

 

Send me files to this mail:[email protected] and also tell me what are the keys you have.

[snowdude]

Send me files to this mail:[email protected] and also tell me what are the keys you have.

 

Im having the same problem with the UX31A fn keys only the volume keys work. I updloaded my DSDT already in the DSDT section. Should I send it to this address instead?

[EMlyDinEsH]

Im having the same problem with the UX31A fn keys only the volume keys work. I updloaded my DSDT already in the DSDT section. Should I send it to this address instead?

 

WIthout my driver what keys working and with mine what are working?

[snowdude]

Without your diver none were working. With your driver only volume keys. Thanks for the reply

[Yung Fatso Chow]

If you ever update this, please note that according to ACPI spec, the HID including PNP device names should be in capitals.  E.g. "PNP0c14" = "PNP0C14"

 

So maybe make it case-insensitive?

[EMlyDinEsH]

If you ever update this, please note that according to ACPI spec, the HID including PNP device names should be in capitals.  E.g. "PNP0c14" = "PNP0C14"

 

So maybe make it case-insensitive?

 

Yes, but with the extracted and untouched dsdt we will find this untill we compile it for errors. That's why I meant this. I'll correct this with explanation.

[Yung Fatso Chow]

Yes, but with the extracted and untouched dsdt we will find this untill we compile it for errors. That's why I meant this. I'll correct this with explanation.

I was suggesting that you could just code it so that it would be case-insensitive.  From even my novice view/experience, there are minor errors throughout the ASUS Zenbook (and maybe other models') DSDTs, and I doubt they are going to fix it.

 

But I figured most people would have corrected their DSDT anyway because I don't know of any Asus laptops that work OOTB without some DSDT changes  

 

I'm installing it now and will let you know what works, what doesn't in a few!

 

EDIT (after install with Kext Wizard and rebuilt cache/permissions, then reboot):

Fn+F1: SleepFn+F2: WiFi/BT Fn+F7: BacklightFn+F8: Screen goes dark, then comes back onScroll Lock (external keyboard) (Fn irrelevant): Brightness Down (16 Values) With Animation Pause/Break (Fn irrelevant): Brightness Up (16 Values) With Animation

This seems to what would happen with or without the kext.  I checked with terminal:

kextstat | grep Asus

and did not see it listed/loaded.

 

Could it be because I'm using these Voodoo PS2 kexts? 

 

   33    0 0xffffff7f81ef2000 0x3000     0x3000     com.yourcompany.driver.AppleACPIPS2Nub (1.0.0d1) <9 7 5 4 3 1>

   39    2 0xffffff7f80804000 0x11000    0x11000    org.voodoo.driver.PS2Controller (1.1.0) <9 7 5 4 3 1>

   58    0 0xffffff7f8081b000 0x3000     0x3000     org.voodoo.driver.PS2Keyboard (1.1.0) <39 34 7 6 5 4 3 1>

   59    0 0xffffff7f80815000 0x3000     0x3000     org.voodoo.driver.PS2Mouse (1.2.0) <39 34 7 6 5 4 3 1>

 

If so, what should I replace them with?

 

My DSDT (again, I'm using the one patched for UX31A, where they added stuff to try and make keyboard work without any additional kexts) is enclosed.

DSDT-cyf.aml.zip