PCG-K37 hangs during post

I have an old PCG-K37 (P4m, 3.2ghz) which has seems to be failing.

Until yesterday, the system was running fine, dual booting XP Home and Ubuntu 8.04. Yesterday, I made the mistake of putting the system to sleep under Ubuntu by closing the lid without the AC connected. Unfortunately, sleep for this model does not seem to work under Linux, so I had to force the power off by holding down the power button.

Since then, the system will power on, but never get past the Vaio logo. If I press ESC, I get the verbose BIOS messages which stop after the memory is shown. If I press F2, I will get the "Entering Setup..." message, but never get there.

I tried connecting a POST code reader to the system and it seems to sop at code 0x66 which I understand to be "Configuring Advanced Cache Registers".

So... I was wondering if any of you had any advice as to how I might fix this issue. (Or even what the issue is.) Is it time to be pricing motherboards on ebay or should I be looking for some other component.

Thanks for any and all advice...

 

I can't help you with your code stuff, there is one thing you may want to attempt to try, it was recommended on other problems before.

Try booting Linux off a CD and see it that works.

If it does, maybe shut it down properly then.

Another idea - you may want to try to discharge the mainboard.
Remove AC power and Battery then hold the "on switch" pressed down for 10 to 30 sec to make sure all charg edrains, try to restart then.

That's all I can think of. A few standard tries...

 

The Linux CD is out as it never gets far enough to boot anything.

I tried the discharge method to no avail.

I've also tried removing the hard drive and booting with a single DIMM (even tried with each of the two DIMMs in each of the two slots).

What I can't figure out is how it can get stuck "configuring advanced cache settings" yet still respond to the ESC and F2 keys.

I think my last resort will be to try and take enough apart to get to the CMOS battery and disconnect it.

Q: Is the cache part of the motherboard or the CPU? More to the point, do I need to try and grab a cheap CPU from ebay for testing?

Thanks again...

 

I think Cache is linked to the processor, but don't take my word for it.
I suggest you research it.
(Google)

Could you replace the BIOS?
(Reinstal it)

 

Well, it looks like this story has a happy ending.

I managed to find a page on the web with disassembly instructions for the K-series. After removing the speaker cover and keyboard, I was able to access to CMOS battery.

Removing it and the main battery for a minute was enough to clear the problem.

Thanks for all the help.

 

John what was the website that you used to disassemble your PCG-K37?
I have removed the keyoard and most of the screws to replace the dead CD-DVD rom but it still will not release. Thx Mario Q.

 

found it. Here it is incase someone needs it. http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-sony-vaio-pcg-k-notebook/
Mario Q.