Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook, how to format?

Hi guys,

I'm new here, nice to meet you all.

I just recently purchased the new T13 Ultrabook with i7, 6 gb ram, and 500 gb + 32 ssd (hybrid).

For the most part, I like it aside from the fan noise...

Anyways, I wanted to ask if anyone was able to successfully do a full format on this laptop. There's about 452 gb of usable space for the user. The recovery partition takes up 13 gb, and there is another 11 gb of space for something else. I was able to free up those 2 partitions with a third party software.

The strange thing is that I cannot do a full format on this laptop. I tried to boot up Windows 7 by usb and external dvd. They boot up fine, but when I get to the part where they ask where you want to install the OS, no drives are available!

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

 

I'm also having the exact same problem, albeit a different Ultrabook, and would appreciate anyone's input on this.

Cheers.

 

What kind of ultrabook do you have?

Yeah, it is a strange situation. My guess is either the manufacturers are blocking off the drives from being seen on a fresh install or it's a bios problem...

 

Sanity check: just see if there is a security setting in the BIOS to allow OS installation. Might be something there that disables writing to the MBR etc.

If that is not the case, see which drivers the disks are using when the Sony provided OS (+ bloatware) is installed. Try to grab those drivers and feed them to the Windows setup while installing.

Do keep us posted on how you get on. I'm planning to buy an Ultrabook soon and this is very relevant for me.

 

Of course, I'll post my findings as I progress.

Yeah, I've checked the bios. There's not much to adjust in there. There's time, date and first/second/third boot sequences. That's about it. Didn't see the security option either. I went to the Sony site to see if there were any bios updates. No go.

The thought did cross my mind about the drivers. Any suggestions on where I should look for those? How do I include these drivers during my install?

 

I'm assuming you are currently running with the OS installation that came with the laptop. Check device manager to see which drivers the disk controllers and disks are using. Also check the management console to see the disk configuration. There are utilities that will help you backup your drivers, but you could just go to the manufacturer's website and download drivers from there.

I think this might have to do with SATA 3 support. It is not often that Windows setup falls down like this.

You should also try Windows 8 Release Preview. It is a free download from Microsoft and will work until Jan 2013. Give it a shot. You can look at my thread about this for tips and hints.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/670674-installing-windows-8-release-preview.html

 

I would try using a using a live linux distro such as gparted to erase all the partitions, then create a new primary partition formatted as NTFS.
You can create the live linux by downloading the linux .iso file, and use either unetbootin or linuxliveusb (from within windows) to write it to a flash drive which you can then boot your ultrabook from.
Once that is done, you'll have a nice new blank partition to install windows to.

 

Apologies for the late reply, mine is a Sony Vaio SVT1311B4E

I'm assuming a BIOS problem, admittedly I've not tried a *nix install to see if picks up the drive(s) on install.
It is however the first time I've ever run in to this problem.

 

Same problem. SVT1331. Bump

 

Have you tried cleaning the drives using diskpart?

Insert the DVD into the DVD drive.
On the disk selection screen, press SHIFT+F10. A Command Prompt window opens.
Type diskpart, and then press ENTER to open the diskpart tool.
Type list disk, and then press ENTER. A list of available hard disks is displayed.
Type sel disk number, and then press ENTER. number is the number of the hard disk that you want to clean. The hard disk is now selected.
Type det disk, and then press ENTER. A list of partitions on the hard disk is displayed. Use this information to verify that the correct disk is selected.
Make sure that the disk does not contain required data, type clean all, and then press ENTER to clean the disk. All the partitions and all the data on the disk are permanently removed.
Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the diskpart tool.
Close the Command Prompt window.
Click the Refresh button to update the disk selection screen. This step lists the disk.
Then run Windows Setup to perform a clean installation of Windows.

Try cleaning the MBR as well, if the above procedure doesn't do it for you. Windows setup will re-write the MBR.

 

Guys,

I was considering the T-Series Ultrabook against, say an S or Z2 series with i5. How does this i5U compare to those models? What would be the typical T-Series owner using it for and what are the capabilities of this T-Series ultra book? I was also considering a Z3, but don't plan on using it for anything too extensive. I usually pay more for my machines then what I use it for. Thanks for any feedback.

 

The T is good enough for doing office, web browsing etc good enough.
It is not a powerhorse than the S or the Z!

When you want to spend ca. 800 Euro on the T, I would spend this money for an S and will have a much better notebook!

 

Hey can you swap the hard drive on the new T series?

I know you can add a RAM chip but I'd like to buy the cheap one and add my own SSD.

 

Check out my video series on the Vaio T for more information...

Sony Vaio T Hardware Review (Part 1) - YouTube

There are three parts. I'm going to release a 4th part about SSD formatting to utilize it for booting. I had the laptop for about 3 weeks and I'm returning it for a Vaio S Enhanced which basically just has the Nvidia Graphics 1GB. The Vaio T felt capable as a document-creation device and is capable of editing video quite quickly. I made all the videos in the series using Movie Maker 2.6 and Windows Live Movie Maker on the laptop.

Hope this helps but if you are like me and want to put games on the laptop, you will be better off going with a Vaio S or even better Vaio S Enhanced (if you can afford it).

 

Let me just stop you right there. Do you enjoy a really noisy whining annoying fan? If yes, then the T series is made especially for you.

 

Can anyone just clarify the user upgradeable upgrade paths available with regards to the SSD and HDD? If I bought one and pulled out the standard 320GB disk and the 32GB SSD and replaced with an off the shelf 2.5" 120GB SSD would that work?

Why are so many Sony laptops plagued by this!?! My previous VAIO W had the same problem and it drove me mad.

Currently have a MacBook Air that runs in silence and have been considering swapping for a VAIO T11 but if its going to be noisy I won't be buying.

 

Just most new models are quite badly made & use cheap components. I've no idea what fan my work ThinkPad T430s uses, but it's nearly silent even when under huge stress. My Vaio Z on the other hand sounds like a Chinook in bad weather when under stress!

Vaio's look amazing, but they can be embarrassingly noisy.

 

Anyone successful in performing a clean format? I can't recongnize any drive, and this, along with the fan noise, are getting me crazy!

A great ultrabook with 2 major problems!

 

Excellent videos, thanks! So have you tried swapping out the 500GB drive for a SSD? I wonder what happens if a SSD is installed with the onboard 32GB SSD inplace?

Also you mentioned in the video that the HDD is low profile, so I'm assuming that means I would need to install an SSD like this one: Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 3 Low Profile 7mm Series VTX3LP-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ?

Perhaps I will also just go for the S series like you, because I don't have a low profile SSD right now.

Sorry for the hijack OP.

 

Also, sorry for the hijack as well. The BIOS gives no mention of the SSD vs the HDD for Boot preference. It automatically makes the HDD primary and the SSD secondary but it looks for bootable partititons in both. If you place an SSD in the HDD slot, you will be fine. The SSD is setup like a cache/hibernation disk so it would have to be reconfigured using Intel's RST at boot without the HDD attached.

One thing you guys don't know about me is that I have really bad buyer's remorse. I decided to keep the Vaio T because I didn't want to go through the process of returning it plus I felt it was a very capable machine for the work I needed to get done. I like that it has the mSATA port and I am exploring that. My next video(s) will be probably the best one(s) yet.

 

Yes! I was able to format everything but I kept the recovery partition. Use Gparted Live USB.

GParted Live on USB

Follow Method C!

 

It was necessary load the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver during the installation: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...101&lang=eng&OSVersion= &DownloadType=Drivers

 

I have been unsuccessful so far trying to reinstall on my SSD. I managed to partition and format two NTFS drives 350 MB and 120 GB of size. Now when I try to install Windows 7/8 it manages to get past the 0x80070057 but now generates a different error after the copying phase.

My guess is the storage adapter but I could not get the previous link to work. Any ideas where I could find the drivers so I can reinstall my computer?

 

Did you check out my video here...

Sony Vaio T Ultrabook: mSATA 3.0 SSD Booting (Part 4) - YouTube

I found it was the easiest way to access the SSD for installing Windows on it. You can also try to use Gparted without removing the HDD but you risk accidentally messing with the HDD's partitions. I recommend that you do not remove the Recovery partition because it is your only way to get your SSD and HDD back to factory conditions.

 

I skipped through your video but it was not entirely applicable to my situation because I only have a 128GB SSD and not a combination of SSD & HDD.

Which part should I look at in particular?

 

Oh. Is this SSD from Sony or your own? Look for how to get Gparted installed on a USB and then boot into Gparted to see the partition configuration of your SSD. I recommend that if this SSD is from Sony that you keep the Recovery as I stated above. You should be able to format the secondary partition and format it to NTFS. Once you use a portable USB DVD Drive or bootable USB stick with Windows, you should be able to see the empty partition and install to it.

 

That seems to be the issue I have already removed the recovery partition as it was using up space which I would rather using myself. The SSD is an SSD by Sony.

I have already partitioned the disk using Gparted as Windows Setup as well as diskpart both were unable to do anything with it. Windows setup would refer to error 0x80070057 and diskpart informed me that an error had been logged and that it could not format the disks. With Gparted I was able to format / partition correctly and created myself a boot partition 350 MB and an OS partition of 120 GB. But now Windows Setup for both Windows 7 and 8 still error out.

Any advice on how to proceed from that point?

 

What do you mean by error out? Is the error code you listed the same one you are getting? Did you install Windows using a system recovery or a fresh Windows 7 install? In Gparted, do you see the boot flag selected for your Windows boot partition on the SSD?

Also, make sure to read up on SSD Alignment because you should not partition an SSD like you would a HDD because you can significantly shorten the lifetime that way.

 

What I meant by error out was that at first I got the 0x80070057 before the file copy started. Now after partitioning with gparted I get one steps further, and the Windows 7 Installation gives me an error when it reaches extracting files. It is another 0x8007 code, 0x8007045D.

I partitioned the first partition to start at sector 2048/1MB so the alignment should be fine then?

 

If I just directly switch the 500gb hdd with a new 750gb hdd drive, will it work automatically? Do I need to cloan or do anything else?