Official 2012 Sony S Series Owners Thread

So no problem with exchange of old module? Great to read, so i think i should also do this job...

 

I tried both AC7260 and BCM94352HMB in my S15
Can confirm that both cards work perfectly
And I would say speed is about the same but Broadcom got a slightly better reputation over AC7260 (not the newer AC8xxx)
Remember to right click on 'Device Manager' and update the driver especially the Broadcom one

p.s. It have a very high chance that 3x3 cards will also work but you can only plug the left and right

 

So can you give any installation hint for the 2 antenna pins on the the wifi board? Are they easy to release and reconnect to new board?

 

Just plug them in like the old one and ignore the middle pin
Very straight forward
Maybe you can diy and add a self made antenna to the middle one, not sure about this
I have tried on other notebook but not this one

p.s. oh some wifi card may have a slightly smaller pin
but as long as you stick to the normal AC7260 you will not go wrong

 

So I'm kicking myself right now for realizing this so late in the ownership of my Vaio S15. One of my main complaints about this laptop was that the audio from the speakers was pretty weak... lets say very weak. My wife and I could be watching a movie on netflix and have to be straining to hear what was going on with volume maxed out.

Well long story I just replaced my 128gb ssd with a Samsung 850 250gb and while reinstalling W7 happened upon the Dolby Home Theater V4 Application on the install list. With dolby running there is actually an appreciable improvement in Audio volume and quality. I must not have installed it before thinking it was bloat ware, but man it really makes a difference.

 

So since we were all on the topic of the Intel Wireless-AC 7260, I started looking into possible upgrades to this card (since I've already had this installed for quite some time now). I saw an opportunity to purchase the newer 8265. LIKE AN IDIOT, I just jumped on it and purchased it. When I received it, I realized pretty quickly that it was too small for my slot. THEN, I saw there are adapters for M.2/NGFF (which is the newer and smaller slots for these wifi cards now) to our half card slots. Has anyone looked into this and whether or not it could be possibly used in our vaios?

Just from looking at this photo, it looks to be too tall already for it to even fit in there.. so probably not huh? Does anyone know an even better card than our 7260 or is this the best we can go so far?

Here's an example of an adapter for this: https://www.amazon.com/SUPERPLUS-NG...490513153&sr=1-22&keywords=ngff+m.2+adapter+E

 

Got this laptop last week, question dump:

I have a svs13aa11l chassis with a 1600x900 LCD and a bad LVDS cable, what part number should I look for on ebay, and what else should I fix while I have it apart?

What is the part number for the extended sheet battery?

Can I just use a TIM like arctic Silver 5, or do I need a thermal pad with thickness to it if I change out the TIM on the GPU and CPU? For that matter, do I need to replace any actual thermal pads in the system, or is it just wax based TIM?


And now for something completely different:

How fast does the laptop communicate with the OEM SSD (RAID 0 and single SATA device if applicable)? http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-SV-S13A1Z9E-S-Notebook.77880.0.html

Looking at that, at least the RAID0 trim get SATA 6G.
Goal: To get SATA 6G working with standard 2.5" drives with ODD enabled and without having to put the laptop to sleep before it enables.
How: Find what separates a system with an OEM SSD from a system with an OEM HDD.
Hypothesis:
Assuming that a SATA 6G SSD or SATA6G RAID0 SSD trim that uses the same board as the HDD models exists: If I was a laptop designer, instead of having to waste $$$ adding a SSD whitelist to the firmware that would need to be updated every time I changed suppliers, I would just have a pin on the motherboard's connector that would be pulled high or low for HDD operation and pulled the other way for OEM SSD operation (and thus SATA 6G)


Information needed to test hypothesis:
Pinout of SSD cable vs HDD cable:
Someone with a laptop equipped with a factory SSD to test continuity of the cable in order map out the pinout of the cable.
What I want to know: What pins go through to the other side, what pins are connected together, and what pins go nowhere.
What I will do with that information: I will compare it to the pinout of a motherboard to standard 2.5" HDD SATA connector cable.

RISK: If the cable has no active components on it and it is disconnected from both the motherboard and the SSD, there is no risk of electrical damage. Biggest danger is the risk of damaging the contacts.


Bonus goal: Be able to tack on the extra wires to tap the secord SATA port and then use a [SATA M.2 to 2.5" SATA adapter]/ [a caseless 2.5" SSD] and a 7mm HDD at the same time.

 

Hi guys! hope you guys are still using the amazing sony vaio s15 2012! I've just upgraded to Windows 10 CU and it is everything ok but stamina/speed and brightess change does not work...i followed the online guides to install the different drivers but it is still the same unfortunately.....do you know how to fix it? please help! in this situation looks that nvidia graphic card does not work even if a chose the right option inside the nvidia control panel....i hoped that was something easy to do...
I was already with windows 10 and i did not have any problem!
Thanks!

 

This could be a driver problem. I upgraded to win10 CU and everything is OK. I use these graphic driver versions:

Intel: 10.18.10.4358 (2015-12-21)
nVidia: 10.18.13.6822 (2016-05-19)

You could also try to reinstall Sony VAIO Hotkey Utilities for win7 from esupport.sony.com.

 

Thank you so much for the fast reply! in other forums no one is still using this pc!
So, just checked drivers
Interl: same
Nvidia: 22.21.13.8165

I'm gonna try reinstall once again other drivers like Library etc... with win7 option.... actually do not know whether i should unistall something or not...
and yes, hotkey as well.
Do you if could be a problem of the control center as well? Damn, everytime that i upgraded windows I've always done an upgrade and not a clean install and this time i wanted to clean the entire pc!

 

Yes, i would try to install those windows 7 system drivers, windows has nothing to do with these functions, I guess no need to uninstall anything.

I never did a clean install, it's still the original 2012 version of win7, with the windows 10 "on top of it". And it works flawlessly.

 

GOT IT! Thanks guys! so, I reinstalled few drivers and hotkey with windows 7 compatibility but i got stuck with the same problems, no fn brightness and no stamina/speed.

BUT. I unistall sony control center and decided to check which one was the first version at the support page of my model so I downloaded an installed the windows 7 version in compatibily windows 7 mode even if there was the windows 8 version available. Reboot everything and now it is everything working!

Thank you guys! i reccomend you to upgrade with a clean install, i don't have any problem and pc is flying! I don't know you guys, but in my situation the fingerprint sensor now is working thanks to windows hello!

Just one more question, what about your battery? mine is dying......do you suggest any website to buy a brand new one in Europe? just found one for around 120 euro and it is toooo much.
Thanks!

 

For some reason, my disable touchpad hotkey stopped working correctly. Anyone else having this issue? My volume and brightness hotkeys still function correctly just my disable touchpad one doesn't work. I tried reinstalling synaptics driver and reinstalling Sony Vaio Hotkey utilities still doesn't work..

 

Unfortunately i've never had any problem with touchpad! Was just using synaptics drivers so far! In my opinion vaio hotkey does not do anything for the touchpad! sorry i can't help!

 

Ah you've never disabled your touchpad using Fn + F1? I used it before but now it just doesn't disable the touchpad

 

After years of owning the S13P i begun to wonder if there is any viable upgrade?

Using beloved S13P daily and it has hold up pretty well but getting tiered from replacing parts and looking for better hardware but stay 13 to 14" size.

Replaced so far:
2nd fan (Sometimes used as server = long uptimes).
3rd keyboard (Buttons just stop working, specially prone is Space bar).
2nd wifi card (always lost connection randomly).
2nd power jack (stopped charing).
2nd screen (upper left started loosing pixels and it spread toward the middle).

Atm the LCD cable needs replacing, USB 2.0 need soldering also the keyboard lost 2 buttons again and this going to be 4th keyboard.

Is there anything worthy to upgrade to yet?

 

Hello All Sony Vaio S Owners,
I have come across a helpful video in order to get a better trackpack experience; in which case will copy the windows 10 Precison Drives that most Laptops of this age now have.
Using this Link:
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1mgx14w.zip

This mehod i found about was from Dave2D
Video:

I have installed this on my Sony Vaio S 13 (SVS13A290x) Model and what a difference it makes using the track pad, it now feels just as good as my Dell XPS 13 9350 laptop that i now use in my day to day life.

Hope this helps people with the laptop to make it a much better experience

 

Maybe anyone can help here?

Got that error during a few weeks in the Windows 10 system, seems that the VAIO Enternainment Common Service is the problem:

 

Maybe someone can help me - where can i find a clean installation guide for the svs series with newest windows 10 version? Anything special i´ve to prepare, drivers, sony stuff or anything else? Seems that must do a clean installation, my svs1313 system is very slow and full of trash... Thank you

 

I know it's probably way too late, but I did this a while back and Vaio Control Center lost a number of functions, namely Battery Care. A few other things are also missing from Vaio CC (KB backlight control, ambient light sensor, etc).

I have tried to find a way to restore them, but after many hours, no success. About a year later (today), I tried again, also to no success (and the Sony community forums are about half broken now).

I'd recommend making a copy of the restore DVD material, and using that to reinstall the factory Windows 8 image and update that to Windows 10.

Good luck!


EDIT: to add insult to injury, the Sony Firmware Extension Parser will not install at all. One of them will, but SYNA008 will not. The Windows 8 drivers refuse to even be recognized on Windows 10 (for that specific device), and the Windows 10 drivers are just the Windows 8 drivers, lol.

EDIT2: I think I will try installing Windows 8 and going from there to see if it all works from that base.

EDIT3: Stroke of luck. I went to the Sony Asia site, hoping they would have different driver/utility policies, and they do! SYNA008 is still missing a driver, but installing the Windows 7 version of Vaio Control Center (Notebook Utilities) did the trick in Windows 10.

https://www.sony-asia.com/electroni...-svs1311-series/svs13116fg/downloads/Y0017677

My battery care is restored, as is the ambient KB backlight. Ambient screen backlight doesn't seem to be working, but it's of little concern to me - it never gave an appropriate backlight level for the ambient conditions the laptop was in.

 

I think I mentioned somewhere this laptop's fan was running a heroic battle to keep the laptop cool. I take that back. Dust simply built up in a very well designed, hard to access crevice that basically blocked the entire fin array. I thought I had cleared it out from the top, but I was previously mistaken. While the overall performance of the laptop is still the same after cleaning, thermals are improved (though I did also take the time to repaste the CPU and GPU.


In this image, I have a new appreciation for the engineers at Sony. Predating the on-package southbridge (PCH in Intel-speak), it still managed to cram in a Nvidia dGPU (and overclocked it a bit from the factory - 540MHz vs 500MHz), the CPU, the southbridge, one dedicated heatpipe per chip, dual channel RAM, and a bluray player. All with a full complement of ports (VGA, HDMI, 3x USB, Ethernet, docking port on the bottom, SD card and Sony's proprietary card readers. All in a laptop that basically shares identical dimensions to my E5450 (or a T480 for a modern comparison). Sure, it has a 13.3" display vs the 14" display, but 13.3" isn't that far off from 14" (unlike 15.6" vs 14").



After this last disassembly/reassembly, it seems even the display cable issue has resolved itself. I should have done a thorough disassembly 3 1/2 years ago and saved myself the cost of one Dell E5450.


EDIT: after the cleaning/repasting, the Cinebench score comes out to 303 - identical to my E5450 (which was cleaned/repasted a couple of months ago). i7-3520m vs i7-5600U. Sure, the older chip draws much more power under load and clocks higher, but that does go to show: there is always one way to out-muscle clever design - sheer force and brutality. I also noted the older i7 uses 3.7W avg idle, compared to 2.2W avg idle for the newer i7. I wonder how the power is calculated, since the newer i7 includes its voltage regulators on-die, iirc. The CPU package power reading may not have included the older chip's off-package voltage regulators (VRMs). Part of the power difference is also down to base clocks: 1.2GHz vs 800MHz. This slightly higher power idle draw means the older i7 really does need the fan active at all times.

Without the cleaning/repasting, the score was a consistent 262. Even with the clogged HSF and old factory paste, the Vaio held up better under full load (CPU+GPU) than the E5450, since the E5450 dropped clocks pretty quickly when the GPU was fired up (which would cause the E5450 to drop to ~260 or so), though the newer 840m is appreciably faster than the old 640m LE. Both are still annoying faster than the current Intel 630, though the 840 is matched by the newest crop of Intel Iris GPUs.

EDIT2: The Vaio's older i7 is holding a steady 3.4GHz dual core boost n 82C vs the Dell E5450's i7's 2.9GHz dual core boost 98C in Cinebench. That's how the old Vaio is matching the newer Dell. I really have to download and install Dell's fan control software. The CPU is going to fry itself at this rate.

Okay, I just tried again on the Dell, after downloading the power manager, which include fan profiles. "Ultra Performance" made the score worse (280), and the CPU is happily absconding above 100C.

 

Please, can somebody told me whats the latest version for VAIO Control Center i can download for a SVS13 Series? Thank you

 

Hi, this is my first post here. I’ve owned my S Series SVS13A1EGXB for six years now, running Windows 7 Pro 64, and it runs all of my pro audio and video editing software really well. I need to find the schematic and parts layout for the motherboard in order to diagnose a problem.
The only thing I’ve found online is a brief 25-page SONY SVS13A “service manual” containing several crudely made block diagrams - totally useless.
Does anyone know where and how I can get these docs?
Thanks!

 

Unfortunately for most laptops, actual electrical schematics are hard to come by. Often, though semi-scammy sites and very often, you have to pay for them. Outside of Macbooks, I'd have no clue where to even start (outside of the usual, "google it").