Z12 dynamic hybrid graphics system problem

My Z12 (i7/8G RAM, Win7 64bit) often freezes without any warnings or symptoms. I used to put the dynamic hybrid graphics system in auto position, and thought the freezing was caused by auto switching between two graphics systems. So I always put the switch in Speed position. But that does not solve the problem. Whenever freezing occurs, I noticed the system changes the Speed graphics system into Stamina position itself. Does anyone encounter this problem or have an idea what are the causes of the problem? Is it due to a defective dynamic hybrid graphics system? Thanks.

 

Funny, I was going to ask the same thing. I was wondering if anyone has discovered a fix. I have the Z11 with the same configuration and have the same random locks you are experiencing. It is truely frustrating and has me using my MacBook most of the time. Here is what I observe.

I never see this when on AC power in speed mode.
I never see this when on battery in speed mode.
I see this often on battery in auto.
I see this all the time on battery in stamina

 

I am pretty sure most of my problems, if not all, happened when it is on AC power.

It seems that this is not a rare problem. This is my first Sony laptop. I paid double or triple money to get it with a hope that it would have double or triple measures to ensure its quality. Now it is simple not useable after one year. I hope this is a software problem and can be fixed.

 

what do you mean freezes? describe what happens. Do you still see images on the screen? or is it black? Any correlation with any software? etc. We need more information to diagnose your problem. Also is it always happening in speed mode? or both modes? (again, ALL information about what you are doing leading up to the freeze helps)

 

Which graphics driver version is installed? (stock versions are 188.49, 188.80 or 190.24)

 

When connected to an external monitor, the typical pattern is that the screen suddenly freezes. I still can see what I have on screen before it freezes, but pressing keys or moving mouse do not have any responses. Sometimes, the screen turns into gray lines for one second and then turns into black, and this often happens when working on laptop itself. Usually I can hear the fan starts to work hard when the freeze occurs. The only thing I can do is to press the power button for a few second to reboot the machine. I haven't found any obvious correlation with any particular software program. I am starting to try Stamina mode to see whether the problem happens in this mode or not. I will report what I find in a couple of days. Thanks for your reply.

 

I went to Device Manager -> Display Adapter and found that when I use Speed mode, Display Adapter shows

lntei(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

If I click the Driver Tab of lntei(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD, it shows

lntei(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD

Driver Provider. NVIDIA
Driver Date: 1/19/2010
Driver Version: 8.16.11 .8880
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

If I click the Driver Tab of NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, it shows

NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

Driver Provider. NVIDIA
Driver Date: 1/19/2010
Driver Version: 8.16.11 .8880
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

When click Update Driver... button, both shows that the drivers are up-to-date.

Thanks for your reply.

 

When I prepared above two messages, I experienced another freeze. The laptop is connected to an external monitor. It was first in Stamina mode. I switched to Speed mode to get graphics driver information. Then firefox window became unstable, and mouse freezed for a second and back to normal. I tried to run a text editor to save what I typed and found that I couldn't start the program. So I quick switched the mode to Stamina again and hope it would avoid the problem. But I still saw some of my opened windows showing "Not responding" message in title bar and mouse became a spinning circle. I also noticed that my windows taskbar disappeared. After a few seconds, the screen became black. I still could move mouse around, but this is the only thing I can do, and fan became noisy. So I pressed the power button a few seconds to shut down the system.

After the system shuts down, I immediately pressed the power button and got a message "Operation System Not Found". So I had to power down the system and power up again. The system went into disk checking and after that system booted into Windows.

In terms of software that may correlate the problem, I noticed that whenever I switch the graphics mode, a window shows up and tells me that Thunderbird may not be compatible with the new graphics mode and I have to restart it. I am not sure whether Thunderbird is associated with the problem or not. Of course, my firefox browser is often running when the problem happens. Maybe I should switch to IE for a while?

 

I'd try using the updated driver in one of the other threads. The default Sony drivers are really quite dated.

I haven't had any problems at all with my Hybrid Graphics and these latest drivers.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html
You'll probably want to take the first one, 263.14 - 2281.

Also, try doing the latest BIOS update. It changes the VGA switching BIOS slightly (which seems to make switching more stable and faster).
Downloads

It says Z13, but it works for all Z1's since they all have the exact same BIOS.

 

Basically the system appears frozen. The keyboard and mouse do not respond. If a wait long enough the system starts responding again. I am almost sure it is just the display that is frozen because everytime the system starts responding again any processing I was doing has proceeded as if nothing had happened. I can even play a movie and when the system unfreezes it will have advanced whatever amount of time the system was frozen.

 

I agree with this guys, I'd do this first and see if anything changes.

 

I don't think it is graphic card problem / driver problem, looks like ssd problem.

 

I tried the new video drivers and I have not seen the problem since. I am cautiously optimistic. Sony really needs to update their drivers.

 

Where did you get the new video drivers? Whenever I click Update Driver... button, it always shows that my drivers are up-to-date.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...s-system-problem-post8184269.html#post8184269



Sony Update won't tell you there is an update because they aren't official drivers, even though they're a lot better.

 

I have the same troubles now.

VPCZ1 (VPCZ12C5E) / Normal Toshiba HDD Version

From August 2010 till July 2012 used only with external FullHD monitor in Stamina mode (via DSUB/VGA cable).

In July 2012 I bought Yamaha receiver and connected my VAIO via HDMI to receiver and receiver via HDMI to monitor. Now I have to use Speed mode for Full HD via HDMI.

VAIO freezes randomly. Windows event log tells nothing interesting.

Upgraded driver to unofficial version (Nvidia 26314 - Intel 2266 signed). Freezes randomly as before.

Freezes as follows:
I can see picture on the screen, mouse & keyboard don't react. Only power button helps.
PC starts with windows message "normal start?..etc". I confirm with "Enter". After that PC immediately switches to suspend to ram mode (orange color blinks). I press "ESC" and VAIO continues to boot. Login screen - Stamina LED glows and only built-in monitor shows picture (but switch in Speed mode). After user login - LED switches to Speed and external monitor begins to show picture.

All last VAIO updates installed. At the moment custom Nvidia driver build is used (Nvidia 26314 - Intel 2266 signed). Win7 x64 Pro.

Any advice?