[RESOLVED] Generic Internet/multimedia keyboard driver wanted

I've been told by Hewlett-Packard, which is unable to tell me how to configure their own keyboard driver (for an HP Pavilion 8655C), that replacing their keyboard driver with a generic one should do the trick.

One slight problem: I've been searching, and I can't find any.

The only drivers I've found are listed by company. Since one company's Internet/multimedia keyboard driver probably won't work for another, this isn't helpful. Unless a particular driver can be reconfigured to work with other keyboards, I'll need some more help. Does anyone have a thought here?

I have used the Microsoft Internet keyboard driver on a HP and it worked fine.


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An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Well, after an amazingly drawn-out 18MB download of Microsoft's Intellitype Pro keyboard driver software (the only Microsoft Internet keyboard driver I could find), I discovered that this software doesn't do the job with an HP keyboard. What a horrific waste of time.

Most of the Internet and multimedia keys are either ignored or recognized differently, and there is no option to reconfigure which key goes with which shortcut. Indeed, there are fewer things to configure in the Microsoft software than in the lousy HP driver I'm trying to replace. (To Microsoft's credit, more of the things you can configure actually work the way they're set up.)

This driver was a dismal failure; perhaps I wasn't clear. I need a driver that *works* with the HP keyboard; as in, it recognizes the same extended keys or can be reprogrammed to do so.

Hi,
This is the driver that I had to download for my Pavilion 7360...it works great for me. I know it is a different model number but it just might work for you. Once you open the page below, just click on keyboard...it will download for you...and just follow the bouncing ball.
Good luck!
DonJ

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindexes/pv7360_swen.html

Hi,
The link below is the home page for your model number with HP...you can download all of your BIOS upgrades, etc.
Hope this helps you out.
DonJ
http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindex...8858_swen.html

Actually that doesn't help, although I appreciate the thought. My problem is that I have the correct HP driver, but I can't configure it and they are bound by a contract not to tell me how I can change certain settings that should be user-selectable. Therefore I have to use a non-HP driver, a generic or HP-compatible, in order to get around the idiotic contract problem.

So you see, getting a different HP driver won't help. It has to be an HP-compatible.

Hi again,
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem. Once you download the file, you have to execute that file and it will automatically load up for you...you may have to reboot for the changes to take effect. After that, it comes with a good Help file to explain how to configure the shortcut keys on your Multimedia Keyboard. It works great for me.
Click on the link below and it explains the file for you.
Good Luck!
DonJ

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/persona...82xxa.exe.html

Yep, you are misunderstanding the problem, but thanks for trying.

I don't need the HP driver. I already *have* the HP driver. A new, different, or updated HP driver won't help me. I need a driver made by somebody other than Hewlett-Packard that will still be compatible with their keyboard. The official driver can't be fully configured due to some assinine contract stipulations between HP and some other entity. (I seek to configure not just the shortcut buttons but the Internet and multimedia keys as well.) I have been told by HP to seek out a generic driver, which will fix the problem.

OK, I give up. If you won't even try to download the file, there's nothing anybody can do for you.
Adios.

Donj, it doesn't matter if I download it or not. It's an HP driver, so it's no good to me; get it? This is what I've been saying all along: An HP driver will have exactly the same contract issues and exactly the same problems. If I downloaded the driver you recommend, one of two things would happen: It either wouldn't be compatible with my keyboard, or it would be compatible but not fully configurable due to the same HP contract issue I mentioned. Neither one would solve my problem.

My existing driver already works as HP wants it to work. It's not broken or in need of an update. It is, however, in need of replacement since the functionality that I need is not available through any of the HP drivers. HP has made it clear to me that they DO NOT have a driver to solve my problem. Such functionality could be available, but isn't due to an agreement they've made with someone else.

I absolutely can't use a Hewlett-Packard driver to solve this problem--and I said so three times. The only solution to my problem lies with choosing a driver from another company, because the problem is with HP itself, not the software. I MUST use a generic or HP-compatible driver, but NOT from Hewlett-Packard.

This isn't like Eagle PC Diagnostech's recommendation of the Microsoft driver, where at least there was hope. You've given me a "solution" I've already said is the exact opposite of what I need. I need a non-HP driver that works with an HP keyboard. Thinking Diagnostech's advice might help, I underwent a long download only to discover the driver didn't work for me; I'd be likely to do it again if someone could direct me toward another non-HP driver that might do the trick. But why should I waste my time downloading a driver I know with absolute certainty won't solve my problem?

Hey, I'm not trying to be a smart *ss. HP's file is not very large...only about 1.6MB...not 16 or 18MB. It shouldn't take very long to download. And if it doesn't work, then you're not any worse off. But you just might be pleasantly surprised.
I understand that HP says that it won't work. But I can guarantee you that getting a "generic" driver won't work either. I'm just saying that I have done this on several different Pavilions that I have updated to Win98 without any problems.
I also can't understand the "contract issues" that you're talking about. I've never come up against that. I do know that HP's tech support can be less that satisfactory, tho. They may have just been blowing you off.

Funny you should mention HP tech support; I got into this mess because of a long struggle with them. But anyway, here's the deal: I can't change the program that runs when I hit the connect button or other Internet buttons; it tries to run AOL. HP says there's a contract requiring it to work this way. Sounds stupid but that seems to be the way it is. Clearly another HP driver will have that same problem.

The way I figure it, a generic driver (if one exists) will be more or less just a shortcut engine. All such a driver has to do is listen for extended keys, launch programs or Web pages, and handle tasks like connecting to or disconnecting from the Internet, plus light any LED present like the one on my keyboard. That's fairly standard stuff, or should be; all it requires is the ability to change the key mappings, to be able to catch extended keys it might not have been designed for but are nevertheless similar.

An HP driver, on the other hand, will be bound by the same conditions as the one I've already got. So there's absolutely no way it could help, even if it works with my keyboard as far as recognizing all the right keys.

So there it is: I need to either find a generic driver with advanced configuration options, or a different company's driver that can be adapted to work with the HP.

So I take it you still haven't tried to download the file from HP. It comes with a Help file to tell you how to configure all of your Multimedia shortcut keys and/or Internet keys...it doesn't have to start with AOL. Again, I've done it with success and I don't even use AOL. With all of the messages that you've written, you could have downloaded the file many times over and have an answer one way or the other.