++Desperate - Drivers & HD issue for Sony Vaio FZ140E

[morland]

Hi,

I am posting this after going through more than 3 weeks of utmost frustration and hope that someone will be able to help.

To cut a long story short, I bought a Sony VAIO VGN-FZ104E Laptop which came with Vista. I wanted XP, so I booted from my XP CD but got to a screen where it said that no internal harddisk(s) found... Anyway, I paid someone $150 and he somehow installed XP. Have no clue how he did it and he won't tell...

However after having XP, I could find only some of the XP drivers for the laptop after hours and hours of searching the web. At the moment I have the USB's , Ethernet, Modem, and sound working but can't use the Camera, the AV Mode button, the S Button, Card Reader, and the Alps pointing device.

My requests are:

■ Can someone please pls plz help me find the drivers (for XP) for the Camera, the AV Mode button, the S Button, Card Reader, and the Alps pointing device

■ I want to do a fresh re-installation of XP on the Laptop but am not in a mood to throw away $150 again. So can you help me how can I make my XP CD recognize that internal harddisk DOES exist. I do not have a floppy drive BTW.

Once again, trillion advance thanks for your help.

 

[Zoron]

Probably has a SATA hard drive, which means you will need to download drivers for your SATA controller and install them during XP setup via F6 and a floppy drive.

As for the Alps touchpad drivers were found here:

http://www.soft32.com/download_185339.html

You should have been able to find that with a quick Google search as I did. As for everything else, if you can't find drivers on Sony's website, you'll have to try Google. Knowing the manufacturer of the device will be extremely helpful in that case.

 

[morland]

Thanks for your reply and help Zoron.

Actually I have been googling a lot but no luck... Maybe I just do not enter the right keywords in the search box ???

So is a floppy drive a "MUST"? Isn't there some work around so that I can "add" the driver for the SATA controller to my XP CD??? I've read a little about the slipstream concept but find it a bit difficult to follow the details...

Will appreciate your reply.

Thanks.

 

[morland]

Hi Zoron,

I tried but for some strange reasons the download does not start and if I go to the publisher's site (www.alps.com), I can not find the driver. Is there any other URL from where I can download the driver?

Thanks.

 

[Zoron]

Try this page:

http://www.input-drivers.com/companies/63.htm

 

[morland]

Thanks Zoron. I was able to download this time. Now, let's see if it works

Is there any possibility that you can help me find the following drivers for SOny Vaio VGN-FZ140E:

1) AV Mode button
2) S Button
3) Card Reader
4) Camera
5) SATA harddisk driver


Thanks.

 

[Zoron]

At this point, it's almost easier to reinstall Vista and make note of all the hardware in the laptop. Once you know exactly what hardware is in there, you'll know what to search for when Googling.

 

[morland]

Your point is valid and I am almost willing to do this if I can somehow get a slipstreamed CD of XP SP2++ (I already have a genuine license) which also contains the SATA HD driver(s).... I have managed to find the SATA driver (hope it works) but it's just that I have no clue how to make a slipstreamed CD.

 

[billalfreddalson]

Morland,

I'm banzai from that other forum. I've been doing the same thing as you, trying to get rid of this vista junk. I think we can help each other here...

First off, I recommend you get a floppy drive. I bought one, and formatted. It turned out to be bad, but the IT guy at work had one and I got windows on there no problem. If you can borrow one, great. if not, just suck it up. (Or use and return if you can.)

Before I wiped my vista install, I copied the driver directory over. That's been very helpful. I also downloaded all the "vista only" drivers from Sony's website... half of them installed without too much hassle. I still have a list of stuff to address:

Ethernet Controller
Mass storage controller
Some PCI device, probably the sound card.
THe memory stick + SD reader
the S buttons
AV mode (I think we're hosed... this seems like a vista feature.)
My camera has a driver, but it won't save pictures.

Do you have any of those drivers? What are you still missing?

I think that's it, but some of those you've solved already. And after this gets settled, I say we put up a post with links to everything, so it makes it easy for people to do in the future.

 

[morland]

Hi billalfreddalson,

Thank you for your mail, kind offer, and excellent suggestion.

We're on... I'm in a rush at the moment but will certain post soon and take it from here and as per your excellent suggestion. I assume you can truly understand what this exercise is like. In my case, it's even worse because the supplier from whom I bought the Sony VAIO VGN-FZ140E gave me 200% assurance that I will have no problem either installing XP or anything to do with drivers and loss of any feature/functionality (e.g. S button, AV Mode button, card readers, Camera, etc. etc. etc.).

When I return, I will share an update of what I have found so far (with credit to the wonderful folks who helped me get so far) and we'll take it from there.

Yup, let's help others so that others do not have to go through the frustration and agony which we both are going through.


Later

Regards.

 

[billalfreddalson]

Ok, Morland. It looks like I've gotten everything to work except the sound. That must be the unknown PCI device in the device manager I see.

Also, I should warn you: If you reformat the whole hard disk and blow away the recovery partition, you won't be able to recover. I made the recovery DVDs, and reformatted, and I'm up **** creek with the windows install.

 

[morland]

Hi Bill,

Really sorry for the late reply. Okay here we go:
■I have found the sound drivers. I am not allowed uploading of files but I can email you the sound drivers in a RAR file with max. compression. Please PM your email address and I'll send the email.
■Please say it again. Just once please i.e. you found the driver for the 'S' and the 'AV Mode' buttons. Can you kindly share these with me
■ Have you found the drivers using which you can control the Brightness using the FN keys?

Also, I should warn you: If you reformat the whole hard disk and blow away the recovery partition, you won't be able to recover. I made the recovery DVDs, and reformatted, and I'm up **** creek with the windows install.

I have recently restored the Laptop using the factory settings option and have Vista on my Laptop. I ran some option (don't remember what it's called) and it made a complete backup for me on 2 DVD's. I hope I have made the correct "backup" and that these DVD will help me restore the Laptop to it's very original settings if ever required. Correct? Kindly do post your feedback on this.

Last but not least (and the most important question/request): How did you manage to install XP (after making the recovery DVD's). Did you use the "nLite" thing and make a slipstreamed XP CD which could recognize the SATA harddisk or did you use an external floppy and ???

Again sorry for the late reply and I hope you will do the opposite

Look forward to your reply.

Regards.

 

[Pedro901]

I got gold for you:

ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/OS/XPDOWNGRADE

Just pick your model. All drivers and utilities are there to downgrade from Vista to XP.

What a piece of crap this Vista, 1GB of RAM on my VGN-TX57 and 0MB availiable after startup.

Half the softwares are not supported and I can't use the Admin Tools for the AD and Exchange 2003 (MICROSOFT PRODUCTS FOR GOD SAKES).

Vista business????????

 

[morland]

Hi Pedro901,

Thanks Really appreciate your reply.

The site does not have any link specifically for the 'S' button, the 'AV Mode' button, and for the brightness control using FN keys. Are these within one of the zip files or would I get these buttons working automatically after I have installed each file in some specific order? Will appreciate if you can reply.

BTW, can you help me solve the following question earlier in the thread:

Last but not least (and the most important question/request): How did you manage to install XP (after making the recovery DVD's). Did you use the "nLite" thing and make a slipstreamed XP CD which could recognize the SATA harddisk or did you use an external floppy and ???

Personally I TOTALLY agree with your sentiments regarding "VISTA BUSINESS". I'm sure that both of us are amongst millions out there who feel the same way.

Thanks once again.

 

[Pedro901]

Also a great warm thanx to Sony support staff for NOT telling anyone about this FTP site. I really appreciate the weekend wasted looking for drivers.

Morlan, I dont really know which drivers or which utily controls these buttons. I had the same exact problem as you (AV button, eject, britgthness, etc buttons none operative). Very frustrating indeed.

I just downloaded EVERYTHING and install all of them in one shot. So I can't tell you exactly which one did the trick. Everything is now working after the reboot as it was in the pre-installed Vista.

BTW: I dont have a "S" button on my model.

For the install, I have a Genuine XP CD with volume license in my company. Just did a standard installation (boot from it, deleted partition, recreate, blah, blah, blah). But my model has a Ultra ATA drive in it.

If your XP setup disk does not detect your SATA, try finding the drivers for it (should be on the manufacturer website, UNLESS IT'S A SONY, hey, hey). Boot from your XP CD and when the initial setup starts, press F6 to load the driver and you should be in business.

Hope this helps

Cheers

 

[morland]

Thanks Pedro. Appreciate your quick reply. Okay I'll try my luck with the drivers that I have downloaded from the URL that you shared. Wish me luck as I keep my fingers crossed

Regards.

 

[billalfreddalson]

PM sent.

No luck on the S buttons.

THe driver that does the brightness is the same as the one that does the S button. It's called the "sony notebook utilities."

I did the 2 DVD scheme. I blew away the recovery partition. Now I can't recover.

I also used a USB floppy. I don't know how to slipstream something, but it was a hell of a lot less trouble to drive to the store and buy a floppy drive.

 

[billalfreddalson]

Oh, I'm going to europe on a trip. For now, I put Vista back on the damn thing. We'll see about XP when I get back.

 

[morland]

Hope you had a great trip to Europe. Let me know when you are back and we can try to tackle this beast (courtesy "SONY" and "Microsoft")

 

[EdgarCorona]

I got a Sony FZ140E today with the goal of putting XP on it, and I am quickly thinking it's impossible. This is such a terrible chapter of the Information Age where it's not possible to get a laptop in retail stores without it having a broken operating system.

There's not much I can do except hope for the best for you guys...I'm not that big of a risk-taker when it comes to messing with all this because I don't want to risk losing all ability to use the laptop.

 

[morland]

Hi everyone,

I finally got hold of a # of XP drivers. I now have XP running on my FZ140E but some of the following features are not working:

1) S Button
2) AV Mode button
3) Controlling of Brightness using the FN keys

If anyone needs a specific drivers, I'll be glad to upload or email the same. However due to the small bandwidth I have, unfortunately I will not be able to upload/email all.

Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist where possible.

Regards.
P.S.
I still HATE Vista and the manner in which folks @ SONY have replied in response to my emails. Why the hell is Microsoft trying to impose Vista. For arguments sake, it might be a much superior O/S but my fundamental disgust is with the manner in which Microsoft is trying to impose it on all of us.

Besides (in my opinion) it takes an average of 2+ years for any Microsoft O/S to fully mature (with all the Service Packs and Hot fixes, and updates, and blah blah blah)

 

[eljam82]

Hi. Can anyone please help me out figuring out how to make the sound work on the VGN-FZ140E. So far this forum has been very helpful to me on trying to get XP pro with most of the drivers on it, but im stuck with the sound. SigmaTel HD Audio Codec. I have tried to install several drivers for that sound card but with no luck at all. Can anyone please help me out to fix this problem. Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I finally got hold of a # of XP drivers. I now have XP running on my FZ140E but some of the following features are not working:

1) S Button
2) AV Mode button
3) Controlling of Brightness using the FN keys

If anyone needs a specific drivers, I'll be glad to upload or email the same. However due to the small bandwidth I have, unfortunately I will not be able to upload/email all.

Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist where possible.

Regards.
P.S.
I still HATE Vista and the manner in which folks @ SONY have replied in response to my emails. Why the hell is Microsoft trying to impose Vista. For arguments sake, it might be a much superior O/S but my fundamental disgust is with the manner in which Microsoft is trying to impose it on all of us.

Besides (in my opinion) it takes an average of 2+ years for any Microsoft O/S to fully mature (with all the Service Packs and Hot fixes, and updates, and blah blah blah)

 

[fatcheeseguy]

If you can't upload them in a .rar file.. Can you please tell us the websites where you got them Kthx.

Hi everyone,

I finally got hold of a # of XP drivers. I now have XP running on my FZ140E but some of the following features are not working:

1) S Button
2) AV Mode button
3) Controlling of Brightness using the FN keys

If anyone needs a specific drivers, I'll be glad to upload or email the same. However due to the small bandwidth I have, unfortunately I will not be able to upload/email all.

Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist where possible.

Regards.
P.S.
I still HATE Vista and the manner in which folks @ SONY have replied in response to my emails. Why the hell is Microsoft trying to impose Vista. For arguments sake, it might be a much superior O/S but my fundamental disgust is with the manner in which Microsoft is trying to impose it on all of us.

Besides (in my opinion) it takes an average of 2+ years for any Microsoft O/S to fully mature (with all the Service Packs and Hot fixes, and updates, and blah blah blah)

 

[CrosbyLA]

Hi Morland,

I could really use your help on the XP drivers for Sony Vaio FZ140E. If you cannot send them please send link where I (and others) can download them. I know there are many on the forum that would also like the information.

Thanks in advance.
Crosby

 

[EDIBoy]

Hi,

I really need help with my Laptop Sony Viao PCG-8v1L. I both this laptop in a little store and came with no cd at all. I tryed to install Windows XP but event if I do the F6 they dont find the hard disk. I know I have to install the SATA drivers but I dont have a Floppy drive is there someone that can help me out please.

Thanks

Marc