The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    FW31M successful xp downgrade - need your input

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by zmeleron, Jun 28, 2009.

  1. zmeleron

    zmeleron Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    (edit1 updated findings)

    - Vista's Ramblings
    I recently got a brand new VGN-FW31M laptop. When the power button was pressed for the first time, the Vista tyrrany started to uncompress itself... After waiting patiently for 15-20 minutes, the entire process was completed. This notebook has some muscle in it so vista should be no problem for it. The experience was a bitter-sweet disappointment. I am a power user and I don't like junk applications and sloppy OSes. The preconfigured installation was infested with sony's garbage plus tons of other trial and advertising stuff. Disgusted with all this mayhem, I rebooted the system to test it's responce. It took 30+ SECONDS for the system to shut down and even more to boot windows! I couldn't believe this... Even my oldest PIII rig could do better on XP. After several restarts and OS optimizations, the systems response times stayed more or less the same. Jerky mouse movement when using multitasking, delays and constant hd activity.The performance sucked for my standards. Imagine how it would be in 6 months with full application grinding!
    XP downgrade was the only thought on my mind and after several days of pondering, experimenting and forum reading.

    - Testing the XPrience:
    I managed to switch to xp sp3 with 99% of the features (buttons, devices) working. The driver for Ati HD3470 that I am currently testing is a 9.1 modified desktop catalyst. The mod was done with Mobility Modder.NET 1.2. Fallout 3 works fluidly on medium graphics with good stability. I am currently testing high graphic settings with messy and crowded environment. Will post benchmarks later.

    I stripped xp to it's bare bones without tampering with the OS itself or any of the default services. Performance is quite good for a notebook (around 20-30% estimated gain). No crashes or failures (working 8+ hours per day). Shutdown with complete driver & application set takes 6-8 seconds :D

    The installation and fine tuning process was somewhat long but it was well worth the extra time. You can find very useful threads in this forum describing the steps you need to take for a successful xp installation in detail. Just forum search for "xp downgrade" or report your problem here to see if I can help.

    I am in the process of creating a complete driver pack for FW31M plus any other FW series notebooks with similar hardware. I still have 1 device not working in device manager

    - in HID devices -> Unknown Device / Manufacturer MGE / on Intel(R) ICH9M LPC Interface Controller - 2919 / ID: ACPI\SNY5001\4&FF861E6&0
    (this is the sony additional notebook functionality interface -plainly buttons)
    ->currently working to resolve this

    anyone who can provide additional input or comments is welcome to do so
     
    zmeleron, Jun 28, 2009
    #1
  2. adpatatje

    adpatatje Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi zmeleron,

    Congratulations!
    I have te same laptop and also downgrade to XP, but unfortunately he have frequently a bleu screen.
    I'm very interesting in your XP drivers for this Sony laptop.
    Have you the HID devices ACPI\SNY5001\4&FF861E6&0 driver already?
    So not I have these for you.

    Ad
     
    adpatatje, Jul 14, 2009
    #2
  3. tassadar898

    tassadar898 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    101
    Messages:
    592
    Likes Received:
    24
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Please make driver package for the FW490 series 64bit!
     
    tassadar898, Jul 14, 2009
    #3
  4. thanos75x

    thanos75x Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    thanos75x, Sep 25, 2009
    #4
  5. spkpieet

    spkpieet Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hello all! I've just signed up for membership.

    I recently installed win7x64 on my FW31M but my battery doesn't keep up 2 hours like before. It takes one hour to discharge. Before I had win7x86. I was wondering to install XP (32 bits) but I'm not quite sure... I need the drivers.

    zmeleron, could you help me with the drivers? If not, does anyone could help me?

    Thank you.
     
    spkpieet, May 16, 2010
    #5
  6. spkpieet

    spkpieet Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I didn't see the link with the drivers, my bad.
    I have found the driver for the CARD READER. They are from a different model (CS280J).
    Here are the links:

    Sony Vaio VGN-CS280J/R Ricoh SD Memory Card Driver: ftp://download.sony.com/US/pc/RIDFMC-00166293-XP.EXE
    Ricoh Memory Stick Media Driver: ftp://download.sony.com/US/pc/RIDMSC-16480800-XP.EXE

    Hope this helps someone in the future!
     
    spkpieet, May 18, 2010
    #6
  7. Vaultex

    Vaultex Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi zmeleron, I have downgraded to Xp too on VAIO Fw31M, but I´m stuck with most of the drivers, is it possible for you to send your XP drivers by e-mail or tell how you did it? Thanks in advance.

    O.G
     
    Vaultex, Jan 14, 2011
    #7