Official Sony S11/S12/S13 (2010) Owners Thread

Did anybody use a Bluetooth Headset? I want use it but Windows tells me that no driver was found, but the standard audio stack driver from bluetooth must be enough, like on my phone.

Which driver did you use for bluetooth? I used the new one from windows update.

Done.

1st install Sony driver
2nd install new Broadcom driver

 

Hi guys

I have a VPCS113FG laptop, and I've had a minor problem occur with it, and I'm curious if others have experienced it or if they can give help regarding potential issues.

Basically, I believe when the hinge is in a certain position, the colours on the screen distort. This suggests to me that the ribbon connecting them isn't connected properly but I'm not 100% sure. When the screen moves from this position the colours are fine, and I can't always cause the problm, it seems to be fairly sporadic, although happening increasingly more often.

My laptop is a model with integrated Intel GMA HD graphics, I don't think the full HD monitor it's connected to distorts in colour when the issue occurs, so this adds proof to my theory.

Problem is, I believe the warranty on my VAIO ran out maybe a month or so ago, so I don't think they would fix it for free (even if it is a minor issue)

Can anyone give any tips or suggestions about what has happened?

 

Hi Aleks,

I haven't experienced something like that myself, but theoretically it could be any of the following

1. Defective cable / cable connection
2. Defective screen
3. Defective Motherboard / GPU (=CPU)
4. ...


the first 2 are most likely to cause such issues... Unfortunately you will have to experiment some more to find the exact component causing the issue... Check all connections first and while you do that observe if moving the cable/connector has any effect on the image.

While those are just general advises I am giving you, I doubt anyone can give you a more specific idea, especially when the problem hasn't yet been determined.

Warranty: Where did you buy your laptop from!? Laptops purchased in EU (except UK) have 2 years warranty and the model is now not more than 14 months old so yours cannot be older than that.

 

I'm in Australia, VAIO's here only come standard with 1 year of warranty, I bought it about this time, a little earlier last year for Year 12 at High School, and now with uni starting to ramp up, the screen has started to die out, which isn't especially good as the VAIO is the only computer I have now after my HP desktop died from motherboard issues. The problem isn't especially bad, I've been moving the screen trying to cause the issue for past few hours unsuccessfully, but if the problem worsens it could make for a difficult to use laptop, and I'd say the connection would die out eventually.

Are you saying I should pull my S Series apart to check out the connections? I'll have to see how comfortable I am with that idea, I think I'd have to check if Sony would be able to repair it for free or give a free quote in terms of whats wrong with it. It would be a really bad inconvenience for me to lose it right now, so I've been looking at the new SB Series to replace it with while getting this S Series repaired, then selling it off.

 

I know no way to magically "heal" a laptop without opening it Do you?

I would also not be comfortable with that, especially when the reason is so uncertain and could be almost anywhere... maybe look for a company performing services for Sony - they should have the experience and most likely lower prices than if you go through sony...!

But you first need to learn how to reproduce the problem so that you can demonstrate it... I hate such issues that are hardly reproducible

 

Hmm you might be right

Are there any disassembly guides around? Problem is though is I think the ribbon is causing the issue as perhaps it isn't connected properly, and it's disconnecting with the screen itself, but there is no viewable screws or anything so I have no idea how to take it apart :-/

 

There are no official dis-assembly guides available (yet). There are some pictures in this thread showing how to open the bottom part.

To remove the frontal frame of the screen you need to unscrew the 4 screws hidden behind the rubbery things in the corners and carefully unclip the rest of the frame. To be honest I have no idea how to unscrew the 2 bottom screws are they are positioned so that you have no straight/direct access to them so if anyone has an idea and has done it - let me know, it's good to know.
The top part and the sides are easy, you just need to be careful with the clips!

 

Comparing things I've seen on the net, it might require a bit of disassembly of the bottom half of the laptop, maybe even just the bezel at the top part of the keyboard a little behind the function keys, if lucky there might be enough space to unscrew from there.

I've seen guides for other Sony laptops the same age that seem to need this.

Hmm, I might give it a go, I'll have to see.

 

Don't mess up with the instructions for the Z It is built totally differently You can't just remove the bezel at the top part of the keyboard...

You need to find the way yourself I guess but don't rely on Z stuff as I said... they are not that alike

 

Small update of the drivers' database (in red)

 

What about the new NVIDIA drivers?
267.76 is current.

 

Unless you have a modified version of it, that we can use (?), the last usable remains 266.58 ...

But I did do a few other updates last night, so here v2 of the table.

 

Has Best Best stop selling this laptop? I have not seen it for many weeks at 2 stores now.

 

Attacked here the modded "nvszc.inf" file for NVidia 267.76 Driver version.

 

Thank you, I'll give it a try tomorrow and +Rep!

Does everything work - Auto-dimming, etc.?

 

Yes, of course.
The latest NVidia drivers already support originally the VAIO F Series with NVIDIA GeForce 310M (with auto-dimming function, etc).
So, to modding the inf file is really easy now (it's neccessary insert a very low number of strings, for id hardware recognition only).

 

So far so good!!

Just installed it and it works fine so far

Here the updated table, please check for other updates you may have or know of. Thanks for supporting!

 

But the S series have different LCD panel settings (the driver will still work). Refer to the modded inf made by me for 266.58.

 

Nice to hear from you again What is the difference exactly, what would change...?

 

I do remember making a set of instructions for modding the inf and retaining the OEM customizations. You can read them.

 

Unfortunately I was too quick with my conclusion...
Brightness control using Fn+F5/F6 stopped responding - had to restart to get it fixed! Don't know if the problem was elsewhere, but it never happened with the previous version. Might be a coincidence of course... will see

True I will have a look there. Thanks!

 

Strange, because to me Fn+F5/F6 works perfectly!
In Which way have you performed your test?

 

It works at the moment too - it just stopped working at a certain moment - I tried to change the brightness and it didn't work. Once I restarted it started working again. No idea - might have been something else. I'll report back if it happens again. The rest works fine so far

 

Hello S1 users. I haven't posted here since I upgraded my SZ680 a couple months ago and purchased an S13. When I first purchased it, I made a couple comments about the screen being very bright and not nearly as bad as I expected. HOWEVER, sadly, my opinion has changed quite a bit over the past few weeks.

I do extensive traveling around Europe. I purchased the S13 in February back home in Orlando, and for the first month I was primarily just using it indoors. Over this last month however, I am back in Europe and starting to use it more outdoors.

Now I realize that I made a big mistake by purchasing this laptop. When outdoors in the sun (or even in the shade), the glossy screen basically just acts like a mirror. All I can see is myself. Granted this comes in handy if I want to fix my hair; see if something is in my teeth; or watch the people behind me... however it's not exactly the reason I'd be using the laptop.

I already expected a little bit of reflection, and I was okay with that. But what makes it worse is that it unfortunately (and completely) overpowers the highest brightness setting, and it is practically impossible to see anything on the screen.

(On a side note... yes, I am 100% certain the auto-dimming is off and the brightness is at its highest setting, LOL).

I never realized that a glossy screen had that much of an effect outside. In February when I compared my SZ680 and S13 side-by-side, I was happy to see that the S13 was actually BRIGHTER. But the coating on the SZ was apparently wonderful (even though it wasn't matte), because I constantly used it outdoors for the past 3 years, and I've never had a problem seeing the screen - even in full sunlight.

Anyway, lesson learned. I'll never buy a glossy screen again. I've been checking out the SB in stores as a replacement. I really love the matte screen, but I'm just not a big fan of the re-design. So, I'll wait to see what the SA will be like in a few more months.

-----------------------------

On a side note: Have any of you S11, S12, S13 owners experienced a strange problem with the cursor skipping when typing? For example: When I am drafting an e-mail and half way through a sentence, I'll notice that the point of typing has magically moved to a completely different place in the text (usually between some other prior random sentence). I am a very fast typer and I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it - but I can't figure out what is causing it.

The only possible thing I could think would cause it would be if a part of my hand is somehow touching the touchpad. That would make sense. But I am constantly making 100% sure that no part of my hand/palm is touching or resting near it - yet it continues to happen.

Even with that issue though, I have to say: I LOVE the keyboard on this laptop. It's a pleasure to type on.

Other than the screen issue and cursor issue when typing, I love everything else about this laptop. However since I will be traveling thru the rest of the spring and summer and constantly need to use my laptop outdoors - I am going to have to figure out a solution until I possibly/finally trade iti n for an SA. (Or cave this month and just get an SB, LOL).

 

Maybe you can get a matte cover for your screen?

 

I actually wondered about that, but haven't looked into it. I also wondered if it's possible for a repair center to order a matte, SB screen to swap into my laptop, since the screens are the same size. (Although I'm sure it would be expensive and probably stupid... at that point I may as well just purchase an SB).

 

I don't think that a repair center will be willing to do that.
I also don't think that the SB screen will work in the S...I could be wrong though...

 

You can use 3M Vikuiti ARMR200 that is like a mobile display film and convert the reflection to matte

 

Hi

You are obviously not aware of what a great thing a glossy screen is, compared to a matte one

1. You get a much more realistic and qualitative image! Of course there are matte screens ... and matte screens - the same way there are glossy screens... and glossy screens. But as a rule you always get a much more crispy image when it is not diffused by a matte surface!! Some time ago it used to cost extra to buy a glossy screen - I paid extra for my previous laptop to have the "Crystal view" (glossy) screen

2. The biggest advantage of a glossy screen is that you can ALWAYS make it matte using a filter (look at the post above mine) (which you can either stick or just put in front)!!! So you are always able to get the best of both worlds - use it without a filter indoors and have a great image quality and put a filter outside if reflections bother you (although IMO the S has a not so reflective screen compared to other laptops I have seen/used). You want matte screen? Now I really want to see how you would make it crystal when you work indoors!! You are stuck with matte forever!

This wouldn't be my priority when choosing a laptop, but if I have a choice, I would always choose glossy over matte!

 

Hey,

I don't have an built in wwan card. Did anybody upgrade one?

 

it is not so easy to do so - you need to solder it to the board and you need to install antennas and so on... easier and cheaper would be to buy a WWAN USB stick

 

They are soooo ugly. Is there no Mini PCI-e port?

 

As far as I know the original WWAN is soldered to the board and includes antennas behind the screen. But let someone who has more reliable information report. I just know this question has been discussed already but the output was that it is by far not as easy as "Plug&Play" ...

Update: HERE a link to a post with more information

 

McLin, great, thanks! It's funny that I've never even looked in an electronics store for such a filter. I'll go see if I can find that one (or a similar one) at MediaMarkt or Saturn.

Gracy, yes, I like the glossy screen when indoors - no complaints about it. But since I will be using the laptop more often outdoors, it sounds like the options you and McLin mentioned will be a great solution.

Thanks!

 

Certianly But you see now why a glossy screen is the better choice - you can always make it matte A matte screen however remains matte no matter what you do with it

 

Use Clearcoat

 

LOL. Or perhaps just rub olive oil all over the screen.

 

Those of you who have already opened up the bottom of the laptop - can you tell me which screws need to be removed and whether there are any clips as well and how hard/easy it is to open it??

Would be very thankful!

 

incase you have a intel HD and do not see SP1

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...llowing-driver-get-win-7-sp1.html#post7370913

 

For all willing to add a WWAN module:

It seems that the module is not soldered, you just need to put it in!
However, you will need to install the antenna in/around the monitor panel, so you will need to pretty much open up the whole machine!

Here is a picture of my laptop's insides - you can see the WWAN card plugged in and the antenna wires going to the screen panel.



Has anyone opened up the LCD panel and removed the screen? I'd appreciate some information about that!

 

Ahh thank you this is the information what I needed.

The panel is easy to remove, just remove the rubber, remove screws and use you fingernails to remove the frame with very very little power.

Can you write down which model you exact have of your wwan module?

 

GOBI 2000. It is the one that comes with all Vaio S, Vaio Z, Lenovo T and so on.

I have been able to unscrew and undo the top part, but what do you use to unscrew the bottom part?? How about removing the screen? Is everything accessible without needing to detach the screen panel from the main body?

 

Right, under the panel there are the screws for the LCD panel, I don't detach the panel but the inverter is under the main body so I think you can detach it without remove the whole LCD screen from body.

 

There's good news. I contacted Sony support in Brussels and explained to them that having Smartwi hogging a large page pool was unacceptable, and asked why - straight out- they hadnt enabled it in the S series (at least my S). Surprisingly they were equally astonished, pulled out an S11 tried it, and came back saying that they would escalate this back to the dev team. Asked me to hang on, as they would try and build a driver to address the problem, didnt think it was an issue - but did agree with me that SN, rather than SW, was the best solution.

So guys - if you want this working - pls contact vaio support and pester them, quote this, and press for the driver to be created for the S series.

By the way - how did you get 8GB ram on an S11? Does it just work, or is this a bios patch issue?

 

It's good that they simplified things with the S series a bit. Is the sim card slot soldered to the motherboard or come on a daughterboard?
You may have more luck getting another card to work than an unbranded/branded Gobi 2000 card from another vendor. As Igorstef found out getting any Gobi 2000 card of Ebay didn't work for them as a Sony one is needed.

It's highly likely that the S will have these same problems.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...i-2000-vpc-z11-not-just-any-card-will-do.html

May be try an Option or Sierra card. May be you will find a Sony Gobi on ebay. Sony charge quite a bit for this card like i think over $400.

 

To be honest with you - I have no idea what you are referring to !?? New driver for what? What problem will be addressed? What was your initial problem? Sorry maybe it is just me but I have no clue what you are talking about

About RAM - I have 6GB in my S11 - no patch required and why should it - S11-S13 officially support up to 8GB.

 

Hello,
S owners and linux users, I'm working on supporting this notebook under linux, the sony-laptop driver is at a good stage now (but not completed). If you want to help testing or if you want just to enjoy your notebook with this OS, join the discussion at Issue 6 - vaio-f11-linux - Keyboard Backlight Settings - Sony Vaio F Series on Linux - Google Project Hosting and download the patch and the daemon for the autodimming feature.

 

There is a daughter board for the SIM. Not a big deal, cos theres nothing on it really. More serious is the two sets of dip switches on the motherboard. Set wrong, they force the motherboard to react to every tap, the screen to go mad, the Qualcomm card or the sim card carrier do not function.

 

I have plaid with the one right under the keyboard - it seems to change something related to the screen as it then only shows vertical lines and no image. Of course under this condition I haven't tested any other effect over the hardware, but the PC loads normally as far as I can tell...

But anyway - you can always copy the settings from an S with WWAN already installed.

 

Drivers database update