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    VPCZ1 - GeForce 330M "Device is not working properly"

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by W3bbo, Jun 10, 2010.

  1. W3bbo

    W3bbo Notebook Enthusiast

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    For the past two weeks my Vaio Z (2010 series) has been fine, until yesterday.

    I installed VirtualBox and plugged in a Logitech USB wireless mouse receiver.

    ...and since then the Dynamic Hybrid Graphics system has been broken (that is, none of the lights on the bezel are on and the switch does nothing, the system won't switch to the GeForce).

    The Device Manager says:

    NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
    "This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)."

    Clicking on the Driver tab and then "Update Driver..." and choosing Automatic just gives me a message that the drivers installed are the best available.

    If I disable the GeForce GPU device and then re-enable it the screen goes black and the machine becomes inoperable until I force a reboot.

    I've had this problem twice in the past, but I wasn't able to pin it down to what caused the problem, but now I know it's either VirtualBox (which installs a load of drivers for its virtual devices and networking) or the USB receiver (but I only used the stock drivers).
     
    W3bbo, Jun 10, 2010
    #1
  2. Steve78

    Steve78 Notebook Evangelist

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    Can't you download and re-install the Nvidia driver from the Sony support website?

    VAIO : Sony Europe
     
    Steve78, Jun 10, 2010
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  3. W3bbo

    W3bbo Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just tried that now. During installation the screen goes black, then flashes for a while, then just freezes on black.

    It's almost as if I've bricked my Vaio.
     
    W3bbo, Jun 10, 2010
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  4. W3bbo

    W3bbo Notebook Enthusiast

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    I did a hard reboot and ran another system restore, this time to just before an upgrade of VirtualBox from 3.2.0 to 3.2.4

    ...and everything seems fine.

    So I conclude that the USB wireless mouse receiver is the cause of these problems, but how I've no idea.
     
    W3bbo, Jun 10, 2010
    #4