Vaio Z21 SSD (and possibly RAM??) shot?

I bought a second hand i7 Z21 that seemed ok and certainly looks in good condition from the outside. When I picked it up I looked around a little bit in W7 and it seemed to function properly. But when I came home and started to look for options for reinstalling (like, is there a recovery partition) things went from ok to pretty bad. I think I have a diagnosis and am wondering what you guys think.

• I found a recovery partition. It seems to contain recovery stuff (found a "Recovery" and "Windows RE" folder for example)
• Recovery won't start with "Assist". When pressed Windows 7 starts normally.
• Recovery partition is flagged as boot/active.
• I tried to clone the recovery partition and whole disk with Clonezilla before messing with the partitions. This is where things went completely wrong. CloneZilla couldn't execute both cloning jobs a it found bad sectors really early in the cloning process.
• Shortly after one of the 2 SSD's gave en error shown by Intel RST which is shown during boot. System was still bootable though.
• When I flag the regular partition to boot it won't start cause it says it's missing an installation. Really weird as the recovery partition doesn't seem to contain any regular installation and the regular partition does. GParted on a Linux live USB stick couldn't access te disk. I had to set the partition to active in Windows.
• I also tried a rescue environment from Hirens boot CD (on USB). It showed only around 2,5gb of RAM though...more on this later.
• Then I tried to 2 applications to read smart status. PassMark DiskCheckup won't let me get smart info and only shows a message stating that some disks falsely claim to support the smart selftest. HDDscan also won't let me retrieve any status. It does however support another test; Reading in linear mode. I tried the readtest but the app crashes miserably showing empty messageboxes and freezing....Also both apps don't show the correct name of the disk, it just shows gibberish of characters.
• I tried to install Intel RST tool to reset the status of the SSD's so no error is shown anymore and in the hope of getting some sort of status but RST also returns an error and is not installed...The error is "Could net get system information <newline> Could not get system info <newline>1"

My conclusion after all of this is that the SSD is half destroyed. Windows does seem to function ok but applications don't. Also, the RAM shows some weird symptoms.

• Bios shows 4096mb
  
• Windows shows 4gb
• Hirens BootCD Linux rescue environment shows around 2,5gb
• I ran MemTest which tells me there is 4012mb? MemTest finishes without error though.
  
• Windows Memory Diagnostics also finishes without error but starts with a weird message: "Windows Memory Diagnostic (WMD) could not process tge system memory map. This occured because of deficiencies within WMD, not the computer. As a result not all of the computer memory will be tested. The specific problem was: The memory map contained ranges that extended above four gigabytes." But the computer hasn't got more than 4gb....

I could expect problems with a 32bit limit but that would only limit the amount of usable RAM to around 3,5gb or so, certainly not 2,5gb or 4012mb.

So what do you guys think? I could live with investing a bit of money in a SSD from China but the RAM memory is very scarce and probably as a results very expensive even if it could be found.

 

One thing that I learned during the 4 years I've been using my Z21 is that the (Gen2) Samsung SSDs are POS. For me they work for about 1.5 years and then start producing all kinds of weird errors: Windows UI glitches, strange error messages, BSODs, Operating system not found messages, etc. After about 2 years, the laptop becomes almost unusable. I'll be taking my laptop to the repair center in the coming days again (thank God, I bought 2 years additional warranty).
You can read more about my issues here, maybe you'll find some useful information in that thread.

I'm not sure if you have the same problem though. The incorrect memory sizes might also be just due to the applications (Hirens boot CD). But if you indeed have both SSD and memory issues then that could also mean that the motherboard is defective. I hope that's not the case.

 

Thanks for your input. I have another Z21 and it is not giving me any problems at all....But that's just chance.

I agree with the application arguement were it not that the MemTest that I ran was not ran from the Hirens boot CD. Do you have an idea for a third way to check this out?

Edit: I booted the rotten Z21 with the Linux bootstick and took a look at the System Resources and it showed 3,8gb. Then I used all the same apps on my other perfectly running Z21 and it came up with exactly the same numbers (3,8gb/2,5gb,4012mb). So it looks like the memory is ok after all.


Anyone have experience with those Chinese SSD's?

 

I had an HDD model - 2.5" SATA HDD - and I replaced it with a 2.5" SATA SSD. I'm loving it. 2.5" SATA SSDs seem to be better build quality than these fancy SSDs that shipped with SSD VAIOs.

 

Glad to hear that the RAM seems to be okay! Then the issues might really be caused by those "lovely" Samsung SSDs.

There are a bunch of posts regarding SSD change/upgrade here in the forum. Search for one of the following serial numbers (256 and 512GB respectively):
Gen2 (SATA 2):
MZRPA256HMDR
MZRPA512HMFU

Gen3 (SATA 3):
MZRPC256HADR
MZRPC512HAFU

I recommend Gen3, unless you find a very cheap Gen2.

Just out of curiosity: in your Z2 that has no problems, what kind of SSD do you have, could you please post the serial number (you can find it in Intel RST)? Also, how full do you keep it usually? You run it in the default RAID setup, right?

@anytimer: The Z2 SSDs have a special 29-pin LIF connector, so you can't just take any off-the-shelf SSD and put it in. I remember reading here in the forum about someone trying to use an adapter and put another SSD into a Z2/SVZ, but due to the very small space, it was difficult (I don't remember if they succeeded or not, you can search for it).

 

I have 2nd gen SSD, I unhide the raid config @ boot and found out. I have had the laptop telling me the OS couldn't be found 1 or 2 times but that's a long time ago. I generally keep a few gigabytes free, somewhere between 5-10.

I will be looking for a 128gb SSD cause 256/512 is ridiculously expensive. I think I have found a 3rd gen - might buy it, put it in my own laptop and move mine 2nd gen to the other laptop. Unfortunately experiences by other users with Chinese SSD's are very hard to find - I only found one experience with a 512gb SSD.

I was considering maybe replacing my Z because of this but decent CPU speed, matte good color screen, backlit keyboard, low weight and 13" seems to be a very difficult combination to find in the second hand market for a reasonable price. Wasn't planning on spending 1000 euro's on a second hand UX301 or something like that so currently I'm leaning towards replacing the SSD. Maybe, if I can find experiences I will consider 256gb 3rd gen. But for the money those things cost I don't wanna take the risk.

 

Interesting. I keep my Gen2 256GB SSDs at most 70-75% full, but usually 50% or less, and as I wrote, both SSDs that I had (original from factory, and new one from authorized Sony repair shop) started failing after 1.5 years with the same symptoms. Anyway, good that yours work well, hope it stays like that!

I also couldn't think of a laptop currently that I'd be happy to replace my Z2 with (not even new ones). I think replacing the SSD in your faulty Z2 is a good decision. You can find some deals on eBay, Amazon and the Chinese sites. I read here that some sellers allow bargaining.
Let us know please how it went!

 

Offering 150 for a 512gb SSD (normal price for regular SSD these days) didn't work; now going to try and find the cheapest 128gb 3rd gen SSD.