Sony S15 2012 Disassembly + ODD Caddy Video Tutorial

Can i ask if that "Black" plastic holder you put behind the Caddy did come with the Caddy or is it already in the computer behind the CD from start?
As got a Caddy i did use in my MbP 15 2011 and looks the same as yours but i dont have that black one that seems to hold it in place.

 

It is in the laptop, you just need the caddy to buy...

 

I have the same issue of high cpu usage for system process and interrupt.
My model is SVS15123CXB and I also remove the ODD but just leave the place empty. Disable the ODD in bios does not solve the problem.
After reading the "resistor soldering" solution, I guess I will have to put the ODD back? Because I do not have a hdd caddy. Or should I just find one similar connector on the hdd caddy alone just to solder a resistor on it?

To SteveDW0 and Kueller:
If, somehow, I get a stand alone slimline sata connector and solder a 600ohm resistor between pin 4 and pin5,6, but leave the whole connector unconnected, do you think it will work?

Thanks

 

Hi!
I'm thinking of buying a SVS1513 (15.6" fullHD IPS, 1TB, DVD, Win8 etc.). First thing I would want to do is to install a SSD and install Win7 pro. For this I found quite a lot instructions and tipps.

BUT what about the change of the ODD to a HDD?
Is this soldering, mentioned here always necessary?
Does anybody has experiences with the newest SVS1513?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

 

Does anybody has an answer for me?

 

It's not necessary but you will then face the CPU problem. I haven't done the soldering myself yet and you can definitely just use the laptop now. Only problem is that the battery time will be shorter....

 

I have the SVS1513C5E variant
Tried the swap out of ODD with the HDD and caddy replacement with NO resistor, i can confirm the CPU usage problem is present.
So, Just got hold of a 620 ohm resistor and fit that (Measured nearer 690 though - nearest i could get and i can confirm this also works. No CPU usage

I suspect the pin is being monitored for a high, floating line and the resistor is used to pull it down to 0v, so i'd say this doesn't need to be an exact like for like modification. Only my views though.

 

I must be lucky: I have a 1513 version. I replaced the HDD with an SSD and made a fresh clean Win8 install. Then I replaced the ODD with an HDD in this caddy: 2nd SATA HDD SSD Hard Drive Bay Caddy for Laptops (9.5mm) | eBay
without any soldering and I have absolutely no CPU usage problem

 

Thanks for the video. just wondering, are there any msata slots available for msata ssd's? that would be the best of three worlds, ssd + hdd + odd

 

I have a question about which resistor to buy to solve the CPU problems. What fits easier, an SMD-resistor or a normal one?

SMD: http://www.conrad.nl/ce/nl/product/...00CS-RC2012F591CS-SMD-Bouwtype-0805-0125-W-1-
Normal: Metaalfilmweerstanden (0,6 W) Bouwtype 207 590

Also, they have three different SMD's available, 0,1 - 0,125 & 0,250 W. Does it matter?

 

You are better not doing this if you don't what you need.
What cpu problem you are fixing?

Sent from my SGPT12 using Tapatalk 2

 

I can defenitely do this but haven't that much knowledge of the resistors alone. I'm soldering this in my caddy and then use a multimeter to measure it. If I did something wrong I would measure so, no worries. The CPU problem of the win8 laptops when you switch the ODD with an HDD.

 

I doubt laptop today has a big fat old registor as the second link you provided.
However, if it is your own project, you can definitely make your own choice.
The higher watt registor has, the bigger it should be. Otherwise, it would be burned if it can't stand the current.

Sent from my LT30at using Tapatalk 2

 

It's not my own project, it's what the guys have been doing from 3 pages back in this thread. So does anyone that has done this mod knows if it matters home much watt the resistor has?

 

Thanks for those who found this out in the first place. I am happy to report that my VAIO SVS1512 has been running flawlessly for the past 2 weeks or so, having done the soldering on the resistor as advised.

For those of you who are in the UK, I might be able to help with the soldering, just contact me.

 

Hi,

I'm also curious as to what kind of resistors I need.
Can someone post a link to an actual product please? I've got everything to solder and verify that it's okay, but I don't know what kind of resistor I should buy.

For info I have a SVS13A1C5E bought with windows 7, but I also have one cpu constantly running since I removed the ODD.

Thanks!

 

The resistor doesn't matter. As long as it's about 620ish ohms and will fit in the space in your caddy and not short out anything it's fine. I used surface mount since I had one. Any of the 1/8w or 1/4w ones you find at the local electronics shop will work as well if they fit and don't contact any of the metal of the caddy besides the 2 points to solder to.

 

Hi guys.
Anyone knows if I can put a HDD adapter into my SVS1312 Notebook? And could I use the ODD port (slower?) or SSD (for Windows)?

BTW
Does anyone know where the bios flash chip (MX25L6405D) is located? I want to desolder it.

 

Thanks Steve, will go and try soon

 

Just have a few questions before I attempt this mod myself.

So I have the SVS13A190S with default Windows 7. Will there will an issue with the CPU with this model? Or is it just for the SVS13A290S?

Furthermore, when I connect my 2nd HDD, do I have to make any changes in the BIOS? Or will my laptop automatically recognize that another HDD has been connected?

Also, how will my laptop know which HDD to boot from? My OS is in my SSD and my HDD will be in the ODD.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

Hi,

simply take 1.2kOhm resistor (or 650Ohm). Size (SMD or wire), quality (% tolerance), power consumption (W) doesn't matter because it's a pull-down resistor. Hold the line on ground (logic/digital 0 ~ 0V). But you shouldn't use a resistor less than 100 Ohm (higher currents/power).

 

Hi,

I'm trying to upgrade my SSD on a SVS1511X9E.
Actually there is some crappy connector from the original SSD setup,
Look yourself:
http://imageshack.us/a/img38/7235/dsc04808cn.jpg

So i'm looking for the Sony Part number of the FFC SATA Adapter.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

It could be very kind if one of you provide me this part number.

Thank you

 

One other note, since it's been asked a few times. As far as I can tell it will only boot off the drive in the main slot. So if you want to boot Windows from an SSD you'll need to put the new SSD in the main slot and move the old drive to the ODD caddy. I used Acronis True Image to copy the original drive to my new SSD and bought a new spinning drive for the ODD spot. This way I still have the original drive if I need to swap everything back to factory. With the Acronis copy it copied the recovery partiton but can't boot it using the 'Assist' key, so be sure to make a recovery USB stick.

 

Workaround to this: start notebook with ASSIST button and choose boot from optical drive option (F11). This is how I boot from the disk in the ODD caddy.

 

I have the same issue but there has to be a different way to fix this problem. I have a SVS15125CXB - system process is using 20-25% of the CPU constantly ever since I installed the hard drive caddy.

I also noticed that the BIOS does not see a second hard drive but I can see it under my computer.

 

Adding the resistor is the only solution for the SVS1512.
System interrupts are generated regardless of drivers/OS etc. you even have 1 core fully loaded in the BIOS.
The problem lies in the BIOS, and I don't think someone can identify the code that is responsible for this, because if someone could modify the code there would also be SATA-3 for the Vaio S15 (also just a problem in the BIOS).

 

Can anyone confirm that there is no 15%-25% system load when using the HDD in the ODD slot with the newer SVS1513C5E? Thus having a newer/fixed BIOS. I ordered one for my girlfriend and I don't like to solder her laptop when it's still under warranty..

 

You don't solder anything to the Laptop! The resistor is in the ODD/HDD caddy.

 

Yea, someone already pointed that out to me, thanks Hmm, perhaps I shall pre-solder my caddy then.

 

My personal belief is that this contact is used by the DVD drive to indicate a disc has been inserted(previous versions of windows just checked the drive periodically) without a DVD drive or the resistor it acts like a little antenna and picks up signals and constantly bounces around causing the OS to think a disc has been inserted many times per second. I see the same interrupt rate when running Linux.

 

Yeah I think that's exactly what's happening, see the following text taken from this document titled "Zero Power Slimline ODD" from the Serial ATA International Organization:

Edit: I soldered the a 620 ohm resistor between P4 and P5+P6 today and I too can confirm that this does fix the constant 20% CPU load problems

 

I did the soldering since two weeks,It wasn't easy but it works wonders. thank you so much.

 

This thread should be forwarded to the hard drive caddy manufacturers.

BTW I bought my caddy from model US, the circuit board has a different layout and on PIN 1 there is a resistor labeled "102". Where should I solder the resistor? I have the Model # SVS15125CXB

 

Guys, I bought this one BestDealUK SATA 2nd HDD Hard Drive Caddy for 9.5mm Universal CD / DVD-ROM Optical Bay: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
Pins P4 and P5+P6 were already soldered together directly!
No CPU load issues.

 

Which model is your laptop?

 

It's SVS1512

 

svs15125cxb ? there are 4 different models that start with "SVS1512"

 

Sorry, full name SVS1512X9EB, there are many of them.
SVS1512 means first S series update with Windows 8, I don't think there's difference among them in terms of ODD SATA capabilities.

 

Hmmm I have the VAIO svs15125cxb. Following picture is my caddy's circuit board, looks much different than the pictures shown in the posts.

I know my VAIO is one of the affected models but not sure where to solder the resistor.

 

OP here,
Holy crap, haven't visited this forum in a while. I heard about the ODD issue, but I thought it was just affecting a few people. Should I take the video off youtube? I don't want people unwittingly messing up their computers.

Edit: Wow, people are soldiering on resistors. That is dedication.
I think the best course of action is to update the video with a clip at the beginning describing the video and how to fix it. I don't know much about the issues, but if someone want's to clearly outline them and how to fix them, I can film (or if you want to do it yourself) something and add it to the beginning.

Dang, what a great community.

 

Please don't...I was going to use it this weekend.

There is a workaround by putting it into sleep mode. If you do this once you get Sata 3 until you reboot/shut down

 

Alright haha I wont, see the edit

As for the sata 3 thing, I remember seeing seeing that hack a while ago, don't you lose something if you do that though? There's some flaw...

 

You need to disable the optical drive in the bios...that is a drag since i use it.

Most people say they can't tell the difference between sata 2 and 3 but it bugs me knowing that I am not getting sata 3 unless I do disable optical drive then sleep or solder. There's no way I am going to start soldering in my laptop...not a skill I have.

 

Wait, Which video? Link plz

I have a VAIO svs15125cxb. Which method is the best option for me?

Thanks

 

The video on the first post...

 

Yes, great video.

Is there any other way to stop the system interrupt issue without soldering?

 

Unfortunately not

Edit: ignore this post, wrong message quoted

 

...the link is right there? I'm not sure how this is confusing.

 

Oops replied to the wrong post

Unfortunately not

 

I wonder if this caddy would work : http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009Z9TISW/