SOLVED: Black Button Can be programmed in Win7/64

[hellosailor]

I've seen dead threads referring to putting a new value in the registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\TPHOTKEY\8001]
"File"="C:\\Program Files\Lenovo\SimpleTap\SimpleTap.exe"

Adding "8001" (which does not exist here) under the TPHOTKEY entry (which does)
and then adding the second line as a string value, I assume.

Either I'm not getting this, or it no longer works, because I tried doing that, using Notepad.exe instead of SimpleTap (which I have no need for) just as an experiment, and nothing happens after the button is pressed. Or should I be rebooting to make that take effect? Or missing something else?

There's just this nice little black button, and I'd like to know how to tell the computer "When I press that button DO THIS" whatever that may be.

Anyone?

[RealBlackStuff]

Typo!
C:\\Program... should be C:\Program...

After entering the 8001 option, you need to Edit/New/String Value, with the name File.
When created you double-click it for entering the above C:\Program....

Whether that works (or not) I don't know.

[hellosailor]

Thanks. Not my typo--that's what I found elsewhere.

So I run regedit, select tphotkey, create a new KEY called 8001, then select 8001 and create a new value called FILE.

Then I select FILE, select MODIFY and enter the VALUE field with C:\windows\notepad.exe.

I'm still missing something here, blackbutton still says "Fooled ya!" when I press it.

[PowerTrader]

any updates on this? looking to get mine working on win 8.1

[UMPC2024]

@hellosailor:
I think everything above your second post is correct about

So I run regedit, select tphotkey, create a new KEY called 8001, then select 8001 and create a new value called FILE.

However, I believe the location of the NotePad program is C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe
Well at least that's where I found mine and you can check by searching for it in the Start Menu search (if you have that enabled), right-click and open file location, then left-click at the top address bar to see the address. I verified it on my other Windows 7 32-bit computer.
Capital W for Windows and then I believe you forgot the system32 (all lowercase). I just did it on my T430 running Windows 7 64-bit and it works fine. I can pull some screengrabs of my RegEdit if you'd like to see.

@PowerTrader:
Unfortunately it seems as if there are any tried and true solutions posted about Windows 8 (and I don't have a Win8 machine available to test on). This guy had a question about Windows 8 as well. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=113494
I'm monitoring this one for changes too just to see how the problem can be resolved. I think it's different for Windows 8 since it's a different NT built than Windows Vista/7.

In case anyone wants to follow my process of research to recreate this, I followed some of these forum links in this order
1. http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... e-key.html
2. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=49958
3. http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... rd-ie.html
All of the subsequent links can all be found from 1 anyways, but I'm just listing them here for convenience since there's multiple other links.

Also, there's also many different requests for what the ThinkVantage key should do, besides just running an .exe program and I think some of the solutions worked in link #3. I haven't tried that out yet, but if anyone wants me to just to verify it works, I can do that.
Lastly, just to keep the terms straight, the ThinkVantage Key is the "black button" that was mentioned in the title and it's also sometimes called the Blue button for the older/classic ThinkPads.

[hellosailor]

UMPAC-
Doublechecked the program name/location. Doublechecked the 8001 and FILE entries. Unless it needs a reboot...Nada. It is still a good silicon life form. That is, a dead one.

It might work in Vista but unfortunately this is "Vista-dot-one" aka Win7/64.

[UMPC2024]

I forgot to say that no reboot is necessary in my previous post.
I also think that you didn't have the SimpleTap (or the default ThinkVantage program) installed, whereas I did. I just uninstalled that and that deleted my 8001 Key (the folder). That puts me where you were at originally, but I was able to get it working again by doing what was outlined in your original process of thinking.

Here's what I did.
1. Create 8001 Key
2. Create the string value, name it File (capital F, then the rest is lowercase)
3. Right-click, and then left-click Modify..., type in the location of NotePad, which again is C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe
4. OK out of it

And just to make sure, does your TPHOTKEY folder/Key have a string value named (Default), and is directed to C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY
?

[hellosailor]

Ah, now it works! The problem was with the instruction to set the string value of File as "File=C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY"

That's incorrect. The string value should be set to simply "C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY".

"Directed to" is also confusing, to the non-programmer in the US. We don't "direct" values, we direct traffic.(G)

THANK YOU. With your persistence & my recheck for literal instructions and errors...NOW IT WORKS!

So, just to recap all in one place:

REGEDIT:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
 IBM
  TPHOTKEY
    [add] 8001
        [add new KEY named] Default
            [set string value of Default to] C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY
        [add another new KEY named] File
            [set string value of File to] C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe

Which means around 4AM my battery will probably catch fire, I suppose I'd better start some off-site backups now.(VBG)

Admin edit: Used "pre" tags to format Regedit changes.

[UMPC2024]

No problem. I'm glad it works. And thank you for making another button useful because I didn't bother with this button until now.
Sorry about the confusion over my terminology, I wasn't exactly sure how to word it. And also, I'm not a programmer either.

Also, I wasn't exactly sure about "File=C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY" since it's using some of the notation for creating a batch file in NotePad to tell the registry to open another program, say Word or Internet Explorer, and to do so without errors. From those links from my first post, it actually appears that the double slashes \\ are required when using the batch file method, or so says everyone else in those resources.

I think it's interesting how you laid out the regedit. This is more what I had inline with mine, but if it works, then it works.

Commentary:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
IBM
TPHOTKEY
[add new Key named] 8001 (the Key is the folder)
[add new KEY named] Default
[set string value of Default to] C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY
I wasn't sure about this part since there was a (Default) string value already created when I created the 8001 Key. What I meant about the C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY was that it was for the Default string value in TPHOTKEY.
[add another new KEY string value named] File
[set string value of File to] C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe

So finally, in a more clean version
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
IBM
TPHOTKEY check to see if (Default) string value is set to C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY
[add] 8001
[add new string value named] File
[set string value of File to] C:\Windows\system32\notepad.exe

And sorry about the formatting, for some reason I couldn't get the indentations to work.

[hellosailor]

"Web forum" software tends to strip out formatting with quirks in http formatting, so simple spacing and indenting doesn't always carry through.

Since silicon creatures are incredibly quick but inevitably stupid, I fool them with an old trick. Instead of using spaces, use text that is set to background color. The background here isn't quite white (I didn't take the time to explore matching it) and depending on what font people are using, different characters won't always have the same width, but...this way it comes close.

And I think the most important part is nailed down now, folks should be able to make that button work. You'd think Lenono would have figured it out by now...put in a control panel applet that allows the wetware to PROGRAM THE darn BUTTONS.

Well, at least the power management options set and stick now. For the first six months, that didn't even work. And they've only been doing power management applets for, uh, maybe ten years? Twenty? (sigh)

Many years ago, on my planet, the people arose and slaughtered the programmers en masse. The few survivors became very very careful not to anger the people with sloppy programming, and as a result, we have a tradition of fine programming today. Very much unlike what passes for alleged programming here.