This guy says he can repair the memory slot issue by soldering. I haven't tried him yet, but I plan to. Here's his email address.

Joe Kabalan [aqs12@adelphia.net]

Claudia

I sent my Vaio GRX550 to Joe @ AQS (aqs12@adelphia.net) to get the soldering fixed. He received it on Monday, fixed it and had it shipped back out the next day. It's been running with full memory and no problems since.

For a reasonable $149 + shipping, Joe wins the Sony Support award of the year.

Considering Sony wants a minimum of $695 to fix a defect in their product... Should we send the receipts to Sony with a note saying "You're welcome"?

I'm yet another victim… After much squinting with a magnifying glass and very careful soldering using a bit of paper clip Heath Robinsoned to my soldering iron by way of a sufficiently fine bit, I've got just the rear slot working.

Claudia Tynes wrote:
> Vaio PCG-GRX550…I can't find a 512 chip on the net for a Sony Vaio

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT6464X2...mp;cat=RAM works fine in my PCG-GRX316MP, which I think I remember is the European equivalent of the US PCG-GRX570. (http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.asp?imodule=CT6464X265&...CT6464X265 is the link for US customers.)

I would like to get some hdd`s from you guy`s after you through those things away. If you want to seel those laptops let me know. I wish I could help you out but this is the 3rd time I have seen this same problem withthese laptops and no one knows how to fix them. There are some people getting together to make a class action against Sony.

Here is a suggestion that may work guy`s it is from another thread.I will paste it below,it may help you out.

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Re: I have a sony vaio pcg-grz530 and it sucks
Well, I can confirm that my laptop is in full working order. I cannot belive that just blowing out the vent made such a difference, it is unbelievable. I played a game on the computer for over 6 hours, 6 HOURS!!!! It was fine, never once turned off, the fan was at a reasonable level, it worked like a dream. This is the same game that would run for 10 minutes before I used the compressed air.

Thank you so much for the suggestion about the compressed air. Anyone out there who is having similar problems, just give it a go, hopefully your results will be just as impressive as mine. You don't know how happy that I am, my laptop works

Still very ticked off with Sony USA though, about the whole thing. Over the past 8 months I called them 4 times, cost me a fortune as well (calling from Germany). They never once suggested anything like this, they had me restoring the factory settings, formatting drives, anything but what was needed. Thank goodness at least Sony Canada are on the ball.

I hope that all your laptops work as well as mine, the best Christmas pressie I could have asked for
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I have a Sony Vaio FX 103, about three to three and a half years old by now. Always worked flawlessly, until the end of last summer. It was at a summer camp where I was part of the crew when I started running into a peculiar and very frustrating problem. It didn't want to boot anymore. In fact, it even refused to power up. I pressed the power on button, and for about a fraction of a second the normal power lights would light up, my DVD and HD drive would spin up, the fan on my CPU would spin up. And then it all died again. Over and over again. The only way I was able to use it was to let it lie for a while (several hours), and then it powered up again.

After that summer camp the problem didn't return, I started going to college where I made extensive use of my laptop, and it just kept on working. So I didn't really think much of it anymore. Until the problem started to return more and more often. Especially during classes, or tests where I would have a need to use my laptop. So I started doing some research.

I've read about the problem with the seconday memory slot, but since this seems to be a power problem it's not really applicable. I did run some tests with the secondary slot empty, but the problem kept reoccuring. So with a bit of asking around someone mentioned a bit about it having to do with the power circuitry on the motherboard. A relay on the motherboard probaly responsible for making sure the power stays on, and doesn't get cut out after only a moment.

Since the laptop is definately more then three years old I have absolutely no warranty anymore, so any repairs have to be paid for. And before Sony Holland wants to help you through the phone they'd like you to pay 20 euro's. And besides that, if I indeed have to send my laptop off for repairs there is a change that they won't find anything wrong with it. Or that they do find something wrong with it, and that I have to pay about 300 euro's for a replacement motherboard, and quite frankly, I don't think it's worth that.

Now, if anyone else now of another way to fix it, or if someone can help me check if I'm right. I would be very much abliged. At the moment I'm using a laptop of a friend of mine, but since he is quite eager to get it back, I need to come up with a solution, which either comes down to repairing this Sony, or buying a new laptop of the cheapest brand I can find.

I have a Sony Viao Picturebook (PCG-C1VN) that has started having similar problems.

This machine has a Transmeta Curusoe Processor, 128MB built in RAM, a 64MB RAM expansion card and windows XP home installed.

Three months ago, it started freezing and crashing. When I pressed the start button, the led lights would flash and the fan would start, but then that was it. Nothing else happened.

At first I dismissed the problem as just a nuisance from an older computer. If I kept trying, eventually something would click and the thing would start.

Things started to get more strange though in short order. Sometimes it would begin starting ok -- the led lights would flash, the fan would spin, the bios would get loaded an the hard drive would take an initial spin -- but then, the hard drive just sort of paused. I discovered that the pause would come to an end and the computer would continue booting normally if I removed my linksys wireless card from the PCMCIA slot. Sliding the card back in at any point during the rest of the booting would result in a pause again. It was almost as if there wasn't enough power for both the card and the hardrive during boot. Once windows was running, then I could put the card in an use it without trouble.

While trying to figure this mystery out, I then discovered another. The 64MB RAM expansion card was no longer being recognized by either the BIOS or windows. It had been for several months, and then no recognition, no matter how many times I took it out and put it back into the machine.

Then finally, the most vexing appeared. The computer stopped functioning on battery. It recognizes the battery is attached. It is even able to distinguish between the orginal I have a newer double capacity model I bought just a few months ago. But, when I pull the AC plug, it dies. If I try and start the machine without the AC cord, absolutely nothing happens.

I've reinstalled windows xp. Even tried wiping the hard drive and going back to windows ME. Same problems. I've taken the entire thing apart, and can see nothing physically amiss at the macro level. I really quite stumped.

I've read the posting here on Vaio laptops stopping, not starting, and not recognizing memory. Seems similar. Any suggestions?

I had the problem of the disappearing 256 (of 512k) about this time last year. I called SONY and as my PCG-GRX580 was under warranty it was shipped back and the "motherboard" replaced. Now a year later I am having the same problems with the boot/no boot as only the green power light comes on and then nothing. I am going to try the memory fix to see if it will boot enough for a system restore to occur. Thanks for the helpful postings and I will see if this will work.

Shaun O

Hello everybody , My name is eliza and Im a secretary in a fashion company , 3 weeks ago I bought a refurbished SONY VAIO PCG FX-200 because ws cheap and it came with everything (By the way I bought it in bestBuy) and finally I turned on in my house and OMG it said that I need a stup password and I talked to the costumer sevice in Best Buy , they said they didnt know about it........I can take it to someone that maybe can fix it but I need to know what piece inside I have to remove or something like that....PLEASE HELP ME.....thank u and bye...........

I figured I'd jump on board and list myself among the Vaio victims. A few weeks ago my computer crashed on me, I restarted and then it froze completely. When I tried to restart it, it wouldn't even begin the boot. The green light came on, the DVD light flashed and that was it. After some research, I found post suggesting reseating the memory so I pulled them out and put them back in to no avail. Then I removed one of the memory cards and it started up. Jubilant, I tried to reinstall the other stick and it wouldn't boot again. I then tried both memory sticks in each slot and determined the memory cards (both 256) are fine, but the rear memory bay is bad (as I've seen numerous other people conclude on this thread). It is running (painfully slow) on 256kb right now, but I have 3 months left on my Best Buy 3 year warranty. I have been tempted to leave well enough alone and be thankful it still works, but it sounds like only a matter of time before the other bay fails as well. I am in the process of backing up all my data and files (a formidable job after having a computer for almost 3 years) but I was wondering what response people had received about this problem in response to warranties and service plans. Obviously my feeling is if they can't fix the problem I am entitled to a replacement computer. I appreciate the information you all have provided and if anyone does begin a class action lawsuit, I'm all in.

I seem to be the latest victim of a Sony Laptop not starting. In my case I'm working on a PCG-V505BX. I've taken it apart and narrowed the problem down to the yellow power connector on the laptop that the wall adapter plugs into. The brass spring clip is so worn it doesn't make connections any longer. The yellow coaxial power plug has a wiring harness on it that plugs into the motherboard. Does anyone know where I might get this replacement part?

Jim

Hi my Sony Vaio PCG GRX650 won't boot or display anything. I am trying to troubleshoot and could use some help:

The system starts with Power led on and hard drive led on. Then in 2 seconds the hard drive led goes off and CD-ROM led goes on. Then the CD-ROM led goes off too with just the power led on. The LCD display is always black - nothing on it.

I have tried to remove and switch the RAMS (currently two slots have 2 modules for total of 512Mb) - Nothing changes anything.

I tried both the RAM modules in antoher laptop (Dell) and that works fine. I am afraid to put the Dell RAMs in the BAD Sony laptop in case it may damage them.

1. Would the laptop ever boot with a bad display - i.e. dead LCD or inverter?

2. How do I direct the output to an external Monitor? I have attached at external monitor but it never gets any signals.

3. Do these laptops carry a battery/cell for BIOS/clock back-up? If so are those rechargeables or need to be replaced once in a while? How do I replace them - where is it located?

4. Any other tips or suggestions to diagnose the problem?

Hello,

I own a PGC-GRX550 and it has falled victim to the same problem in terms of the memory slots not working. I can only use one of the 256 MB chips and have to hold it down slightly in order to get the PC to boot up. I want to get this fixed but was wondering if it is worth it. Has anyone out there tried geeksquad at Best Buy and got this problem fixed?

If so, how much did it cost? Thanks.

Do this. On the back of your computer, unscrew the access panel that holds your SDRAM. Remove the sdram closest to the rear of your laptop. This is a very simple procedure that will have you up and running in no time. It does not fix long term, and your laptop will run slower. It can no longer use that memory slot until it is repaired. For more complete information, go to "sony wont boot" on this forum. Read at least 3 or 4 pages to see what is the basis of the problem - heat.

have a Sony Vaio pcg-8qel vgn a140b which has worked fine up until two days ago. My computer up until the day it stopped had been running perfectly – not even a sniff of a problem. I turned my computer off at the end of the day and unplugged the power as I always do. The next morning my computer was dead. No lights, no registration of the power being plugged in, absolutely nothing. It had definitely been unplugged during the night.

If anyone has any ides they ar most appreciated.

If you live in New York and have a problem with a Sony Vaio laptop, contact me at:
firm@nyconsumerfraud.com

I have information that may be helpful.

I had this problem. I got it to work for a while by putting some bent plastic under the RAM cover. But it never worked right. I finally sent it to joe@aqstech.com. It was $129 plus shipping. Runs great now. He even replaced my keyboard for me.Work done as promised.April 2009.