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.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Hi,
I just bought a Toshiba satellite M100/E00. it is running vista home prem and everything seems fine except when I capture video from my DV, it keeps dropping the connection (IEEE 1394). I need to unplug the fireware cable and reconnect it again to get back the connection. but later it dropped again. This never happened with my old laptop. I used the same program (Adobe Premier pro 1.5), the same DV and the same fireware cable.
any ideas?
thanks,
hai
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
damao,
Try reseating the memory, move it from one slot to another. Make sure contacts on the memory module are clean.
Try starting the laptop without the hard drive installed. Does it make any difference? Can you pass the Vaio logo when the hard drive is not installed?
Maybe you should try reflashing the BIOS?
August 1st, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Hi,
My Sony Vaio notebook (VGN-FS35GP) doesn’t boot up.
When I turn on the power, the Vaio logo comes up & stays there forever.
If i press F2 soon after the Vaio logo comes up to enter BIOS setting, the following message shows up:
Phoenix NoteBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
CPU=Intel Pentium M Processor 1.86GHz
512M System RAM Passed
2048k Cache SRAM Passed
System BIOS Shadowed
Video BIOS Shadowed
Fixed Disk 0: Toshiba MK6025GAS
ATAPI CD-ROM: SONY DVDRW DW-Q58A
MOUSE initialized
System Configuration Data updated
Entering Settings…
and it stays there forever.
Sometimes when I am lucky, I can get into BIOS, then I reset factory default, then windows can boot up.
My friends recon it’s the motherboard. I don’t want to replace the motherboard as Sony service center charge $1100 for the replacement plus a $100 upfront fee.
Is there a way of making sure this is a motherboard issue? Thanks.
July 31st, 2007 at 5:38 am
I need some hlep with a Sony Vaio model PCG-8Q9L. Sometime it will start and other times it wont. I have brought it down to minimal system start up and added pieces one at a time. I am now starting to reseat the screws on the bottom cover. Now it is back to the same problems. One thing tha I am noticing is that when it is not going to start you can hear the fan kick on and then off again. Of course if it is going to start the fan just starts up. I have looked at the fan connections and they seem to be tight. Any thoughts?
July 18th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I have noticed alot of similiar sony vaio comments related to an issue I have now. My sony notebook will turn on, but the three lights stay solid like it has defective ram and it won’t boot. Sony replaced the dvd-rw, harddrive and motherboard. The notebook worked for a day, I shut it down and failed to boot again. Last night I opened it up and realized there is a resistance device that will test the resistance of the case pressure against the board. My case is bowed in the middle where this device is located. I press down the required pressure on this device and my system will boot with no problems. I notified Sony of this and they laughed at me at my request to change the case. I dislike Sony, but I hope this will help others out there and maybe someone could tell me how this device works so i can bypass it. Thanx.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:17 am
PLZ help i have a sony vaio vgnfs500. when i try to connect the ac adapter into the laptop its really loose and when i have to hold it down pretty hard or put it in an angle to turn the power on. when i do i have a message come up that says Error: This is not a genuine Sony battery. Your computer will be going into hibernate mode to protect from a possible damage by the battery occurs when using the notebook computer. so i tried leaving it on for a few hours and it wouldnt charge the battery so i was wondering if its the ac connection on the laptop, the battery, or the adapter?
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:50 am
Or please give me a link where the same problem is described. Thanks again.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:41 am
Please HELP!
Hello, I have a Sony VAIO laptop and it was working fine. Once however it died when I was using it(it was charging). After it died I took out the battery and waited, turned it back on (without the charger plugged in) and it was working again. Then I inserted the power cable back in and it died straigh off! So now it does it every time, it works without the charger plugged and when I do insert it it dies. Please give me any solution. And I am not a great laptop guy, so cannot do things like clean a fan etc. Give me any solution or web-site with it asap. Thanks for any help.
My e-mail is vasily_ivanov@hotmail.com
April 6th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Hi,
A few days ago my display on my Compaq Presario R3306 laptop stopped working. If it is in bright sun and angled just right I can see a faint image of the desktop. I was able to print out a few important files.
Then I tried to hook up my NEC Accusync LCD51V to it. When it was booting up I could see the desktop on the external monitor. When the computer was running the monitor went dark saying no signal was detected.
I’m new to the PC world having been a Mac person since the ‘eighties so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Natalie
http://www.fobesphoto.com
February 27th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Don,
Is it Sony Vaio VGN-FS630 notebook? I think you should download and install additional utilities such as Sony Notebook Control Device Drivers, Sony Notebook Utilities, Sony Shared Library and Touchpad Driver and Control Utility from here (it’s for Vaio VGN-FS630).
If you have a different model, select it here and go to the downloads page.
February 26th, 2007 at 12:24 am
i have Sony Vaio FS630 XP Home edition since 9/2005. Last week, PC just froze, couple of ctrl+alt+del and it started to reboot (in cycles) to dos screen prompt but no matter what, it would not start in safe mode nor any other options.
i took the notebook to a local PC shop, they told me that hard-drive failure (the files are unretievable from the drive). The shop replaced the hard-drive and installed new XP.
Since i didn’t have Sony’s recovery disc, few features are now not available, as such as mousepad scroll, s-button function, etc…
What can i do and option do i have to bring the notebook back to original Vaio state?
Thanks!
Don
February 19th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I have aSony Vaio VGN-FS 115E, which no longer recognises that the battery is installeed. The computer works on the mains, but will not boot up with the battery installed. And when I insert the battery the computer goes into hibernation.
Any suggestions on how you might be able to correct the problem I have tried a new battery, but it did not work.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Mark,
I think it’s possible that you have an adapter related problem. Can you find a voltmeter and measure voltage the adapter puts out? Is it correct voltage? If you cannot test the adapter, the only way to find out what is wrong will be testing the laptop with a known good power adapter.
Here’s one more thin you can try. You mentioned that the laptop clicks when you power it on. Try removing the hard drive and starting the laptop without it. Do you get any video on the screen without the hard drive installed. In some cases a bad hard drive can halt computer from booting properly.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Hi, I have a sony vaio that has a power problem. The adaptor light comes on but does not charge the battery in the computer nor does it allow the computer to start. The computer is fine as long as it has a battery in it, but the battery went dead. When I take the battery out and plug the ac adaptor in and hold the power button down it lights up on the computer and make a funny clicking noise for a second like it wants to start. When I release the botton it stops. Is it my AC adaptor or a loose connection….this happened before once but after playing with it it started to work again….then now its not again. I am about to buy an ac adaptor but am I wasting my money? Thanks
Mark
February 13th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Chu,
You’ll have to use another working computer to download and create a bootable floppy/CD disk with Hitachi DFT utility. After that you boot your laptop from the created media and run the diagnostic test. If the hard drive in your laptop is bad, it will fail the test.
Most laptops have 2.5″ hard drives and they are kinda universal but I think your laptop might be different. According to the laptop specifications, it’s a pretty small computer and I think you might have a special small 1.8″ hard drive inside, that’s an expensive one. Take a look at the picture on this site. On the left side you’ll see a regular 2.5″ notebook hard drive and on the right side a small 1.8″ form factor drive.
I’ve searched parts listed for your notebook here and for some reason there are two types of hard drives listed for your model – 2.5″ drive and 1.8″ drive, so I’m not really sure witch one installed inside your machine.
BTW, I like your website. Very nice photos.
February 12th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Hi:
Thanks for your tips. My hard drive is so completely broken (if our guesses were true) that no diagonoze can be ran on it. How can I get to toshiba’s website if I can’t even have get the windows to load up?
I still couldn’t open the case, so I’m thinking about sending it to someone for change of harddrive. Do you by any chance know a reliable source for Sony laptops? Are there any universal harddrives that works with Sony Vaoi T240P?
Thanks,
Chu
February 11th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Sam,
Probably there is a loose connection somewhere inside the laptop. To boot any laptop with video you need three main parts: motherboard(with video card), processor and memory. You’ll have to take it apart and check all connections. If you removed the CPU for some reason, make sure it’s seated properly and LOCKED inside the socket. Check if the RAM module is seated properly.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:53 am
In addition to my previous post, when I plug in the adapter, the LED light doesn’t come on.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:07 am
I have a Sony Vaio PCG-K25. I opened it up to clean out the fan and when I tried to turn it on, the computer doesn’t turn on. I see the LED light and the power light come one really fast (first is the LED light then the power light). I was wondering if this is a power issue and how I can get it fixed. Thanks
February 10th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Chu,
I think your guess could be right. Check the hard drive. You can download and run Hitachi’s drive fitness test utility, run an advanced test and make sure the hard drive fails or passes a few times. I don’t work with Sony laptops a lot and cannot guide through the disassembly process, but in general you’ll have to go through the following steps:
1. remove all screws and devices from the bottom of the laptop
2. remove the keyboard and keyboard bezel
3. remove all screw under the keyboard and disconnect all cables
4. remove the display assembly
5. split the laptop case by separating the top cover from the base
Here are my Toshiba notebook instructions. I understand that your laptop is different, but you can get an idea how to open it up.
February 9th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Hi:
I was surfing the internet on my Sony Vaio T140P, which never had any previous serious problem, then it froze and after a while I decided to to a hard shut off by pressing the on/off botton. Right away, it gave me a big blue screen saying the windows will shut down to avoid damage to the computer. I hit the on/off botton again and it turned itself off. Then when I tried to restart it, the vaio logo came up as normal, but it wouldn’t go into the XP “welcome” screen. after 30-40 seconds the screen turned black (like in DOS mode), then a little margin flicked for about another minute, then it displayed “No operating system found”.
What could be wrong??? My guess was that the Hard Drive was damaged, but I could not be a hundred percent sure. Sony makes it impossible for users to upgrade — i couldn’t even open the bottom — unscrewing those screws wouldn’t do! :’(
I live my life on that computer and feeling completely lost without it! HELP!
February 7th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Dawn,
Maybe the AC adapter is bad, the battery has no charge and as a result the laptop appears to be dead? Find a voltmeter and test if the AC adapter puts out any power at all. If the adapter works fine then most likely you have a dead motherboard.
February 6th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Judy,
It depends. Some laptops beep without memory, some don’t. I would test the power adapter too. Who knows, maybe it’s bad and will not provide enough power to start the laptop? It’s not likely but possible.
If you removed the hard drive and changed the memory module but still cannot boot with video, it might indicate a faulty motherboard.
February 6th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Erica,
I would test the AC adapter first. If it outputs correct voltage then most likely there is nothing wrong with the adapter and you have a problem with the motherboard.
February 6th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
So here is my problem, please help!!
I have a compaq m2000. One day, in the middle of browsing, the computer just turned off. NO lights, no indicators, nothing. eventually I took out the battery and ran it on AC power, which worked for about 25 minutes before shutting down again. Then I waited 30 seconds and tried again. IT worked then shut off again after about 30 minutes. I continued this pattern about 2 more times before it just died all together. Now nothing works. No lights, no ac power, no battery, just DEAD. It ran perfectly before, and i never had any problems, then one day it just totally shut off.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciate, I’m desperate!
February 6th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Sounds like the cooling fan of your laptop has become clogged with dust. Reduced air circulation would cause the CPU to attempt to cool itself down by modulating (reducing) its own clock speed. This would have the effect of causing everything from the OS to applications to slow down.
I would also check to see if the disk drive is functioning normally. You can get an external USB drive cage for around $10. This allows you to plug your laptop drive into another PC through the USB port.
February 5th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Hi
I also have a Compaq Presario M2000 seris laptop, its get hot alot sometimtes then one day it just doesnt turn up and the power indicator turns on and if the battery is o charge but the hard drive light is dim and the caps and scrool lights just flash sometimes for hours on end before it turns on and when it finally does COMPLETELY EVERYTHING is slow and laggy, I dont know whats wrong, the menus un XO fade extremely slowly and I want to know whats wrong I just installed 2gb of ram but a technician said that wasnt the problem but couldnt find out what my actual problem was?? P
PLZ HELP !!!
February 4th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
REF# 61
I took out harddrive, then I changed the memory but still the same. Are laptops the same as desktops? When you try to turn it on without memory they beep. I started it up without memory and no beep. Does that mean my motherboard is bad? Or do you have any other suggestions?
February 4th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Ref #59:
What I mean by “absolutely nothing”:
When I use the AC adapter, the light on the AC adapter comes on but the computer does not start, no LEDs light up at all no noise, nothing… When I boot from the battery, the same symptoms occur.
When I take the battery out and try to boot from the AC adapter only, a yellow LED in the upper right hand corner briefly lights up.
February 4th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Judy,
Remove the hard drive and try starting the laptop without hard drive installed. Can you boot with video? Try reseating the memory. If you have only one memory module installed try moving it form one slot to another. Test the laptop with a known good memory module.