Vaio Z shuts down unexpectedly!?

Hi,

I got a severe problem with my Sony Vaio Z: It shuts down or freezes randomly!

Some facts I can provide:

- It's a Sony Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B with Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.53 GHz and 4GB RAM, running Windows 7

- Either it simply freezes so that you have to keep the power button pressed for ~4 secs to shut it down; however, it boots up normally and runs without any problems - until next time...

- Or it simply shuts down the hard way - the system shuts down, the screen turns blank and you have to disconnect it completely (AC and battery!) in order to be able to switch it on again.

- I've already tried a complete wipe, although I supposed it to be unlikely that a software problem could cause the second phenomenon... In addition, I've reset the BIOS to factory values (BIOS version: R5031M3) which didn't solve the problem either.

- There is no pattern - sometimes it happens after 15 minutes, sometimes after an hour, with and without AC connected... It doesn't matter which graphic chip the NB is switched to either.

- Temperature monitoring with EVEREST didn't show anything suspicious - temps go up to ~ 60°C which I consider being okay... Also, if you touch the NB's bottom directly after having switched off, it's more than hand warm, but not obviously hot!

Does anybody have the same problem? I was unable to find any kind of information about this - neither with Google, nor in this forum...

Thank you in advance!

Greets,

David

 

Try installing the new bios, this cured some of my standby problems and it wouldn't hurt to try it.
See this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/499121-sony-z1x-series-bios-update-r2074c3.html

 

Hi,

I'm not sure, so I just intended to ask before possibly breaking my device:

Does the BIOS version you mentioned run on an old version Vaio Z?

I'm sorry, I should've written that the VGN-Z51XG still has the old system without Optimus (it runs either on Intel onboard graphics or on NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS)! ;-)

Greets,

David

 

hm..reminds me of a simliar problem. in standby mode, my TZ would sudden not power on afterwards. i would have to remove the battery and plug in the AC, and remove the AC and plug it in again to get it working

 

Sorry I only think its for the z11 series. Goodluck.

 

I just got the Z1290...i get the a similar problem with random freezes and restarts except i'm never physically on my computer to see it.

it only happens when i leave my computer for an extended period of time. then it would restart or the screen would go black and i wouldn't be able to do anything. just now though, i left it for like 3 hours, and when i got back, it read "OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND".

whenever i restart though, it works fine. dunno the problem, i'm gonna call tech support on monday. this is annoying, especially cuz i paid so much for it. i'd expect it to work without errors for the first week i have it.

 

Hm... "Operating system not found" might point to a hard drive failure... Maybe you should try to read out its S.M.A.R.T. values? There are plenty of tools, e. g. Active SMART, which analyze them and tell you if there's anything suspicious with your drive.

I hope this will help you! ;-)