Sony comes clean on faulty 8XXX series Nvidia Chips!

[leslieann]

Every customer I know who has dealt with Sony was told the hard disk was bad. It did not matter what it was sent in for, it always needed a new drive. It also didn't matter if it was under warranty or not.

I think it's just faster to replace the drive than to do a restore (which is true) and in all honesty, less expensive when you figure labor rates vs. what Sony pays for drives.

[mothra]

Hello, I joined the forum to post about the same problem on my Vaio SZ58 (2.4Ghz C2D, 3gig, 8400M GS, Australasian/Oceanic model). First off, I uploaded the error onto Youtube for everyone to see (skip to about a minute for GPU error part): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXdHy2QyrsQ

So here is the full story: I bought my laptop from Sony Style in New Zealand (which is where I'm based) for the full price of $3699 NZD, sometime late in 2007. I had zero problems with the machine, but over time it must have sucked on heaps of dust which made the fan inefficient, and overbearingly loud. I never dusted the laptop out or opened it other than to place some RAM.

For about a month or so, I used the Stamina mode to keep the heat down, because my laptop turned itself off for the first time after playing Age of Empires 2 for about 20 mins. I played the game heaps before, but this was the first time it shut down unexpectedly. It was also extremely hot on touch. This prompted me to take it into the service, but Sony in NZ sends all of their past-warranty laptops to an Authorized Service (mine expired 3 months prior to fan making a noise) which is where I went to get my fan replaced. Anyway, it took a while because the part was ordered from Singapore and Chinese New Year was delaying the shipment about a week. Fast forward to a few days ago, when I picked up my laptop with a new fan. When I got home, I switched the laptop on to monitor noise and temperature (it was quiet, and sitting around 55-65 degrees Celsius under full load, and Power in Win7 management), and after about 10 minutes the screen suddenly berserk and degraded in ten seconds. A bunch of vertical lines started flashing, and after a restart a same thing happened, just like in the youtube video I posted.

After restarting in Stamina mode, there is no problem. So definitely the faulty 8400M GS! I took it to Sony today, and I'll be posting what happens as soon as they get back to me, which is likely early next week. Stay tuned!

[akinsse]

This is the second board replacement for this particular laptop, VGN-FZ290U the first of which was a failure within a months of the purchase date. The laptop went in 28 days ago and Sony's sub-contractor is still waiting for "back ordered system boards." I had an extended warranty and don't expect to see my laptop within the 30 days of back ordered parts that forces Sony to initiate what they call a "parts assistance procedure." Not sure how the extended manufacturing warranty reads but if I have a feeling that if I didn't have an extended warranty it could likely be another month before I see my laptop again.

Good luck if you need a board and chip replaced. By the way, I was told that they attempted to "glue" the Nvidia chip back onto the board after it had "peeled" away. That didn't sound reassuring.

[joshjlee]

How do I know if I have a faulty Nvidia chip?

[coolguy]

How do I know if I have a faulty Nvidia chip?

If your Vaio is one of the models listed in the first page of this thread. Your Nvidia GPU is a 8400/8600 G series.

[Shades94]

Well after 2 1/2 years the Nvidia chip finally went bad in my FZ190. I went to start up my computer and all I got was green lines and weird characters on the screen. I called Sony support and within a week they had someone come to my house for the repair. The tech replaced the motherboard and everything is working fine again.

Also of note, I didn't take any measurements but it sure seems like my FZ now runs a lot cooler as well.

[softarno]

Sorry for all but all of a sudden my display card got a problem that’s what I have been told by the guy who was trying to fix my computer, and he added that the card has been displaced and he re fit it again  but obviously he doesn’t as after few days the problem came back and I decided to wait till I get some1 professional to fix it up.

So for now am using my new F Series yet am not so happy with the screen colors.

Will updates you soon I fix up that problem.

The problem just came all of a sudden, the computer fall in the ground once n it was on but i took it out of power and turn it on and all was ok.

Later after a month or something i was traveling and was trying to run my computer during the flight when the low batteries message came on but the computer didn’t hibernate as it supposed to do it went off as the power cuts.

came later home trying to open but no hope, u can see the power led and all the power related items work like u can open the dvd even turning on and off the wifi , connect anything to usb and there is power.

then i took off the Ram and the hard disk and re fit them again then the computer started later, but last for another 3 days before it did it again, and before it went off allot of noise and dots came on the screen as if the power surge is unstable yet its fine and a message show up u got a problem with the display card, then restarted the computer and that’s it, but this time removing and re fitting the ram or the hard disk didn’t work.


went to that guy, he said the graphic card is not removable, but look like it lost its sealing to the motherboard, true i felt he is not honest, but he brought it back again, but again after one week it went off again.

then i opened the lap myself checked everything and took off each cable from its socket and re fit all then surprisingly after fitting everything the computer work, but only for another 2 days.

Now i left it a side and ordered the F series as i have allot of work and decided to wait until i get some pro help

i posted both of the above in the FZ owners thread n i have been guided here.
I have been using my VGN-FZ25M for alomst 1 1/2 year and it was perfect and as u can see all of a sudden the screen just turned to balck, i dont know if they will fix this problem for me but i got that computer from a trip while in dubai?

[ScuderiaConchiglia]

Softarno,

Contact SONY as soon as possible. They extended the warranty on the FZ models that have the NVIDIA chip, to cover the problems with those chips. You may be able to get it fixed by them.

Gary

[ukok]

i am also user sony vaio vgn-sz55gn. the case also same, nvidia not working anymore, i already send email to Sony Indonesia but until now no answer...Fxxx Sony

[coolguy]

i am also user sony vaio vgn-sz55gn. the case also same, nvidia not working anymore, i already send email to Sony Indonesia but until now no answer...Fxxx Sony

The SZ series are not currently covered under the warranty extension.