Sony Vaio Z i5/i7 (VPCZ1) Official Owners Thread Part 2

Computer cowboy I noticed that your unit in your signature has Zdock and USB dock , do you always connect your Z to either of it ?

Would you mind if I ask what is the difference between the two (from your own experience).?

What are the advantage of it aside from the use of mulitple USB
slots....?

I am planning of getting a docking station too, but am not sure if would be advantageous in long term. How about would perpetually attaching my Z to it would improve the battery longevity... ?

My point is if its always docked what would be the status of the battery when its fully charged perpetually ....( as you would be always connected to the powerbrick(AC adapter).......................?

Another thing too as its always connected to AC adaptor the Graphics would always be on Speed mode ..( no more stamina mode)..Is there any possible implication on that?

 

I have the USB dock attached to the Z dock. I get some more USB ports and USB sound. I have DVI from the main dock to the TV that I use as a monitor and the sound goes from the USB dock to the TV. I bought the USB dock mostly because it was cheap and it allowed me to dock my Z without having to plug in the HDMI cable or anything else. I still need more USB ports. I am thinking of getting a 16 port USB hub from thinkgeek.

At any rate, anytime the Z is docked it is powered off the dock, when I have it docked it is always in speed mode, no point in using a power saving mode when you are plugged in.

I think docking is great, I'd love to have a dock in the living room also. It is pretty sweet to just drop the computer into the dock and have everything hooked up.

 

Hmm. Thanks! So do you retain the battery in the Z while its perpetually docked or you remove it and keep it in a safe place...?

If supposing your battery remains on the laptop did you notice any drop in battery performance once your Z is removed from the dock.... and it runs again purely on battery juice?

 

I leave the battery in all the time.
I haven't noticed any degradation yet. The Z is about 10 months old now.

 

Thank You very much Computer Cowboy.!

 

Does anyone know where I can find a VPCZ11FHX? I've been looking for one all morning but I can't seem to find anyone that is selling them.

 

Aaaaarrrgh! My Z continually wakes itself from sleep to do whatever, and then doesn't got back to sleep again, despite me disabling all wake timers in Power Options!
Have I missed something? What else could wake it up?

 

Hey computercowboy and all NBR Users:

I made a surgery today for my Z, implanting a GOBI 2000 daughter-board to my main board, but through out the process, I got frustrated when trying to find a way to trace the WWAN antenna(s) under the LCD bezel.

I salvaged the Gobi from another Z, along with the 2 antennas cables, 1. was black connecting to a (Main) node, the second was white and was connected to another node named AUX.

I couldn't on earth find my way to disassemble the bezel, so after a long time I decided to CUT the cables from the old vpcz, I worked my way from button to top (bezel), but couldn't ever continue releasing the horizontal (top) side of the bezel - I only released the vertical right side- , so I got myself a cutter, and cut the 2 cables which has the length of the LCD (vertically).

I then assembled the lappy, installed the GOBI 2000 drivers downloaded off Sony US site along with SmartWi connection utility for the WWAN, I then downloaded and installed your OneClickSonyInternet.exe hosted on your site.

1. I laid the 2 cables (antannas) inside my Z horizontally just above the mobo.
2. the SIM Card slot underneath the battery has no SIM card now.
3. cables (antennas) length after the cutting is like 9" to 10"
4. I live in Kuwait now, so I have a 3G (Zain) Sim card with me

How do you see what I've done so far? (I know that I'm a jack$as in-advance), but could (could) I get my setup to ever work?

How should I go about using your tool downloaded earlier to Flash a new firmware, what settings do I need to enter into the tool? other than my 3G user name and password?

would really appreciate the help, and the time taken to steer me back onto the high-way (if this is ever possible)

Finally, I have Garmin Navigation for the PC, I will test GPS connectivity and report later.

thanks much

Will

 

OOOO MMMMM GGGGGGGGGGGG:

Guys it WORKEDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

see attached

But after the terrible job with the Antennas, the Signal strength is weak.

I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES

PS. Operator name is ZAIN

 

Good that it worked. Do you have any ideas on how to fix the antenna? Are you going to find an intact one and replace your cut one?

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but can't you just put the wires along the side of your motherboard? I mean an antennae is an antennae and if you can't get it into the bezel, then just run it around your mobo

 

Hi all,

So Adobe Flash Player 10.3 just came out, and I installed it on my Z11.

But now my flash player acts very strange (with weird video all over the window) when I'm on stamina mode with the integrated graphics. It seems to work just fine on Speed mode with the Nvidia graphics.

Any thoughts on how to fix this mess??

 

^ oh great. darn adobe virus!!
i just switched over to stamina, reloaded this page and the flash ad/animation at the top of this web page showed up elsewhere (wrong place) on the screen...

 

@Oscar:

Man I don't know how to fix antennas, but I'm aware of the theory behind them, and just Like (Achusaysblessyou) - man give us an easier nick name to call you lol - said an Antennas is an Antenna, and that's what I have done, I routed the 2 cables (Antennas) above my mobo, because i couldn't get it to flow inside the bezel, AND that's specifically why I have WEAKER Signal, but its fully operation though Yay!

Can you guys get to the Service manual, and tell us how does those 2 cables of the WWAN run and interconnect? and how on earth can we take the freaken Ultra-Thin bezel OFF, w/o breaking it apart?
I had that manual before, can't remember where.

But hey, the concept is now clear, and its an unmatched experience, when you can push a 3G SIM card into your fancy lappy, and be-Connected ! Always, and Wherever !

I highly recommend investing in this for plp w/o the WWAN module.

UPDATE: GPS Signal can't be detected, the com port is there (com6) and the Garmin is seeing the GPS Module, but keep saying searching for satellite signal.

I will google some GPS Utilities for Windows, to diagnose this thing.

Will

 

hi to all! my z138 is only a month old and i am experiencing- display driver stopped and has recovered. it happens al least 3x a day. i was just browsing and i am always on auto mode with ac adapter always plugged in. anybody experiencing this?

 

Are you auto mode sets you in speed or stamina mode?

Check if there's some updates for you through Windows Update

 

the Z manual is on my website Sony VAIO Downloads
it details the routing of the cables in a diagram

pyr0 explains how to dismantle the screen here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/538926-vaio-z-screen-lid-replacement.html#post6949597

The drivers from Sony suck, that is why there are so many threads about alternate drivers. I had the same problem with the stock drivers.

There are three ways to do the drivers on the Z.
Hybrid: Use the drivers that came with the Z or the community hybrids.
Optimus: Use the community built optimus
BIOS Hack + Manufacturer Drivers: do the BIOS hack, install vanilla Intel drivers, install slightly modified nVidia drivers

have a look at this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html

 

My Z128GG also does this. It is specifically the nVidia driver that came with the VAIO that crashes and only in speed (nVidia card) mode. I'm not quite willing to do any major software hack or reinstallation as it recovers just fine. However, I do worry about potential causes including failing GPU. Oh well.. I have another 2 years of warranty I suppose.

 

It is not a hardware problem, it is just crappy drivers. If it doesn't bother you that much then just leave it. Mine used to do that all the time now it never does it because I have better drivers.

You don't need to worry about the GPU failing. I have yet to hear of anyone with a failed 330M in their Z.

 

I switched over to the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer, and everything seems to be working fine now.

 

^hmm you're right! the 64-bit works better!
(but i have a photo snooper plug-in that works on the 32b version only)

 

there are reports saying that if you are using ie9 and flash 10.3, disable hardware acceleration in internet options will fix it, give it a try, works fo rme

 

This is sort of a silly question. When you upgrade the RAM, am I supposed to remove the sticker that's on the RAM stick? I forgot to remove it.

 

^ nah. leave the sticker on.... lifetime warranty

 

Thanks. Now that the memory has increased from 2gb to 6gb, how do I test if there's any performance difference? Personally I don't feel any different

 

In the thread about the drivers... is there any idiots guide to doing this... I read some of the different descriptions of how to do the bios hack, and frankly I'm scared... I am having the same problems with the drivers... I'd like to use whatever cowboy has tested and working ...

 

same here. apparently certain applications will run faster, especially if you don't have an SSD, because more RAM reduces the need for slow HD pagefiles. It's gotten so cheap to go to 8 GB, it just seems like the thing to do!

 

Computercowboy or anyone knowledgeable in this area: for the WWAN upgrade, what is the difference between this part:

VPCZ119FJ A1769452A A1769452A "COMPL PWB IFX546(WAN_GY,SY)(S)" $33.42 Availability

and this one:

VPCZ119FJ A1769453A A1769453A COMPLETE PWB IFX546(WAN_GYSN)(S) $28.11 Availability

Of course I'd rather get the cheaper one. Do both of these have the SIM holder?

Also on the Sony website the FFC cable is only $11, cheaper than the sparepartswarehouse.

How difficult is it to remove the screen bezel without leaving any scratches? This is the main thing that worries me about undertaking this modification. I already did the blu-ray upgrade so I am familiar with opening up my Z.

Also, can WWAN and WLAN work simultaneously reliably? I am asking because the antennas are close together under the screen bezel. I plan on using WWAN with an ad-hoc WLAN so I can share WWAN from my Vaio Z to my other WLAN-enabled devices.

 

Hi,

I'm sorry if this has been discussed before, but I have a VPCZ128GG which occasionally doesn't want to standby.

It happens intermittently and with no apparent pattern. I installed Windows 7 from scratch and installed all drivers from the Sony website in the prescribed order. The only things I didn't install were some of the extra apps. The main ones such as Power Management and Hotkey support, Touchpad etc have all been installed.

I'm not running any AV and only running the Windows Firewall. Most of the research I read online turned out to be caused by outdated drivers or AV programs.

I was wondering if anyone was having a similar problem, and if so if they could share how it got fixed (whether it's got something to do with the hardware itself) etc.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

try to post LINKS for both, so that we can read the technical differences - if any is available - and we will try to help.

regarding the bezel removal, its documented how to do it in NBR, but it was a nightmare to do it, and I finally quit in midway.

 

I don't know the difference, I ordered the A176945 2A from sparepartswarehouse, they don't seem to have the A176945 3A there

to make it even more confusing... I checked the manual and found that they list the A176945 2A and the A176945 4A
so it looks like there are actually three different boards my manual does NOT list the A176945 3A

I will tell you what the A176945 2A is like when I finally get it. They are taking forever with my order.

I have done this with other laptops and it worked fine. I did it with my Sony UX, EDGE Modem enabled with Ad-Hoc WiFi. I suspect it will work fine. I can enable the Gobi and WiFi in my P at the same time... but I can't connect the Gobi because I don't have a SIM slot in the P yet. I can verify that Gobi and WiFi work at the same time, I can get a GPS signal and use WiFi at the same time.

I have been planning on writing a guide about how to do that... but I haven't found the time. Check my website in a week or so. http://computercowboy.com

 

Yes there is: 1. Open Task manager, 2. Click on the performance tab, 3. Look at the memory usage graph.

If it shows that you are using more than 2GB (2GB really? it didn't come with 4GB?) then previously you were doing a lot of paging, which is slower. You will know when it's time to get more memory when that chart starts getting close to the 6GB mark (it takes quite a bit to bump up against 6GB by the way)

 

Computercowboy, I am curious how much you will spend on the vaio z wwan upgrade in terms of money and time. I realize you're still waiting for parts now.

 

Hello folks.. I would like to ask supposing your VPCZI2 is put in hibernate mode how long would it take to resume windows...?
I find mine take more than a minute ,sometimes takes about 2min..
Is this considered normal?

 

well so far I have about $100 into it. Not too bad, I am not super worried about the time. I like messing with stuff.

 

Yes, hibernate files everything out to the disk drive.

Sleep on the other hand offers nearly instant on.

 

I have an SSD & 8Gig RAM (resume is quicker with less RAM to read); resume from Hibernate takes about 30seconds. However, standby is instant.

Cheers,
T

 

Has anyone done any measure of battery drain & comparisons of Hibination vs Standby/
I know Hibination is supposed to use zero power that there is a drain (as well documented in this thread)

Therefore, this is what I have found but welcome others experieces

- Hibenation: Battery drains at approx 2-3% per day
- Standby (oraange power light flahes): battery drains at 1% per hour

What I have yet to check is what happens if the battery is very low while in Standby. Does the BIOS notify the system to ensure it switches to Hibenate at the 7% 'power reserve' value or does the light go red or does it do nothing as power runs out.

 

is that so..?
May I know what is its SSD size and its available free space..?

 

I support mention that resume time is proportional to RAM size that is used in hibernate. E.g. my VAIO Z13 with 4G RAM resumes near 15sec.

 

With hibernation the laptop doesn't use power as the laptop is off. The 2,3% drain is the normal drain. Standby uses power because the laptop state is still in the memory of the laptop. With hibernation the laptop state is stored on the harddisk/SSD.

 

When a laptop is in standby mode and the battery is completly drained you loose all the information stored in the memory. it doesn't switch to hibernate mode. The only difference between the modes is that standby uses the main memory to store the laptop state which needs power and hibernation uses the internal storage which doesn't need power. The big advantage of main memory is speed as all the information is already in memory and with hibernation the main memory needs to be filled with the information from the stored state from the internal storage which takes time.

 

Thanks. I'll do that once I get home. My Z didn't come with 4GB. I downgraded it to 2GB from 4GB to save $70. The 4gb stick that I bought only cost me $40

 

If that is the case how come I have 8gig RAM and the resume time takes longer? Are there other causes for that?

 

That is the point... the more RAM you have the LONGER it takes to copy all the stuff from the hyberfil.sys back into the RAM. Reading or writing 8GB is always going to take longer than 4GB.

 

So does it mean that you own VPCZ12 having similar RAM capacity behave similarly as mine in this area?

 

Something like that, I don't really use the hibernate feature very often. My computer boots quicker.

EDIT: I just timed it... it took 25 seconds to resume from the time I hit the power button. Not bad

 

Cowboy, still waiting for your wwan parts? I've been checking your site for updates. I am curious to hear whether you will be able to remove the screen bezel for antenna retrofit without scratching anything and whether that inexpensive Gobi 2000 from Amazon will be accepted by the BIOS (whitelist?). Would Gobi 3000 be an option?

While the computer is open, I am thinking of upgrading my current 192GB (=3x64GB) to 384GB by replacing the single-sided 64GB by a 256GB(2x128GB). I realize I will wind up with 2x64GB + 2x128GB so I could have two raid-0s, one using the two 64GBs and one using the two 128GB drives. Or is the Intel RST bios so flexible that all four drives could be combined into one large volume? I want to stick with official OEM SSDs and am not sacrificing my optical (=bluray) for more storage so no need to discuss those options. The 256GB SSD seems reasonably priced at sony parts right now.

 

At an event this lady was trying with the help of others to get the projector working hooked up to her laptop. Finally I offered to try my i5 Z although I had no experience hooking to projectors. This projector used the oldest port on my Z, I forget what you call it. It was easy to do and I was up and running in seconds. Without my laptop there would have been no slideshow at that retirement event. I received no thanks but just having my Z was thanks enough. She's over a year old and no problems except for that black-out crash thing when watching streaming HD movies in speed mode. Was there ever a cure for that? I've been out of touch with this forum for a while.

 

The oldest port on the Z would have to be the miniature phone plug used for analog out. These have been around since the 1960s.

The second oldest port would probably have to be the Ethernet connector.

The power connector could be considered older than even the mini-phone plug, except some might argue as to whether it constitutes a 'port' in this sense of the word.

After that would be the VGA connector. I suspect the connector you used would be the vga connector, just because that is the connector one always ends up using when connecting to a projector like that. The only other option would be the hdmi connector (which certainly would qualify for the title of 'newest' port ). A distant 3rd choice would be usb (but it is unlikely that you rigged up a usb connection to that projector, nor is that a particularly 'old' port)

While vga has been around since the 1980s, it wouldn't even begin to qualify for the title of oldest port on a Z.