Hi,I have a Sony VGN-CR507E that turns on but screen is black. No beeping or sound when started. Hi,Thanks for the reply.RAM out, battery out, no sounds, tried restarting 2 times.Only indication of life is power button is green, battery light goes on when holding power button to shut down. And a sort of 'vanity' light? That goes on under the middle front of computer when turning on or off.It it at all possible that the battery that keeps the clock set (CMOS?) has anything to do with it? Grasping at straws, lol.I've seen online that it only maintains the clock/date, but on some sites it also says it keeps the BIOS settings?I have no idea where they have hidden the battery in this computer, so far I've seen no sign of it and others have said Sony won't tell them where it's at. Grrr!I wondered about what the internal battery powers because I hadn't used the laptop in a while, maybe a month or two, and it wasn't plugged in.
When I first slid it off the shelf to use it, I noticed the big external battery was unlocked on one end, and hanging out of the space a bit on that side. I clipped it back in before I started it. It's possible the slipping out happened when I took it off the shelf, so I'm not sure if it was sitting up there the whole time like that or not.I tried starting it like that today today and it didn't turn on all.Edited by sitnah, 22 July 2012 - 09:12 PM. I'm not positive, but I don't think it ever beeped when started.Yes, I did click the Fn + the F7, several times waiting a little bit to see if it was just slow to respond.While connected to the external monitor, I also clicked the Display off button on the laptop several times.Tried the numbers lock button today also, it doesn't light up either.Odd thing probably doesn't mean anything? - the monitor was on when I unplugged it from laptop, and the monitor gave a 'check cable' message when I unplugged it. So the monitor knew when it was plugged into the laptop and when it wasn't. Dumb question - what exactly would a new motherboard include?
I'm not sure what is pre-attached and what does come off and can be changed later. For instance, I know now the video chip is permanently attached (in a manner of speaking) but is the processor, etc, a part that can be removed by simply unplugging it? And might not be included in a new one? Or does it differ with different ones?Just wondering in case I could find a motherboard at a reasonable price.I know this is silly, but I really like this little pink computer but at this point I would never get another Sony. I didn't use it a ton, and it was never mis-handled. And they seem to be the only company that makes a truely ALL pink (with silver keyboard) computer. High end notebooks may have interchangeable video chips but the standard type do not, most do have removable CPUs and I would say with almost certainty that yours does.As I suggested earlier find a reputable tech who will look at it for you without it costing the earth (free is better) as it may be a loose connection inside the case - possibly a bent battery terminal shorting out from when the battery became detached.FWIW there is no such thing as a dumb question so please ask away, we are here to help if we can.
I managed to get a reconditioned mother board at a reasonable price and something like 12 hours later I am up & running. I am pretty familiar with desktop upgrading, etc. But laptop disassembly is a whole different world, and as you probably know, I don't recommend it for the faint heartedI marked everything I could, and the insides of the computer now look like grafitti boards, thanks to magic markers, lol.Tips for those who have never done this: have some small paper cups ready for holding the screws from each section, and label each cup as to where the screws go. Make copious notes and take pictures every step of the way.I have no doubt it was the video chip, because the board I got had that chip replaced. Plus when I was done, it started right up and did one of those special scans, no doubt because it had been turned off like 100 times by holding the power button for 10 seconds. After the scan, which the log seems to say didn't find any errors, it shut down. The next start, it started up with no problems.And yes, the processor and the wi-fi card were the only chip/card that were removable.Thanks for all your help!
Hi all, I've had my Sony Vaio PCG-61112U for almost a year without using it but today i tried to turn it on and it did, the problem is that there's this blank/black screen and no sounds and the only led thats turns on is the power one.
I recommend geekstogo to all my friends!Edited by sitnah, 31 July 2012 - 05:49 PM. Hope you don't me ressurecting this thread as I have the same problem.exactly the same problem. Mine is slightly different in that sometimes.only sometimes.if the laptop is left turned off it will boot up properly. When it is dead the only light on is the power one. No HHD light or wifi on the front just like sitnah.Normally I would blame a heat related solder problem but as I say sometimes it boots up after a nights rest and others it doesn't. It will suddenly die at random times if it does start working.
I suspect a motherboard as I have stripped laptop down applied new CPU and video chip thermal paste. Checked connections, replaced memory. There are very few components in these things of course so I guess i am looking at a motherboard as well?Just out of warranty with John Lewis and i am discussing with them.under the SOGA about a repair. But any advice appreciated even ifs its just to confirm my fears.
STEP 2.Remove three screws securing the hard drive. Slide the hard drive to the left side and disconnect it from the connector on the motherboard. Remove the hard drive.Remove both memory modules (spread latches on both side of the slot and carefully pull the module out).STEP 3.Remove two screws securing the DVD drive. Carefully pull the DVD drive out and remove it.STEP 4.Remove all screws (marked red and green) from the bottom.If you are taking apart the whole laptop, you’ll have to remove all screws.If you are using this guide just for removing or replacing the keyboard, you’ll have to remove just four green screws (they secure the keyboard bezel) and after that you can proceed to the steps 7-9.STEP 5.Carefully disengaged three latches in the battery compartment. These latches secure the keyboard bezel.
Push on latches with a small flathead screwdriver until they are unlocked.STEP 6.Unlock two more latches in the DVD drive compartment. I wasn’t careful enough and broke one latch. ?STEP 7.You can remove the bezel with a small flathead screwdriver.STEP 8.Remove two screws securing the keyboard.STEP 9.Carefully lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest. The keyboard cable is connected to the motherboard.First, unlock the connector. Remove clear tape securing the connector. After that slide the LOCK (this part of the connector secures the cable inside) about 1-2 millimeters to the left using your fingernails. This will release the cable. Now you can pull cable from the connector and remove the keyboard.WARNING!
If you break the connector the keyboard will never work again (unless you find a way to repair the connector or replace the whole motherboard). Be careful.STEP 10.Disconnect cables pointed with red arrows.Disconnect three wireless card antenna cables pointed with yellow arrows.STEP 11.Release all disconnected cables. Remove screws securing the display hinges (three screws securing each hinge).STEP 12.Lift up and remove the display panel.IMPORTANT! You’ll have to go through steps 10-12 only if you want to remove the display panel.In order to remove the laptop base cover and access the power jack, it’s not necessary to remove the display panel. I understood that only after I removed the display.Here’s what you have to do. Leave all cables mentioned in the step 10 connected and go to the step 11.
Remove only two red screws from each hinge and do not remove green screws. Now you can close the display and proceed to the step 14 (removing base assembly).STEP 13.The display panel has been removed. I didn’t have to remove it but I did.STEP 14.Turn the computer upside down and remove the base cover.STEP 15.Now you can access and replace the DC-IN power jack located in the top left corner.Do you see the RTC (CMOS) battery? I’ll explain at the end why I mentioned the battery.STEP 16.The DC-IN power jack was broken in many pieces.
I unsoldered the broken jack and replaced it with a new one.The power jack has been replaced. Now you can assemble the laptop following steps 16-1.IMPORTANT! After I replaced the jack, I assembled the laptop back together, plugged in the power adapter, pressed on the power button and NOTHING! The laptop was dead! There were no LED lights or any activity at all. I tested power jack continuity with a voltmeter and didn’t find any problem. The motherboard was getting power but didn’t turn on.
I thought the motherboard was fried. Just in case I unplugged the RTC (CMOS) battery from the motherboard, waited for 30 seconds and plugged it back in. Tested the laptop again AND it started like new!!!! Chris,where is the graphics card, it says it has a nvidia geforce 8600 GS GPU graphics card, so where is it I cannot find it insideI doubt that you’ll find a discrete video card in this laptop. I believe the video card is a part of the motherboard, it’s not a discrete module which you can remove and replaced. If there is a problem with the video card, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.Take a look at the picture in the step 14. Do you see a gray heatsink on the right side form the RAM sockets?
I guess you’ll find the GPU chip under this heat sink, but it’s soldered to the motherboard. I have sony Vaio laptop (VG-FZ21E). This morning the laptop turned on and then the screen went black. The lights on the front of the laptop started to flash for a while and then the whole thing went dead. I tried to turn the laptop back on but if failed to work with either the battery or the power supply attached. I have tried with both the battery and mains power connected together with no luck.Using your very good instructions i took the laptop apart. I checked to see if, when connected to the mains, power is coming out of the other end of the power jack plug, which it is nearly 20V.
I checked the motherboard to see if any of the components look burnt out and it looks fine to me. I do not have much experience with electronics and I am at a loss as what to do next.
Is there anything left for me to check to work out why my laptop will not start?Many thanksSin. Thanks for the walk thru. My son split his juice in the laptop while it was running the other day. I removed all power sources and let the laptop dry for the night. The next day I replaced the battery and plugged it in. When it started to boot I noticed the display was funky. Everything is a horrible shade of red, looks like its running in 16 bit mode and on a bad acid trip.
I connected an external display to see if the GPU was shot, but it works fine. I decided to take apart the laptop following the directions above, which are great, but didn’t notice much wrong, except some stick residue. I checked the display connector which seems to be undamaged. Does anyone else have any suggestions as to what may be causing this issue? Oh and I have a FZ140E. Thanks a lot.
I couldn’t/didn’t want to take it all off. My left button (touchpad) only works when I hit it. So it’s really anoying.After all. I couldn’t fix it and now I got one problem MOREThis part (hope yoou can open it)It felt down as I lift the mainboard. I wasn’t fast enough to see where it comes from.-Now I didn’t build it in. The laptop works, but it seems to me that he is much louder.Any pro got an idea, where this thing have to be?!.
Thank you for this awesome article. I looked everywhere for something similar and thankfully I ended up here. This seems to work with the FZ series for what i read in the other comments.I have a FZ150FE and the instructions worked perfectly. I would like to add that if you have (like me) to remove the RTC battery you don’t need to remove the keyboard (which I did).
It is indeed a very delicate move and shouldn’t be done unless you somehow want to remove the display panel or are willing to send your laptop to the service shop (which of course you don’t since you’re already disassembling it by yourself).Peace. Hi, Great resource, thanks you.I was only replacing the keyboard and found a few discrepancies. When removing the screws in step 3 you need to remove the “green” screws but also two additional screws. One is the screw to the left of the batter connector. The second is the screw in the upper left corner of the memory bay. I don;t think there is any real reason to remove the memory chips themselves or any portion of the HDD.One question.
I ordered the replacement part from Sony and they said I needed (and supplied) one piece of Kapton tape (10mm x 24mm). I didn’t remove any tape and didn’t see where this piece should be attached. Do you have any ideas? Sony could just be wrong as they sent the completely wrong keyboard he first time I ordered!Thanks again.
You saved me a lot of work. Hi i have an FZ260E and i have kept it ON for most of its life. I shattered the DC jack and plan to replace it however the battery life seems to have about 30-40 SECONDS. So if there is any interruption of wall socket power while i am away from the laptop it turns off! Very annoying! Any idea why my battery doesnt hold a charge?
Also my laptop was getting extremely hot for a very long time, so hot that the laptop would be painfully hot to the touch. I finally opened it up and cleaned out the heat sink a couple weeks ago which was completely full of dust. I have a VGN FZ260E that just went to crap. I took it apart following the directions and had no problems. Now the amount of dust between my cooling fan and the copper air cooler was FULL of dust and was totally clogged. I guess this is what burned up the NVIDIA processor.Now I’m trying to find a motherboard for a reasonable price.
I found one but it’s 439.00 dollars. I was expecting less.
I bought the computer DEC ’07 and it was around 1500.00.If you have one of these FZ series computers clean the fan heatsink and vent a lot or you’ll burn yours up just like I did mine. Kris R,my problem now is that when i boot up it says no operating system found. Any idea what i did wrong?Most likely you have a software related problem or bad hard drive.1. Try reinstalling original factory software from the recovery disc. This will load your laptop back to factory defaults. All data will be erased from the hard drive and rewritten, so do not forget to back up all personal files first.2. If reinstalling software doesn’t help.
Try replacing the hard drive and reinstalling software again. So I decided to spray out my laptop with compressed air without opening it. Later that night Shutdown due to high temp. I thought for sure the fan was gone, because it had never failed to cool this laptop before, and that’s saying a lot; I live in the Caribbean. Thanks to this guide, I was able to open up my laptop without breaking anything besides the fragile piece of plastic just under the SD slot (vgn-fz290 btw). To find out I forced all (most) of the dust to form a huge ball which wedged my fan and stopped it from spinning. Thank God it was a brushless fan, lol.So thanks guy who wrote this guide, you saved me the cost of a new fan, which seems quite expensive @ $65 (for that tiny fan?
Wow, I usually pay about $4 for good pc fans!)One note, on the right side, the VGN-FZ290 has an additional cable from the lcd panel to the motherboard, dunno what it’s for, but if you’re using this guide, remove it before trying to move the lcd, lol. Hi, well first of all tnx for ur awesome guide.I have a VGN-FZ190 which used to heat up a lot recently. Yesterday I was working with it and sudenly I saw weird “ant” shape stuff appearing on my Vista desktop then I got a blue screen but the blue screen is also messed up and flaky and u can’t read anything. So I reinstalled Vista and boot it. It worked fine but again after 10 min the blue screen appears and all I can do is to restart the laptop.
Sometimes it boots but most of the time I get the blue screen right away.Any idea of what I can do?I’m a student and I really need my laptop.ThanxCyrus. Cyrus,I have a VGN-FZ190 which used to heat up a lot recently. Yesterday I was working with it and sudenly I saw weird “ant” shape stuff appearing on my Vista desktop then I got a blue screen but the blue screen is also messed up and flaky and u can’t read anything. So I reinstalled Vista and boot it. It worked fine but again after 10 min the blue screen appears and all I can do is to restart the laptop. Sometimes it boots but most of the time I get the blue screen right away.Any idea of what I can do?It’s possible that your problem is related to the memory.
Do you have two memory modules installed in your laptop? Try removing them one by one and test the laptop with only one module in place. If one of the modules is bad, the laptop should work fine when only a good module is installed. Remove memory modules one by one will help you to find a defective one. Jeremiah,I have a Vaio VGN-FZ340E and it seems the modem isn’t working because nothing happens when I have an ethernet cable plugged in. I tested it with other cables that I knew had internet access, so I know it’s something with my computer. Did you happen to notice if the modem is soldered in like the power jack is or how it’s connected?It’s possible that you have a software related problem.
![Just Just](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0r000cLC1As/hqdefault.jpg)
Check all network settings on the laptop. I cannot tell you what is wrong with software without looking at the laptop.As a last resort, back up all files and reinstall Windows and device drivers from scratch. If the network port still doesn’t work, it’s a problem with the hardware.Could be bad network jack or faulty motherboard.There is no such thing like eithernet modem.
The network card is integrated into the motherboard and when it fails, the whole motherboard has to be replaced. Great guide and fantastic opportunity to save ££s by doing the repair yourself. I have Vaio VGN FZ 340 E. Few days ago, I had a blue screen indicating memory Parity Error.
I contacted Sony Tech Service and did everything they asked me (reset BIOS, Tried disconnecting Memory one at a time, even triedreplacing memory with new memory). Computer does not boot, it seems that it stops the boot process after a while and than just hangs.
If I force it shut, it starts OK in a safe mode, but once I shut it down properly, it will not boot again.Any suggesstions? Could this be a corrupt HD, driver issue? Will system recovery help?BTW I am using Windows Vista Home Premium.Thank you,GP. GP,I have Vaio VGN FZ 340 E. Few days ago, I had a blue screen indicating memory Parity Error. I contacted Sony Tech Service and did everything they asked me (reset BIOS, Tried disconnecting Memory one at a time, even triedreplacing memory with new memory).
Computer does not boot, it seems that it stops the boot process after a while and than just hangs. If I force it shut, it starts OK in a safe mode, but once I shut it down properly, it will not boot again.Any suggesstions? Could this be a corrupt HD, driver issue?It’s hard to tell what’s going on. Could be motherboard/video card failure.If you suspect the hard drive, you can remove it from the laptop and try booting from a Live Linux CD (Knoppix for example). If the laptop works fine running from Knoppix CD when the HDD is removed, it’s possible that your hard drive is not working properly.
This is just a guess.Where exactly your laptop hangs? In the BIOS or while loading Windows?Can you run hard drive test? I found that Hitachi’s drive fitness test work well with most laptops.
You can use Hitachi DFT to test the hard drive. Niki,i can open the drive and put a cd in then you hear that its workingbut the computer doesnt recognice it at all.Here’s something to try. Find a bootable CD (recovery disc, Windows installation CD, live Linux CD, etc) and try booting your laptop from that disc.Will it start from a bootable CD?I’m just trying to figure out if your laptop recognizes the CD/DVD drive on the BIOS level.If the laptop can boot from a bootable disc but cannot access/read same disc in Windows, this could be software related problem.
Sankar,I tried with an external monitor, but my laptop not even detects the secondary monitor connected. Checked with all the ports VGA, HDMI and S-Video, nothing works.I could be wrong but if the image on the laptop screen is corrupted and there is no image on the external monitor, this could be the video card related problem.Have you tried reconnecting memory modules?Just in case try removing modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separated. I’m thinking if the laptop uses shared memory, a bad or not properly seated memory module can cause video problems. I got the issue resolved. The issue was with the NVIDIA graphics chip in the mother board. In some models of vaio, Sony had implanted faulty graphics chip which fails at certain conditions.
The chip failure results in Bunches of vertical lines in the display and sometimes boot results in a blue screen. Sony fix this issue at free of cost even the laptop is out of guarantee (within four years from the date of purchase). I had sent my laptop to Sony and got it fixed. I thank again for this wonderful guide which helped me to fix the dc jack problem.Thank you. Hi, thanks for the instructions!However, after my 3rd time taking it apart and putting it back together, I was pushing ever so slightly with a tiny screw driver to slide the keyboard connector lock off and this little tiny black plastic strip fell out from the assembly somewhere and now my keyboard doesn’t workcorrectly. Some keys work and some aren’t the right button for the command it is doing. Can you send me a close up pic or something of the connector so I can see if this thing is really broken or how it goes back together.
It looks like it has some little tiny knobs that come out of the side like it sits inside something but if I put it in the actual connector, I can’t seem to squeeze the keyboard cable inside with it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Great instructions, thank you.My SONY Vaio VGN-FZ31E went dead. No lights, no nothing when connected to power. Power supply seems ok, tried new one in a shop, nothing happens. Laptop seems to turn on when using a charged battery (I was able to turn it on with the charge left in the current battery, with the hard disk and CD/DVD drive removed).I can measure 19.2 V on power supply and motherboard connector, 14.5 V on battery terminal big ends, and 3.5 V on (unplugged) RTC battery connector. Will not wake up after unlugging RTC battery as sugested in main post.Could anyone tell me if there is motherboard fuse and where it is located?
I could not find one on the bottom side, and there is this plastic tray on the top (keyboard side).Any other troubleshooting ideas would be most welcome. Great tutorial! Thanks a bunch!I was having a problem with some of my keyboard keys, both ctrl keys were dead. Other sometimes malfunctioned. After half a year or so also both shift keys died and I had it. Looked it up and seemed like it’s a common problem with Vaio laptops, something with the keyboard connector getting too loose.I used this very easy tutorial to take partly apart my laptop and plugged in the keyboard connector. When I booted back up, ALL keys were working again properly including the ctrl keys.
It’s finally a joy to type a text again on this laptop.Also, I still have the NVIDIA graphics card problem, is there any way to replace it or just to repair it?. Hi!!!!I have a VGN-FZ250FE, I opened it up to clean it (with canned air), and now it’s not turning on!!!When i press the power button the front LED’s all light up (power, battery, HDD, bluetooth) and after the DVD-RW makes a reading sound, the HDD goes off, and the other 3 remain lit.I don’t hear the HDD working, and the screen shows NOTHING To power it off I have to press the power button for 3 seconds without letting goI already tried disconnecting the CMOS battery for 20 minutes with no luck hope I didn’t fried anything!! ANY help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!. Similar to IsraelThe parent’s FZ18M won’t start. Battery/DC in/out, 1/both DIMM(s) either slot, HDD in/out, wireless on off, no peripherals plugged in.It was dying apparently, with occasional BSOD and, i quote, a psychedelic pink screen once, with BSOD getting progressively worse, before it reached this stage.It currently clicks on, i can hear both the HDD and DVD ROM fire up (with lights n’all), then the power light sits there with nothing happening, the screen doesn’t flicker one bit (i’ve never seen it boot so don’t know how long before the BIOS appears).
@ samuel juarez,i have a question how can i replace the speakers?? I have a sony vaio vgn-fz348e and it just sound the left side.Have you checked the speaker settings? Maybe it’s just wrong balance settings and there is no need to change the speakers.Test your laptop with headphones.
If you hear only left channel, most likely this is settings related issue.i notice that the button DELETE i have to preset really hard to make work Do i need to change the whole keyboard???I cannot tell without looking at the keyboard. Maybe you have something stuck under the delete key.
Carefully look under the key and clean it if needed. If there is nothing stuck under the key, I guess you’ll have to replace the keyboard.when i start my laptop it take a long time to boot, could it be the battery??? My battery is deadI don’t think this is battery related problem.It’s hard to tell what is causing the slow boot, could be one of the following:1.
Laptop doesn’t have enough memory.2. Hard drive is failing.3. OS loads too many programs on startup.etc. If anyone has instructions exactly like this to replace a broken power jack on a SONY VAIO PCG-7184L laptop, it would be greatly appreciated. My daughter dropped hers with the power adapter plugged in, and it snapped off. THANKS!—————————-I purchased the replacement jack on eBay. Tried following the directions in this article as a reference.
Removed the battery, memory, hard drive, and DVD drive. Removed all of the screws in the bottom case. Am stuck from here. Don’t want to break anything, but there doesnt seem to be any tabs or notches to release the case. It appears that the bezel holding the screen could possibly unhook with a screw drive, but again, I am leery of breaking something. Any suggesions are welcome.Thanks.
Hi and thank you for clear instructions on how to take the sony laptop apart. My laptop worked fine then all of a sudden the power light came on but the HD light wont and the fan is quieter than it usually is. Does this sony vaio vgn fz have a cpu fan? If so how do you get to it? I suspect that the laptop is not coming on due to a fan or heat issue.(I hope the Mobo is not fried) I at least want to see if the cpu fan or case fan is an issue before I try to get it repaired.
If any thing I at least want to salvage the HD. Wow, awesome guide. Here is a pro tip to save some time and effort. Won’t save any time in the whole tear down part, but no soldering is involved.
The DC power jack is on a pigtail that can be bought all as one piece, so no need to solder the leads back on. This costs $10-$15, so it’s just as cheap as the original connecter, more or less. In my mind, the extra few bucks is worth not having to solder. Just un plug the old one, remove the wires from the raceway, plug the new one in, and you’re done.