Request for Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT graphics flash ROM (Sony Vaio VGN-AR61M)

Can anyone be kind enough to share a flash ROM copy of Nvidia Geforce 8400M GT notebook graphics display for Sony Vaio VGN-AR61M? A backup copy done with Nvflash, NiBiTor or any similar flash app perhaps will do.

I need to flash my video graphics display which is no longer recognized. For some unknown reasons, after installing and playing some high resolution games, my pc crashed and suddenly Windows 7 display won't accept any video driver except the standard VGA adapter. My system hangs at startup if I re-install the original driver from the recovery disk, the same for the latest drivers I downloaded from Sony and Nvidia.com

Please help me, I have been googling for several days to no avail. Any referral link where I can download the ROM specific for Nvidia Geforce 8400M GT graphics adapter is highly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

 

What makes you think the video ROM has gone bad? Sounds more like the dreaded Nvidia chip failure to me. Not familiar with this model Vaio, but how old is it?

Gary

 

When you boot, do you see colorful dotted lines and then lots of '!' or some other symbol filling up the black screen? If yes, then sorry, your graphics card has gone bad. I have the same issue. Sony did put a new motherboard for some of the AR series notebook for bad nvidia 8400m cards (I think it was AR1xxx, AR2xxx, and AR3xxx series). Well mine is AR630E, therefore my laptop is not eligible for this free motherboard replacement as per SONY Customer support. I'm running on the VGA adapter too. I'm waiting for my new HP notebook to arrive, then I can mess around with my VAIO and try to fix the graphics heat sink.

 

It was working perfectly well just before I installed some high resolution games last week. I had my Vaio for over a year now, never really made any tweaks nor major update on the hardware, just updated some drivers and application from Sony ( http://support.vaio.sony.eu). I even upgraded my OS to Windows 7 to without any hassle.

What our mate krips2003 quoted is exactly what I am experiencing on my notebook.

Tried to use system restore, didn't work. I made a backup image of my current system and restored my notebook to default factory settings, but during restoration at the stage when the system is being configured for first time use the system would BSOD. I've tried every other option on the menu to resume the interrupted setup process to no avail.

So I restored back again my recent image backup (Windows 7) but managed to work on VGA adapter only, which I set on Safe Mode. Everytime during startup that garbled Vaio logo and the vertical blue dotted "!" lines fill up the blank screen during initialization process, as krips2003 said.

 

You can try calling Sony support to see if your model is supported for free motherboard replacement (Your's is European Model). http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?template=EN&news_id=349

When I called the Sony support, they said that for minor repairs, it'll cost anything from $169 - $269 (or something like that), and for major repair, i.e. replacing the motherboard, it'll cost me around $695 . Good luck with Sony support.

http://gizmodo.com/5023963/inquirer...-card-with-g84-or-g86-chipset-is-ready-to-die

 

The issue is not the BIOS. Go to the main page for the Sony forum here on NBR at the top is a "sticky" thread titled "Sony comes clean...". Read there as to what you should do.

Gary

 

Thank you all guys for your comments and suggestions.
We'll, I guess that's it, after reading all those threads about that faulty Nvidia chip, I lost hope, just another dissatisfied Sony customer.
For me to spend another couple of hundreds for service repair, nope! There are a lot other brands out there newer and better at a decent price.
Thank you anyway, I would like our forum admin to closed this thread.
AMEN.

 

Did you check to see if your model is covered by the Sony warranty extension?

Gary

 

heres the link : http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?mdl=VGNFZ180E&news_id=349

Your model is not listed but you can still call them and find out

-faisal-

 

If it's not listed, they won't cover it for free. As I mentioned earlier, they'll ask you to send it to their service center and they'll have a look at your system. If it's minor repair they'll ask for anything from $169 - $300 and for replacing the whole motherboard $695, and that ain't worth it. Now a days, you can get a decent notebook at that price.

For self satisfaction, you can give them a call. You might get lucky, if somehow they have a change of heart

 

Sony sucks will never buy again hopefully someone can start a class action against them.

 

If this is in response to the specifics of THIS thread. You might want to note that SONY did step up and extend the warranties of the machines affected by this issue. There are a couple of machines that APPEAR to have been affected but not included in this warranty extension.

Gary