Where the heck is the WKB1 Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Driver?

[CJSnet]

Typical Sony confusing products.

I purchased the VGP-WKB1 Wireless Mouse/Keyboard combo as seen here:
http://tinyurl.com/5lmmp

The specs on the box say it will work with all Sony VAIO laptops/desktops with XP pre-installed, except the LX series. That's fine, I have the VGN-FE790 laptop bought this January.

The instructions say that when you connect the RF Receiver, the system will install the driver.

No, it won't! It doesn't recognise the driver, no disc or instructions about a disc are included, and the driver is not anywhere on Sony's driver download website.

If anyone can unravel the mystery of what every other manufacturer manages to make completely straightforward that would be much appreciated!

[Thalamus.]

Hi CJSnet,

Your Vaio FE790, according to the Sony style link you posted, is not listed as being compatible with the wireless keyboard/mouse..


Compatible Models
# PCG-K45
# VGC-RA940GN3
# VGC-RA940GN4
# VGC-RB40
# VGC-RB41P - Clearance
# VGC-RB42G
# VGC-RB43
# VGC-RB44G
# VGC-RB50
# VGC-RB51P
# VGC-RB52
# VGC-RB53
# VGC-RB54G
# VGC-RB60G
# VGC-RB60GKIT2test
# VGC-RB62G
# VGC-RB64G
# VGN-A60091
# VGN-A690
# VGN-A790
# VGN-AX570G
# VGN-B100B05
# VGN-B100B07
# VGN-FE570G
# VGN-FS500P12
# VGN-FS520B
# VGN-FS530B
# VGN-FS540P
# VGN-FS550
# VGN-FS570
# VGN-FS625B/W
# VGN-FS630/W
# VGN-FS635B/W
# VGN-FS640/W
# VGN-FS645P/H
# VGN-FS660/W
# VGN-FS675P/H
# VGN-FS690
# VGN-FS730/W
# VGN-FS740/W
# VGN-FS742/W
# VGN-FS745P/H
# VGN-FS750P/W
# VGN-FS775P/H
# VGN-FS780/W
# VGN-FS790
# VGN-FS7901
# VGN-FS840/W
# VGN-S480
# VGN-S550P/S
# VGN-S560P/B
# VGN-S570P/S
# VGN-S580
# VGN-T240P/L
# VGN-T250/L
# VGN-T250P/L
# VGN-T250P/S
# VGN-T260P/L
# VGN-T270P/L
# VGN-T340P/L
# VGN-T350/L
# VGN-T350P/L
# VGN-T350P/S
# VGN-T350P/T
# VGN-T360P/L
# VGN-T370P/L
# VGN-TX610P/B
# VGN-TX630P/B
# VGN-TX650P/B
# VGN-TX670P/B
# VGN-TX670P/W
# VGN-U750P

[Blencogo]

Hi CJSnet,

It should be Plug-n-Play - no drivers required. There is a USB mouse driver for your model on the US site but I would think this is for a normal USB mouse and I would expect your Vaio to already have it installed. You are using XP not Vista?

Have a look here SONY USA DOWNLOADS

Don't know much about the US models but I seem to remember something about there being a switch to turn on the keyboard and mouse when using the WKB1 which is located on the front left side of the keyboard.

[CJSnet]

Hi, yes it is supposedly a generic plug-n-play USB device and should work on any XP machine, not just Sony's. Sorry but the compatible hardware list on the Sony site is simply out of date.

The box itself says, "For use with: Sony VAIO computers with Windows XP Pro & Home preinstalled (as of October 2004) *Excluding the PCV-LX Series".

Can anyone point me manually to what driver I should point the XP device manager to? It can't find it automatically, and I'm not sure what category RF Receiver is.

The Sony downloads website you refered me to is no good sadly, as they don't even have the VGP-WKB1 listed! Sony have done nothing but disappoint me - the laptop had about 8 faults the support service sucks big time, and they can't even include a driver CD or proper instructions! I hope they learn some lessons when they see customer numbers falling.

[Blencogo]

I have the same keyboard and mouse on my desktop Vaio but as it is quite old the buttons may be in different places.

It connects as a Human Interface Device. In Device Manager it appears as a two "HID Keyboard Device"s under Keyboards and one "HID Compliant Mouse" under Mice.

The drivers in use are the generic XP drivers published in 2001 - there are no special drivers.

This is how I set mine up - it is over a year ago, so my memory is dim !!

1. Plug in the Receiver to a USB port BEFORE booting.
2. Boot up the Vaio.
3. Turn on the Keyboard switch and check that the battery icon appears in the LCD Panel - if it doesn't either it is not switched on or the batteries are dead.
4. On the bottom of the Receiver is a small round button and on the bottom of the keyboard (on mine it is directly under the LCD Panel) is a small square button. Hold BOTH of these down to connect and match the frequencies.
5. Similarly, on the bottom of the mouse is a small round button. Turn the mouse on (you should see the red laser light or your batteries are dead) and press this button and the button on the Reciever together to connect.

If this doesn't work, I guess the equipment is faulty.

[Blencogo]

I've just checked the drivers used by this keyboard and mouse. Check that you have them installed in your C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS directory:

KBDCLASS.SYS
KBDHID.SYS
MOUCLASS.SYS
MOUHID.SYS

Also check in Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services that the following Services are Running and set to Automatic:

RPC (Remote Procedure Call)
HID Input Service

Double-click on the HID Input Service and check it is set to run as a Local User Account under the 'Log On' tab.

If you have done all this and it still doesn't run then either your WKB1 is faulty or your USB Port is faulty.

[CJSnet]

Many thanks for that.

For some reason just KBDHID.SYS is missing. Are you able to attach it here for me, or if not then to email it to thesimpsonet-sony@spamarrestTEETH.com? (Remove TEETH.) [Edit: Have now found it to no avail - see below]

Maybe that will help, although either way Windows is still falling at the first hurdle which is detecting the "RF Receiver" device.

Thanks guys.

[CJSnet]

The plot thickens... I located the kbdhid.sys file on the Net, and have followed your instructions exactly, booting the machine with it connected.

At boot it still tries to find drivers for "RF Receiver". Can you check whether, as well as the HID devices in device manager, you also have an RF Receiver driver installed under your USB port connection?

I can't see how the device could be faulty, if it is correctly prompting XP to install itself, it just seems for some reason the driver is not preinstalled on my XP Home.

I have tried a sfc /scannow to no avail.

Thanks in advance for anyone able to get me this driver.

[Blencogo]

I have already replied to this once - but the post seems to have disappeared. Either I didn't post it properly or someone else will have an answer they can't understand????

Yes, I do have a "USB Composite Device" showing in Device manager as installed at 'Location 0'.

It uses another generic XP driver - USBCCGP.SYS - download HERE

You did check that HID Input Service is running?

[CJSnet]

The service was running, but I have now solved the problem another way.

Sony email support were worse than useless at first. They told me to establish a Bluetooth connection (!) and all sorts of things.

Then I phoned them and 40 minutes later I have everything working. Here's how:

Show hidden files
Instead of letting Windows auto-install the driver, specify the location c:\windows\inf and let it manually search
It does this 5 times, finding USB Composite Device (as you rightly say), then the HID keyboard & mouse.

Sorted!

Just one question though - what does the "light sensor" that is the entire face of the RF receiver actually do? I mean, it's not solar powered, and it communicates using Radio Frequency, so why a light sensor?

Thanks for all your help.