My Sony laptop is behaving strange

[jamesp5551]

Tool is there in tutorial to write installer to bootable flash stick.

Delete all partitions during booted install as shown in tutorial which provides what works best in Win7 and not XP.

Ok thanks im going follow ur advise, ive already been to the sony support site and found my model and there are plenty of drivers there and i have managed to get into the vista thats now sort of working and managed to get into device manager to find out some of the device model No's to track the drivers I might need. Found F2 on boot should get into bios, wont work for me of course and when vista booted i can only do things that are point and click. if i open the search before i even try to type the box fills by itself.

 

[jamesp5551]

Ive gone to the site for the iso download im assuming ive gone for the correct iso X17-59465.iso it is a media refresh what ever that means the other states old. 7 Ultimate is what I have the key for. Im reading things like wont work on XP. Does that mean i cant download the iso or the windows 7 USB-DVD download tool using my xp laptop

 

[gregrocker]

You can use an XP PC to complete the preparation steps in tutorial like writing the ISO to flash or burning to disk.

Does the HP ESC or F9 key work to boot disk or flash stick? Normally when these keys don't work it is due to user timing, so be sure they don't before we help you reset the BIOS.

Also are there any drivers missing in Device manager, like HotKeys?

You will want 64 bit Win7 Ultimate SP1 w Media Refresh since you have 8 gb RAM.

Just forget about Vista, boot the Win7 installer and follow the steps in Clean Reinstall OEM deleting all partitions during the Custom install.

 

[Bumpkin]

Tool is there in tutorial to write installer to bootable flash stick.

Delete all partitions during booted install as shown in tutorial which provides what works best in Win7 and not XP.

Ok thanks im going follow ur advise, ive already been to the sony support site and found my model and there are plenty of drivers there and i have managed to get into the vista thats now sort of working and managed to get into device manager to find out some of the device model No's to track the drivers I might need. Found F2 on boot should get into bios, wont work for me of course and when vista booted i can only do things that are point and click. if i open the search before i even try to type the box fills by itself.

I think you have bigger problems if F2 won't enter the bios.

 

[jamesp5551]

Tool is there in tutorial to write installer to bootable flash stick.

Delete all partitions during booted install as shown in tutorial which provides what works best in Win7 and not XP.

Ok thanks im going follow ur advise, ive already been to the sony support site and found my model and there are plenty of drivers there and i have managed to get into the vista thats now sort of working and managed to get into device manager to find out some of the device model No's to track the drivers I might need. Found F2 on boot should get into bios, wont work for me of course and when vista booted i can only do things that are point and click. if i open the search before i even try to type the box fills by itself.

I think you have bigger problems if F2 won't enter the bios.

Nothing on the keyboard works.to be fair its exactly the same symptoms as I had with the same laptop about a year ago, I kept reinstalling and one time it took and apart from the raid orray failure alert at log in and viao update not working, all was good

 

[gregrocker]

I would unRAID and install to one HD only, deleting and formatting the other and if necessary disabling it in BIOS if it interferes with install.

Set SATA controller to AHCI instead of RAID. RAID only causes problems with Win7.

Is this the 32gb SSD caching driver which is RAIDED, using Intel Rapid Storage?

Have you reset the BIOS to defaults before?

 

[jamesp5551]

You can use an XP PC to complete the preparation steps in tutorial like writing the ISO to flash or burning to disk.

Does the HP ESC or F9 key work to boot disk or flash stick? Normally when these keys don't work it is due to user timing, so be sure they don't before we help you reset the BIOS.

Also are there any drivers missing in Device manager, like HotKeys?

You will want 64 bit Win7 Ultimate SP1 w Media Refresh since you have 8 gb RAM.

Just forget about Vista, boot the Win7 installer and follow the steps in Clean Reinstall OEM deleting all partitions during the Custom install.

it wouldnt install the the dvd usb downloader on my xp machine but the iso was no prob. I might get use of a 7 laptop tomoro night.

 

[jamesp5551]

I would unRAID and install to one HD only, deleting and formatting the other and if necessary disabling it in BIOS if it interferes with install.

Set SATA controller to AHCI instead of RAID. RAID only causes problems with Win7.

Is this the 32gb SSD caching driver which is RAIDED, using Intel Rapid Storage?

Have you reset the BIOS to defaults before?

its 2 64gb SSD,s and i havnt a clue which was RAIDED and I cant get into the bios.in devise manager under storage controllers it says intel ICHM-E/ICH9M-E SATA RAID Controller
Just remember any advise you give me that requires the use of any input other than point and click it wont happen and the external USB keyboard i tried was almost as bad.You guys know alot more than me so I'm following ur advise, but if this thing is in my bios what do I do.
My Dad had bit of a problem a while bk where by he was kinda stalked by a very pc savvy chap, he managed to clone some ones identity in one country who had his internet address. it took my Dad a while to realize it was some one else.He was able to steal personal information and post on the net. He caused so many problems with my Dads pc that he scrapped it and bought a new one and set up new accounts and emails. The reason I mention this is because I use his wifi when im there. The other thing he sent all my Dads contacts emails that we thought were from him that may have contained malicious code.

 

[jamesp5551]

I would unRAID and install to one HD only, deleting and formatting the other and if necessary disabling it in BIOS if it interferes with install.

Set SATA controller to AHCI instead of RAID. RAID only causes problems with Win7.

Is this the 32gb SSD caching driver which is RAIDED, using Intel Rapid Storage?

Have you reset the BIOS to defaults before?

Im trying to set up the ISO onto a flash drive and i have 2 large enough but neither will format to NTFS as per the instructions.I have 8gb in FAT32 and a 64gb in exFAT I have tried with both and it fails each time.I have now found some DVD-R's so have managed to do it that way instead thanks

 

[jamesp5551]

well I followed all the procedures including the clean install and its still exactly the same.Managed to get to the part where I needed to type a name for the profile, which couldnt. I did my circular motion trick and then it started its mind of its own thing where by the boxes started filling themselves either way i cant move on. If i cant type a name i cant press next, then if starts typing by itself i cant hit next either. So folks what next.

 

[gregrocker]

You'll need to reset the BIOS to defaults to try to get the F2 key working to enter BIOS setup, if that is the key given clearly on the first boot screen and you are sure its being triggered correctly using a standard USB keyboard. Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Confirm also you booted the installer and deleted all partitions during install. If not do that now.

What needs to happen is enter BIOS setup to change SATA controller to AHCI and change any other settings enabling RAID. Then disable the secondary HD which will not be raided and can be enabled again after install to format as a data drive.

I would also test both HD's with the HD maker's HD diagnostic bootable CD.

 

[jamesp5551]

If booted installer means from the ISO on the dvd i made and booted on then yes. I deleted all partitions during install. This morning I got use of the usb keyboard again, and a mixture of the circular motion on the laptop keyboard I was able to get bk to the 1st time log in and type a profile name and get into windows 7. Did manage to get into bios with great difficulty and restored defaults, but weird and wonderful things were happening in bios each thing selected would switch between its choices continually. it now says on the right corner of the desktop ( windows 7 build 7601 this copy of windows is not genuine and i cant type in search boxes still.

 

[gregrocker]

What about the SATA/RAID settings? Where were they set? Have you tried changing to AHCI? Can you see a setting to disable secondary HD? Once these settings take hold, then boot the installer to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164 to the Primary HD.

Forget about RAID as it could be your problem, and we see nothing but problems with it here.

If you cannot get the settings to take hold then you may need reflash the BIOS to the latest version, from the Support Downloads webpage for your model PC. Read and follow the instructions carefully as it can be fatal if you lose power or interrupt in any way.

What is this circular motion you're describing?

 

[jamesp5551]

The circular motion Is done by using a finger and scrolling depressing the keys on the keyboard in a circular motion in a roughly 10cm diameter clock wise and anti clockwise. When I press the on button the green light comes on but but nothing else happens which what I call hangs or wont move on ( screen is blank as if off ).Do the motion then the screen will come to life and the first part of loading will happen. Then it will hang again until I do the motion and so on until I get into my profile. Now i can get into what sony site says is the BIOS by pressing F2. Its called Aptio Setup Utility Version 1.23.1109. Its been a while since ive been in the BIOS of a pc but it looks like what I remember it to look like. It has 5 menus across the top, Main, Advanced, Security, Boot, Exit in that order. I cant see any listing for SATA or AHCI that you say to change to. On the main screen The first 8 entries are greyed out unchangeable, but the last 2 System Date and System Time are changeable. The first 8 are BIOS Version: R2032Y2, Machine Name: VGN-AW31XY-Q, Serial Number, UUID, System Memory: 8192MB, HDD 1: 64GB, HDD 2: None, HDD 3: 64GB.
Advanced menu has 2 options, Intel (R) Vitualization Technology: can be enabled or disabled and is set to disabled, RAID Configuration: can be hide or show and is set to hide.
Security menu has 6 options, Machine Password: Clear, Usser Password: Clear, Set Machine Password: ( Press Enter ), Set User Password: Press Enter ), Password When Power On: ( Disabled ), Clear Fingerprint Data. Apart from clear fingerprint data and set machine password the others are greyed out.
Boot menu has 5 options under 2 headings. The 1st is Boot Configuration 2 options, External Device Boot: set to disabled, Network Boot: set to disabled. The 2nd is Boot Priority 3 options, which lets me set priority which currently is 1st optical disc, 2nd internal HDD and 3rd is external device. All options in this screen I can change.
Exit menu has 5 options, Exit Setup, Get Default Values, Discard Changes, Save Changes, Shutdown. Non of them have multiple options if you select any of them and press enter they do what they mean apart from shut down as the machine will still not fully turn off without pulling the plug with the battery out. I have selected Default values figuring it will reset the BIOS as you requested.
Today when I booted the laptop using my circular motion trick on the laptop keyboard and tapping F2 on the USB keyboard I got into the BIOS fine and everything is stable in the BIOS as in when I select an item that can be changed it hasnt kept scrolling through its choices constantly making it a lucky dip when you hit enter. I can actually use the USB keyboards + and - keys to the option as required.
Please every one who reads this read it fully before asking questions as I only type with 1 finger so it has took an age to do and I have had the problem laptop in front me and have typed exactly is selected as it is screen by screen.
Thank you,
Jim.

 

[jamesp5551]

Greg Do you know why since did the reinstall using the Clean reinstall OEM guide With the ISO burned to a DVD as described, it now says on the right corner of the desktop ( windows 7 build 7601 this copy of windows is not genuine ).

 

[Bumpkin]

quite a one finger essay!

The circular motion Is done by using a finger and scrolling depressing the keys on the keyboard in a circular motion in a roughly 10cm diameter clock wise and anti clockwise. When I press the on button the green light comes on but but nothing else happens which what I call hangs or wont move on ( screen is blank as if off ).Do the motion then the screen will come to life and the first part of loading will happen. Then it will hang again until I do the motion and so on until I get into my profile. Now i can get into what sony site says is the BIOS by pressing F2. Its called Aptio Setup Utility Version 1.23.1109. Its been a while since ive been in the BIOS of a pc but it looks like what I remember it to look like. It has 5 menus across the top, Main, Advanced, Security, Boot, Exit in that order. I cant see any listing for SATA or AHCI that you say to change to. On the main screen The first 8 entries are greyed out unchangeable, but the last 2 System Date and System Time are changeable. The first 8 are BIOS Version: R2032Y2, Machine Name: VGN-AW31XY-Q, Serial Number, UUID, System Memory: 8192MB, HDD 1: 64GB, HDD 2: None, HDD 3: 64GB.
Advanced menu has 2 options, Intel (R) Vitualization Technology: can be enabled or disabled and is set to disabled, RAID Configuration: can be hide or show and is set to hide.
Security menu has 6 options, Machine Password: Clear, Usser Password: Clear, Set Machine Password: ( Press Enter ), Set User Password: Press Enter ), Password When Power On: ( Disabled ), Clear Fingerprint Data. Apart from clear fingerprint data and set machine password the others are greyed out.
Boot menu has 5 options under 2 headings. The 1st is Boot Configuration 2 options, External Device Boot: set to disabled, Network Boot: set to disabled. The 2nd is Boot Priority 3 options, which lets me set priority which currently is 1st optical disc, 2nd internal HDD and 3rd is external device. All options in this screen I can change.
Exit menu has 5 options, Exit Setup, Get Default Values, Discard Changes, Save Changes, Shutdown. Non of them have multiple options if you select any of them and press enter they do what they mean apart from shut down as the machine will still not fully turn off without pulling the plug with the battery out. I have selected Default values figuring it will reset the BIOS as you requested.
Today when I booted the laptop using my circular motion trick on the laptop keyboard and tapping F2 on the USB keyboard I got into the BIOS fine and everything is stable in the BIOS as in when I select an item that can be changed it hasnt kept scrolling through its choices constantly making it a lucky dip when you hit enter. I can actually use the USB keyboards + and - keys to the option as required.
Please every one who reads this read it fully before asking questions as I only type with 1 finger so it has took an age to do and I have had the problem laptop in front me and have typed exactly is selected as it is screen by screen.
Thank you,
Jim.

Get back into the bios and change Raid Configuration to Show and see if Raid can be disabled.

Go to Sony Support and see if there is a bios update for the laptop. It might be tricky updating the bios if the keyboard is misbehaving.

I tend to think you have a hardware problem, refer back to Post 16 by madcratebuilder.

 

[jamesp5551]

I altered th values in the advance menu to to show RAID and vitualization to enabled to see if it would open up any more options in any of the other menus. when I hit F4 to save everything locked up again so I pull the plug and when I started up again a screen ive never seen before came up. Matrix Storage Manager option ROM v8.0.0.1039 ICHM-E
Cpyright (C) 2003-8 Intel Corporation. It has 2 listing, RAID Volumes: ID = 0, Name = Volume0, Level = RAID0(Stripe), Strip = 128KB, Size = 119.2GB, Status = Normal, Bootable = yes. I have put the = in for clarity but the below description is how it appears
Physical Disks:
Port Drive Model Serial # Size Type/Status (Vol ID)
0 SAMSUNG MMCRE64G 00S913SY913A0644 59.6GB Member Disk (0)
5 SAMSUNG MMCRE64G 00S913SY913A0600 59.6GB Error Occurred (0)
Press <CTRL-I> to enter Configuration Utility..................
Perhaps the error on the one SSD is my problem but I'm sure the problem starts before the system needs to read the SSD, but the operating system is on one or both of those SSD's.
Its locked up as usual so cant get CTRL-I to work, but now i have put the screen info on here I will try to push the system on with my circular motion trick, but just before I touched the machine it went off completely including the green power light which hasnt gone off on its own since the fault started without pulling the plug and battery out that is.

 

[jamesp5551]

If your keyboard is wonky at boot then I would look at a hardware issue. Your keyboard controller chip may be doing it's death dance. The chip is replaceable and it's a cheap chip.

Do you mean this quote Greg as I did give it some consideration and I asked some questions but have not received a reply. Like would it fit the diagnoses if when I use a USB keyboard some times I can do some things I cant do with the laptop keyboard but still have weird things going on.

 

[jamesp5551]

I have a New screen which might be the one you wanted all along its locked so I cant make any choices but i will describe it to you. 1. Create RAID Volume is high lighted as default when entering this screen
Matrix Storage Manager option ROM v8.0.0.1039 ICHM-E Cpyright (C) 2003-8 Intel Corporation
MAIN MENU
1. Create RAID Volume 3. Reset Discs to Non-RAID
2. Delete RAID Volume 4. Recovery Volume Options
5. Exit

 

[jamesp5551]

I'm going to let it cool down as it smells like its running hot and the fan doesnt seem to cut in till in windows as not noticed fan on while in these boot screens, BIOS etc.