Sony Vaio SZ Graphics Problem

I use my Sony Vaio SZ691N for the most part playing games on Speed mode. Yesterday while I was playing a game the screen started getting really fuzzy and blocky with static and then shut down and whenever I tried to restart it, the screen would be fuzzy/blocky/staticky from startup and then go into startup repair. Startup repair couldn't fix it as well as restoring from an earlier point.

I tried switching to Stamina mode and it worked fine. The screen was normal (just had to adjust the resolution) but when I try switching back to Speed mode, its the same problem and my laptop wouldn't start up.

Has anyone encountered this problem before? Does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks!

 

It sounds like your 8400 has self destructed. While Sony claims we are not vulnerable, many have claimed all of them are. Regardless, it sounds like it has died, if it does it when the laptop is cool, then it probably has.

 

Oh no is there anything I can do? I know that laptop graphics cards can't be upgraded, but can it be repaired or replaced?

I contacted their chat support and this is what they told me:

Jackie_ > Hi kurokaze. Welcome to Sony Online Support. I'm Jackie. Please allow me a moment to review your concern.

Jackie_ > Thanks for waiting, kurokaze. I'm sorry that the Computer is not starting in Speed mode. I'll be glad to assist you with this.

Jackie_ > Have you changed the pre-installed Windows Operating System in the Computer?

kurokaze > yes I upgraded to Windows 7

Jackie_ > I'm sorry, Sony does not support the installation of the Windows 7 Operating System for the Computer model.

Jackie_ > Some of the features of the Computer may not work with the Windows 7 Operating System.

kurokaze > When I did the test to see if my laptop could be upgraded, it said it would be fine. I uninstalled all of the programs that would not be compatible with the upgrade

kurokaze > And I upgraded in November and its been working fine since then. Speed mode crashed yesterday

kurokaze > Is there a way to fix it?

kurokaze > I even went to a Sony Style store before I upgraded and they said it would be fine

Jackie_ > Did you try performing a System Restore in the Computer and check if that resolves the issue?

kurokaze > Yes I restored it from a previous point but it did not help while my laptop was in Speed mode. It still would not start after the restore

Jackie_ > I'm sorry that the Computer is not starting in Speed mode.

 

Sony support will only help if it is running Vista Business. Even then they will say it needs repair and to send it in, then give you an insane amount to replace the motherboard.

Try switching to speed mode, shut down and let it cool. Then start it up and see if it still does it. If it works fine at first, then goes bad the heatsink inside has come lose or needs new thermal paste. It may be salvageable. Maybe.

If it still does not work, then the card is fried and the only fix is to replace the mainboard or just use the Intel card. If you do want it replaced, i recommend doing it yourself with a board from Ebay, but you will have to wait and watch for one, you can also message anyone selling SZ parts and ask if they have one. There is also some salvagers online you can try but they charge a bit more. Still far less than Sony, especially with labor.

There are also a few electronics wizards on Ebay that do electronics repairs. You could try them, but i wouldn't hold out home on it being a simple capacitor or resistor problem.

 

Hello everybody. I just received my SZ691N repaired and I am so happy that I thought I should share my experience with you. I also had similar problem with kurokaze with the nvidia video chip and I got very disapointed after I read this post and also called sony in Greece and informed me that the cost would be around 750-1000Euro for the repair postage etc and they would also keep my laptop for up to 3 months. I was looking for a used motherboard on ebay when I found a company which is offering a repair service for it. Thankfully they are also located in Greece so I bought their service (for 200Euro) and 10 days after I sent them my laptop it is now back working perfectly since last week. They even solved the problem with the fan noise which now seems to be working permanently but making much less noise.
Anyway I just wanted to point that there is at least one more proffesional solution to repair your laptop except sony so before you pay a fortune try a quick search on ebay.co.uk for sz vaio video repair or ask around at your local market. Maybe if more profesionals would start dealing with these repairs, sony and other brands would also have to offer more reasonable repair services.

 

What they likely did is called a reflow.
They heated the chip in an oven to remelt the solder in the graphics card.

There are LOTS of tutorials on the internet on how to do this at home in your oven. Does it work? yes. Is it permanent? No. It may last a day, a week or it may last 3 months to a year. Can it be redone? Yes. Can you destroy the board entirely by doing this? Absolutely.

 

I don't think that a serious bussiness with more than 1000 repairs on ebay (100% feedback) would folow a tutorial and put a 2000Euro laptop inside an oven...This is why I said that you should use a profesional solution and not someone who says "let's give it a try" . I also read about the oven and heatgun solutions on forums but my basic knowledge on electronics didn't allow me to believe that anyone would try something like that on a laptop and expect a repair that will last. I supose that a profesional could afford to use the apropriate equipment.

The week has passed without problems. If I get a problem I will inform the forum imediatelly.

 

Unfortunately, it's more common than you think.
One of my customers sent hers in for aftermarket warranty and I suspect they used this as it lasted a week.

Think it isn't happening? Take a look. This is a pro doing the same thing.
Laptop & Motherboard Repair HP dv2000 dv6000 dv9000 - eBay (item 290431030174 end time May-31-10 15:35:47 PDT)

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-DV9000-DV600...ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item35a55129cb

I can list many more if you want.

 

Thank you for the links!
The device that the first seller has on the photo doesn't seem like an oven or heatgun. It seems like a device that is designed to work with delicate electronic components and I don't believe that a normal user could get one in his house or understand how to use it.
I used this service Video board M/B REPAIR SERVICE for Sony VAIO VGN-SZ SZ - eBay (item 260607992494 end time Jun-22-10 06:56:08 PDT) . I asked through an email about their repair and if they just did a reflow and I got this reply :
"unfortunatelly we can't provide any technical information about our repairs. However reflow wouldn't offer a permanent solution and we would both loose time and money, the base of our repair is reballing a new or the same GPU depending on the case." .
Also on their listing they mention that they replace the lead free solder balls with leaded balls. I understand that leslieann has a lot of technical knowledge so I would apreciate it if you could evaluate if the service they offered is expected to be more stable than the reflow you described and if I should continue to recomend them or expect my laptop to go dead prety soon.

 

Reflow is a normal repair, which I suspect is what was in that photo. Though it could be some random photo as well. I'm not an electronics expert. I know electronics, but I'm self taught and only tinker.

Based on what they have written in the auction you posted, they do not seem to be reflowing, which is good. It sounds like they are legit. They don't want reflows because they know doing so can compromise other parts and if it fails it makes them look bad.

Would I use their service? Actually, I would consider it.

Would I pay one of the people I listed? No.
I would replace the board with a used working board and sell the laptop before I went that route.

To my knowledge no one is offering their service in the US for SZ's, which stinks, but there are a few doing it for Compaq and Toshiba. In fact Ebay here is not even showing SZ's as needing any repairs. Kind of surprising since they usually jump on every opportunity.

As for the oven technique, it's surprisingly effective short term. There are several forums where there are post after post of people having bad to excellent results, some doing it several times. Keep in mind these people burn up computers all day long with overclocking and that sort of things so this is just another day for them, they understand the risks they are taking. The average person using the services I linked are not.

I'm glad you were not taken for a ride (I'm pretty sure you weren't) and I hope your SZ lives a long life productive life.


P.S. I'm curious what they did to prevent overheating, if you ever open it up, take some pics. I changed out the thermal compound on mine ages ago and it does run cooler. I also know the last SZ's had a different heatsink/fan which mine has.

 

Thank you for the nice reply! It seems that you find their listing more interesting than those you listed so since I still have a working computer I feel that I did the right choise so far and I will continue to recomend such service.
It's not possible to open the laptop because they have put warrantee shields and I don't want to break them.Also they offered me a warrantee expantion after the 4th month (for 4 months more) if I send them the laptop to clean the cooling system (for 20Euro+shipping) and I intent to use that offer so I hope that I will never have to take a look inside. However the fan although it is not so noisy any more, it doesn't seem to stop working.Propably they did some kind of modification on the BIOS??
In Greece they are legit because they included a legal receipt on which they are declaired as " computer Systems, computer repair laboratory".
I wouldn't take my chances with oven tricks or trying something I show on youtube with my SZ. I am using it in my work and actually I paid for it more that I paid for my car. I wouldn't fix the brakes of my car myself and I wouldn't trust someone who would do it in his house even if he is running with his car all day long on the highway. I only trust profetionals with a real workshop for that kind of service. Maybe they also try tricks etc but for me this is the best that I can do I believe. If they would fail I would send it to sony which seemed to be the only profesional option in the begining. If they had caused more damage (broken screen etc) it would be much easier to make a claim to a legal bussiness than to someone working in his house I think.
Anyway I don't believe that there is no profesional in USA offering this kind of service. Maybe they have so much work that they don't have to advertise on ebay while a small Greek bussiness needs more traffic outside the small Greek market. I hope that none will need such service in the future but I sugest that if you do need one then try to find a shop offering this service before sending it to sony. And if you don't manage to locate one closer you can consider using the Greek bussiness. Maybe you can also choose Greece for your summer holidays and have your laptop repaired while you are waiting on the beach .

 

It is possible, I know there are people here capable, just no one has seized this market yet.

 

I will try to talk to Sony because I got like 6 High-End Products (Xperia, TV, ...) but I guess you are right and sony will not help me at all.

I prefer you solution and:

1) Buy a used board
2) replace it myself and sell the notebook

Can you tell me where you get used boards and HOW to change the motherboard. I opend all cover bolds but ... seems its harder than expected

 

Sony won't care how much you own.
If they are like Nvidia they will tell you that now is a great time to upgrade and to please consider another Sony product, then point you towards the Z series (Yes, Nvidia did this to customers). You are a cash cow to them and nothing more. They make great products (scratch that, they make great notebooks, most everything else is generic), but their customer service is horrendous.

Service manual:
http://home.comcast.net/~nw_systems/vgnSZ.pdf

Have fun. Plan on a few hours.
Be sure to sort everything carefully as there are a LOT of screws.

 

I'm on a sz750 and sounds like my card is fried. Cold boot on speed gives me a bunch of funky boxes and stripes. Stamina is fine. 3 solid years, didn't know till now that you shouldn't run speed for everything. I wish I'd have known, its a solid machine and I regret not treating it better.

Anyway, I'm looking into replacing the board but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I searched just 8400m on ebay and got all kinds of different stuff. I'm guessing it should be a board and not just the chip, but more than that I have no clue.
Is there a specific model number or I should be searching? Also any idea around what price range it would run. Some I saw for Dell are at $40 while others are at 100.

oh and one last thing, I got the dissassembly guide from Sony Support
but their labels are less than helpful. Which piece exactly is the board I will be replacing?

btw I appreciate your help in this thread as well as your win7 guide. Very helpful!

 

You're very welcome.
Sony and no one ever said not to use speed mode. It's just something I and others have adopted. At least you still have stamina, most other notebooks would have left you stranded.

It will be the mainboard that needs to be replaced, there is no separate video card.

sony sz motherboard items - Get great deals on Computers Networking, Specialty Services items on eBay.com!

Make sure it matches your model. There are (at least) 2 different mainboards.

 

I'm so glad I got rid of my SZ680. While it was a fantastic laptop it was stupid that every time I wanted to use "speed" mode, it became a ticking time bomb. Sold it and even after the CPU, RAM and HDD upgrades, I only lost $100 for about 1.5 years of use.

Still have the old CPU and HDD that I can probably sell for a little bit of cash but whatever.

 

I don't see it as a ticking timebomb since I pretty much never use speed mode. Very few things that I do can run visibly faster with speed mode, it just increases noise and heat.

I wouldn't mind selling it for a new Z though.
I would really like that new 11in Dell, but I have two problems with it. It's a Dell and I'm not much of a fan, and second I feel I would have to sneak up on it just to use it because of how it looks. The first Adamo is nice too. The biggest problem though is that except for the video card, they aren't that large of an improvement over the SZ.

 

If I didn't use the Nvidia GPU as much as I wanted to, then it would be fine but my wife actually did gaming on it so it was necessary for a change. I'm currently using my old and still fairly capable A8Js.

Also, the 1280 x 800 resolution on the SZ is low for me after getting use to 1440 x 900 on the A8Js so the 1600 x 900 Z would be beneficial to me.