Laptop unable to power down

Hello, I have a Vaio VPCCB3C5E and I just noticed that it refuses to power off through any means other than holding the power key. Ie if I shut down or sleep, the laptop screen goes off and everything stops but the power light remains on, and if I hit the keyboard, it lights up. But nothing else can be done except a hard power-off. I have even tried this through the BIOS, if I select "shut down", the computer simply freezes on the BIOS screen.

I recently had the PC sent for in warranty repair but I did not notice this until several weeks after having it returned, I guess I never tried to shut down or sleep previously. I know for sure it did work before sending it for repair.

Any ideas, or do you think it's likely something was damaged during repair? Ideally I wouldn't like to send the laptop again so if it's something that can be fixed at home I would love to know.

Thanks

 

Does it happen if you force a shutdown?

open a command prompt via run -> type cmd

then type

shutdown /f /s /t 0

 

Same thing happens, laptop shuts down, screen switches off, but power light and fan remain on. And keyboard backlight remains responsive.

It simply refuses to physically power off any way other than long-press of power key

 

So weird. Probably a motherboard issue.

 

Try it in Safe Mode. Then if you can boot a different OS from a media/usb dvs then try that to hone it down even further.

 

I am leaning towards a motherboard issue. Because even the BIOS itself can't shut it down. If I choose "Shut Down" from the BIOS, the machine just hangs with the BIOS still displayed. And once again only long press of power button can shut it off. I'll try a different hard drive and see.

 

I removed the hard drive, optical drive, and one of the RAM modules, but the problem remains. So it looks like it is almost defintely a motherboard issue.

 

oh yeah... wont even shut down from bios huh. Also if there is a Bios update flash it. If you recently updated, downgrade.

 

I definitely haven't updated the BIOS recently, or if I have at all. Unless the Sony repair guys did but I doubt it. Unfortunately there isn't an updated BIOS, the one I have is the latest, I'm trying to find the previous BIOS version and downgrade mine, but I can't find it.

This page only has the update - Sony : VAIO VPCCB3C5E drivers | Download drivers and updates for VPCCB3C5E

Any ideas where I could get the older BIOS?

 

Unfortunately I dont know where older bios files are. Try a power cycle also if you havent. Remove the battery and press the power button for like 10seconds.

 

Could you please elaborate on the power cycle procedure? Do I need to remove both battery and AC and hold the power button for 10 seconds, or do I leave the AC in and do it while the power is on?

 

yeah, remove all power. So remove AC and Battery. Then hold power button on the computer for 10s. I know it sounds silly but its just another thing you can try :/

 

this process call ''Static discharge'' but will no help is fail of MBX (atx)

only replacement of MBX will help -sorry

contact Sony for warranty repair

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I tried the static discharge method but still no luck. Looks definitely like a motherboard problem.

Back to Sony I go.

 

Ok I fixed this by opening the laptop, disconnecting the BIOS battery and then plugging it back in. Now laptop can shut down, standby, etc, no problems.