Vaio hot keys, Card reader

Ok, so I'm running Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10, on a sony Vaio FJ270 with a pinmodded Pentium M 735 to 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, etc... So I have on the front of my machine a magicgate pro flash card reader, and It doesn't register when I insert cards into it. It doesn't list as a device under my my places menu, and doesn't come up on my desktop. I was wondering how exactly I get it to recognize this?

Secondly, I have several hot keys (Fn+F2-7) that no longer work, and was wondering how I can set them up to do what I want them to? I appreciate the help, I'm still trying to get use to this setup, but I love it so far.

 

It looks as though the memory stick problem is a known bug. This gives a workaround, but people report that it does not work with Intrepid. I'm on Hardy myself, and at least it compiled, but I don't have a memory stick at work to test it. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/222557
If you try this, note that the wget location has changed and is mentioned lower down in the doc.

I'm not sure why your function keys don't work. I'm running Hardy on a Sony TR1 and TZ130 and at least the Fkeys for brightness and volume work. I didn't do anything special other than install from CD, and I would have guessed the Intrepid should have done the same for you.

If you give the following command, what does it give you:
dmesg|grep -i sony

-John