Sony SZ750 Win7 64bit clean install (should help on other SZ's)

It's not a keyboard problem... It is a problem with the keyboard brain interface (hands ). Your palm is touching the touchpad therefor clicking the mouse button and repositioning the cursor. It's a common problem.

Here is the fix.
If you have the Alps driver installed, go into mouse properties in control panel. Go to the "tapping" tab, at the bottom you will see a check box "Tap Off when typing" click that. This disables the touchpad while you type.

To the right is a slider to adjust how much delay from when you last type to when the touchpad becomes active again.

 

Thanks again Leslieann! You are the greatest! The Alps driver and by switching tapping to off fixed the wonky issue I was having with my keyboard!

Now my SZ will allow me to type as fast as I can (which is not all that fast) ;P

 

I haven't heard anyone mention about the Sony SmartWi utility. Is there a version of that in 64-bit which will work with our SZ under Windows 7?

 

The Fujitsu driver in the driver pack will work, but not 100%. For example, the green light will not come on, and more importantly, the video settings cannot be adjusted in Live Messenger. Downloading the firmware to the camera using VMware and using the Microsoft native driver, the camera is 100% working in native x64, the green light will come on, and all video settings can be adjusted.

 

I got it work ( I used SmartWi of Vaio FW model), just because of camera didn't work well so, I switched back to 32 bit)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=428700

 

Soooo after lots and lots of work... I have come to a dead end and bad news regarding the webcam.

Apparently as Microsoft pushed out one of the last Win7 X64 Release Candidates, they made a slight change to the driver system, it effects others, but mostly the USB system. It's creating hell with many older webcams. It also prevents using what would be a really good driver on the 8400 GS. Unfortunately fixing it requires either an updated driver, or firmware.

Also, any 64bit driver for this camera you find are either 64bit XP, are 32bit, or they are for a slightly different camera. Yay for minor revisions.

If you absolutely need the laptop working 100% in ever way, you will need to use a 32bit operating system.

 

I was thinking that maybe falling back to 32-bit and using a program like eBoostr or a RAMdisk to make use of memory above 3GB might be a good compromise.

http://beta.eboostr.com/

I love my SZ7 for so many reasons. Sony driver support definitely isn't one of them, though

 

For those with Win 7 Pro, I wonder if simply launching XP mode at Win 7 startup would do the same things as aralos1999's VMware trick. You just have to make sure you've enabled VT in your bios (via the hack/mod found on this board) and also have the webcam driver installed in the XP mode environment.

 

Here's a longshot. What if you tried installing the XP driver for the camera using XP SP2 compatibility mode?

ftp://download.sony.com/US/pc/RIDCAM-15510300-US.EXE

Don't forget to 1st go to the file's properties, switch to the Compatibility tab, check "Run this program in compatibility mode for," and choose "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)." Probably won't work, but it may be worth a shot considering nothing else has worked so far.

 

JTravers, i think i have tried everything possible on the Sony website. It is a no go.

I think i tried the Fujitsu drivers before my webcam "packed" up and before i installed the Sony drivers and it was still a no go for me. I don't know why this is. I used the drivers that were linked in this thread.
Can anybody else with a SZ7 EU models use the Fujitsu webcam drivers listed in this thread?

I think i'm hearing the fan a tiny bit more in W7 than i was in Vista Ultimate 32bit. I can't say i'm too happy about that.

If worse comes to worse i will put Vista Business back on it (because i lost my Ultimate upgrade) and decide where i go from there. VU was a student offer and i never ordered a DVD.

Edited to add:
I am going back to Vista. I actually have an anytime dvd that will upgrade me to Vista Ultimate also. If this webcam stuff and power management gets properly sorted out i will upgrade again. I don't want to use 32bit W7.
...
My webcam is now working. I had to use my anytime disc first because my recovery discs would not allow me to downgrade from W7 64bit. I had troubles in Vista U 32bit because my previous installation must have still been in the computers memory. I then used my recovery discs and have installed Vista Business. I thought my webcam might have packed up but that was not the case.

 

Anything that tweaks rm is dubious at best.

 

Just curious why you don't want to use 32bit Win7 but don't mind 32bit Vista.

 

Simple, it takes zero effort to do.

 

Several reasons. I paid for W7 Professional 64 bit. I got it through the Microsoft student steal deal and it only came with one dvd and i selected 64bit W7. Part of the reason for me wanting to upgrade was so that i can address 4GB or more of ram. With W7 32bit i will be stuck with the same 3GB that i am in Vista. I'm also not sure how long i am going to hold onto this laptop so buying another install disc might not make sense now. I like W7 but i also don't mind Vista and everything works 100%.

 

Another longshot, but the TZ has the same webcam as the SZ7 (VCC7). Someone with a TZ reported that they got the webcam working in Win 7 x64 here.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4616102&postcount=37

He used a driver from the following site.
http://www.ralphg.com/public/

Like I said, probably a longshot. We don't know if he was only successful because he didn't try a cold boot.

Waiting for my copy of Win 7 Pro x64 is starting to try my patience

 

I put in Win7 32bit for experimentation, I am trying to see if I can somehow enable the gps function in the WWAN.

I found out more about the wireless function switch...
In order for it to work, you need the SmartWi Utility. I have no idea if this will work in Win7 x64 on the sz750 though. Still playing with the 32bit for the moment but it did get that last switch to start working in 32bit. I did install SmartWi on 64 just before I wiped it, and it DISABLED my wireless. I wasn't able to get it working again before I installed 32, so if you do try it, be prepared it may turn off your wireless, necessitating a possible install of a 32bit system to re-enable it.

What difference though in terms of install. It may as well be Vista.
I am going to run some speed tests on things while I have it installed to see how it compares to 64.

 

Stamina mode:
32bit graphics 3.5 / gaming 3.1
64bit graphics 3.5 / gaming 3.1

Speed mode
32bit graphics 2.8 / gaming 5.8 (190.4)
32bit graphics 2.8 / gaming 3.4 (2 year old driver)
64bit graphics 2.9 / gaming 5.3 (190.4)
64bit graphics 3.5 / gaming 4.1 (2 year old driver)

Corrected.

 

OK Peeps, i've just done a Win7 update on x64 and two optional Sony drivers have appeared today on the list as follows:

Sony Corporation - Input - Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device

Download size: 21 KB

Sony Corporation - Other hardware - Sony Programmable I/O Control Device

Download size: 26 KB

I'm not sure if I should download these as my machine so far is stable.... mmmmmmmm

 

Interesting that these Sony drivers are showing up in Windows Update. It would be great if a webcam driver appeared sometime in the future.....

 

Well, if eBoostr is dubious to you, I guess you wouldn't be interested in a kernel hack to get more than 3GB addressable for Win 7 x86

 

Some of those work, but did you happen to notice the term BETA in front of it. Any tweaking to the Windows Kernel is risky. I'm not saying none of that stuff works, just that there are risks and things to consider when doing it and what will you really gain. Just because you can do something, doesn't always mean you should or that it is even a good idea.


My understanding after reading about that, is that even if you enable 8gigs, there is question about whether programs can access it. Windows can, but programs need to be able to, and few can. Windows takes up the first part of ram (and isn't going to use 3.2gigs on it's own), so very little is going to actually be accomplished by allowing 32bit Windows to address more than 3.2gigs.

On Windows Server you are using IIS, which runs native to Windows Server and therefore programed to be able to address it.



On top of all that, most people do not have more than 4 gigs. Nor do they need it. Is it really worth the hassle to get that last bit, when it's not really very usable to begin with? And what about patches from MS, will they break it or trash Windows? Do yourself a favor before you bother, load up Windows in 32 or 64 bit, and watch your ram usage and see if you even use 3gigs of memory. I am willing to bet you don't. If you truly need to access more than 3 gigs, then you probably should really consider a 64bit OS and do it properly.

As for caching to ram, I recommend you read up on write delay function, and read the risks for that as they are similar.

 

I am still toying with32bit, did these show up for 64bit as well?

 

Oh, and I did get the GPS function on the WWAN to work, twice. But it's VERY fickle,unreliable and is a mess to do. But it did work.
I haven't tried in 64bit more.

 

Won't know until I get my copy of Win 7 at the end of the week. Can't wait to join the fun, haha.

 

I just read back, yes they show up for 64bit.

 

I just lost a long post

Short version, with just a couple of small exceptions this worked great on an SZ791 Win7ProX64.

 

What forceware version was this? 178.13 perhaps? The driver performance has decreased steadily ever since the 17x.xx series; in comparison the newest drivers have lost over 300 marks in their scores.

Also, you hinted a couple of posts back that Microsoft had changed something since the RC that affected the USB camera as well as the 8400M GS. Can you elaborate or provide a link?

Lastly, didn't you need to install the Vaio Event Servicefor FN key support? I don't think I saw that listed in your OP. I have the same versions of the drivers you listed installed but (to the best of my knowledge) none of them included that. I had to install it seperately.

 

Think I got a fully working installation on my SZ680. The only thing that doesn't seem to work well is my headphone jack - but it didn't under Vista and the original factory installation either really. What really affects the success of the installation is the different versions of the Sony Drivers and Utils. I'm going to test the system for afew more days and if I get no BSOD's I'll post how I did it. As for the camera dirver the one listed by the original poster of this thread works just fine. If that one doesn't work there were 2 versions of another camera driver posted about a year back. I have them saved too but I believe they're posted in the thread I created titled something like 100% working installation for Vista x64.

 

I tried all of those drivers for the webcam but still no go on my SZ71WN/C. This is very odd because we should all have the same webcam.

 

"Sony Corporation - Input - Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device

Sony Corporation - Other hardware - Sony Programmable I/O Control Device"

I took the plunge and did a windows update on the above two drivers and voila.... system is stable...

I'll go and try the webcam now and see if i'm having any problems....

I still haven't installed the ALPS drivers yet, trying to see if I can get away with that one..... mmmmm. The only other thing showing in my Device manager is the Memory stick... i've still yet to update that device....

One other thing, which WWAN driver is everyone using? I used have the sony smart network utility installed, the one with the floating box. Is the SMARTWI a new utility?

 

Well i just tried my oringinal VCC7 driver for the webcam, and guess what.... nothing... Messenger says that it's in use by another program?

Edit:

Just tried driver 6.1004.210.0 from the US Vaio site and no joy...

Edit 2:

Camera is working in MSN using driver 6.1004.210.0 (yes I know, I said above there was no joy) but I installed it again using a different camera file. Note there is no green light, but this is not a deal breaker for me....

I'll try and find the file and upload somewhere...
Thx

 

Here's the driver I used....I think it from the other X64 Vista thread.. no green light but camera works....

 

Great resource. I've got a Vaio SZ360P that I'm looking to do a clean install of Win7 32-bit on and was wondering if there exists an equivalent post somewhere that has compiled drivers and instructions as you've done here. If not, do the drivers posted at the beginning of the post work for a 32bit install? Also, is the driver installation order the same for a 64bit and 32bit install? Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

Hi!

I just did the 64bit install on my SZ730e/c...but the screen flashes very often....is this because the 750 and 730 graphic drivers are not compatable? I checked the driver and they looked the same to me...

Any help will be appreciated...

 

I get the same thing on my SZ750N/C which makes sense as we both have the same video card.

 

Interestingly, my function key volume controls beep when I touch them and move the indicator on the screen but have no bearing on the actual sound coming through the speaker. The function mute will indicate muted on the screen but sound still comes from the speakers. Function brightness keys work fine.

Any ideas?

 

Hi Rachel,
Haven't got as far as the BT yet, may I ask which drivers you are using?
I also have to try the WWAN function, will get round to doing this in a day or two... (I'm working on my Halloween costume at the moment... hehe)

 

Don't try Norton Utilities or you will get to practice the install again...

 

OK folks, am having problems with Globetrotter, seems like the WWAN driver has not loaded up at all.... Can one of you point me in the right direction.... thx

 

HMMM...

I have had the function buttons and the camera working (including the green light) but they stop working after a reboot... In fact I've had the camera working with two different drivers.

 

DriverVer = 06/20/2007, 7.15.11.5609
All I can get, after a quick search it looks like 95.

Event Service on the SZ750 is installed with one of the files listed. Sony loves to re-arrange what comes with what installer. Yes, it is installed though. I plan to re-do the guide as I have learned a bit more, it can be simplified, and I can add 32bit, some warnings and links. I will also ad a list of what separate things show up in the Programs And Features to make it easier for cross referencing models.


The USB thing, I only found one blurb about it, in this forum actually that tipped me off. After that I could only find mentions of it. Nothing that gave any real information. Sadly, what I wrote is about the extent of what I have found on it. However, based on what was said and what I have seen with the way my installs changed from one RC to the next it makes sense.

 

Almost every SZ group 3, 4, 6, 7, etc.. got their own camera.
I have tried nearly a dozen drivers, none work on mine.The one in the driver pack, and yours are the best ones I have managed to use so far.

Now that Sony has pushed FEP and PIO drivers, maybe soon we will get an update for the cameras.

As for now, as far as I can tell and after an exhaustive search, I'm convinced the driver simply doesn't exist in 64bit.

The Alps driver is optional but does add some functionality.



WARNING!!!
SmartWi... Be aware, if you install this, the WWAN may not only not work in 64bit without a different driver, it will however turn off your Wifi. Big deal you say? It is, since the utility doesn't work! It turns it off, but is unable to restart it. I didn't spend long on it, I was doing some other things, but it seems the easiest way to fix it, was to install a 32bit OS, install SmartWi, enable the wifi, and then re-install 64bit. Yeah, it stinks. Be carefull. This will happen on the SZ750 using the default SmartWi. Other models may have better luck. If you want to tackle WWAN, just keep in mind it may be a battle.

WWAN works just like the webcam, it has to load the firmware in order for it to work. So working in 64bit on some models may be almost impossible without an update or help. There is a rumor it does this to save power.

 

Getting it working isn't hard, it's keeping it working after a cold boot.

Same driver that has been posted. It's a 64bit XP driver (I think, but possibly Vista). Either way, it doesn't insert the firmware.

 

Follow the steps about the Intel driver in the guide.

Intel tries to turn down the refresh rate to 40hz, which causes the flicker and often crashes the driver entirely.

I now turn off all Power Management in the Intel Power panel. This kills all of the popups, flicker and everything.

 

For those trying to get other SZ's running here is the Sony stuff that shows up in the Programs and Features (I really need to update the guide);

Battery Care Function (SZ6, on the SZ750 it's included with Notebook Utilities)
Vaio Control Center (SZ750)
Vaio Event Service (SZ750, installs with Notebook Utilities (I think)
Vaio Event Service (SZ750, installs with Notebook Utilities)
Vaio HDD Event Service


Here is what is listed in the Sony Directory in Program Files (x86):
Battery Function
Settings Utility Series
Vaio Camera Capture Utility
Vaio Control Center
Vaio Event Service
Vaio HDD Protection
Vaio Launcher
Vaio Power Management

 

Anyone who gets it going on another SZ model sufficiently, if you could, please PM or simply post what you used so I can annotate it in the guide. I am going to try and update the guide later today with a bunch more information that has come to light

 

Did you try the drivers for the smart network and wwan that i listed on the first page?
You will need to use the globetrotter software and not the t-mobile software. The wwan module in the EU is unlocked and the globetrotter software allows you to use any sim card in your laptop. With smart network we don't have the problem of having to just have one network function on at a time.

About the bluetooth i tried about five drivers. I took a snapshot and put all the drivers i used on my external HD but yesterday i wiped my HD by accident (and can only get limited info back) when i was trying to format a usb stick so i cannot really help on that. Right now i am using Vista Business and i'm using the original drivers that came with my laptop which is 6.1.0.2200.

 

Keeping the cam working after cold reboot isn't hard, see my earlier post. The native Microsoft x64 driver works out of the box 100% as long as you can download the firmware to the camera. This can be accomplished easliy with XP mode in Win7 or use VMplayer.

 

Rachel

I still can't get the Globetrotter HSPDA modem to work. I used your drivers and still Device manager says... Driver not loaded.. I even used the latest drivers from the Options website and still no joy. I'm wondering if there is something I need to install before I install the WWAN driver? I know I haven't installed the Sony power mgt utility yet, surely that can't be it...

I'm considering reinstalling Vista from my recovery partitiion and then doing an upgrade to WIN7......

EDIT:

OMG, I've got Globetrotter to work......

I extracted the M3 subfolder into the same directory and used the x64 setup...

 

Can you give me a quick overveiw of how to do this (where is the firmware, what is VMplayer and so forth)