How to Enable Intel VT and AHCI on a Napa/Santa Rosa platform Phoenix BIOS Vaio laptop

Added to the list!

Gary

 

I got as far a creating a bootable flash drive with windows 98 DOS files on it and the symcmos.exe placed on it. When I reboot and select the bootable media, the C:/> drive is the prompt. I type in "symconos-v2-IDefault.txt" (without spaces and quotes). I am told it is a bad file name or command. Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong

 

The instructions said to type the symcmos line without quotes NOT without spaces. The spaces are VERY important. Your line above has a typo so don't try to cut and past it. The correct line is below:

symcmos -v2 -lDefault.txt

By the way, I realize this was you first post herm, but there is no need to quote the entire long message. You can edit it down to just the part needed to get your point across.

Gary

 

Thanks for responding. However, I still have no luck. I still get the bad command or file name. I wonder if it is because I get a C:\ prompt. The usb drive is I:\. I select it when selecting the boot device but it defaults to the C drive

 

Of all that I have read and tried this method seems the easiest. However, after following the instructions exactly the CD does not boot. It spins around for a while and then Vista starts up. Any idea what I am doing wrong. I open the iso file, add the smycmos file, save it and burn it to disc.

 

"Install WinISO, download the FreeDOS base ISO file and load it into WinISO (the shareware version only supports changing files smaller than 100 MB, but the base ISO file is 8 MB small). Navigate to the FREEDOS\3RDPARTY directory. Place the SYMCMOS.EXE there (just drag it into the window) and save the ISO file. Burn it (e.g. using CdBurnerXP).

Boot from the CD. Hit return at the first screen. On the next screen, select the second option (you don't want to install FreeDOS, you just want to run the command line interpreter). Now, navigate to the FREEDOS\3RDPARTY directory. Type "copy symcmos.exe a:". A: is a small RAM drive generated by FreeDOS at startup (which is actually big enough for our purposes). CD to A:\, then run the SYMCMOS.EXE util as you normally would ("symcmos -v2 -lDefault.txt"). Type "edit default.txt" and change the key you would like to change. (You don't need a separate DOS text editor as there is one included in the FreeDOS base CD image.) Save the file. Then type "symcmos -v2 -uDefault.txt" to reprogram the NVRAM."

In regards to the above post, I have finally been able to boot Freedos from a cd. However, navigating to "FREEDOS\3RDPARTY" is the next wall I have encountered. The default prompt is A:. Although, A: has a directory called FREEDOS, it does not list the subdirectory 3RDPARTY. I assume that would be found on the ISO image on the CD. However, it does not recognize my D: drive. Any ideas on how to navigate to that directory?

 

After you boot to DOS from a USB, you should get a C:\ prompt. You say the usb drive is I:, but I suspect that is when viewed from Windows right?

Do this, after you boot from the USB drive type DIR and hit enter. Then post back what you see. You should see a list of files, one of them being symcmos.exe.

If you are able to boot from a USB drive I highly recommend you forget the whole CD thing. It is MUCH more difficult.

Gary

 

Gary,

Thanks. I get it. The bootable USB (running windowss 98) drive becomes the operating system in dos and is labeled C:. The DIR command revealed the symcmos.exe. I type in symcmos v2 -1Default.txt and was returned the following:
SYMBOLIC MOS EDITOR -Versionxxxxx

usage:
SYMMOS<options>

(a list of about 8 options)

C:\>

At this point the instructions in Post 1 tell me to reboot and edit Default.txt in the dos editor I added to the USB device. I haven't a clue how to do that from a prompt.

 

First, you still have not typed the command correctly. (What it spit back at you was a help file showing the commands it will accept.) It must be exactly as follows:

symcmos -v2 -lDefault.txt

You forgot the dash in front of v2 and the character before the word default.txt is an l, as in "last", it is not a one.

Second, to edit file the easiest way is to boot back into windows and use notepad to edit the file on your USB drive. Then boot back to the usb drive DOS and continue on with the instructions.

Make sure you know EXACTLY what register to change and EXACTLY what command to type to update the BIOS.

Now I don't want this to sound harsh, but you are having so much trouble with a simple DOS command, that I worry about your success at doing the rest of this. I am concerned that if you edit the wrong register, or mess up the file or subsequent command for updating the BIOS that you may harm your machine. Is it possible for you to get someone with a bit more experience to help you do this?

Gary

 

Thanks again for the help Gary...and the warning. I had typed a 1 instead of an l (as in "last") in front of the lDefault.txt. I was able to update the value for reg02D0 to 0001 on my VGN FZ345D. However it appears that VT is still locked off. Might as well restore the bios back to its original setting and wait to see if anyone with my series has found the key. Unless you have any other suggestions.

Daniel

 

Gary. Obviously I need way more work perfecting my typing skills rather then learning more DOS. I went back and checked the modified.txt and I had type a 2 rather then a 1... I am embarrassed to say. However the story has a happy ending. VT is now "locked on" and not off. Thanks for your patience in working with a newbie.

Daniel

To those with my model VGN FZ345D I changed the following to enable VT:
02D0 from 0000 to 0001

 

Great! I'll add it to the master list.

Gary

 

Changing 02F1 from 0000 to 0001 worked for my SZ730E/C. (Enabling VT.)

A few notes:

I didn't set my BIOS settings back to the factory default (I wanted to keep my fingerprint data). As far as I can tell, this was not an issue.

I used the FreeDOS live-CD iso, simply copying symcmos.exe onto the CD afterwards. (FreeDOS makes X: the CD-ROM drive, FYI.)

 

So I can add yours to the master list, please provide the BIOS version number and the exact model number (the one in your post seems out of line with the other SZ models on the list).

Gary

 

My BIOS version is R0122S5.

As far as I'm aware, that is the exact model number. VGN-SZ730E/C, to be slightly more precise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117685

 

Thanks, added it to the list.

Gary

 

Hi -

For VGN-SZ95US (Santa Rosa - R0122S5) the VT enable works.

VT-x: (02F1) [0000] ---> (02F1) [0001]

Rgds

 

Added to the list!

Gary

 

Hi,

I've turned on VT on my VAIO SZ1HRP/B (bios R0112N0, host os - winxp sp3 x32). SecurAble now shows Hardware Virtualization - LOCKED ON. But when I start VMware Workstation (7.0.0 build-203739) with setting 'Virtualization engine' - Preffered Mode: Intel VT-x or AMD-V , I have a message - 'This host does not support all of the hardware virtualization features required by VMware Workstation. Using software virtualization with a software MMU.'

Does anybody have such problem? May be it is because of 'LOCKED ON' and not 'YES'?



Ivan

 

Uff, I've found the answer =)

VMware Workstation 6.5 and 7.0 only supports VT-x on 64-bit processors. =( I have T2300 (32-bit).
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9150

 

Great works perfect in FZ21M.

Tell one thing, if i need to instal windows 7 again is this active or we need to do the all process?

Thanks

 

No you do not have to do it again. You just changed the BIOS EPROM so it is unaffected by any OS changes you might make.

Gary

 

Guys, I tried it today and encountered the following problem: when i try to upload the updated dump, it does not save the settings. I.e. when I create a second dump, I still see 0 at 0354. The attempt was made on SZ370P with Bios no.112

 

VT enabled on:

VGN-FZ31S R2110J7 reg 02D0

Thanks for this info, excellent.

 

Added to the list.

Gary

 

Guys, i have VPCW12S1E R1100E1 what is the reg number?
Thanks

 

Trust me if we knew it would be posted in the master list. Have you looked there for a similar model with an IDENTICAL bios version?

Gary

 

FZ285U/B works like a charm ...

 

How about providing the bios version number so I can add it to the list.

Gary

 

No porbs ...

VGN-FZ285U ... Bios ver. R1120J7 ... Register 02CD

 

Just to add to the list. VGN-AR870 (VGNAR870) with R2090J8 BIOS works with a change to register 0285 from zero(0) to 1.

 

Added to the list!

Gary

 

Added to the list! (Please go back to your reply in this thread and delete the list from our post. Otherwise it will show up in searches and it won't contain any updates I add to the master list.)

Gary

 

Hi everyone,

first of all thanx for taking so much time for testing all those registers for the community.

I followed the steps using my goodol' sony usb floppy drive on my VGN-AR31M (which I bought in Germany 3 years ago) running the R0200J6 bios version.

The change in the 0195 reg from 0000 to 0001 is obviously being made as its actually shown in another Dump I made two reboots later.

A check with the HAVDetection Tool released by Steve Ballmers slaves and Securable claim that VT is still disabled. So there seems no change to the VT settings.

But instead I experienced a somewhat strange error after editing the beforesaid reg.

When i booted up windows it claimed that my MSDNAA copy of windows 7 RTM was illegal. But when I hit the "Use Original Software Now" button it said "Activation succesfull" In the System settings its said to be an original version of windows as well. (Yes i know theres been an update that changed the detection for pirated versions but i rebooted a lot of times after having the update applied so i think its a direct consequence of the changes being made to the bios).

Unfortunately either the bios is in some way different on my AR31M than on AR21S and AR31S, though they have the very same bios number or something went wrong either. Any ideas how to get VT running though?

 

First I am pretty sure that BIOS change had nothing at all to do with the activation issue you had.

As to your VT problem. I can't really say what might be wrong. Is your BIOS version R0200J6? Note that the two folks who got it to work on AR models indicated the BIOS was R200J6. (I thought that number looked odd when it was reported and I added it to the list.) You might drop the two of them a note and see if that was actually the BIOS version. (You can find them via the "Search this thread" option above.) Please let me know what they say, so I can update the master list if necessary.

The only thing I can suggest is for you to create another dump and make absolutely sure the regirster has been changed.

Gary

 

Hey,

thanx a lot for your fast reply.

I'm gonna write them and I will do a new dump. [Update: (0195) [0001] <--- thats what the most recent dump says (after having the machine rebooted 6 times since changing the value and yes its bios version R0200J6]

Might the bootable disc environment have something to do with that?
I used a Windows 7 DOS formatted 3,5" floppy for doin it.

Just some thoughts if youre still interested:

I had a look at those driver packs for the ar 21s years ago and they were basically all the same as the ones for the 31M even those reffering chipset and onboard sound etc so you could use em when you wanted to install windows xp on an are 31m machine.

So i think at least in the 31 series they should use the same bios version and mainboard (at least for those basic parts as chipset etc.).

My speculation is actually supported by taking a look at the specs of the series. Same Clocks, Chipset etc.

And the thing about the activation issue:

I dont care as long as that goodol machine is working so I am not worried at all.

I think it could have something to do with the reset to default operation. I just thought: Wasnt there something like a "feature" in previous windows versions that determined whether there has been a hardware upgrade and that required the user to reactivate the machine afterwards. Might the issue could be related to that one. Or its really an error in the MS-Update.

 

There was such a "feature" (still is there too), but it didn't go down to the level of a BIOS registry change.

Gary

 

Hey,

i just got it to work.

I think you should update that procedure given in the very first post. Remove the part on editing the textfile using a windows based editor and add advises on Reboot / Shutdown procedures!

So I'm describing what i did before and what I did after so maybe some of the other guys can figure out what might went wrong on their update if they experience similar mistakes:

BEFORE (FAILED)

1. Entered BIOS. Set BIOS to default. Rebooted.
2. Created MS-DOS Floppy with windows formatting tool.
3. Rebooted and dumped settings using symcmos.
4. Rebooted again. Edited the File using "Notepad++" under Windows and saved a copy as "updated.txt"
5. Rebooted again. Applied settings using symcmos.
6. Rebooted. Made a dump to see if settings were set.
7. Dumped File reported sector 0195 set to 0001.
8. FAIL: No VT enabled..

AFTER (Succesfull):
1. Set back the BIOS to factory defaults using built in option in the BIOS. Exit and Save. Booted into Windows and Shut Down.
2. Booted into Windows and took the very first dump of my bios settings.
3. Edited the section with pedit in the commandline tool under windows. saved it. Rebooted.
4. wrote settings with symcmos.
5. NO REBOOT AFTER SUCCESFULLY WRITING THE VALUES TO THE BIOS. INSTEAD: Use the Power Button to completely shut down.
6. Booted into Windows: tadaaaa........ everything all right now.

Hoped I could help someone and:
@ gary i hope your not angry 'bout wasting time with someone that probably missunderstood the procedure.

Finally I can Say:

Model VGN-AR31M
BIOS: R0200J6
Reg: 0195

Working!

Thanks again.

Greets
T.

 

Glad it worked. But your AFTER version step 2 said you booted into Windows. Did you mean DOS? The only real difference I see in the BEFORE and AFTER list was the Power off instead of Reboot at step 5.

No anger at all. I am glad it worked and I will add your info to the master list.

Gary

 

Hey,

yes I booted back into windows because I didnt want to take a backup of my default settings messing around with some old dos commands I'm not familiar with anymore.

The other reason was that I wanted to try pedit first with some unimportant files and wasn't sure whether it had mouse support under DOS (but it definitely had while using it in the command line tool, which made it a lot more convenient). So I just edited a copy of the DefaultSettings-TXT-File using pedit in the Windows command line utility and put it back on the floppy. Thats the reason why I booted back into Windows.

And yes, I think one of the more or even the most important change was to shut down the machine after updating the BIOS settings instead of rebooting it.
I read that somewhere in a thread that you reffered to in one of your earlier posts and about that you said you would have collected informations from. Someone claimed that it was very important to shut down and not to reboot. (Dunno if it was in the Neowin or the VM-Ware Board).

And by the way wouldn't it make all this a bit more well aranged and easy to administrate if you would put the Instructions and the List into a seperate Sticky Thread and leave this one as the discussion thread? Just an idea.

So finally thanks for giving me the honor to appear in "THE LIST" ; )

Have a nice day and thanx a lot for your support!

Greets

T.

 

Little question on here:

November 2009 I got an SSD - and since then I have switched on AHCI in the BIOS on an install done in IDE mode - all worked well, but:

For some reason I have maybe 10-20 seconds after logging in - or after standby in which possibly explorer.exe freezes (can't do anything with windows, or loudness, brightness etc. but can move cursor) - that's on Intel Matrix Drivers.
On MS AHCI drivers boot up is delayed by 10-20 seconds - then all is well...

Now the question:
Is that normal on an SZ71VN/X or is there something wrong and a new instal from the recovery discs would remove that problem?

If there is some incompatibility with AHCI I can live with it - I've lived with that little lag for quite a wile now - but if its not normal I might at some point in the nearer future reinstall the OS - has anybody got any comments?

(And I don't have any pointers in the error log that tell me why this could happen... )

 

I think you might have better results getting an answer if you post this to a different thread since is it only marginally related to this thread topic. More folks would see your plight that way. The audience in this thread is pretty narrow.

Gary

 

Ok, thanks I'll do that then. I'd have thought though as I only see this since AHCI I'd would be good here.

 

Oh, I understood your thought process, but the traffic in this thread is mostly about folks trying to enable VT and once they accomplish this they are gone. There are only a few of us who continue to participate in this thread after VT is enabled.

Gary

 

Sony VGN-FZ140E
BIOS Version R0040J7


Vt enabled with 02D3 set to 1, verified with vt.iso since Securable could not tell me accurately due to the Win 7 x64 O/S.

I am still in search of better ways to look at the overall bios and would eventually love to see a bios screen at least similar to what we all love on home built systems. Notebooks are notoriously poor at this, but I now believe that Sony may be the worst of all companies. I know I will never spend another penny on anything made by them as I've had nothing but issues with their support and their OEM installed software since buying this thing 3 years ago. The only good thing I can say about Sony is that they do build a rugged laptop, but I do not personally believe that is a good enough reason for them to continue to act like they still own MY computer. I'm just wondering if any Sony technology is involved with the Toyota fiasco. I'm sure if there is, it will be kept as quiet as possible..

Thank all of you, who have contributed to this venture. I just hope all this hard, sometimes gut-wrenching work comes to some kind of fruitful conclusion for not just us, but for all others who may be more leery of this kind of effort... Sony and Intel may need just a little kick in the pants.

To tell anyone the truth, I really don't know why I allowed myself to buy this computer other then for the idea that I was really getting something. But that is what big name brands do to us, and that is why they need to deliver more, not less...

 

Added to the list.

Gary

 

Sorry, My notebook is SZ2XP/C, quite a ancient one, equipped with XP SP3. And the present bios version is R0083N0.

When I trying to flash the Bios to R0112N0, it told the downloaded program ONLY runs on Vista.

How come? Anyone got the same situation?

 

Since this thread is only about how to enable VT in the BIOS and most folks don't come back to this thread once they have completed that task, I would suggest you find an SZ specific thread or start a new one. I doubt if you will get any answers in this thread.

Gary

 

VT enable on

VGN-FZ350AE R2110J7 reg 02D0

This model is from Latin America, Brasil actually.
Verified with Securable on Win 7 x32, before and after.

 

Added to the list.

Gary