Sony TZ11 Kingspec 64gb install problem

Hi, I am new to this forum, and have a problem installing a Kingspec 64gb SSD in my Sony TZ11mn. I have installed the SSD (remembering to click black strip on ZIF cable). On pressing ESC on start-up and entering BIOS, I can see Drive 0 is 64gb. The recovery disk 1of 2 loads until "recovery options", but then does not "see" the drive, giving the option to install a driver from a dialogue box. I have removed the SSD and tried it as an external using a USB enclosure, and my desktop has no problem recognising it as NTFS formatted. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Any more info on the driver option?

Anything "strange" like AHCI in the BIOS?

Give us a little detail please

(160GB Intel on my SZ worked well with recovery discs, was in IDE mode though... didn't experiment with AHCI)

 

Hi Detlev,

Ok, by pressing F2 during POST, I can see it mentions

Fixed Disk 0: Kingspec KSD-ZF18.1-064MJ

From what I can see the BIOS (ver R0052N7) in the TZ is very limited. I can change date/time, LCD screen expansion, Network Boot, External Drive Boot, password, Boot order (Optical 1st, then Internal Drive).

Nowhere does it mention AHCI, just states (with no options)
Hard Disk Drive 0: 64gb
Hard Disk Drive 1: None
Optical Disk Drive: Available

Plus the other things mentioned above.

The Recovery disk starts "windows is loading files", eventually I get a Microsoft green loading bar, followed by a Blue screen and "System recovery option" language/keyboard dialogue -next.

Followed by "System Recovery Options" Select operating system to repair.. space below is blank, "If you do not see your operating system lised, click Load Drivers to load drivers for your hard disk.

Clicking this brings up "Insert installation media (of which I have none) and click OK"

This brings up another dialogue with a huge list in the "System 32" folder in Boot(X): Windows/System 32.

I will admit, I am at a loss where to look for said driver

If I canel these dialogues, I get to the System Recovery options. Launching Vaio Recovery Utility brings up a "Cannot perform the recovery because the hard disk cannot be found...."

So, I am a bit stuck... Any suggestions?

 

AHCI can be enabled via a hmm, how to call it, "BIOS hack" - see the froum for details, but that does't apply to you.

OK - so what I understand is you have your SSD installed, insert the recovery disc and start it up, go through a menu - then the way I understand what you are doing - you chose to repair the OS???

Is there now "factory restore" / "restore" option?

 

After pressing cancel on the driver dialogue, the options are:

Startup Repair - no disk found
System Restore - must specify which installation to repair (no disk/no installation)
Windows Complete PC Restore - cannot find backup on hard disk, install the correct hard disk...
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool - a problem is preventing windows....
Command Prompt - cannot find c:
Vaio Recovery Utility - no disk found

 

Strange... this is having me confused... and if you tell the computer to search for a driver on the recovery disc?

 

I am not sure which file I should search for...

In windows/system32/driverstore/file repository there seem to be many.inf files. ANy suggestions?

 

Not really... but you are giving me a windows filepath...

Did you clone your OS onto the drive??...

As far as I am aware that filepath doesn't exist in the recovery discs...

 

sorry, in the dialogue box, under "Computer" it is showing the Recovery CD in D: but also a "Boot (X /Windows/System32/Driver store/file repository"

Presumably the "Boot(X " is the extracted windows files in memory?

So, I should be looking in D:?

 

sorry smiley by mistake

 

Don't think you can access memory in any way...

Question from me
Have you got a digital camera? (Mobile will be enough)

Can you take a photograph of every "screen" once the Recovery CD has loaded - and underneath write which option you chose - I really cannot understand how this error happens... which is why I'm feeling so lost... it should be the same as on my SZ or any other Vaio - a simple walkthrough procedure.

 

am photographing process now.

If the bios is seeing 64gb, and the POST is showing Kingspec...., then the drive is connected correctly?

 

Yepp if the BIOS reads it then yes.
Thanks


Its very straightforward to install the OSs.. that's why I can't understand the problem... ah well, I suppose that's the problem with technology... what works in 99% of all cases...

 

On "post" you can see the fixed disk 0: kingspec...
"bios1-3" show settings available, and also "Hard disk 0: 64gb"

 

"recov1" shows first dialogue for language/keyboard - press next
"recov2" shows 2nd dialogue with no OS listed - press Load Drivers
"recov3" shows 3rd dialogue - press ok
"recov4" shows next dialogue - press cancel
"recov5" shows all options, which do not work due to "no disk" etc

 

Aha not sure what is going on - this is a new drive and you want to get the OS onto it from scratch I assume

In the last image, start the Vaio Recovery Utility - that should allow you to restore C.

You have XP on it, no? I think its looking for an OS... the Vista ones don't.
In the Vaio Recovery Utility you should be able to Instal the OS

 

It is a new disk, and I want to put a clean install on it

The Vaio Recovery Disk is for Vista Pro, and when I select the last option Vaio Recovery Utility, it cannot find a disk to write to...

 

That is very strange...

That's how its supposed to work... and if the BIOS recognizes the SSD the utility should too...

Stranger, and stranger... let me ask Rachel...

 

...I also tried installing the vista home disk from the desktop, it couldn't find the SSD either. hmm

 

Hmm, that is strange...

 

Could this be the source of your problem?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5522239
May be the connectors are wrong?

A kingspec drive though has been confirmed as working in the TZ.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=390255&page=2

 

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your input, I didn't realise there was a 44pin ZIF (just to confirm, this is a sony TZ11MN). The Kingspec is definately a 40 pin, I just counted them. I also just counted 40pins on the ribbon to TZ main board, and can only count 40 pins on the Toshiba MK8009GAH HDD 1764S OE hard disk.

I found this listed, seems to confirm 40 pin for OE Toshiba? http://www.span.com/product_info.php?products_id=8392


I see from the link ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/show....php?p=5522239) you sent to TZ Gurus post (he states need for 44pin ZIF) and links to
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Kingspec-64..._Storage_Internal?hash=item1e5772264a&afsrc=1

This link states "ZIF44Pin(ATA7)", but is the same model number as my Kingspec KSD-ZF18.1-064MJ, and if you count the pins in the pic on ebay (lower down page) it also gives 40.

I am now completely confused....

 

Side point - if the connector wasn't correct, then how could the BIOS read the drive?

 

I tried connetcing ribbon wrong way round to make sure I wasn't making dumb mistake - BIOS reported no drive attached, so I think you have a point Detlev

 

Here are some shots of the ribbon and connectors

 

Some SSD drives have been recognised at BIOS level but full compatibility was not there. This has happened with some Runcore and some earlier Photofast drives with some Sony models and others.

One way possibly round this is to buy a zif enclosure and something like Norton Ghost or Acronis and clone your HD to your new one. This might possibly work.

 

Thank you for the input Rachel, I will try this and get back to post results in the New Year. Until then, Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for the help.

Best regards

James

 

Good luck!
And a happy new year to you too!
(And everybody else who sees this )

 

As an update, I cloned (twice) the OE HDD to the Kingspec 64gb SSD using Acronis, and it's still no-go. Any suggestions anyone?

 

May be you might want to post in that post i linked to. May be there could be more in about the pin count.

 

Ok, thanks Rachel, will do that.

 

Hello James, Rachel,

Did you find the solution to this issue?
I'm facing the same problem, when installing Windows seven on a Kinspec 64GB SSD drive (ZI 1.8").
Windows can't find the disk and ask for a driver.
I was looking on the internet a solution, but found nothing.

Could you help me on this point?

Thanks,

mauifr

 

Same issue here, any one have a solution to this problem?

Received my Kingspec Zif HDD today 64gb and installed it on my Vaio TZ 240N . Bios recognizes it but the Vaio logoscreen freezes for about 2 mins and then I able to boot the windows 7 or XP cd to install an OS but then finds no drive?

Any Ideas?

Thanks

 

I've had the Kingspec ssd working in my TZ for about one year until it stoped working. The new one I've got in exchange has the same problem as yours: it shows up in bios but OS is not booting up. In an external enclosure it's fine.

Did anybody find a solution to this issue?

Help is highly appreciated.

Kim

 

3 people with the same problem... that makes me think - how is the connector in the TZ?

Could it be a broken connector, wire somewhere?

 

I too have the exact same problem. I had a KingSpec 128gb SSD working, it died after 8 months. During that time I upgraded to 7, and deleted the recovery partition. 5 months after Win7 upgrade - died. They sent me a new one and I can't get the VAIO to recognize the drive even after a Casper clone. I even tried the recovery disks but that didn't work either.

What should we do? I have ordered another drive to verify.

Detlev - I have the entire Montblace Writer's Series and a 75th anniversary rose gold 149!

 

This sounds interesting... everybody finds problems with their drives - can you check if the connector is allright?
Its really strange... and I run out of ideas in the past...

(And I'm envious of all those pens... congratulations to that marvellous collection! Especially a 75th anniversary edition...)

 

I got another 128gb KingSpec SSD drive and it behaves similarly, however I was able to get it to boot up once and once only after setting it up as a bootable usb drive. But it only worked once? I then backed up the original 48gb (in the laptop) to a spinning hard disk and tried to boot off of it (bootable usb). Same behavior as the KingSpec. Therefore, I suspect the Kingspec isn't the issue. I plan on trying the original Vaio Vista recovery disk that came with the Vaio, and the KingSpec. Aaarrgh, I hate taking that laptop apart. Why didn't the engineers allow for easier HD replacement like HP. Why can't they make them like a PCMCIA card?

Checking the Vaio FAQ site, I could not find the question I was specifically looking for - "Where is the nearest Apple store?"

Will keep you posted.

 

In my case it can not be a connector problem as the original hdd is working fine in the vaio and the brand new kingspec ssd is woking fine in an external enclosure.
I think it is a compatibility problem of the vaio tz with the currently shipping sdd firmware.
Any thoughts on that?

 

It would be possible - but the question is how and why - I thought those things are standardized...

Things like Trim are new - but basic functionality should exist with all drives...

 

Concur chefkoch. I tried original Vista recovery disks with new SSD installed. No luck. I tried booting off usb hard drive, but if new SSD is installed, the boot process hangs up. Next I plan to spend half the day on the phone with Sony Style support.

Jose

 

There appears to be 2 versions of this drive (using 32gb model as an example):

Part: KSD-ZF18.1-032MJ
32GB KingSpec 1.8" ZIF 40-pin SSD Solid State Disk (MLC)

and

Part: KSD-ZF18.1-032MS
32GB KingSpec 1.8" ZIF 40-pin SSD Solid State Disk SMI Controller (MLC)

I see ebay auctions selling SSDs "for Vaio TZ" and they are the latter one. Does anyone who what this SMI controller is? Also, anyone who is having issues, can you confirm which model number you have?

 

I've got the *mj version and it does not work in my tz.

 

Hi,

I got a Kingspec KSD-ZF18.1-128MS (128 gigs) and it works fine into my Sony Vaio VGN-TZ11MN, previously equipped with a Toshiba MK8009GAH (80 gigs)

I've avoided the Runcore due to not totally positive comments found all around and I didn't find any reseller in my country having the Photofast.

However with the Kingspec I'm happy, it's probably not the fastest SSD on the market, but it works. As suggested in this thread, I got the MS version rather than MJ. The laptop is now much faster to resume after hybernation and slightly faster during normal use, but, above of all, I do not hear anymore the annoying noise of a traditional hard drive. I also prefer SSD because I travel a lot and I consider this type of hard drive much more shock-resistant.

In Windows Vista, I've disabled the Superfetch and also the indexing, as I've read somewhere that it's better to do so when SSDs are used.

The most difficult part of replacing the hard drive was to clone the older drive onto the new. Norton Ghost 12 is in some way silly, as it didn't copy some vital boot information (although all the cloning options were correctly set), with the new hard drive refusing to boot. However, I've booted once with the original Vaio recovery DVD and it has quickly fixed the boot partition in some way. So, no need to reinstall Windows or anything else. The hard disk cloning was performed by putting the new SSD into an USB box for ZIF hard drives, paid just Euro 15, and now I can use that box with the older Toshiba removed from the laptop.

This link was very useful to me about how to open my TZ:
How to disassemble Sony Vaio TZ laptop and remove hard drive >> Inside my laptop

I hope my contribution is useful, just wanted to share it as this forum has helped me a lot on chosing the correct drive. Good luck to everybody.

Luciano.
http://www.travel-tour-guide.com/

 

Similar boot problem with HP 2710p + Kingspec SSD (KSD-ZF18.1-064MS, SMI controller).

Tried different Linux distributions, different file systems, different partition themes, but still can't boot from that SSD. Usually get GRUB "Error: Out of disk".

 

I have a KingSpec KSD-ZF18.1-064MS
This SSD drive was installed normally on TZ90NS, the BIOS recognized the SDD drive fine.
Windows 7 Pro x86 clean install runs normally, very fast than originally Toshiba HDD.
Drivers and apps of TZ90NS was correctly configured.
After windows update and 4 hours of working well this drive die, now the BIOS does not recognize the SSD drive.

I had to revert to the previous Toshiba drive (originally shipped with TZ), this drive working well.

I return this KingSpec SSD drive.

I hope this information will help.