Official Sony VAIO F Series Owners lounge *PART 2*

Did you try w/ mic muted?



Try also disabling all sound effects in Realtek: Speakers Properties > Enhancements > Disable all sounds effects.

If you manage to fix your problem please report here as it may help the next Vaio_F11 owner with a similar problem!

 

Make that two. And much appreciated Joe .

 

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the tips, I think you got me wrong. Its my mistake that I dont tried to explain more thoroughly, what I meant is "Auto Sleep". The computers sleep just fine if I press the green power button or start-sleep.

What it cant do is sleep automatically after 30 min idling like any computer should, seems to be once we put the mic fix, the mic prevent the system to sleep that's why I'm hoping that SONY would come out with a permanent fix for this issue like a BIOS update.

Last time I leave my computer for 6 or so hours thinking it would sleep by itself, turns out that its running like a server (nonstop) when I got back.

 

" Hi Joe, Thanks for the tips, I think you got me wrong. Its my mistake that I dont tried to explain more thoroughly, what I meant is "Auto Sleep"..." Duh! You are right, I just ran powercfg /requests for each mic Morse code fixes (both using "listen to this device") & also tested with my F set to go to sleep after one minute and both fixes prevent the F from going automatically to sleep after a given time period. I never realized that as I always manually put the system to sleep which still works fine with the mic fixes in use.



I will try to find a fix for the auto sleep as I too am using the mic fix to eliminate the Morse code but in some scenario it's a good thing that a program or hardware makes a request to the system to stay awake like when watching a video for example. The "listen to this device" function can be used to connect a MP3 player, etc to the F by transforming the audio out into audio in. So I guess that's why it prevents sleep in case you are using your F as a amplifier or mixer with an external music player.

Meanwhile as shown in the short sleep video, it's not much effort to press that power button.

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

Re: Vaio_F11_ Not Powering On + Fan stuck @ 100% FIX!

That's a precious tip To no End, thanks!

lrudyk, please add this Fix to the Unification Post #2!

 

I did do my research and i have registered for IRSP with my sony serial and they know i bought the laptop from US. BUT!!! They offer me close to no technical support because sony uses different components depending on where in the world its build...

 

FSX Video with 1.1 Patch is finally up (sorry for the delay): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ntezE5CTs

There's about 20 minutes of this video of me trying desperately to figure out how to stay on the taxiway that was cut out

Taking off at JFK on "Storm Rising" weather @ dawn during the spring.

Without FRAPS FPS: 15-30

In-game settings:

Graphics - Ultra High
Aircraft - High
Scenery - Ultra High
Weather - High
Traffic - Med. High
Textures - Very High
Resolution - 1280x720
AA - None

The rest of the gaming videos - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5986590#post5986590

 

Did you try w/ mic muted?

[/IMG]

Try also disabling all sound effects in Realtek: Speakers Properties > Enhancements > Disable all sounds effects.

If you manage to fix your problem please report here as it may help the next Vaio_F11 owner with a similar problem! [/QUOTE]

I disabled all sound effects and tried muting the mic. I only get the crackling noise when my computer speakers are mute or at volume 0. When I unmute, it immediately goes away. Does anyone have other suggestions as well? TIA

 

Makes sense to me. Then simply use Skype to call Sony_USA support as I do from Costa Rica.

When I called SonyStyle USA it's a Canadian based in Vancouver that answered me. It's a small connected planet now.

A good tip:

 

That's weird & sounds like a hardware problem. Have you tried calling Sony_support?

Just curious: with external speakers or headphones does it Crackle Crackle Crackle also?

What if you start Media Player but mute the speakers?

 

Cool thank you so much, I was wondering whether you would do another video for FSX 15-30 is not too bad! Although I tend to like AA on, even though it kills the fps. Good stuff, thanks for your work!

 

I haven't tried calling Sony support yet. When I plug in headphones, the crackle sound from the speakers go away. I get the crackle/hissing sound when the system is playing sounds from the mute speakers when the system is playing or not playing any sounds.

 

So if you don't hear crackling in the headphones when muted but do from the speakers when muted w/o the headphones connected then it looks like a audio chip to internal speakers circuit defect.

If MelodyMaster drops in the conversation it would be a good thing as he knows much more than I in that field.

Call Sony_support & good luck!

 

Sorry, this may be a stupid question but is there any trick to getting an eSATA drive working?

I have a LaCie Rugged eSATA drive which I can't get going on my F under eSATA. It works fine on other PCs and also under USB.

I've tried turning everything off, connecting both the power cable as well as the eSATA (just in case) and the PC just won't recognise it. Any attempt to inspect the drives seems to cause it to hang.

Have I got a faulty eSATA connection or is there something else you have to do to get these drives working. Or maybe LaCie isn't compatible with Sony even?

Thanks

 

I have a 1TB LaCie & a WD 1TB, both with their own power supply & both work fine in the F via eSATA cable.

You know that a normal eSATA cable carries only data & not power, right? The photo you quoted is for a Power Over eSATA capable enclosure & special Power Over eSATA cable that combines USB for power with eSATA for data.

That why my 1TB's need a power supply besides the fact that Power Over eSATA works only with 2.5" pocket drives as their power needs do not exceed the port max output like 3.5" do.

If you tried recently your LaCie Rugged via eSATA on an other PC & it works then you could try an other eSATA external drive in the F to rule out a F hardware problem.

Check this LaCie Rugged troubleshooting guide and the "The disk does not appear at all" link in the bottom of the page.

If you manage to fix your problem please report here as it may help the next Vaio_F11 owner with a similar problem!

 

Thanks, I am using a the proper eSATA cable for power but have tried it with a separate power cable as well - no difference.

None of the utilities are much help because the drive causes all of them to hang. It also cause windows to hang during boot or shutdown. Unplugging the drive immediately resolves the hang.

Unfortunately it's the only external eSATA drive I've got at the moment. I was planning on getting another LaCie but am a bit worried there may be some compatibility issue. As I said the drive works fine on eSATA on another PC (Dell) and also works fine as a USB drive.

I've logged a support call on the matter. If I get it going I'll report back. Hopefully it's not going to be a fault in the laptop - I've only had it less than 24 hours. Fingers crossed...

 

"I am using a the proper eSATA cable for power" - but there is no such thing unless I don't understand what you are saying.

Does your drive support Power Over eSATA?

Did you try with using a 5v 1A power adapter for the enclosure?

" Unfortunately it's the only external eSATA drive I've got at the moment..." - maybe you could go to a store or internet cafe that may have one with your F?

Good luck with LaCie support, my 1TB's fan is stuck @ 100% when connected via eSATA & I wrote to them & they replied that there was no fan in my unit so after exchanging a few emails & they still did not believe me so I posted this video on Youtube to prove them wrong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giWyD9_Cn4w

They never apologized nor found any solution.

 

Hey sparkz - so just to clarify - the drive works fine as a USB drive (storage device), but if you have it plugged in during boot-up it causes the system to hang?

 

I have to say the F11 with GT330 falls short here. The desktop Q9450 with crossfired ATI HD4850s can do that completely smoothly at 1920 X 1080 with the same settings as yours but scenery at very high, and makes up to 40fps. The action is smooth except when other aircraft enter the scenario. Thank you for posting Flight Simulator results.

 

(1) How are the speakers being "muted..?" The method of muting the speakers may be adding the crackle, is it software?

(2) When you plug in the headphones that should cut out any sound to the speakers altogether, I'm assuming it's a straight hardware switch, though it may not be. Therefore any "crackling" should then be heard on the headphone, under the same conditions..are the headphones in fact quiet?

(3) Define "Crackling." Is it related to HD access? System functions? Is it coming in off the power line? Could there be an RF loop, what's called "Ingress" where the whole laptop is acting as a radio aerial with nothing being grounded? --

I've had the latter with a Dell at work, the speakers emit a series of ticks and hisses as people move about the room, volume makes no difference but the crackles ARE transferred to the headphones or an external audio amp if one is plugged in. The solution here was a crocodile clip on a metal piece of the Dell with a wire to ground.

 

That's right. If I turn everything off, plug in the eSATA connection and power cable. Turn the pc back on and it will hang during the windows load sequence. After a few minutes I detach the cable and windows carries on loading.

USB no problems and eSATA on my Dell no problem - that even allow hot plugging. Not too sure if the Sony allows it but have tried both ways with the same results.

 

Hi sparkz42,

Have you been into Disk Management?

Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management

You should see the drive showing in there and then you need to set it to 'Active'.

EDIT: I bought one of these power-over-eSATA enclosures and I had to do this.

Good luck!

matt

 

Sorry, I'm not sure if the cable is any different but yes the LaCie drive does supports power over eSATA. It also has a power cable (to USB) in case there isn't enough power which I've also connected. I haven't got the LaCie mains power adapter for the drive - yet anyhow.

Yeah, I'll have to borrow one to see if it works on a different kind.

I guess I was lucky with LaCie support. I had a ticket with them to sort out why the drive wasn't recognised on Windows XP. It took a long time and they didn't seem to read my emails but I got there in the end. I can imagine your problem is :cry: and Good luck with that!

 

Thanks Matt. The problem is when the drive is connected it causes a hang.

If I connect it when the pc is off it hangs during windows startup. If I hotplug it when windows is on (not sure if I'm allowed to do that on the F) the Disk Management hangs also! The same applies to "My Computer" and any other program which looks at the drive including the Vaio hardware diagnostics.

 

Hi guys,

Well I've just received my shiny new vaio f11c5e, I'm doing a windows reinstall & I'm installing the drivers etc. & I was wondering what the ips driver on the sony site is?

Basically what is it & do I need it?

I've done a search but haven't found very much..

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers.

 

Try pressing some keys on your keyboard while your computer is loading windows and stops, it might stop the hang (does for me sometimes). Your computer may be trying load data from the eSata drive during boot-up (although from the sound of things, it seems like your computer is booting Windows 7 from its internal hard drive). To check anyway, press F2 immediately after you turn the laptop on (when the VAIO logo appears). You should be in the BIOS. There should be a setting somewhere that reads "first boot order" or "boot order". Make sure that under this section, your laptop's internal hard disk is set to the first thing, and "removable devices" or "eSata" is set to the last thing. What this does is that it ensures that the computer boots using data from your laptop's internal hard disk and not the external drive.

Finally, it sounds like it's an issue with Windows 7 or the F11 itself, since it works with your desktop. Out of curiosity - what OS is your desktop running?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. The external drive boot option is off and the drive boot order is correct. When windows is stuck starting nothing has any effect except for disconnecting the drive When it's in this state I notice the disk activity led lights every second. You think it would give up after a while but I left it for 5 minutes and it was still trying - weird.

Regards my Dell with eSATA, that's on Vista Ultimate 64. Unfortunately haven't got another W7 near by.

 

Please can someone tell me why when my laptop is on standby or hibernate mode it turns on for no reason... nothing attached... just itself... with the lid closed. It is randomly doing this every night now!!!

 

Mine did exactly the same last night - from hibernate! I'd be mad if it did that while I was carrying it around in a case. Event log says it doesn't know what woke it.

 

Hmmm this whistling sound: http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=46013&d=1267306017 which I noticed out of the box, did not annoy me much for the first few days... it has grown, or seems, louder though after a week of use... annoying

 

I also just had a look at the event log. I've logged the issue with Sony. Can anyone help?

 

Another question - I've installed Active@ Hard Disk Monitor and it says that the Raw Read Error Rate for the 7,200rmp F HDD is at 56% health (where 100% is 0 error rate). It therefore says my drive is at 56% health, although the error rate is well above the critical value. Because of that I'm not particularly concerned, but is this usual for a brand new drive?

 

Mine as well... It turned on during a flight for 1 hour (from hibernate) and I nearly burned myself on the computer. This is a real safety hazard.

 

If it turns on while in a case, and got hot enough, it could potentially catch fire. Now that would be good press for Sony_wouldn't it?

 

So I've installed a clean version of win7 as recommended on this forum, but now I'm getting a 3 day activation period
message.

When I enter my win7 product key (from the bottom of the laptop sticker) it says "cannot activate with this key" or something similar.

So do I have to wait 3 days, or am I doing something wrong?

Or maybe the key is only good for the factory install?

Any help on this is much needed..

Thanks in advance.

 

You will also find that when you are not near your F11 or if it is turned off, or if you are in another part of the house, or you are out and about in the "real world" you will hear that sound. It follows you wherever you go. It haunts you...

I had to listen to music on the maximum volume with earbuds so I could block out the sound. If the house had caught fire and the alarm was on and my family was yelling at me to evacuate the house. I would not have been able to hear them. No joke.

 

I am sorry to hear that, you are not alone. These machines are very flimsy. This thread is plagued with stories of defectives machines.
I was lucky that mine failed within the 30 days of ordering it and was able to return it.
Call them and request them to send it back with signature delivery.

 

Hi everyone I just received my Vaio F back from Sony service. All appears to be working again and I am happy. The Sony repair sheet shows that they only reinstalled the CPU. After reading a few posts here I am a bit concerned about the laptop coming on by itself posts. A day or two before my computer died it came on by itself in my laptop bag and was very warm when I took it out. I wonder if it cooked the cpu or the thermal paste at least. I usually hibernate the machine, but now I think I should turn it off when I am going to take it in the laptop bag.

 

lol mine was in the neoprene case they sell for it. It really was hot enough to catch on fire, had there been something flammable inside the case.

 

You know...Mine did this a couple days before it died. I forgot about it until I read this post. When I get mine back I will turn it off when I know I wont be using it for over an hour instead of using hybernate.

Thanks also to the poster who suggested calling back and asking for signature delivery. I will do this after work.

Maxie HQ...how long was it until you received your Vaio back from San Deigo?

 

gullideth, Sony received mine on 3/24 and I got it back today. I didn't send mine in immediately after I received the prepaid box from them b/c I was busy and sick and didn't care about it enough.

 

Does anyone know if this laptop will work with a 12.5mm HDD ? I am beginning to lust after the new WD 750gb that just came out.

 

Hibernate is as good as off. There's no reason the computer should be turning itself on when it's "hibernating"

 

When I was younger and living with my parents we had a house fire and the house was a total loss as well as most belongings. it happened in the middle of the night and a local police officer was driving by and saw it he was pounding on the door about the same time the smoke alarms starting going off. It was a bit too close for comfort. I had to go back in and fetch the family pet and by then you couldn't see your hand in front of your face on the downstairs levels, but still I moved faster than I ever thought was possible.

 

I wasn't even aware that it could.

 

nore was i, but it has done... fact. obviously from the stories here it can also do it when it running only on notebook power. any idea what could initiate a bootup? maybe a signal from the wifi?

 

Not for me - my wifi was off (for the flight). No external devices. Although this happened right before my keyboard's "n" key shorted out/jammed.

I think it may have been the computer thinking that a key was depressed and then turned itself on. It doesn't happen to me anymore (at least since I've replaced my keyboard).

 

Does it also go on to mention activating via their automated phone service?

Just follow the on screen instructions to get the number and what to do next.

Make sure you are sitting at the puter with the phone cos you need to type in some numbers you are given.

 

do you think it's possible to change what can wake your computer up from hibernation?

 

Absolutely - I'll get one with the same (or similar) settings with AA on. Do you have any preference of which airport you want me to take off from?

Also, I have GTA 4 installed but (sadly) left my disk 5000 miles away from where I currently am.... I'll have to figure out how to get it working without a disk, but in the meantime, the game defaults to high settings at 1280x720. For the most part, gameplay is smooth at 30-40 fps. GTA 4 has a LOT of optimization problem though. It stutters so much, and the only way I've gotten it to stop is by turning the shadow density down all the way (I don't really see a big difference with it down anyway). A vid will be up as soon as I get it working.

 

I think Joe Bleau had an extensive post about this...

Found it!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5880527&posted=1#post5880527