Vaio FZ Owners Official Owners Thread

Those drivers are definitely quite old, early 2008 or late 2007 if my memory is correct for the 167 series. They are 'official' though, so for those of us who do not game they should be a welcome addition.

 

So will downloading the newly posted video driver on the sony site increase my video card performance at all or there are any other video card drivers that I could use for my FZ485U or is there another "unofficial" driver that can help?

My girlfriend plays Sims3 and I play counterstrike but still notice that the video is choppy at certain settings.

Thanks.

 

how about a laptop battery? Does anyone have a good source to buy one?

 

I had bought a Sony extended battery for $20 from Tigerdirect store an year back.

 

I grabbed that same deal too! But I am pretty sure that source has long since dried up.

Gary

 

Yeah I remember you guys talking about it, when I checked they were gone. Im not sure whatI should get as in brand. Should I stick with a OEM batt. or a aftermarket knock-off from ebay? Its so bad now that Im lucky if my comp will run for 20 min. on powersaver mode.

 

Yeah it should improve it quite a bit especially if you are using the laptops default driver. You may also want to try 186.03 from laptopvideo2go.com with a modified INF file.

I would stick to oem batterys from Sony, especially since your laptop is still quite valuable and non-oem battery's have been known to be rather dodgy.

 

Hey, sorry if this is somewhere else in this thread but i haven't been able to find it.

I'm trying to run windows 7 64 bit on my fz340E and i have everything working except the camera. I have tried to install the driver from http://vcl.vaio.sony.co.jp/download/unofficial/64/001.html but though it says it installs correctly, the original driver remains. Has anybody done a clean install of a 64 bit system and has the driver for the camera?

 

Hi, I have a serious problem with my FZ21Z. I've had a look through the internet and found no help so far.

I tried doing a complete system restore, and half way through it came up with error code 302. It continued to the end, and said it had failed, with error code 1. I did the diagnostics and it said the CPU, memory and hard disk were okay.

The next morning, I tried to do the restore again. When I boot, it shows the Vaio splash, and then goes to a black screen showing 'Operating System Not Found'.

It will not boot from the recovery disk, neither the WAIK disk I made several months ago. It will however boot from a USB using unetbootin, but I have not managed to get any programs to boot from it yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

WAIK disk??? What is that? It sounds like your only recourse at this point is to restore the machine back to it's out of the box state. Do you have data you need to get off the machine first? If so you need to get one of the several versions of standalone cd bootable operating systems around and transfer your data to an external hard drive or burn it to DVD's.

Then once you have ALL of your data safely stored away, power off and back on and immediately press the F10 key. This will boot the machine from the hidden recovery partition and allow you to restore the machine. Note THIS WILL DESTROY ANY AND ALL DATA AND PROGRAMS YOU HAVE INSTALLED.

Gary

 

I had installed this driver http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNFZ190&upd_id=2768&os_id=30
You need to extract the setup files using Uniextract software.
It contains both 32 and 64-bit drivers for the camera VGP-VCC4.

 

worked like a charm. Thanks a bajillion

 

After two great years of using my FZ190, the 8400m GT died. Luckily, I opted for the extended warranty and am waiting for my shipping box from Sony to arrive. Just wondering if anybody else had a similar experience with their graphics card.

 

I have the same problem I googled this reflow trick and cant find it, please some one help me!

I have opened up the laptop I cleaned fan also put arctic silver thermal paste in it, it worked for a day and then i got the lines again! please help me!!

 

Sorry let me explain! I have a FZ21s sony vaio laptop.

and i belive that the graphics card has gone, I have weird liunes at both boot up and in windows. for a temp fix i have removed nvidia drivers I stil have a few lines and it does work, but graphics is really bad. but every time i install the drvier i get the blue screen of death!

i took the laptop apart and used silver artic thermal paste as mentioned before and then it all worked fine after a day I got the same problem!!

I just found this thread and on page 239 it talks about a reflow fix, I cant find it in google, does it involved putting it in the oven. But how can you take the gpu off motherboard or do you put the whole thing in, but isnt ther plastic already on the m otherboard and wont this melt.

in my lapto i have a nvidia 8600m gs! and guess what warranties out by a few months!.

If some 1 can help please do!

 

ok got some more info:

reflow jus mean to remealt...."The melting of electrodeposited tin/lead followed by solidification. The surface has the appearance and physical characteristics of being hot-dipped"

in this has i got a quote from a company for £110 ex vat to do this! now this is a ripp off!!!!!!!

jus need sum help and advice of taking the motherboard off, what bits would i need to take off and what would happen to the plastic connectors on the motherboard??

i plan to put it in the oven for 5-7 mins not too long at 200 degrees c.

all help would be much apreicatied

so far i have been able to take off fan/heat sink/

cpu, wlan card and ram will be easy, im just worried about the plastic connectors.

 

I'm mostly just a follower of this thread as you can see by my few posts...but is this guy serious!? i'm pretty sure putting the entire board in a regular oven at such a high temperature is a big mistake!?

EDIT: incidentally, if you have already done it b_p4tel, would love to see some pictures

 

VGN-FZ290 CPU constantly revving - any help appreciated

I have a Vaio FZ290 with T7800 2.6GHZ processor, 3GB of RAM and the nVidia 8400M GT and lately the CPU has been constantly revving with no programs open at all and the fan is constantly cranking heat.

Any clue to the cause and the cure?

 

Clean-the-heatsink-time perhaps ?
Worked for me =)

Vaio FZ Unscrewed; pic's and how-to

 

Haha lol!!! putting the board in the oven? this can't be serious? Love to see some pics of the cooked board.

 

Anyone have a guide to doing a clean install of windows 7 on an fz21s?

I came here a couple of years ago and asked the same but for vista ultimate, been working fine for years...but pc is slowing down- time for windows 7!

Iv still got all the recovery dvd's i burnt.

thanks in advance

 

I have a question that no one seems to be able to answer. I have tried doing a full system recovery with on my Vaio Fz which I had for just about a year now and I have been running into a problem that I cannot seem to get by. During the recovering/restoring process after pressing f10 at startup there are no errors and the installation goes well up until the point where it is actually installing vista. It says copying files to C: drive and then the progress bar never moves, and the computer freezes. I spoke to people at sony about it and they told me its a hardware failure but can't tell me which. Had anyone ever had this problem before, or can help me out with this problem. Thanks in advance

 

Have you had any advice on this one? I am about to install Windows 7 RTM on a Vaio FZ21S. I came here looking for guidance but I guess I'll just go ahead and give it a try anyway.

 

I need some serious help with my FZ290

I tried almost every windows 7 version (64 bit edition) from 7100 to RTM currently but one thing that keeps pissing me off is that the computer just freezes randomly , I've tried maybe 10 differend nvidia drivers from laptopvideo2go for my 8400m GT but I dont know what else to do now.

If anyone has any bright ideas please share

 

Sony just released a statement saying that they are going to fix all Vaio laptops with the graphics card problem. I just called this afternoon and talk to the lady and my shipping box from Sony is on the way. everyone with one of the defective laptops gets an automatic 3 year extended warranty on the graphics card. The link to the statement is posted below:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?template=EN&news_id=349

 

Sounds like you need to download SATA RAID drivers from intel. Download the installer here: http://bit.ly/aIyky

Look at the readme and look for installer options. You'll want to extract the files instead of install them. The best way to do this is to copy the .EXE to C:\ and create a new folder called "inteltemp" or something.

Open the command line and type. IATA89ENU.exe -A -P C:\(yourfolder) where (yourfolder) is the name of the folder you just created.

If you look inside the folder you'll see something called winall. Inside that two more folders for x86 and x64 drivers.

Copy all that to a USB key and when you install Windows 7 add the drivers, format, and install.

 

that news makes me wanna overclock this puppy hard

 

im parting out my Fz180 with blueray burner is anyone is interested email me at [email protected]

 

What is wrong with it, that prompts you to part it out?

Gary

 

hey guys, my fz doesn't start. it shut off while playing game and never start again. i'm thinking there's a problem with electricity receiver in the laptop.
anyone has any other idea?
if my hypothesis is right, what should i replace or do about it?
thanks in advance.

 

Was the battery fully charged when it died? Will it start on battery? By "electricity receiver" I assume you mean the external power supply, right? If not what are you referring to?

Gary

 

wonder if that person parting out knows that Sony will cover it now if its the video chip. Kinda sad for all the people who tried to fix their comps on their own, especially if the messed them up.

Oh I just replaced all cells in my battery with new rechargeable 2400 mah cells for around $45 off ebay. I dint recommend it if your not proficient with a soldering iron or have no clue what your doing, but it is possible. Seems like my comp runs forever now, with the wi-fi turned off. I think that is the biggest drain.

 

Hello all, I have a FZ31s and would be interested to know if I can connect a 22" LCD monitor. I see that the best way to link is via a DVL cable although there is no DVL oulet on the 31s... is there an adapter to use to get the same quaility on the screen.

If you can put any replies in simple terms... new to the computer world!

Thanks in advance

 

I hook up my 40 in LCD tv with my HDMI port.

 

has anyone had any problems installing a hd HD and cloning the original one? I seem to be having a hard time

 

Could you be more specifc as to what the problem is?

Gary

 

Does it affect the picture quality through the HDMI port?

 

not at all, but it depends on what u are trying to watch. Ive watched blu ray movies with it and they came out crystal clear

 

Mainly business and maybe the odd movie/video... no gaming!
Thanks homestead for your help

 

Hi, I got precisely the same problem, did you find anything meanwhile ?
Does anyone know the brand of the build in camera? Maybe its possible to try to find on this way the hardware driver for the chip.

I have an VGN-FZ283BN

Does anyone know how to find a new Bios on those VAIO FZ Series ?


If I watch movies trough the S-VHS ouput I got disturbing diagonal stripes on TV screen, does not matter in which System (PAL,NTSC etc) i run the NVIDIA 8400M GT

Thanks for any answer
Best Regards
Christoph
(at present in Bangladesh)

 

I do have w7 ultimate 64bit, and the latest driver from laptopvideo2go and my 8400mgt runs like a champ, (FZ283BN) may the freezer has other reasons

 

I've just installed Windows 7 (Build 7600), and using 186.81 with no issues.

 

I need some serious severe help. Just short of getting rid of my fz290 I don't know how to fix this problem. I've searched all over the internet maybe someone smarter knows a solution to the constant random mini-freezes I experience

on Windows 7 RTM 64-bit Edition

I installed the 64 bit drivers for the video card from laptopvideo2go as well as trying to update the drivers for the wireless lan card.

Tried this , tried updating windows , nothing will make the dam random freezes stop it's so annoying especially while trying to watch a dam movie. (Video will freeze momentarily while audio is still going lol !)

 

hey can any one tell me where to get bios for fz 160 model? thank you

 

Unless Sony has provided an updated BIOS for the model (and I don't think they have) there isn't anyplace to get the BIOS. Sony never publishes anything except updated versions. I would be VERY untrusting of any of the unofficial websites that offer "updated BIOS".

Gary

 

Hi there,

I flooded my laptop recently and now one of the ram slots isnt working. I searched for some motherboards, but found only one for my model - FZ31Z, but its really expensive. I found some other FZ motherboards tough I dont know if my processor would work there. I compared these motherboards and they look all the same - graphics and socket type is the same, I only wonder what chipsets are in? Maybe there are other chipsets which wont let my T8300 go?

I would like to ask you a favor, if you could check your motherboard with CPU-Z program for chipset info and put it here with motherboard number (it starts with A under ram cover - for those who dont know)? I would be very thankful if you could do so, maybe it turns out that most of these mainboards are the same, only numbers are different.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Tom

 

^^
Please help me out. It's just 5 minutes... Here's a link to cpuid exe, no installing -> http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz/cpuz_152.zip

 

does anyone know if we can upgrade our wifi cards for faster speeds?

 

I beleive we already have the fastest WiFi cards available.

Gary

 

we have the 4965agn which isnt the fastest. There is a 5100 and a 5300 that are faster. I am thinking about trying to swap out the 4965 with a 5300 but I dont know it will work.