My Sony Vaio notebook refuses to turn on for no reason at all but after some it comes back alive
I have had a Sony Vaio notebook, for about 3 years. Recently, it just refuses to turn on for no reason at all. I mean, the power button does not work, and nothing starts. Just when I was about to give up (3 months later) and tried one last time on the power button, it turned back on! After a couple of months of working fine, it died again. A couple of months later, it came back alive again! I did absolutely nothing to it. It never dies when I am using it – only when the laptop is shut off, and the next time I try to turn it on, it does not respond. The only clue that I have is that windows takes a long time to load (but that may just be the many programs I have installed on it). I tried cleaning the fan, but no use. The battery is not the greatest, but it does not run even with the battery removed. It does not seem to be overheated because the processor does not even get any power to it. After 2 repair shops, nobody seem to be able to tell me what the problem is. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help! Thanks!
It’s very hard to troubleshoot a laptop with a problem like yours. An intermittent problem is the worst!
I would recommend unplugging the battery, wait for couple minutes and then try to start the laptop using just AC power, but it looks like you’ve already tried it. I had a Sony laptop before and got the same problem 2 times. I was able to get my laptop back to live by removing the battery and starting it from the AC adapter.
I think it’s possible you’re your AC adapter might have an intermittent problem.
It also might be a loose connection somewhere on the system board. If I would get this laptop for repair, I would open it up and reseat all connections on the motherboard. I would try to strip it down to minimize the system and leave just the system board, the memory and the CPU and try to turn it on with an external monitor attached. If the system still doesn’t work even when it’s stripped down, I would suspect that the motherboard is bad. I know that’s not a lot of help, but that’s what I would try to do.
July 16th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Wow, that many problems? Boise LCD seems like the best guide. Will break out my soldering gun and melt my pcg-k33 mbd. very temperamental this sony lappy, must be female… (woops, did i violate t&c)
July 5th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Does anyone know how to file a class action law suit against SONY. Mine was purchased in 2004 and died in 2006.
June 25th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Please help! I am looking at a friends laptop (Sony Vaio vgn-n11m). It wont power up – no lights, nothing! I have tested the power supply and tried another supply – no different. I want to check the motherboard and power switch, or worst case access the hard disk to recover data but…. I can’t remove the cover/keyboard! I have taken out all visable screws from underneath, but something is keeping the keyboard held down – around the f6 key. I’m sure once I can access the guts of the machine I can solve the problem but it is frustrating me that I cant even get to the hard disk! Any help much appreciated….
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:58 am
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-FE660G that is showing a problem that is similar to the above one. Once in a while it will fail to turn on and appear to be dead. The solution I found is simply to temporarily disconnect the internal CMOS battery, which is located on the other side of the motherboard and is unaccessible unless the motherboard is removed from the case. This is very annoying since it has occurred twice already in two weeks. Anyway doing that solved the problem for me when I was about to consider replacing the motherboard ($160-$190 on e-bay). If it persists, I will still try replacing the power adapter, which might be sending very bad power spikes to the notebook.
Despite all complaints that I have read about these notebooks, I still think they are not too bad and I have certainly seen worse. Perhaps the main reason so many people are having trouble with their notebooks (of whatever brand) is simply because they have become quite popular nowadays and they will soon surpass the desktops.
Hope someone will find this information helpful.
May 30th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
I seem to be having a similar problem, I bought a compaq presario cq50 almost two years ago during black friday. I mistakenly kept it plugged in almost every time I used it and suddenly started having an issue. My computer gives me a message during starting up that tells me the battery needs replaced. My screen also flickers completely white at times. The issue with the battery started in Jan. It doesnt carry any type of charge and if I leave it go dead accidently it will turn off for days. Do I spend money to fix the battery if that is the issue..or do I buy an entirely new laptop? Can someone please give me some info? I am SO desperate.
May 8th, 2010 at 1:44 am
I have using laptops since 1990 and the Sony VAIO is BY FAR the worst piece of crap I have ever seen in my life. I have paid 1400 Euros for it and it gave only trouble, falling apart almost instantly in many places. Yes I have had this power up problem many times and finally it stopped responding altogether.
Even the paint will fade soon! I am just giving up and I will buy a Compaq and stay away from Sony for the rest of my life.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:43 am
I’m so sick of my Sony Vaio (VGN-NR398D). First I had problems with it just turning off without any notice & then 4 months ago it just wouldn’t turn on. This happened for no reason at all, I didn’t drop it or anything. It just wouldn’t turn on. I brought it into a repair shop & $270 later it was fixed. Appearantley I needed a new hard drive. Now this morning I woke up to the same problem, it won’t start. The power light comes on but the screen is black. I tried pluging it out & removing/replacing the battery. This laptop is less than 2 yrs old & it has been a less than ideal laptop ownership relationship so I have no intention of spending another penny on this Sony dud. It’s definitely time to get a Mac Book. But it sucks that $1000 can’t buy you more than 1 1/2 yrs of substandard laptop service.
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:24 am
Wow! I guess everyone is having problems with the Sony VAIO laptop. Mine stopped working on me after 3 days of not using it. The power button will not work, but the battery light flashes whenever I plug it to power. I tried to do the normal stuff and unplug the battery and try without it but nothing. Thanks for posting all the comments, I’m going to try them and never again will I buy a Sony VAIO and people will know my experience with this stupid laptop.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:46 am
hi guys,
i know everyone is having problems with the sony vaio laptop not turning on, same here… i went down to see a friend about this problem, he opened up the laptop and the problem was the ram was loose… now it works fine..
March 1st, 2010 at 1:56 pm
My sister gave me her Sony Vaio VGN-SZ2XP/C which had taken to turning off randomly and ignoring the “on” button until battery and and power had been unconnected and reconnected. It seems to happen to lots of Sony Vaio owners. There is a link which discusses this issue, and a russian guy who replaces capacitors on the MB. I cant believe that a Vaio (expensive) could be such a piece of junk, and that Sony don’t acknowledge it on their website- Why isn’t there a class action lawsuit going on in the US?
http://www.physik.uni-freiburg.de/~zwerger/cip/Vaio/indexeng.htm
February 24th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
LORD HAVE_ME TOO!
Turn on the laptop and when it starts wiggle the power tip inside the socket. At the same time look at the power LED. Will if flash when you wiggle the power tip? I’m thinking maybe you have a problem with the power socket (power jack). Maybe the laptop turns off because it’s not getting any power from the AC adapter and it runs until the battery is drained.
Aslo, listen for the cooling fan. Does it spin? Maybe the laptop shuts down because of overheating. Does it feel very hot on the bottom?
I think it happens because manufacturers trying to make it cheaper and using cheaper materials. These days you can buy a brand new laptop for $400-500.
A decade ago a brand new laptop cost at least $1000.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I bought this Vaio NR series notebook about a year and a half ago and it was working fine until just a few days ago while I was typing an email suddenly everything just powered completely off.
I tried turning everything off and on and it would not respond. No lights, no nothing, it was like a brick. So I removed the battery because I was thinking I had a short in the charge, but still nothing. I tried it again and that time it worked, I chalked it up to maybe I didnt quite do the whole battery thing right.
Well just tonight while writing an email, I had the SAME problem. Except this time it refused to turn back on. So I took the battery out completely and STILL NOTHING… I absolutely HAD to get to the email I was writing (I had very intelligently decided to do it in Word for SAVING and recovery purposes – thank gooodness!) and after waiting a few minutes- this time much longer than the last.. it came back on. But that time i didnt have the battery in it at all and used the AC.. I usually keep it plugged in anyways.
I have turned it off and on several times tonight and its seems to be working…well for now. WHAT kind of CRAP machine is this?
I remember when a computer would last for damn near a DECADE.. now they crash and burn after less than 2 years?
Your problem sounds almost the same, but I am willing to bet that they would not be able to find it either.
This would not be a big problem for me because I bought an IMAC around the same time.. The only thing is.. this piece of crap died COMPLETELY on me only after owning it for 3 months! YES I SAID a two thousand dollar computer DIED after 3 MONTHS!
It was still under warranty so Apple had to fix it… but heck, I consider this machine a LEMON. This just gives more credence to fact that these machines are designed to die after a relatively SHORT I mean SHORT period of time and we are just being ripped off!
Now wonder how long either of them will hang before one or the other drops out again!
Where is the integrity in the customer/business relationship?
Well if anyone has had the same problem as me and figured out EXACTLY what it could be.. please post. I surely don’t need to be in the middle of something that important again when that happens.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:09 pm
same as my VAIO VGN-FZ160E… it won’t turn on, and no any light indications. just went to my local service depot and ask for $75 in Canadian dollars just for evaluation, and it will add up if there is any additional cost…… Maybe I shouldn’t trust SONY too much for their technology and paid for their expensive piece of garbage.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:49 am
I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!
AND THE SONY PROBLEM WAS EITHER:
The POWER button leads had bad solder joints (they were reflowed)
And while I had it open, I decided to change out the one and only SMD capacitor on the MBD, just for fun.
AFTER I DID THIS, IT WORKED 100% (AND STILL DOES).
but i’m still going to duct tape it.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:22 am
Found this site while searching for a solution to a dead Sony VIAO VGN-N230E. Unit was completely dead with no signs of life.
I stripped it down to nothing (or should I say LOTS of little things) and reseated CPU and RAM to no avail.
Unplugged CMOS Battery without luck.
Checked voltage from adapter up to the MBD and it was good.
BUT I FINALLY GOT IT WORKING AGAIN WHEN I CHECKED THE VOLTAGE AT THE POWER BUTTON WITH MY MULTIMETER.
I had the black lead to ground terminal where the power wires first hit the board. Not that it really matters I don’t think. Any place that’s grounded SHOULD work the same.
I put the red lead to one of the legs of the power button to see if power was going up to it. This pulled it low and made it start up. The button operates as normal afterward, until the power is disconnected from the unit and plugged in again. Simply pulling that pin low again does the same thing every time. I’m not sure why this is happening like this. But I also don’t know what’s inside of an Oscar Meyer Weiner…. so I think I’ll just rig something up to make it edible… i mean usable.
(ie. solder a wire from the button pin and run it outside the case so I can ground it out when I need to.)
I’m going to wrap this SONY VIAO in duct tape for a true jimmy rigged look and feel. Then I’ll take it with me on the city bus everyday and tell people what a piece of sh*t Sony laptops are, and show them what they can expect if they decide to buy one.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:18 am
i can see that I am not the only one having problems with a Sony VAIO VGN-N11M/W, my problem is that ones I start the computer the VAIO Bios screen frizzed in it and Windows never start. i must switch off the laptop and wait until it cools down and the try again. 90% of the time the computer works fine, but it is a pain every time that I must restart. and probably soon the laptop will stop working.
Sony DOES NOT take any responsibility for this defect that I consider design defects and they must replace the laptop. at the end of the day, I spend a plus for a quality product and brand that doesn´t take it responsibility. sorry Sony no more products from you!
December 21st, 2009 at 8:50 am
are the latches that hold the screen to the body broken, theres a switch inside the holes, try pressing it. it worked for me with a similar problem.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
never buy a sony laptop its is costly and does not give the service at all waste product
December 11th, 2009 at 1:02 am
I’ve seen this problem with a Vaio laptop I had in for repair and it drove me nuts. I invested way too many hours and questioned my repair and problem solving skills more than once. I swore I’d never work on a Vaio again. Turns out the Sony Vaio laptops have switch in the LCD top cover latch to prevent it from being powered on when the lid is closed. The laptop I was working on had a broken cover latch and just depending on the position of the broken latch, the switch would engage or disengage. Hence the intermittent ability for the laptop to power on.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:54 am
i have my sony laptop model vgn-cs115j. i turn it on around 15 second then it turn off by self with no reason. i try to cleaned heat sink and cooling fan but still had no effect . i take out battery and use ac adapter by self still shutting down with no reason but ac adapter light still grean. i dont think ac adapter or battery have problem. anyone known what is wrong ?
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I have a VAIO VGN-N11M with a strange problem. It was given to me to look at as it was dead, so i stripped it down to just the mobo and it still wouldnt work, so i disconected the CMOS battery for a few minutes and hey presto it powers up and runs windows fine when put back together. But as soon as the as the AC power is plugged in, it switches the comp off and you have to disconnect the CMOS again. Ive tried a different battery and a different AC adapter to no avail. Also tried a bios update for good measure but had no effect. If ayone has had a similar issues please reply.
Thanks
November 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Abel,
Maybe the AC adapter is dead and battery doesn’t have enough charge to start the laptop.
Test the AC adapter with a multimeter or test your laptop with another adapter.
Replacing the AC adapter might fix the problem.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
vgnfw235j is the laptop i have and it just died as i came back from school.. I took the battery out and had it unplugged. I waited a minute or so, in this time i pressed the power button to drain whatever energy was left in the circuitry and after i just fliped it back over and placed the battery back in. as i tried to turn it on, the green light came on but only for a second and turned off again any suggestions?
October 20th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I have had this exact same problem, but I can attribute both situations directly to the use of a DC adapter on an airplane. In both instances, I couldn’t power on my Vaio laptop, regardless of whether or not the battery was installed or keeping it out for several hours. Each time it wasn’t until hours later, 12 in one instance, 48 in another, that the laptop would power up. Right now I’m just grateful that it’s working again, but it’s damned inconvenient, and I’d certainly like a solution that doesn’t involve not using the DC adapter.
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:10 am
i have a HP G60 which i bought around 6 or 7 months ago. just a few months ago all of a sudden it kept turning off by itself, especially when i watch videos/movies on the laptop and when i burn things. it takes a while to completely shut down but when it does all i have to do is wait around 10 mins or so and it works fine unitl i watch or burn things again. i am not sure what to do any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
thank you.
July 31st, 2009 at 11:18 am
ok this happend to my vaio laptop so after 30 mins or so i figured out tht my ac adpeter charger was not working like it was pluged in and stuff so i kept on going tio differnt outlets they worked for awhile then it died again and i took out the battery and justt fliped it aorund a couple times then it worked tht will help u and if it does work ffor u and u if u play habbo hotel on uk can u send me fruni or credz plz user name xsx25
July 12th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Same here with my VAIO VGN-FE31Z… It will not turn on – no lights – nothing.
Tried everything no luck.
It’s a good thing I bought a Mac 1 year ago but still…. it is a pity for my VAIO to go away like that.
I think the best option is to simply remove the hard drive from the laptop, connect it externally, and then recycle the laptop. It’s sad but probably the most cost-efficient way of doing it + getting your files back.
God knows how much Sony will be charging for these repairs.