Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

Newbies are required by my grandfather to read first: Unification Post #2!

 

Another one Joe Bleau. You're the sixth person in this thread to have power supply failure Edward M. You need to return the computer, or have a technician swap the motherboard.

See http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6027468&postcount=1251 Among others.

 

Yes, required reading is the unification post. I will add the majority have no major issues and overall seem to really love their laptops. Myself, the biggest fix so far was my squeaky spacebar and the biggest disappointment is a component of the screen- black shaded areas when viewing video. From what I read, it's no doubt some have do have real issues with the buzz or whining noise or excessive fan. I also think some do not have real expectations or are not used to the fact this is a powerful laptop which needs air to prevent heating issues. I have not read anyone complaining about the heat. This is a real issue with other laptop models with like processors.

 

Nobody noticed the resemblance between the Vaio_F11 speaker & an old fashion Jiffy Pop?



Check this video: Big Shot popcorn popper shaking mechanically the Jiffy Pop.

 

There is actually a third 100MB partition used by Windows 7 for System Recovery. If you do a clean install of Windows 7 it will be the only hidden NTFS partition.

 

No, the 100 meg partition is the protected Boot drive, where NTLDR resides. That's how Win7 can boot to multiple Operating systems while retaining the OS drive as C:, which is not possible if the boot files are ON the C: partition, as in previous version of Windows. This is a method picked up from Linux and the Mac OS.

 

As mentioned before, you can shrink the C: partition: there is a Partition Magic style function in Win 7 so you can do this almost anytime w/o doing a full recovery (Shrink Volume): Resize a Partition for Free in Windows 7.

But this won't let you shrink the hidden Recovery partition.

On the OEM HDD, there is 3 partitions, 2 hidden: System Reserved (MBR) & Recovery Partition and C: drive.



When I installed a replacement HDD (see here and here with photos) I noticed:

And here is the trick to reduce considerably the size of the Recovery partition: choose No:



Choose again No and you can choose the size of C: and also create a D: drive:





So, you can:

1- Out of the box, create recovery discs (to preserve factory state, DL not too good, 2 DVD's. 1 or 2 more may be needed if you added optional software via CTO.

2- Use said recovery discs to reinstall the OS but by choosing not to save the trials & "Vaio_Value_Added content, you can reduce considerably the size of the hidden Recovery partition which is only useful when you really need it.

Best of all, the Vaio_Value_Added content is still on the recovery discs & you can install them anytime via Vaio_Care & inserting said discs.

"I know it has been covered in other posts but what bloatware should I lose?" - try them all, many are not "bloatware" but really useful utilities. Once the F is in front of you, search this thread for each of the Vaio_software one by one, you'll find some interesting posts.

About "bloatware", see also:

- F11_Series: Installed Vaio Software Comparison & Bloatware?

- VAIO_F_Series New Happy Owner First Impression

And the Unification Post #2, naturally.

*****

If one chose to do a clean install and format the OEM drive, those might be a good read:

Creating a Media-less Recovery / Installation Partition
http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...dia-less-recovery-installation-partition.html

How to Create a Recovery Partition with Image of Windows 7 DVD?
http://social.answers.microsoft.com...l/thread/b3ac0f64-079a-4c89-9b16-a74b20e89419

 

Here is a few more disassembly pictures.

Items to note:

• The GT330M is definitely wave soldered to the mobo. There are 8 DRAM chips associated with the GPU - 4 on each side of the mobo. Only four have direct contact with the fan base plate but do not use any thermal transfer paste. You can see the indentation in the plate.
• Only the GPU and CPU have thermal induction tubes leading to the fan. The PM55 is air cooled only.
• Both sides of the mobo have circuitry; most of it is on the underside of the board with respect to the operators position.
• The blade in the Panasonic fan unit integrated into the cooling assembly is held in place by magnetism. It is actually suspended from the underside of the board.

.

 

I stand corrected.

 

Thank you for the photos!

"The blade in the Panasonic fan unit integrated into the cooling assembly is held in place by magnetism. It is actually suspended from the underside of the board" - does this means that the fan itself cannot be replaced w/o changing the whole cooling unit?

Do you have a photo of the fan all by itself?

Thanks

 

Thank you, that is really good stuff - saves me having to take apart my own F11

One very important point to glean from these photos is that the laptop is actually MADE by Sony, it's a unique Sony product, thus presumably optimized to their marketing and engineering needs. No one else is selling rebranded Sonies, and Sony is not selling a computer similar to someone elses. It is not a rebranded Compal or Sager. That makes me feel even better about the F11.

 

The motor is glued to the black squirrel cage which is attached to the metal base plate by 4 small screws visable in the photo. It is possible to replace just that piece but you must move the entire thermal assembly away from the mobo to get enough clearance to remove the cage. Once you do that, the thermal bond between the heatsink and CPU/GPU chips is broken. I do not know if Sony has made that part an FRU. It makes more sense to keep the thermal unit in one piece.

 

Thanks for the info.

I was thinking more about the possibility of replacing the fan with an other brand w/ same v, A, CFM & RPM specs when the warranty will be over.

This said, my F fan does not whine, whistle or whatever @ the present.

Did you gutted the F yourself or was this done by a on site tech?

 

MM,

I think Sony designed the mobo but the manufacture of the board has been outsourced. Just guessing based upon silk screened names and part numbers on the board. Even some of the plastic parts that had to be removed have the same name on them.

[Edit] Of course Sony could actually own the manufacturing company So they are more vertically integrated.

Not a bad thing - been happening for years. You invest capital into things you do best. Source out other functions that others can do better than you.

One photo was taken during the fan replacement procedure. The rest I took after taking the cover off again (since the factory installed Loctite was broken by the tech) to get better shots with my cheapo camera.

 

I noticed Loctite Blue on all screws but it may be more to prevent loosening by vibrations than a seal as you can buy some @ the hardware store.

If it would be yellow or Sony_red, then OK, it's a seal.

 

Here are a few more shots of the Panasonic fan from the original thermal module that was replaced.

Notice the hardened thermal pad on the GPU/CPU transfer plates.

 

regarding the battery drain issue, a FW vaio user found a explanation about the vaio battery issue in other thread.


(quoted from Sony site: http://www.sony-asia.com/support/faq/240494)

Why does the VAIO computer consume battery even when the power is completely switched off?
Article ID : 240494 (modified02/22/2008 01:00:00)
Question:

When a computer with a fully charged battery is shut down and started again after few days, the battery has consumed a lot.
Answer:

The battery will consume its power even when the power is switched off due to the following reasons.

1.When the battery is connected to the VAIO computer, it will use the power to backup the Real Time Clock (RTC) function..
2. The power button of the computers which are designed after PC97 has the function called software switch.
The power button does not directly switch on/off the computer. It simply sends the signal to the power control management..
Due to this software switch function, the power control management is always turned on and ready to receive the signals when the battery or AC adapter is connected. As a result, there's power consumption.

Note: PC97 is advocated by Microsoft, which is for better running of Windows 95, Windows NT and the other operating systems.

3. VAIO battery has a function to monitor battery status and to send signals to the computer regularly. This function works even when the power of the computer turned off.

The battery consumption for different models differs even in the same environment. The battery which has less capacity consumes power faster.


if this is the case, there is no hope to fix the issue ?

 

Well, take the battery out when the laptop is not being used, maybe?

 

There's NO battery drain "issue" on the Vaio_F11.

See Unification Post #2 & look for battery.

Or Search this Thread with: battery.

*************************

More "fun" battery stuff:

Notebookreview's Notebook Battery Guide
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846

All batteries self-discharge
http://darrenyates.com.au/2009/03/23/lithium-ion-notebook-batteries-how-to-look-after-them/1032

How Fast Does Your Battery Self-Discharge *WithOUT* Use?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=199928

All Batteries self-discharge whilst they are not in use (open circuit). The anodes and electrolyte still react but at a reduced rate, resulting in reduced electric potential (charge).
http://www.batfaq.com/glossary.html#faq61

How to Improve the Performance of the Battery: "The self-discharge rate of a Li-Ion battery is higher if the battery is left in an unpowered notebook."
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7640&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Calibrating the Notebook Battery
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7650&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

"Apple_recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month"
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Understanding Lithium-Ion and Smart Battery Technology
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00596784&product=18703

Does a notebook battery discharge by itself?
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=60076&page=9

Caring of your Notebook Battery
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3210719/Caring-of-your-Notebook-Battery

How to rebuild a Li-Ion battery pack
http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/Li_Ion_reconstruct/

 

Thank you, exactly what I was looking for.

So the tech replaced only the fan & not the entire cooling unit?

 

I have Blueray player in my F11. Do you, guys, know does it burn double sided DVDs?

THX!

 

Yes. Dual layer as well.

 

hey i finall got my F11 today and i am super pleased.
i was wondering if anyone could direct me as to where i can change the fan settings so they can run harder since i wont be bothered by the increased noise.
any suggestions will be welcome

thnks

 

just wondering if anyone has come across the problem of the whole computer locking up. Its happen to me twice so far and it happens specifically when i expand an embedded video from either youtube or myspace. I'm guessing its a video card problem or the driver?

Hasn't frozen when playing games or doing CAD so yer...

 

*chuckles*

matt

 

The alternating fan noise is becoming annoying. Why can't the fan stay at one speed? Unless I'm wrong, there's not a fix for it, which sucks.

 

Thank you!

These writable dvd(s) starting not to make much sense since I can have a 8GB flash drive for $30.

 

Unfortunately, you cannot adjust any parameters regarding the operation of the fan. The BIOS and hardware functions are controlled by additions to the BIOS from Sony. These are not accessable to the owners.

The BIOS subroutines control the fan speed based upon the 4 different core temperatures in the i7 CPU, the GPU temperature and the mobo temperature. From real time observation of the i7 core temps, a change of 4 degrees centigrade will cause the fan control logic to increase the fan RPM.

I also have observed that the i7 core temps fluctuate rapidly thus causing the ever changing RPMs in the fan. Just a few percentage points of utilization will cause a spike in temp. This comes with the territory of owning a multi-core CPU.

If the chasis designers had the air discharge going out the back of the notebook, I don't think we would have cared as we would not have noticed the sound as it would have been projected away from our ears. But if that were true, we would not have the lid design on the F that folds down behind the main body.

 

New NVidia drivers (197.15) , with modified .INF to enable GeForce 330M support:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26353-v19715-windows-7vista-64bit-nvidia-desktop/

Be sure to use the modified .INF if installing on an F11. If you're unable to follow the steps in the link provided, then these drivers aren't for you.

Apologies, but I don't have time to benchmark or stress test. However, it's safe to say that the March drivers are more recent and preferred over the November drivers that ship with the F11, if for nothing else than application-specific (read:game) optimizations. Running these now without issue.

 

There's no such thing as double-sided burnable DVDs, if there were it would have to be done one side at a time as if they were individual single-sided discs. You mean Dual-LAYER, yes it will.

 

Will be receiving a month old F11Z1E tomorrow which I won on eBay. However, the previous owner didn't create recovery discs and wiped the recovery partition when performing a clean install.

I always clean install myself as all drivers can be downloaded from Sony but certain apps are only available as updates.

Is someone in the UK able to upload or post me a copy of the discs (which I'll pay for) or extract the apps I need.

The only apps I think I'm missing are Corel WinDVD and PMB.

I've managed to get all the other drivers from Sony and once I've tested them I'll create a F drivers thread like I've done previously for the AW and SZ.

 

I don't mind the sound of rushing air, it's the fluctuating whine that the fan makes that is annoying. Is the whine from the fan normal?

 

see post #1378. Another reason to consider a good quality laptop cooler.

http://www.amazon.com/ACC-NT-CRYO-LX-Aluminum-Notebook-Cooler-Adjustable/dp/B0014GZFZ4

I have this one in black and love it. AC or USB.

 

I have to use a cooler just to keep the fan noise down at idle? No way.

 

Yah, the COOLER adds its own noise.
The F-series is one of the better i7 laptops at keeping itself cool, WITHOUT exceptional noise. For the lap I use the
Thermaltake Ixoft cooler, works great!

 

My machine's screen just died today.
Yesterday Sony fixed the webcam after many calls and having to restore the HD image.
Today I turned off the machine in the morning went to work and at work got a dead screen. Again called sony followed all the steps and nothing.

So I had it. I will return the machine and will find another brand or wait for an updated model with better quality. I always bought laptops around $1,000 and decided to pamper myself with a premium laptop. Never had any issues with any of my previous machines and I was very happy to find that this vaio had none of the issues reported in this thread...

I thought that maybe the technician screwed up so based in the fact that it has been already opened I completely disassembled it hoping that the technician left a loose connector or pulled a cable to much. Sadly all connectors were in place, no cable was damaged, and all screws were in place. After doing this work I noticed that this is not a sturdy laptop, in reality is designed for desktop replacement to stay put at home. The inside looks and feels cheap, frame is almost non existent.

For all you owners I hope you the best with your machines. No pun intended.

My recommendations for people looking into this machine. Buy it from any source where you can return it like SonyStyle.com. If it doesn't come perfect. Don't waste your time and just return it.

 

I did not uninstall Sony_Picture Motion Browser (PMB) yet as I want to try it first but disabled this start up service that was scanning the drives for media just like Windows Media Player does: PMBVolumeWatcher.

I use the free, very small, very fast & portable Microsoft Autoruns for Windows v9.57 to quickly disable startup items & Scheduled Tasks I don't need when running on battery.

It's so slim & agile that actually it's hard to believe it's made by Microsoft.

Note: do not disable ISBMgr.exe, it's for your F battery management!



Found on Sony_support: Picture Motion Browser Installer for Windows 7 64-bit and on the bottom of this page if you have a Sony_camera or other Sony_products: Note: If the original software installation disc is lost, use the Picture Motion Browser Software Download Tool to download the Picture Motion Browser software. (Not available for all models.)

For the missing WinDVD, once the lappy is in front of you, why not call Sony_support & say you misplaced the recovery discs?

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. I ditto your recommendation also. I had my unit repaired twice and had the option for a third time, I decided to just return for full refund then try to have it fixed AGAIN. It's not worth the stress and hassle sending it back and forth (no option for onsite repair in Canada)...especially when its a brand new machine.

I am going to wait until July to re-order, unless I can find something similar in specs and price before then.

 

It's really odd that the display would stop working exactly the next day after it was on site serviced by a tech.

I'll return the wish: good luck with your "other" brand notebook!

Everything is relative:

 

smartwihelper.exe

This is for bluetooth or wi-fi?

 

It is for both.

 

Don't take me wrong I loved the machine while it worked. But my reference from past experiences is that these machines don't break.

I though so too that it was a weird coincidence that after the webcam was fixed it broke. So like you I think is not. On the other hand after doing a full autopsy didn't find any wrong doing. which makes me believe that simply the screen fluorescent light is flimsy and all the rest of the parts indicate the same. This is a great machine to stay in one place.

 

You got a Monday-morning unit. Still, that would have been a chance for a fresh start, get discounts for your trouble. And the construction is pretty typical, both for a Sony product and for a laptop..it's not bad at all.

 

To Umpire,

What is your alternative laptop? Just curious. If I'd love the specs and price of a model, experienced your situation, I really would give it one more try. Take a step back and make your decision tomorrow.

 

As jacksjw explained quite well, it's a sophisticated quad core i7 with Turbo mode so the heat generated varies (17 Watts to up to 116) hence the variable fan speed.

Sony_wisely disabled end user fan tweaking possibility to avoid this (my laptop malfunctions & Fix video playlist). Includes "cute" Kitty Loves the Laptop finding the hot spot and a guy abusing the_Dell's_Complete Care Warranty on purpose: How to Destroy a $3500 Laptop.

One might expect a muscle car to have greater cooling needs than a Smart car.

 

Sorry to hear that. Did you by any chance take down the model number of the LCD or take any pictures?

 

The screen is a standard (lousy) unit, the "fragility" is the same as that of the display in any other laptop. You just got unlucky. It happens.

(edit) actually reviews have pointed out that the mounting and support of the display in the F11 is actually more solid than that of many laptops.

 

Umpire, I really do not question your decision & truly wish you good luck with your other brand as I think you wished the same to us.

Once your heart is set on that alternative & before ordering, I suggest visiting the corresponding Owner's Lounge the feel the pulse.

"But my reference from past experiences is that these machines don't break" - you are lucky then. The graphs I posted are from a recent failiure rate study made by Square Trade, a business that sells extended service plans so they see first hand the brand of the laptops being sent to them for servicing.

Everything is relative including that study. Failure rates seems quite high to me, which could be skewed by owners taking advantage of the extended service plans (as shown in the video liked above) & maybe being less careful with their machine. High failure rates are also a very good sale argument for SquareTrade's plans.

OTOH the comparison between brands is interesting.

 

If your are going to quote me, please get it right. It is your credibility that suffers - not mine. Thank You.

 

As I don't use for gaming and a lot of the time I use it with external monitor and keyboard the super high quality in video card and display is not that important.
My priorities are speed, memory and some portability.

Before the Sony I was looking at:

DELL Studio 15. Unbeatable price. 90 days to return it no questions asked. I read it has many problems so I'll stand by and monitor it to see if the issues have been corrected.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11513441

Lenovo Y550P. Great price more or less same as the Dell. Don't know if it has issues.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146613