Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

Ive been reading up on that Nvidia issue with the GPU's. What do you think could happen if they finally fess up to faulty cards? You say not to bother, but is that because something could come from it or becasue it too much of a risk if the GPU goes bad and my board is fried. Let me add this, I bought my vaio last year, and about one month after owning it the mother board went bad accoring to Sony. I had to send it in and have it replaced. Now I wonder if it was that actual GPU that went bad. I didnt do anything, it was still new out of that box when it happend.

 

I said that because there is too much risk that if the GPU dies you are going to have to buy another laptop or pay $600-$900 to have the motherboard replaced.

What were the symptoms when you the previous one died?

Gary

 

But theoretically even if you were to buy RAM and HD upgrades, you could reuse them in another machine right? In my case i would just give the RAM to my brother or something and the HDD can always be reused. either in another laptop or if the new one has a better one then just put it in an external casing... technically you'd atleast get the benefit till such a time that your GPU fried..

I think i might sell this one and get an FW anyway.. Dont much like the whole Sword of Damacles business..

My system is idling in a well ventilated room with CPU temperatures at about 47 - 50 degrees Celsius per core and 50 - 55 degrees Celsius for the GPU. Room temperature is about 28 or 27 degrees celsius.

At work im in a not so well ventilated room and my CPU temps go upto 70 - 71 degrees with normal usage.. which is why i was worried.. They even went up to 90 degrees once.

 

I had Sony replace my 'motherboard' on my FZ15G about 4 months ago now and I am 99% sure that it wasn't my motherboard per say that failed but the 8400GT.

 

One day I went to start up my comp and the lights came on but the screen was blank. It also got real hot, and that was it. I sent it in for repair. I own alot of sony equipment but I think this was the last thing Im going to buy from them. So what happens if our GPU goes out again? Are we stuck with a POS or is there any way to get it fixed? Im glad I have renters insureance and extra computer coverage.

 

Regarding the faulty GPU issue, are all 8400Ms faulty or has the problem been rectified in a certain GPU revision? What is Sony's official response on this matter?

 

My guess would be to suck it up, if your warrenty has expired. No one will stand behind their product and knowingly rip us off. Wel lthats how I feel about the situation.

 

good thing I got outbid on ebay for that T9500 CPU lol. I wish there was more to do to a laptop than RAM, HD and CPU.

 

Whats the best and safest way to delete the recovery partition on my FZ?

I have Acronis, but I don't think that has the right tool, and the laptops disk management program seems to only shrink the volume and not delete the whole partition.


Ken

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2367169
But you have to clean install or use third party software to merge the partition with the system partition.

 

Thanks coolguy,

I don't need the space and sounds like it may effect System Restore. Although, I don't know how. It is a non-accessible partition. I don't know that I even need System Restore with Acronis. I do regular, full image backups with it. Maybe best to leave it alone.



Ken

 

Since were on the subject of Hard drives what would be the best choice for my FZ180? The SSD hard drives look cool but a decent size one is a little out of my price range.

 

It won't affect Vista's System Restore. It affects tha ability to restore the entire machine back to it's "out of the box" state.

Gary

 

Thanks ScuderiaConchiglia,

That's what I thought. Must of misunderstood some posts. Since, I don't want to ever to that, may look into third party software to delete partition and reclaim the space back to C. Don't mind keeping System Restore since you can quickly delete all but the most recent restore points. That way they don't build up.


Ken

 

I deleted the recovery partition on my vaio with diskpart by command lines and regained unallocated space with Acronis Disk Director. All went well. Now when I start up the computer it is much faster from turn on to my logon icons, but much slower from the logon icon to desktop. Seems the AV, NOD32, which was lighting fast on boot is now taking a lot longer to scan and give me the "OK" NOD32 icon in systray. Some web pages take longer. I can play with AV settings, but why did this happen? Is the current NOD still looking for the recovery partition, although it is not there. I could un/reinstall AV, but am trying to make sense of it.


Ken

 

Did you merge the new partition with the system partition? You might possibly need to defrag the new volume.

 

If by system you mean C drive, then yes. I merged the C partition with the 6.99GB of unallocated space left by deleting the 6.99GB Recovery Partition. I then defragged that new, larger partition. I may delete my Acronis Secure Zone and have one partition on the whole hard drive. I can always recreate the Secure Zone. At a loss for ideas. I don't know enough to know if this is normal after deleting a partition put there by the manufacturer. Or, I may just restore from Acronis back to before I deleted the Recovery Partition. Everything works fine. I just lost my fast logon to desktop boot time I got after installing NOD32.


Ken

 

Dont buy a FZ, for the love of god.

Graphics card problems (Nvidia 8M series)
Serious heating issues
Scratch prone cover/s
Badly put together

Waste of time and money, id rather use my trusty cheap advent than this lump of crap.

 

Hi,

So does anyone have a compilation of drivers for Vaio VGN-FZ21M for Vista x64?

 

Asked and answered in a thread specific to the FZ and 64bit versions of Vista. Use the search box at the top of every page here and you should be able to quickly locate the thread.

Gary

 

So tell us how you really feel lol. I agree somewhat but after spending about 2 grand I cant really jsut give up on this one. Also Ive been reading again and am wondering why there was an option for cpu's with 800 FSB when the comp is only capable of 667? Kinda misleading, if I would have known all of the I would have definatly bought something else. Im am very disapointed.

 

Well i got a real good deal on a T9300 CPU on ebay and its not an ES version. I guess I will be trying that out soon. If it doesnt make a big difference Ill jsut put it back on ebay. But Im hoping it will be a bigger improvment over the T7300 that Im running right now.

 

Ok I am in the proce3ss of installing my T9300 CPU and I noticed that my GPU has the numbers G86 750 R2 does that mean that is is a 8600 and not a 8400?

 

No the G86 means something else, its a 8400M GT.

 

ok I wasnt sure, thanks

 

go through device manager and uninstall the driver, then go to the Sony FZ driver site and get a new driver for it OR see if the one that Windows will likely install in the place of the previous one works.

What and see what some else says before you go this though.

 

Hi I have a sony vaio VGN-FZ470E model and I was wondering if it can be upgradable to Vista Ultimate x64. Are there drivers for this model, if yes where would I be able to download them.

Thank you

 

Hi

I installed XP on my FZ260. Then I download drivers for xp.
But now the FN Key dont work. Anyone Can help me?

 

Asked and answered in one or more other threads here. Use the search box at the top of any page and search for "FZ XP Keys" or "FZ XP FN" (without the quotes).

Gary

 

Can anybody tell me how to boot from a USB disk drive?
I want a linux image to boot from my USB harddisk drive.....
I am very disapointed with sony.

 

Search the forum/ google. Why are you disappointed with sony? You can try Ubuntu live CD.

 

Make sure your BIOS is the boot from USB device enbaled and then on boot up, press esc when the VAIO logo comes up to select your USB device.

 

I already did that, the bios does not recognize my usb harddrive on the boot menu. I have a linux instaled there with UNetbootin software. Any ideas?

I'm very disapointed with sony because a lots of aspects, on of them is the unsupported downgrade to XP for example.

 

Has anyone tried to install Windows 7 beta on a vaio FZ? I did this before a week and everything seems to work ok with exception of the following problem:

I did format the hard drive, installed the software, obtained a key from microsoft and activated my version. I did install all the drivers as I did several times before. Sony notebook utility worked and I got functionality of all the keys except Fn+mute (F2), also the volume control at the top right of the keyboard doesn't work. AV mode, S key and other controls all work fine. I tried changing drivers such as "sony utility dll", "sony shared library" and the AV mode software but nothing happens. Anyone could have an idea on which driver that specifically needed update?

 

The order in which you install the utilities and drivers makes a difference. See the link in my signature below for intructions on a clean install of Vista on an FZ. The sequence should be the same for Windows 7.

Gary

 

Thanks Gary, however, this wasn't the exact answer. Even with an installation following that sequence the problem still existed i.e. Fn+F2 (mute) and volume controls didn't work.
Some folks on this board reported a solution that involved disabling the UAC, I tried it and it worked for FZ, so now I have all the utilities work fine. Editing the registry (mentioned elsewhere in this board) has further brought back my desktop gadgets. Apparently, this particular problem affected Win7 installation in more that one Vaio series.

 

You can try the below link. It is for booting from a USB HD for Acronis True Image. You may be able to apply it to your needs. And like you already have done you need your EXT HD enabled and at (I believe) top of your bios boot order. Don't know if the link will help. But I can boot into windows and load Acronis from my Ext HD if windows doesn't load normally. Hope you can glean enough from the process to adapt it to your needs.


http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=176958


Ken

 

I can't start the service SQL Server (VAIO_VEDB) through "Services", that is located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe" -sVAIO_VEDB.

I need to start this to do updates for the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 that came installed on the VAIO. I have never been able to do an SQL Server 2005 update going back to SP1.

Anyway to get a new instance of this and copy into that location. I have uninstalled and reinstalled SQL Server 2005. No help.

Some Pictures Below:










Thanks,

Ken

 

Are you using the VAIO Media application, the one for LOCAL network sharing of Media files? If not you don't even need the instance of SQL Server that was preinstalled. Part of the VAIO Media application is the VAIO Entertainment Platform. It is this component that actually installs SQL Server. But it does NOT install SQL server as a "default instance" instead it installs it as a named instance. (I know because it wreaked havoc on me when I tried to install a default instance of SQL Server for some development work.)

So, if you are NOT using the VAIO Media app to share media files on your local network, just uninstall the Vaio entertainment platform and Vaio Media.

If you ARE using it, write back, and I'll do what I can to help you resolve the startup issues with SQL. I have more years of futzing with SQL server than I care to admit... big ol' grin...


Gary

 

Thanks Gary,

First off, I would like to get it working.

Second, I am on a wireless router to my laptop from my son's pc and share a wireless printer with his pc.

Third, I thought SQL had some tie in to my databases, ie Access and Outlook 2007. Especially Business Contact Manager. I don't use BCM, but maybe it interacts with other parts of Outlook. Don't do any media sharing per se.

When I un-installed SQL to re-download and install, my outlook loaded very slowly. Then normal after SQL was re-installed. I checked Outlook and Access on purpose before re-installation to see if they were impacted.

The inability to start VAIO_VEDB in services seems to be my problem per the attachments I listed in my first post. At least if that is fixed I can look elsewhere.



Thanks,

Ken

 

Ok, here is the issue. And it was PRECISELY why I dispensed with VAIO media.

Because VAIO MEDIA installs the VAIO Entertainment platform and it installs a nonstandard (i.e. named instance of SQL server) when you uninstalled SQL Server and reinstalled it you wiped out the "named" instance. Confused yet?

Business Contact manager does indeed use SQL server as well.

Here's my suggestion. First make an image of your hard drive. (Do you have more than one partition? If so what do you have on the other partitions? You might need to image the too.) We want to be totally safe here so we want a GOOD fall back position here.

Since you are not using it, uninstall the Business Contact Manager. Then uninstall the SQL server instance you installed yourself. Next, uninstall and then reinstall the VAIO Entertainment Platform. This should fix your error with Vaio_VEDB.

To be honest if you have no plans on sharing media I would just uninstall the VAIO Media and then the VAIO Entertainment platform. I would NOT uninstall the VAIO Entertainment platform WHILE the Business Contact Manager is installed. Because they BOTH use SQL server (and I think BOTH used named instances) you might be in a real pickle afterward. I'll monitor this thread in case you have trouble.

Gary

 

Gary,

Thanks. I will respond to your email on further questions on this issue. I did make a full image backup prior to uninstalling SQL I have Outlook 2007 and use the contacts folder. But it is the Professional Office Edition. I don't think I have BCM. If I did I believe it would say so on the disks. Just wasn't sure if SQL used any other parts of Outlook, Excel, Access etc. I do use Itunes, Photo Gallery, and Windows Media Player plus my built in camera. Not sure if any of them use SQL as those files are moved around on the laptop or when I import photos. I will research Outlook/BCM on my laptop and experiment with your suggestions. I use Acronis, so no problems with restores. Give me a few days and I will update you.


Thanks Again,

Ken

 

FZ180E
bios version:R0050J7

Hi everyone
I was playing a game and suddenly the game crashed and it jumped into windows ,an icon appeared saying display driver stopped working ,i entered the game again game crashed this time it restarted the system, now the system cant even show the VAIO and phoenix logo. its full of lines with extremely low resolutions,as i try to enter windows blue screen shows up and it restart the system auto.
i entered safe mode and i found out ASA i uninstall the nvidia driver(8400M GT),the windows start up.Now the driver is uninstalled and i can work in windows,but in very low setting,like i am having onboard graphic chip,i cant modify my graphic card and the chip and DAC type are all unavaiable,(instead i have unknow device in my device manager) i think i need to flash my BIOS, but i searched the internet for my bios couldnt find anything,i think i need to do it manual.
I would be grateful if you guys could help me with this issue.
I even took out the hard drive and i reset the bios with F2 key at start up but nothing changed.


Best

 

I am using an FZ260E as my main computer for about a year now and I can't complain too much. It's a fine notebook.

My main complaints are about the geforce 8400m gt and sony support for it (the lack of support I mean). The drivers are very old and don't support overclock and every forceware driver I tried to use eventually makes the system crash to a blue screen. Did anyone found newer drivers that work correctly?

I was having some heat issues too, sometimes the GPU temperature got to 100c (pretty scary). But since I removed all the dust from inside of the notebook, now it tops 70c when playing very demanding games like warhammer 2. I highly recommed doing that to everyone who are getting the heat issues and are up to the challenge of opening it.

sorry about any grammar errors, my main language is portuguese. =P

 

Be VERY careful. All of our FZ machines are virtual ticking time bombs, because of the Nvidia chips. The are failing due to a stress crack issue brought on by heating and cooling cycles. Nvidia and several laptop manufacturers (Dell, HP and Apple) have acknowledged the problem. Some even extending the warranty. But sadly, Sony has refused to even admit there is a problem despite the fact that it is not really even their problem. So, I would HIGHLY recommend never overclocking this chip and do whatever you can to not elevate the temps.

Gary

 

Hi, am I glad to have found this forum and this thread.
Just purchased an FZ485U/B a few days ago, and quite desperate to decide what to do next.This system has 4GB ram, 300GB HD, BR/DVD/CD read+write, C2D 8100, Nvidia 8400.
1> The laptop's specs indicated 4GB memory installed. But system showed only 3GB. Costco Tech said that the Nvidia takes 1GB, and suggested to upgrade to Vista 64bit which can handle share memory better. Is it true?
2> My home wireless system was setup with non-broadcasting SSID. The laptop refused to log in automatically after each reboot. I have to log in manually every time. Live chat with Sony tech several times did not help. Is there a fix for this? (note, all other wireless computers that I got have no such issue).
3> If anybody has this similar model, please comment.
Thanks

 

mydave,

Welcome to the forum. The first thing you should aquaint yourself with is the search box at the top of each page. It will provide answers to many question instantly, like the 4gb-3gb Vista 64 bit question.

Re: the network issue.

1. Right click on the network icon in the system tray (aka notification area)
2. Select "Network and Sharing center"
3. Click "Manage Wireless Networks"
4. Find the your home network, right click and select properties.
5. Make sure "Connect even if the network is not broadcasting" is selected.
6. On the Security tab make sure your security key is populated.

Gary

 

ScuderiaConchiglia, thanks for the quick help.

1. Re: the network issue.
1.1. Right click on the network icon in the system tray (aka notification area)- Done
1.2. Select "Network and Sharing center"- Done
1.3. Click "Manage Wireless Networks"- Done
1.4. Find the your home network, right click and select properties.- Done
1.5. Make sure "Connect even if the network is not broadcasting" is selected.- Done
1.6. On the Security tab make sure your security key is populated.- Done
In step 1.3, it lists our home network SSID ten times, such as SSID, SSID 1, SSID 1 2, SSID 1 2 3, SSID 1 2 3 4, etc . . .; When it reached the same SSID ten times, I have to delete a few then try to manually log in again. My other laptops and desktops, Vista and XP, had no such issue. Sony tech support had no idea, and suggested that I disable anti-virus. I use Kaspersky 2009 which should be compatible with Vista. Hope that you have some experiences with this issue?

2. Thanks for the tip about 4GB-3GB memory with Vista 32bit

Thanks again.

 

mydave,

Delete all but one of them in step 1.3

Gary

 

hey ScuderiaConchiglia
first, thanks for your answer, you made me forget about trying to overclock the GPU.

second, I read in an old thread that you were using the 167.43 drivers. How it is working for you? I tried to upgrade my drivers to several forceware versions in the past year and although at first it seemed to work well, eventually I randomly got a sony blue screen. And I don't know if it makes any difference but my notebook has a BD drive.

Thanks.