About Alps drivers for VPCF13 Z1E/B

[Fender67]

Hi,

I have a VPC F13Z1E/B and when I shutdown or restart my laptop, I see a dimmed screen mentionning "Waiting for background programs to close" but no program is listed so I guess it's a service that hungs for a few secs.

I checked the Event Viewer and the culprit seems to be Alps drivers (touchpad).

Since Sony never updated those drivers, I'd like to know if there are some new drivers and where to download.

My OS is W7 HP 64-bit.

Also, I checked the preinstalled drivers section for my model and there are 2 versions, one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit.

Which version am I running? 32 or 64 bit?

I found some new Alps drivers from ftp vaio-link. Are they compatible with my model?

Thanks in advance for any help.

P.S. The approach to change the registry parameter "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" from the default value of 12000 to a higher value,in order to accomodate the Windows shutdown process, doesn't work in W7, it's a known issue, acknowledged from MS, (KB 2549760), so updating Alps drivers for my VAIO seems for the moment the only solution.

Message was edited by: Fender67

[rich912]

Hi

To determine which driver is installed open Control Center > Device Manager > expand Mice and other pointing devices > Right click the Alps Pointing device > Select Properties > Click the driver tab.

If you have the 64Bit version installed it should be Version 7.105.529.104, the 32Bit version is 7.105.529.105.
If it is the correct version then try uninstalling and reinstalling.

Rich

[Fender67]

Hi Rich912,

Thank you for your reply.

Before writing my post, I already uninstalled and reinstalled at least 3 times. No joy.

I found this driver: ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/VAIO/ORIGINAL/ALPS_TOUCHPAD_DRIVER_7.107.505.102.ZIP

Do you have any idea if this could work?

Also, do I need, in case that you confirm that this driver could work, to uninstall the previous driver or install over the top?

Thank you for your assistance.

Just FYI, in Event Viewer logs, section Performance, I often get an Event 203, where Windows describe that Alps drivers is slowing the shutdown process.

Regards,

[rich912]

Hi Fender67,

That is obviously a more recent driver than the one installed and seems to have both 64Bit and 32Bit support.

I have no idea whether it will install on your machine or indeed whether it will cure the problem but you have nothing to lose in trying.

I personally would first uninstall the existing driver but this may not be necessary.

If that fails to work there are other drivers that may, including 7.106.529.210 that can be downloaded from the Support site for the VPCSA2C5E model.

Rich

[Fender67]

Hi Rich912,

I also found that driver, plus an update, which fix an issue with tap, (see under updates for that model).http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCEE3E0E_WI/downloads/Alps_Touchpad_Driver_7.107.505.102_5...

Since it is a 64-bit driver, I will give it try and report back.

I will also try the driver that you proposed.

If both do not work, how could I revert back to the originally shiped driver?

Redownload it from the Sony preinstalled drivers for my model section or what??

Thank you again for your advice.

Very best regards,

[rich912]

Hi Fender67,

You can always revert to the original driver by downloading/installing this from the Support site.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCF13Z1E_B/updates

If you choose to install any new driver over the top of existing you will also have the option to roll back the driver in Device Manager.

Rich