Official VAIO SR Series Owners Thread

seinfield? lol

 

your right, it would be nice to have some sort of wiki

 

When i press backspace too many times, I have a glitchy repeated "ding" noise. THis is the default windows error noise, but it repeats and sounds glitchy and keeps going long after i finish pressing backspace. Could someone tell me if there's a way to fix this?

 

turn off the sound

 

Umm.... Is there a way to turn off that particular error message for that particular situation (mostly in type windows).

 

what OS are you using?

 

well i got another SR 430 in the mail from J&R and the optical drive is way better. no gap....doesnt move much when i touch it........sending the other one back, ill even make out $120 cashback + extras

 

Howd u do that?

 

just bought another one and shiped the other one back

 

I installed Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on my brothers SR yesterday and after the long and hard process of installing drivers, I have just a few problems left that I need to fix:

1. The error with isbmgr.exe that says the battery is not a genuine Sony battery. I disabled it but would like to know how to make it work properly.

2. Vaio mode switch doesn't work.

3. Function keys (5-6, 9-10) do not work.

4. Sony Firmware Extension Parser won't install. It says it does, yet Windows keeps saying it needs to be installed

 

Don't install it; Sony will probably need to rewrite a new software for this. It doesn't seem to be of any use, so I never installed it.

Function keys require Sony Event Services. Did you install the Firmware Extension manually, or did you just run the EXE provided from Sony?

 

Here is what I installed for him, what Sony stuff is missing? I think Sony Shared Utility and Firmware Extension Parser.

 

I'm not sure what is missing; from my experience, it seems like some of the stuff doesn't show up in the Add/Remove area. I followed this guide here, installed everything necessary in that order, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=355715 It's made for the FW, but it's pretty much the same as for the SR. I didn't load it up with all the extra Sony software, though, like ArcSoft.

 

Finally got a version of the Firmware Extension Parser to install. Everything is good now! Only took all day...

If only I didn't love the Z, I would officially be turned off from Sony computers.

 

does anyone have links to a SR disassemble?

 

why do you need to disassemble it? changing something?

 

Can you make the SD card reader working? I found one unknown device. I guess it is that one. I have installed the vista driver, but with no lucky.

And how about your ATI CCC control panel? Right now, I can't open it even it says it has been successfully installed.

 

OK, CCC control panel is working now after installing ms framework 3.5. So, only two issue left:
1. one unknown device

2. Brightness keys

 

Run Win7 Update to get drivers for the unknown device! Or run Everest and look to devices, there you see the unknown devices with a description of the unknown device!

 

Just ordered a 430. Do I really need to do a fresh install of Vista? Would it really make any difference? Isn't a new machine basically as fresh as it gets? I could just manually remove whatever bloatware bugs me.
Also, with Windows7, would installing the RC as opposed to the RTM build be a bad thing? How would getting to Win7 final work? Does Sony send an upgrade disc and you have re-install Vista? Could they just give a new key?

 

The SD card reader worked automatically, and for the ATI drivers, they work too. Try installing the older ATI drivers from the Sony esupport site.

On my brothers, he too had one unknown device in the device manager and it was the Firmware Extension Parser. This made all switch mode keys and the FN keys work.

 

just use mobility modder (google) to install the latest 9.7, 9.8 and so on drivers from ATI onto this machine

they work fine, but wont work right unless you use mobility modder

 

I agree; it's the Firmware Extension driver. The SD reader driver should also be available from Sony eSupport, also. (This is from Win7 install experience)

A true fresh install would make a difference, because there will be remnants of the uninstalled software, and maybe some things aren't removeable, that can slow a system down or cause troubles in the future. I had a Vista install from Sony where I uninstalled stuff I didn't need because I didn't have access to a Vista disc, but Vista was slow for me, and I didn't know why, but have switched to Win7.

RC code is not final code, so yes, running RC is not advisable, plus you can't really apply patches to it.

 

Good points. Will I get a proper copy of Vista to do a fresh install with my purchase of new SR430 from J&R ? Their site doesn't say 32 or 64 either, hope it's 64.
Guess I'll have to email Sony to find out how they're handling the Win7 'free upgrade'.

 

Sony won't give you the Vista install discs; they force you to make recovery discs, but these recovery discs come with the junk they install at the beginning. There's also a recovery partition that has the same thing, I guess.

There are techniques somewhere on these forums to do make a clean Vista by removing all the Sony junk from the recovery partition, but that is a pain. The alternative is to get a Vista disc from "somewhere", and use your CD key that's on the bottom of your laptop. I think this is the way to do it, but I've never tried it, but at least this way it is a clean install, and you'll just have to install the necessary Sony drivers and software.

 

My SR says that I'm connected to my wireless internet connection at home but it's not connected to the internet. How can I fix this? This happens quite frequently. I use my laptop in the same room as I use my desktop/iTouch and both of them connect to the internet just fine, what's wrong with my vaio?

 

Hey guys, I'm ordered a VGN 430 J/B and it should be arriving soon. I'm wondering how long it took you guys to get your mobility/productivity bundle. I'm heading off to college soon and want to get the bundle before I leave.

Maybe you did not add your MAC address to your wireless router. I have a two way security system on my home network. I have to have the wireless passkey and have the computer's MAC address added on the router.

 

Thank you for the tips. CCC penal is working now. And the unknown device was found. SD card reader is working properly after reinstall the driver.

I found the 3Dmark is little slower under windows 7, but the actual gaming is fine. I got 24 fps at first test of Resident Evil 5 and 26.2 of the second one which are little faster under windows xp.

 

It at least takes three weeks to receive. Usually, up to 6 weeks. Be patient!

 

My Dell latitude used to do this. "Who" is controlling your wireless connection? I think once I let Microsoft "control" it , it went much more smoothly

 

what? ....

 

I can't send files from my Sony Ericsson C905 to my SR41 via Bluetooth in Windows 7! The transfer will abort at 20% everytime. Is there anyone with the same problem?

 

THe two little circular plastic covers near the top right and top left of the computer ( the circular plastic covers of the power cord connection place, and the power button) wiggle when you push them around. Is this normal?

ALso I had an unexpected shutdown while carrying my laptop around. Any idea what might cause these?

 

Hey guys. I bought a SR 430 J/B from J&R, and my bing cashback is showing up as "canceled". I looked at the Microsoft Service Agreement Section 17 that they showed as me violating and I have not violated any of their terms. They have also not responded to any emails. Anyone know a phone number I could call or what is going on? Thanks!

 

I think there's this shock sensor built into the hard drive, maybe you jostled the laptop a little bit too much and it cut off the hard drive to prevent damage, and caused a shutdown. Just a guess.

 

hey, I just recently got my SR430 and every 1 out of 3 times I boot it up it just goes to a black screen. No Vaio logo or vista loading bar just a black screen. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

What did they say you are violating?

 

Two concerns:

Is brightness suppose to reset to maximum after waking from standby?

Is the touchpad scrolling suppose to disable itself during full screen gaming?

 

Hey everyone, I just received my SR 430 today. SO far I love it, but I noticed the screen seems to look a little yellowish or "warm". Does anyone know where I can go to change the settings so the colors will be more vivid and bright?

 

Yeah, it was the same thing when I got it. So, here is my setting and I am very satisfied now.

Open your ATI CCC penal, go to the color section, and do the adjustment below:

Red: reduce to 80, green: keep the same, Blue, reduce to 95. GAMMA, no change.

 

Don't plug any usb devices.....if the problem still happens....try upgrading BIOS, there is a new one at sonystyle

 

I will try updating the BIOS tonight. Thing is it keeps telling me one of my USB ports is not recognized and when I look to see what is wrong it says that it is not connected. Both of them work fine though so I am really confused. Maybe this has something to do with my bootup problem.

 

Are you adjusting the brightness or contrast?

 

The covers above my power button and power cord plug in point are wiggly when you put pressure on them. They are the grey cylendrical thingies. Does this happen to anyone else?

 

it's normal , so they won't broken when you put pressure on them

 

sony has gotten very stingy with their materials for the build. My vaio laptop from 3 years ago has better materials and build than my SR

 

Idk i like the build quality of my SR. I think sony products although a slight premium for the name are built better that their competitors. I for one, so far love my SR and hope it continues like this for a good time. Got win7 running on it completely with all functions working.

 

does anyone get weird unexpected shutdowns when carrying your laptops around? My SR490 has unexpected shutdowns when i carry it around. I'm not particularly rough but it might be upside down and i swing it sometimes.

 

Hey everyone, for the sony mobility/productivity bundle, are you supposed to receive an email verifying that you applied for the offer? I haven't received one yet, and its been 24hrs. When I check the status using my name and street address the claim is not found. Just wondering if its supposed to take this long. Thanks

 

I got confirmation, but I go check just now and nothing comes up too.

I even search with my Claim ID #.