TZ: adding INTERNAL 3G card (HSDPA)

Hello everyone,

this is a message to all of you, including non TZ owners, since It's likely my question applies to several newer models in the vaio lineup.

I have modified my original VGN-TZ90S from Japan with several items, which it accepted very easily, needing only a reboot and a bios reset to detect the new hardware. Namely, I added some RAM and replaced the wifi card, and replaced the original DVD drive with an internal hard drive. The latter involved an new hard drive connector and a separate daughterboard, all of which worked fine.

Around the same time, I purchased the internal daughterboard that hold the mini-PCIe connector for the 3G card. on the TZ90S, you could get a TV tuner, but not the 3G card. However it is virtually the same laptop as some american models with EVDO, or european models with HSDPA. I assumed adding the daughterboard and an HSDPA card would simply prompt a driver installation.

First thing was to locate the settings for the dip switches on the daughterboard, one of them sets it to EVDO, the other to HSDPA (the guy I bought it from had EVDO).

Unfortunately, no new hardware is detected, although I'm pretty sure the hardware is fully functional. I know the 3G connection is part of the smartwi (and now in europe smart network), software. If I install the smart network software, there is no 3G connection. If I install the smartwi released in the US, it has the sprint activation button, and when I click that, it tries to "connect" but fails miserably. I haven't tried the old european HSDPA smartwi.

Could it be that one of the pieces of software from the original sony library somehow deactivates the recognition of that 3G card?There are several WWAN registry keys, but I have no idea what to do with them. Do you think if I did a clean install I would have better luck? Any thoughts on what to do? I would really like to use that internal slot.


thanks for anyone's input,

j.

 

It is working fine but dont use SmartWi, use Smart Wireless Switcher. It is posted somewhere around here. You can turn on/off the BT/WiFi/WWAN and it will work right off the bat. With SmartWi if the card is unactivated, it tries to put it in service mode 1xRTT to activate and obviously your HSDPA do not have it. There are 3-4 different Smart Network Switcher Apps and all of them perform differently. Try them all!

 

thanks, I did get it to work, meaning that in smart network i can turn it on or off, which allows me to install the drivers. However, that's where my luck ends: the card is a new Gobi card from qualcomm, from an acer aspire one. When I install teh drivers and connection application, it works fine. BUt when I try to run the application, it says it can't find the right hardware. Now there is a readme file that says the drivers are 2-way locked to comply with FCC requirements. apparently that means that the driver checks that the card has teh PID/VID that matches (which ti should), and checks the Bios for manufacturer of the laptop (checking if it's an approved gobi licensee i think). That's where it probably fails. My question is, do you think this is done by actually checking from within windows the manufacturer in the BIOS, or by reading a file like the model.txt file, in which case it may be possible to bypass it.

I believe this is only true because of Gobi restrctions, and wouldn't be the case with regular hsdpa cards (option for example).

let me know if you or someone else has any thoughts.

cheers
J.

 

Most likely it is checking for some license file that you would aquire by connecting to their servers (to confirm the hardware and activate it). This used to be the case with some broadcom bluetooth drivers. Until I see it it would be difficult to say what it is checking, when, how, etc.

My suggestion is to avoid any non-generic cards and opt out for something that is either 'known' to the manufacturer or is very generic like dell branded PCI-Express 3g cards.

In my case I've decided to purchase the GTM382 from Option for like 230$ and not risk having to deal with the BS associated with the whole upgrade.

All VAIOs that have 3G are either Option (EU/Asia) or Novatel (US)

The 382 has HSDPA HSUPA,etc, voice and GPS in it and this sh&t works in ubuntu

http://www.novamedia.de/option/e_order_gtm_382.html

 

Great upgrade, did you also placed the 2 antenna wires in the screen? Or were they already there? I'd like to do the upgrade, but placing the wires inside the screen looks difficult.

 

the sh&t was already there from the EVDO module. 2 antennas, not sure where they are routed

 

i purchased the two antennas with the EVDO module. They're just regular antennae, with plastic spacer/terminators that fit them next to the webcam and lower to the right of the LCD screen, routed through the right hinge.

I'll try a GTM380, see what happens.

cheers

Julien

 

correct. nothing special with the antennas. Let me know how the upgrade goes. Why you went with the 380 not the 382? HSUPA is faster and will be a standard in less than a year i.e. 3.75G

p.s. your EVDO board has the SIM reader on it already, correct? The only issue is taking out a plastic cover on the TZ that obstructs the SIM card opening on the back (behind the battery)

 

Great, how hard was it to open the screen hinge to pace the antennas?

 

it would be a bit of prying I assume. Never done it myself.

 

Getting the hinge caps off got me stuck... The left one was easy.. I got stuck at the right... Never managed to take it off in the end... So tempted to just pull it out with a bit of force, but worried that I might break something...

 

hinge caps are easy, prying the LCD open would be a nightmare...

 

I've already got the Option GM 382 from novamedia and I'm still waiting for the 3g minipci daugther board and cables from nexttronics...
I'm gonna try the card without antenna cables first to avoid opening the screen; I hope that will work (I'm using an 3G expresscard from option now without antennas )

 

Hook the antenna cables and let them hang on the side. Without any antenna, the s&it will keep on searching for a signal and you know if it works or not. (your express card has an antenna but it is a different size/thinkness/etc. If you got the 382 kit, it comes with two huge antennas that would help you test.

 

Hi. I have a Sony VGN-TZ92HS that came with a tv tuner. I have removed it and added a option 378 and a sim connector. Installed smart network and globetrotter2 software. Smart Network doen't show WWAN and Globetrotter2 says no device found. For the life of me a cannot get it to work. Also are there any dip switches on the daughterboard (IFX-477)? Also, does a data SIM have to be inserted for the system to recognize the card? Has anyone here got their card to work? Any help is appreciated.

 

Yes, people have done this upgrade. I've seen other posts as well. If you modded the tv tuner i have not read of anyone having success having gone that route. If you did mod the tv tuner board may be you should look into getting the wwan base board for the TZ if come to a standstill with this. Some connections may well be different on both of those boards. As the first post states there are dip switches on the daughterboard. The part number for the wwan board is A-1289-820-A.
Once the wwan board and pci card is installed and turned on you should be able to see it in the device manager whether you install a sim card or not.

Edited to add:

I actually own the TZ wwan base board. I would take a picture of the front and back of if it would be helpful to if you want to compare things.

Also, may be give this driver a go.
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/SZ7/DRIVERS/12_WWAN.ZIP

 

That would be great if you could post a pic for me to compare. Thanks!

 

Hi ggsud, just click on the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures. The dip switch i think could be the small brown box that you see on the left hand side, i'm not certain though.

 

Hi Rachel. Thanks for the pic. My board is different. I guess I need a different board. Once I change the board I'll let know what happens. Here's a pic of my board. It doesn't have a dip switch or any of the circuitry. Your board no. is 1-873-384- 11 and mine is 1-873-384- 12. Thanks