Screen Rotation with VPCZ1... at my wits end

I'm sure it will be blatantly obvious that this is my first post on the forum, yes I am very much a newb. I'm not a computer programmer, aficionado, or the like... it's just a utilitarian device for me (I prefer to play with cars in my spare time but I've build computers and have dabbled in C++). I've had vaios back since the late 90's, and I've put up with a lot of nonsense to stay with Sony all these years, but I've had so many bad experiences with customer support, proprietary parts, and all sorts of other headaches and nuisances with this Z and my last one that I'm not sure I can justify getting raked over hot coals for $2500 on a future machine. This one may be my last.

So bad experiences aside, I do really like this machine overall and it suits (most) of my needs in a daily laptop. It's light, has a great screen, HDMI out with a blueray drive, the noise canceling headphones aint bad. BUT... it's STUPIDLY expensive, the speakers in my cell phone sound better, it missing usb3.0, the customer service is the worst I've ever dealt with..... but I can deal with all that. What I can't deal with is purchasing a brand new external monitor, mount, setting it all up, and then finding that I can't rotate the display into portrait mode (like nearly every other machine on the freaking planet). My friends laugh when I explain this thing cost close to $3k... and the first two things out of their mouths are "you should have bought a mac" and then "Acer" . Sony used to be the top... if you bought a Vaio you've purchased something that is reliable, cutting edge, well built, and future proof (relatively), but those days are long gone.

Long story short, I've spent the last 4 hours researching if it's possible to install some sort of driver update for the Nvidia Geforce 330m video card in this machine.... and I still don't have a clue if it's possible and how to do it. All I know is if I can't get this new monitor into portrait mode on my laptop I'm going to literally throw this three thousand dollar paper weight out of the window and walk directly to an apple store. Sony, I love(d) you... but seriously... you've built half a computer here, and I've paid you an arm and a leg for it. For the hard earned money I spent I feel like I've been completely taken for a ride.

If anyone can point me in the right direction (if there is a solution) I would absolutely appreciate any scrap of help or information you could offer up.

I found this thread but after 15 pages I've gotten bogged down in the technicalities http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-256.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-252.html#post7176699

-Heath

 

You talk about the NVidia part, so I guess you are running on speed mode with your external screen connected to the HDMI port. It's a long time since I have used the original drivers the last time (>1 yr) so dunno if the option was there or not. But try this: Open up NVidia control panel and select screen rotation from the menu or go to control panel > display > adjust resolution > rotate.

If it's not there, get the far better community drivers from this post (second link at the bottom, "Nvidia 26314 - Intel 2266 signed"):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-252.html#post7176699

Replace inf with special features 2 inf. Uninstall old drivers on speed mode, restart and install new driverset. Rotation should then be available. The post I linked contains all information you need.

An even better solution would be to apply the Z1 BIOS hack (takes about 15 minutes and is well-documented) so you can set a BIOS option to disable sony's proprietary hybrid graphics implementation (which sucks anyways, did this right after I got my Z1) and lets you install the latest official NVidia drivers that support ALL features.

 

I don't think this problem was resolved in the Z2 thread, but it may be worthwhile to use as a reference:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/609585-z2-cant-rotate-external-monitors.html

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help. Your best bet is probably installing hacked Nvidia drivers as the above poster mentioned.

 

The net, net of the Z2 thread is that you -can- rotate the monitors off of the PMD's AMD chip, but not the ones off of the built-in Intel chip.

You need a registry edit to do it, but it's pretty innocent.

 

SOLVED!!! Thanks everyone for all the help, much appreciated. Now here is how to do it the easy way for the computer illiterate!

Step 1:
Go to the search bar and type in "regedit" , and open the registry editor. I suggest making a backup copy of the registry before you do anything (especially if you are a newb) by clicking file -> export and saving your backup.


Step 2: In regedit, click edit->find and type in 'RotateFlag' (I selected all check boxes) and hit find. After awhile regedit will say "finished searching" and return a list of entries in the right column. If 'RotateFlag' exists it should be highlighted in a list of results in that right column.


Step 3: Select 'RotateFlag' then right click on it and hit delete. Now close the regedit program and restart your computer.


Step 4: Check to see if it worked. Right click on your desktop, click screen resolution, and you should now have a pull down menu for screen orientation! You can use this menu to flip either of your displays (screen or external monitor) or simply press ctrl+alt+'arrow key' to quickly rotate without going to the menu.




Step 5 (optional to Step 4): If you'd prefer a simple graphic interface instead of the hot keys or right click menu, install the free program 'irotate' which is a simple program that does the same thing as step 4, but quickly for those even less computer inclined
Download iRotate 1.37 Free - This is a screen rotation utility that can be used by anyone. - Softpedia


Note: Since it seems like Sony has disabled screen rotate on many of their laptops, this fix may very well work for many Vaios... not just the Z, but I've only done this on my Z.


Thanks to everyone, I'm such a happy camper now!! Oh and SONY... go screw yourselves.

-Heath

 

Hey nice find! And thanks for discovering it for the rest of us! (that's going into my list of things of FYI for the Z1

 

It worked! Thanks!

 

Has anyone succeeded in rotating the screen while using the Intel graphics? Andrew08's driver with special features does the job in speed mode on both internal and external monitors, but I want to be able to rotate the internal screen while in stamina mode (reading ebooks, etc. - page view: portrait).

Nice work, rotormotor. It is nice to see self professed newbies get off their butts and not only help themselves, but others as well.

 

I can confirm that this extremely simple solution worked for my Vayo VGN Z11 mn, but when editing the registry ( after making an export of them, just in case), after system finds an value 'RotateFlag' , there mght be another one, so delete that one, then repeate the process - Edit - find - 'RotateFlag' . I have not done not did this first time, and it did not worked for me. Then after hours of documenting it, disperate, came back to this and give it another try, so I thought it might save u some time and nerves.

Kudos romotor, u are the man

 

After finding the first instance of 'RotateFlag' press F3 to Find next

Did anyone manage to do this with the Intel graphics?