How to Enable Intel VT and AHCI on a Napa/Santa Rosa platform Phoenix BIOS Vaio laptop

railgrinder · 03-01-2008, 10:54 AM

Hey all,

I was also able to enable VT on my VGN-FZ280E after doing a lot of reseach before running into this thread. You can view my original post from here on another forum. I actually started my research on the VMWare forums like bogart did.

I took a chance at the register from another poster who had a VGN-FZ21M notebook. Although I wasn't sure of the poster's bios version, I figured that our notebooks looked similar enough and they seem to be from the same family (VGN-FZ2 series?) to try the register. Lo-and-behold it worked

I use Virtual PC 2007 on Vista 32-bit (since it's free and works pretty good). Prior to the register change, my Virtual PC was running virtualized in software mode and after the change, it jumped right into hardware mode. For me personally, I noticed a huge difference as it didn't lag as much whenever I switched from the host to the virtual system.

Anywho, I've compiled a list of models and bioses with the registers to change based on user reports from the VMWare forum and this forum. Hope this helps.

For future reference and to keep this list updated, please post your model# and bios version.

Code:

SONY MODEL      BIOS VERSION    REGISTER
==========      ============    ========
SZ1XP                           reg 0399
VGN-SZ370       R0096N0         reg 0399
VGN-AR21S       R200J6          reg 0195
VGN-AR51SU      R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FE890       R0200J3         reg 0195
VGN-AR670       R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ21M                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ180E      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ11ZR      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ280E      R1120J7         reg 02CD**
VGN-TZ130N      R0052N7         reg 0363
SZ              R0112N0         reg 0354
SZ              R0101S5         reg 02F1
VGN-FZ290                       reg 02CD
AR670           R1050J8         reg 027F


** My model. I took a chance and used the
   FZ21M register and it worked *phew*

For anyone with the TZ models, check out the register for the TZ130N from above. Maybe give that a try.

Now as far as AHCI goes, has anyone had luck with the register for the FZ2 series with the R1120J7 bios?

Rahul · 03-01-2008, 11:43 AM

I would like to enable VT on my TZ130 if its possible. How can I go about doing this?

I hope Sony can change and enable this on their future Montevina notebooks, there's really no point in disabling it. Since they gave driver support for XP on their notebooks (at least some), there's still hope for their poor tech support.

railgrinder · 03-01-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahulnirmal

I would like to enable VT on my TZ130 if its possible. How can I go about doing this?

I hope Sony can change and enable this on their future Montevina notebooks, there's really no point in disabling it. Since they gave driver support for XP on their notebooks (at least some), there's still hope for their poor tech support.

Have you tried chaning the register value from my post above? Just make sure your bios version is the same.

olandese · 03-07-2008, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by railgrinder

Hey all,

I was also able to enable VT on my VGN-FZ280E after doing a lot of reseach before running into this thread. You can view my original post from here on another forum. I actually started my research on the VMWare forums like bogart did.

I took a chance at the register from another poster who had a VGN-FZ21M notebook. Although I wasn't sure of the poster's bios version, I figured that our notebooks looked similar enough and they seem to be from the same family (VGN-FZ2 series?) to try the register. Lo-and-behold it worked

I use Virtual PC 2007 on Vista 32-bit (since it's free and works pretty good). Prior to the register change, my Virtual PC was running virtualized in software mode and after the change, it jumped right into hardware mode. For me personally, I noticed a huge difference as it didn't lag as much whenever I switched from the host to the virtual system.

Anywho, I've compiled a list of models and bioses with the registers to change based on user reports from the VMWare forum and this forum. Hope this helps.

For future reference and to keep this list updated, please post your model# and bios version.

Code:

SONY MODEL      BIOS VERSION    REGISTER
==========      ============    ========
SZ1XP                           reg 0399
VGN-SZ370       R0096N0         reg 0399
VGN-AR21S       R200J6          reg 0195
VGN-AR51SU      R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FE890       R0200J3         reg 0195
VGN-AR670       R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ21M                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ180E      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ11ZR      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ280E      R1120J7         reg 02CD**
VGN-TZ130N      R0052N7         reg 0363
SZ              R0112N0         reg 0354
SZ              R0101S5         reg 02F1
VGN-FZ290                       reg 02CD
AR670           R1050J8         reg 027F


** My model. I took a chance and used the
   FZ21M register and it worked *phew*

For anyone with the TZ models, check out the register for the TZ130N from above. Maybe give that a try.

Now as far as AHCI goes, has anyone had luck with the register for the FZ2 series with the R1120J7 bios?

Does this work for both AHCI and VT, or just one of them?

olandese · 03-08-2008, 01:42 AM

I tried with my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21Z and it worked!
So you can add the following line in your table

:

SONY MODEL BIOS VERSION REGISTER
========== ============ ========

VGN-FZ21Z R1120J7 reg 02CD

WMH · 03-11-2008, 06:24 AM

Hi everyone,

I've been following this for a while as i too bought a Sony and expected VT to work as the hardware supports it but also ran into a wall like everyone else.. Anyway, i finally got the nerve to do the trial and error and managed to find the correct register for my Vaio. I only went for the VT setting as i have no use for AHCI currently, so without further ado, the register for VT on a FZ31M is 02D0.

Find the updated list below which includes mine and the one olandese found for his viao.

Updated List:

Code:

SONY MODEL      BIOS VERSION    REGISTER
==========      ============    ========
SZ1XP                           reg 0399
VGN-SZ370       R0096N0         reg 0399
VGN-AR21S       R200J6          reg 0195
VGN-AR51SU      R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FE890       R0200J3         reg 0195
VGN-AR670       R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ180E      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ11ZR      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ280E      R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-TZ130N      R0052N7         reg 0363
SZ              R0112N0         reg 0354
SZ              R0101S5         reg 02F1
VGN-FZ21M                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ290                       reg 02CD
AR670           R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ21Z       R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-FZ31M       R2110J7         reg 02D0

Regards,
WMH

skippy911 · 03-11-2008, 11:22 AM

I have a TZ170N, if I do this what is the worst that could happen? WIll it possibly brick my entire laptop? All I want is to enable VT. TIA

caco · 03-19-2008, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WMH

Hi everyone,

I've been following this for a while as i too bought a Sony and expected VT to work as the hardware supports it but also ran into a wall like everyone else.. Anyway, i finally got the nerve to do the trial and error and managed to find the correct register for my Vaio. I only went for the VT setting as i have no use for AHCI currently, so without further ado, the register for VT on a FZ31M is 02D0.

Find the updated list below which includes mine and the one olandese found for his viao.

Updated List:

Code:

SONY MODEL      BIOS VERSION    REGISTER
==========      ============    ========
SZ1XP                           reg 0399
VGN-SZ370       R0096N0         reg 0399
VGN-AR21S       R200J6          reg 0195
VGN-AR51SU      R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FE890       R0200J3         reg 0195
VGN-AR670       R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ180E      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ11ZR      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ280E      R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-TZ130N      R0052N7         reg 0363
SZ              R0112N0         reg 0354
SZ              R0101S5         reg 02F1
VGN-FZ21M                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ290                       reg 02CD
AR670           R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-FZ21Z       R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-FZ31M       R2110J7         reg 02D0
VGN-FZ290E      R1120J7         reg 02CD

Regards,
WMH

_________________

I just tried it in my VGN-FZ290E and it worked like a charm. Add the VGN-FZ290E to the list.

This is great. Now I can use Hyper-V in my VAIO. SWWEEET!!!

I have not tried the AHCI since I do not have any need for it now. But will do if the need arises.

I used securable.exe from GRC to test is VT was enabled. Very easy to do.

http://www.grc.com/securable.htm

Now I can finally set my VAIO free!!! If only a fix this simple could be done for the brightness controls in XP, I would the happiest man in the world.

Regards,

Ed

holonic · 03-21-2008, 04:04 AM

Just set free my vaio VGN-FZ91NS.

Acutally the thing that took me the most time was to find a simple way to turn a USB key in a bootable DOS disk.
After reading numerous sites with methods in windows or linux I ended up using this page's method, worked like a charm.
No floppy drive or CD-R hassle, just a simple USB key.

Here's the updated list grouped by series:

Code:

SONY MODEL      BIOS VERSION    REGISTER
==========      ============    ========

VGN-AR21S       R200J6          reg 0195
VGN-AR51SU      R1050J8         reg 027F
VGN-AR670       R1050J8         reg 027F

SZ              R0112N0         reg 0354
SZ              R0101S5         reg 02F1
VGN-SZ1XP                       reg 0399
VGN-SZ370       R0096N0         reg 0399

VGN-FE890       R0200J3         reg 0195

VGN-TZ130N      R0052N7         reg 0363

VGN-FZ180E      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ11ZR      R0050J7         reg 02D3
VGN-FZ31M       R2110J7         reg 02D0
VGN-FZ21M                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ290                       reg 02CD
VGN-FZ21Z       R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-FZ290E      R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-FZ280E      R1120J7         reg 02CD
VGN-FZ91NS      R1120J7         reg 02CD

Now KVM works flawlessly

Thank you for posting the method, you saved the day

zachcarter · 03-23-2008, 01:52 PM

FYI, I was able to get VT enabled using a linux PXE boot server to boot the dos image. Here's what I did:

http://www.zachcarter.com/sony-vaio-enable-vt.html