Official Sony Vaio Fit multi-flip PC Owners' Thread

I ask again, With Windows 10, can we still change in the Intel Setting the colors of your screen ? because it has by default some yellow teint, I put it cooler, is there no problem with the rotation of the screen in flip mode ?

 

Yes, I can change the color settings from the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel. Note that I use drivers directly from Intel, not Sony.

Screen rotation. No issues as far as I can tell. The issue with non-native resolution settings not being retained when switching between laptop mode and viewer mode has been fixed. Between the 2 modes, the Flip correctly determines which way is up.

I don't use tablet mode that much because the Flip 15 is heavy for me for that purpose. But I did try it out and as far as I can tell, there are no issues. No issues with non-native resolution not being retained when switching to and from tablet mode.

Auto-Rotation works without issues. Flip can tell which way is up. Auto-Rotation lock is a "true" lock. It remembers the orientation when the lock was invoked - 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees - and stays locked to that orientation. [Edit] Only exception is switching between laptop and viewer mode. The Flip is smart enough now to maintain landscape orientation even when rotation is locked - it knows which way is up and adjusts. This prevents having an upside down view when switching between laptop and viewer mode (and vice-versa) even with rotation lock on.

Note I tried auto-rotation out using the Windows 10 UI. Using Winkey-O to toggle it in laptop mode and using the Rotation Lock button on the touchscreen in tablet mode.

 

Ok thanks you, so I can do the update now, btw I have the flip 13A, but if it's ok with the 15A it should be too with mine. So I just have to update Windows 10, no need to download others drivers for compatibility ?

 

The decision to update to Win10 was yours to make and the consequences of that decision is yours to bear. You are on your own.

Compatibility... That was why I decided to move to Intel drivers years ago when I got my Flip. Because of WiDi.

If you use WiDi a lot, you know you have to keep all the Intel device drivers in sync - WiFi, IGfx, etc. Intel even has a tool that tells you which versions go together. But I wanted them to be in synch AND up to date. The only way to do that is to get the Intel drivers from Intel, not Sony. As for the other drivers, I already mentioned which ones I sourced from the device manufacturers - the rest are from Sony. When I updated to Win10, I had no issues - initially. YMMV.

I had issues later but all of those were my own making. They're my fault and I resolved them on my own to my satisfaction.

When I updated mine, I made sure that everything was patched and working in Win8.1. I made the backups and I made sure that I can restore from those backups with the SSD wiped of partitions. I did all of those knowing that I can lose everything in my Flip.

I didn't mention in my previous post but I aside from my plan B - the system image backup, I also had a plan C - the VMware option.

I use VMware a lot so I also took the precaution to back up my Flip as a VM into a USB SSD drive. That way, if the system image backup fails, I have a fully tested VM clone of the Flip as the absolute last resort. Of course, because it is a VM, I lose some of the hardware specific features. But I was prepared to accept that and move on. I am not going to bug Sony, or anyone else, if my upgrade went sideways. Also, I was able to test the VM without destroying anything.

With a system image backup, yeah it may have been generated without any error messages. But really, the only way to know if the backup works is to destroy all partition info on the source drive and restore it from the backup. And I did exactly that. That was why even before I upgraded to Win10, I was confident that I can go back to Win8.1 using native Win backup.

So only after taking the above precautions did I upgrade to Win10.

 

Calibrator or someone, do you know how to do a clean install of Win 10? I read that its possible through the Reset option after you upgrade. I also read you can also do a clean install by creating a boot media on USB then upgrading Win 10 from the USB. Which is the best method to use?

 

I'm not into Win10 so somebody else has the honor...

 

We have a long weekend coming up. So I've been thinking about doing a clean install then. Searching around, I found the post below and will use it as a guide.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...actory-reset-windows-8-1-then-free-upg.html#9

Because there are no official Win10 drivers for the Flip, I'll use the Win8/8.1 drivers. I've been collecting the Win8 and Win8.1 drivers from the SonyUK site. Reason I go there is the links are more organized. There's a separate section for pre-installed drivers, which I hope, are full images, not incremental patches.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SVF15N15ST

Also, I've done several full restore from backups already. So I'm confident I can go back if the clean install goes sideways.

 

But I thought the only drivers needed for Win 10 on the Flip are Intel drivers for display, NFC and bluetooth, and Nvidia drivers for the graphics card. I think thats all you need on the Fip when upgrading to W10.

 

But I read it was better to wait for november, but I don't know if it still need to wait november.
Otherwise, what do you think about battery life ? Better, worse or the same ?

 

There's other devices in your pc that still need drivers from Sony. If you do a search and look at the posts around doing a clean install of Win8.1 from before, you'll note that one of the things you should check after a clean install is the device manager screen. Microsoft won't have default drivers for some of them. The drivers for those will have to come from somewhere.

It comes down to the amount of risk you are willing to absorb, and the effort you are willing to spend. If the answer to both is not high, then just wait until November for Sony to provide the drivers and the instructions to upgrade.

Battery life is the same for me, 4 - 5.5 hours depending on usage. When off AC, I am a light user. Mostly WiFi; remote desktop applications; MS Office desktop applications; and VMs.

Also, the only metro/modern app on my flip is the Store app. All the rest have been uninstalled to ensure that nothing I do not use runs in the background. If you don't use an app, uninstall it.

 

Regarding the NVidia throttling... I try not to tax my laptop to extend its life. So I tend to set up things "halfway". My game settings are:

Intel Gfx... Display refresh rate is 48p Hz. Remember that IGfx is the conductor, Nvidia is the brains and muscle. So the less demands IGfx makes on Nvidia means less work and more stable temps for Nvidia.

My games are set to run fullscreen at 1600 x 900 resolution - less pixels for Nvidia to manage. They get stretched to fill the screen.

Most of the games are set with anti-aliasing off. There's already some blurring that will occur because the in-game resolution is less than the native res and the stretching. So no need to get Nvidia to do something extra.

V-Sync is on for all games. Maybe because I already set the refresh rate to max out at 48 at IGfx level, V-Sync actually smooths things out. Nvidia has less frames to draw, so it manages to fully draw the frames it displays.

If the game has an option to use "hardware cursor" - using the Windows mouse cursor graphic instead of drawing a fancy cursor - use it. It solved the mouse lag issues for some games.

The games I play are Homeworld:RM, CivBE, Sins:Rebellion, SupCom:FA, SupCom2, Total War:Rome2, XCom:EU. Aside from the settings above, most are set to High/Ultra. Exception is TW:Rome2. It's running at 1280 x 800 on High.

So probably, my choice in games is another reason why I don't experience the throttling issue.

Fan noise... I use Bose noise-cancelling headphones to deal with that.

 

I dont understand. How are you able to set your refresh rate to 48p Hz? When I go into the Intel HD graphics control panel it only states 60p Hz and no other option is available. Do I have to install a software for this?

Also, in your other comment you said that I'd need additional drivers other than Intel drivers to get Windows 10 working. But how come those that upgraded to Win 10 for their Flips never mentioned that? All they said was hat they installed Intel and Nvidia drivers, thats all.

 

I dont understand. How are you able to set your refresh rate to 48p Hz? When I go into the Intel HD graphics control panel it only states 60p Hz and no other option is available. Do I have to install a software for this?

Also, in your other comment you said that I'd need additional drivers other than Intel drivers to get Windows 10 working. But how come those that upgraded to Win 10 for their Flips never mentioned that? All they said was hat they installed Intel and Nvidia drivers, thats all.

 

Even with Win8.1, I used Intel drivers. So maybe that's the reason why I have the option to set the refresh rate to 48.

Additional drivers... For a Win10 upgrade, the Sony drivers are already in your Flip. The update just uses what's already there. Which is probably why those you refer to who upgraded to Win10 never mentioned the need for additional drivers.

But with a clean install, there's a possibility that MS/Win10 won't have default drivers for some devices. If you take the time to read the early posts in this thread regarding clean install of Win8.1, you'll see that people had to deal with unknown devices in device manager after a clean install. Those unknowns are the sensors keyboard extensions from Sony and others. I don't expect a Win10 install to be different - hence, the reason I'm preparing for the worst. If that effort or concern is wasted, it is not something I'll regret or make a big deal of.

 

But that makes no sense since I'm using Intel drivers on my Windows 8.1. I'm using the Intel display driver dated 10/15/2013 which is version: 10.18.10.3355.

So I'm assuming you got Windows 10 already installed. But even though I got 8.1, whats your Intel display driver version and date?

 

bc4m5, unrelated question while you're at it: you said you use WiDi, do you game on it? I've been interested in using a WiDi dongle on my TV for gaming and movies for a good while, but every time I ask anyone about a receiver that can handle the job, I'm told the latency is bad enough that it's only good for powerpoint presentations. I've got to imagine some of those games you listed would be really frustrating with latency. What's your WiDi setup?

 

koolxxx, the option to change the refresh rate was always there - way back to the Flip's factory image. I know because I just restored my Flip to factory image using the original recovery media - I wanted to get a copy of the factory installed drivers that came with my Flip in preparation for the clean install I'm prepping for.

Even with Win8 factory image, you can change the refresh rate, not just from the Intel GUI, but also from the VAIO Control Center. You actually have finer control with VCC because it allowed you to set different refresh rates when on AC and Battery. And that was with driver version 9.18.10.3293.

I'm now back to my Win10 image. Driver version is 10.18.15.4256 dated 2015/7/17.

jptiger. I don't have standalone receivers/dongles of my own. At home, my Samsung TV has a built-in receiver. With clients, I just use theirs. Besides, only a few of them have WiDi capable displays or receivers.

Yes the lag is really bad which is why I don't play games with it. I didn't time it but when I move the mouse, there is a noticeable delay before the pointer on the screen moves. And with games, frames get dropped. After a few seconds of that, I tend to stop looking at the external screen and focus back to the Flip.

 

Calibrator, can you explain why I'm not able to change my refresh rate? Its at 60p Hz and its the only option available. Others here are able to change it. But I cant. Is there a fix to this?

----- EDIT -----
Currently I got Intel display driver version: 10.18.10.3355. But theres an updated driver with version: 15.36.24.64.4264 (10.18.14.4264). I tried to install this driver but got an error saying something like my laptop already has the manufacturer's version and so the driver isn't needed.

Even though I got the manufacturer's version (Sony), I can still install the updated driver by uninstalling the one I already have first, then install the updated one. If I do this, will I run into problems?

 

I don't know but if you haven't already fix the fan noise :

"Thursday - last edited Friday

I have been suffering from the noisy fan issue on my Sony VAIO Flip 13 for almost 2 years. No solution from Sony. I now found a solution that I would like to share with others:



I found the program Notebook FanControl (NBFC) onhttps://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/releases which I downloaded and installed. In addition I got two still experimental NBFC profiles to control the fan on the Sony VAIO Flip fromhttp://www.computerbase.de/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=431494&d=1406961141. See alsohttp://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1070494&p=15825308&highlight=sony#post15825308 for further details (in German).



These two NBFC profiles were written for the VAIO Flip 14, but they work fine on my VAIO Flip 13. After downloading and copying them into the profile folder of NBFC, they can be activated in the NBFC menu.



As long as the CPU temperature is below 60 degrees Celsius, NBFC, running one of these profiles, takes care that the fan is off. I have very positive experiences with these profiles. I'm now using the second of the two NBFC VAIO Flip profiles (named SVF14N1C5E (2).xml) all the time. When I do web browsing, mail, and Office work on the VAIO Flip, the CPU remains below 50 degrees and the fan remains off. NBFC can be started with Windows and runs in the background, minimized to a small symbol on the taskbar.



For me, this is a solution after two years of pain and no help from Sony. It finally turns the VAIO Flip 13 from an unusable noise generator to one of my favorite notebooks.



Donations can be made to the author of NBFC on https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HUALCC9HY9MKC."

Source : http://community.sony.com/t5/VAIO-H...io-Flip-and-its-noisy-fan/td-p/234627/page/67


No more fan noise under 60 degrees celsius.

 

That's the same version I have. Apparently, this is the last official ("certified") driver supplied by Sony.
With this driver I have the 48 Hz option (as well as a 59 Hz option).

This is a mechanism that hits many notebook/laptop users as the manufacturers prevent the installation of OEM drivers in an effort to reduce their support costs.
Or so they think and use this checking option provided by the graphics chip/driver provider.

This is usually the exact way to do it. The error message you saw is basically triggered by the (existence of the) old driver and not the graphics chip itself.

I don't expect that you do -- and if you install Windows 10 you have to update the graphics driver anyway, I think.
On a side note: It remains to be seen if Sony supplies new drivers for Windows 10 users...

But back to your original "48 Hz-problem":
As you don't have this option even though you have the same driver version I have I can only assume that there is a difference somewhere else.
The Intel driver for example may gray out this option if for example you hook up an external monitor or TV set that only accepts 60 Hz video modes.

 

Calibrator, I tried to install the unofficial Intel display drivers. I was able to get through the install process with no problem after I uninstalled the previous Sony driver. But unfortunately, after a restart I checked the driver version, and the laptop reverts back to the last Sony display driver. I dont get this. What do you suggest?

FYI, In the screen resolution control panel I get an exclamation mark inside a yellow triangle that says: "Your resolution is lower than 1660 x 1245. Some items might not fit on your screen." But its set to 1920 x 1080. Again, I dont get this.

In the past, I did disable many services. Do you think this has something to do with it?. Can you suggest which ones are tied to the display off the top of your head?

 

I am using Windows 10 since the first day it was released, but I am not happy with the performance, the 8.1 version was clearly faster.

How can I revert back to the original status of the laptop with windows 8 version?

I do not have the option of reverting back to windows 8 through panel control settings. I have also tried the option of restoring to original configuration, but It only installs Windows 10 version without any vaio or other programs.

I do not have any backup of the system in Windows 8.1 version, only in Windows 10, and of course of all the user data.

Any help will be welcome.

Thanks.

Rubén

 

Calibrator did you read my last post by any chance?

 

I'm not monitoring this thread on a daily basis anymore. During the week I'm often away from home now, often with spotty internet connection and plain and simple just don't have much free time, sorry.

But apparently I'm not the only one (partially) leaving - no answer since Monday is pretty sad...

Now, about your newest problem:

I never had this error message before. I first thought, that the display scaling of Windows 8.1 has something to do with it but this weird resolution - 1660 x 1245 - doesn't fit with the regular settings at all.

Also, 1660x1245 has a ratio of 4:3 and not 16:9 (like the actual Flip display).
This is extremely weird. Downright bizarre, actually.

Googling "Your resolution is lower than 1660" garners this: NOTHING
This means you actually have a completely unique problem in the whole world!
Congratulations! ;-)

No, I don't think disabling the (Sony) services has anything to do with it. I don't see a connection here at all. In fact I have most of them disabled, too, and never had a problem.

What I would suggest?

- Boot up the Flip in "safe mode".

- Deinstall the currently installed Intel graphics driver.

- Don't just restart the Flip but delete the installation directories and files of the old driver.
The default directory for the driver installation files is this:
C:\Windows\Drivers\EXE\Graphics Driver (Intel)
You can also simply rename it to "Graphics Driver (Intel)-old" or something like that if you want a backup.

- Then restart the Flip normally.

The Flip mustn't re-install any old driver automatically but start in slow graphics compatibility mode (non-accelerated).
If you have done everything right you can then install the new driver, which then *should* recognize the display correctly. You may have to re-install the Nvidia drivers after this.

If everything fails, though, you have to download the oldest driver from Sony, install it and then perhaps quit your experiments...

 

I uninstall Vaio Control Center because I got a problem and I thought it was the problem and now I can't install it again, it says, I have already the last update, that's crazy... Help please, I don't want to reinstall Windows 8.0 and after 8.1 just for Vaio Control Center....

 

Finally I reinstall it, but
battery care function is missing in the control center...

 

Calibrator this also failed. After I uninstalled the display driver I was left with the basic Microsoft display driver dated 2006. But after trying to install the newest Intel driver, the laptop reverted back to the last updated official Sony driver, even after I deleted the folder in which its kept. This is crazy weird. I cant ecplain it.

At this point I'll have to upgrade to Win 10. This will be done soon. Afterwards I'll do a clean install if 10 and install needed drivers. I'm sure this will get the latest Intel display drivers installed.

 

Now it's done ! I fixed everything, very complicated, too long to explain if someone care

 

For those of you who experience no throttling in games after doing a clean install, did you install the Sony BIOS?

 

Hi, I have a flip 13 with win 8.1 pro with all latest updates installed on it. All was fine until this morning suddently and without apparent reasons the battery icon changed to " No battery is detected" so I started to look around and didn't find an solution. If anybody had this situation thanks in advance.
I tried uninstalling Microsoft ACPI-compliant control method battery wich only removed the red crossed icon and then was back when reactivated. I tried several times to boot...no success

The event shows this error :

The description for Event ID 2 from source ESRV_SVC cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

Error [1]: [ACPI_BATTERY_INPUT_ERROR_UNABLE_TO_IOCTL].
Occurred: [Fri Oct 16 10:44:39 2015].
In file: [sony_acpi_battery_input.c].
At line: [5211].
​

when i do a powercfg /batteryreport I get No batteries are currently installed and that all was fine until it happened :
2015-10-1607:52:49 Active AC 79 % 28 610 mWh
08:46:38 Active Battery - -1 mWh
08:46:41 Active AC 79 % 28 610 mWh
09:42:51 Active Battery - -1 mWh
09:42:54 Active AC 79 % 28 610 mWh
10:45:00 Battery changed AC - -
10:45:00 Active AC - -
10:56:00 Suspended - -
10:59:14 Active AC - -
11:05:00 Suspended - -
11:11:27 Active AC - -
11:23:00 Suspended - -

Now when AC is plugged orange led is on and when no AC all seems fine. only issue is the power icon and that battery diseppeared everywhere (vaio control center for exemple too)

Thanks for any help

 

I had the same problem just days ago, I found the problem, but sometimes it returns, but solution :

When your computer is off, at the back of the computer there is a small hole, take a pin and push with it. During few seconds, restart, and now magic, no more battery detection problem !

 

It worked. Don't know why it happened.
Thank you very much

 

I think it will happen again... You're welcome.

 

Now I have problem with the pen, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't...

 

Yes it just happened again !!! Don't know why this happen as never happened before this week.

 

I think it's because we did the last updates from Windows Update ?

 

True that all updates are installed but when i first had the problem i uninstalled the latest updates and nothing changed so i don't know if and which one creates this if any

 

How did you find out which updates to uninstall? How did you uninstall them? Maybe you did not target the correct set of updates.

I've had problems with my Flip15A NFC device, since Win8.1. So I've learned to ignore that it doesn't work and have even disabled it in device manager to stop it from cluttering the Win event logs. And every long weekend, I turn it back on, to let it clutter the Win event logs, and send the error reports to Microsoft.

Last month, it started working again, after I upgraded from Win8.1 to Win10. 1st time since I was on Win8.1, all the devices on my Flip15A worked. But it only lasted a couple of weeks.

After last week's updates, NFC device stopped working again. Worst this time because it was having timeout issues, according to the logs, which meant that cold start was slowed down with a blank screen for about 20-30 seconds longer. So I disabled NFC again. Full disclosure, I don't have the patience to vet every update from MS. I just install the lot. There were a lot last week.

I found out before about WUShowHide.diagcab, a program from Microsoft that backs out any driver updates from Microsoft. You can grab it here... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930

WUShowHide lets you back out any driver updates from Microsoft and hide them from future Win updates.

Have a thorough read of that page first before you play around. And make sure you can fully restore your system before you do anything. I do system image backups nightly. They're my insurance. Even if I have to replace the SSD on my Flip15A, I don't just have last night's backup to restore from. I can choose to restore from any day, going back 3 weeks.

I ran WUShowHide and saw that WinUpdate installed a bunch of Intel updates covering USB/PCIE controllers, graphics drivers, etc. Ever since my Win8.1 clean install, and now my Win10 upgrade, I've decided to get my Intel drivers directly from Intel only.

So I used WUShowHide to back out ALL the Intel driver updates (I don't have the patience to test each one). And viola! NFC now works!

How is that relevant to your battery problems? The batteries have their own set of drivers, you can see from device manager.

You can use WUShowHide to back out any driver updates related to batteries. If that doesn't solve your problem, then the issue could be the updates to Intel devices, which sort of form the backbone of the system. Try backing out the Intel updates instead.

Note that the NFC and the batteries are ACPI compliant devices. As I mentioned above, my NFC issue went away because I backed out the Intel driver updates. ACPI devices are handled by Intel controllers. So your issue may not stem from the actual device, the battery; but from the controller, Intel, that handles it.

Good luck!

 

My flip 15 is on clean W8.1 install and I'm happy with that.

I've tested W10 (updated from Sony's W8.1), but that wasn't good experience really. First of all - automatic updates. Well, this is not a big deal as long as the Windows doesn't download the updates by itself (using torrent protocol). And, as you all probably know, Home version does it. Second annoying thing was the design - the login screen and windows control icons (minimize, maximize, close) were just awful. Third thing: I've noticed that the fan became louder - it was running more often than on Sony's stock W8.1 system).

About throttling: I play Endless Legend: Shadows quite often. It's similar to Civilization V game and I think the hardware requirements might be the same. I play it on med graphics settings, HD resolution, full screen. The fan is pretty loud and the game doesn't look good, which makes it less enjoyable (crap!). I did notice throttling once, after playing for 2 hours straight.

I know this laptop is not for gaming but c'mon. I own it for over a year now and I still can't get use to this ****ty performance, even when playing older games. Looking on the Flip's specifications, the game like Civ5 or Endless Legend should run with 30-40 fps on med details in fullHD or HD, shouldn't it?

I'm thinking about updating my clean W8.1 to W10, but still I have some doubts. Ok, the automatic updates can be turned off using Services, but this means that the updates will be totally disabled until I enable it again (which might be annoying). the ugly W10 looks however, will stay

 

PractiseMachine, since you got a clean Windows 8.1 installed, can you play GTAV smoothly?

 

koolxxx, unfortunately I don't own that game so I can't really check it. I know that Dota 2 and Starcraft 2 are smooth on mid settings and fullHD resolution.

 

With no throttling, I presume?

 

That's correct.

 

Do you have Home or Pro version 8.1 clean installed?

 

It's standard version. I used Windows 8.1 image available on Microsoft's page. The instalator recognizes your license from hardware.

 

Can you post the mcrosoft link to the 8.1 and 10 images? I want to clean install both to test them.

Can you also provide instructions on how you did your clean install?

 

Yes battery problem seems to be related to 2 win 8.1 updates :
KB3097966
KB3080446


edit : not fully sure in fact

 

PractiseMachine can you post the microsoft link to the 8.1 and 10 images? I want to clean install each to test them.

Can you also provide instructions on how you did your clean install?

 

Does the pencil still works correctly after all the last updates of Windows 8.1 ?

 

Does anyone know where I can find individual sony driver updates for windows 10? I have the flip 15A SVF15N1. I already have windows 10 installed on it.