SZ3VWP won't start up

[ragwo]

Hi. A couple of days ago my laptop suddenly would not start. I can turn it on but no start up screen appears and no keys function except for the on/off button. The screen's back light doesn't even light up. the fan starts reving at a moderate speed. The pc gets really hot though. When I turn on the laptop I can hear the hdd and the cd-rom reving for maybe 3 seconds. when inserting a cd the drive speeds up for about 10 seconds and I can hear the laser searching/ moving and then it stops.
Could it be a faulty main board or bios? If anybody has suggestions or solutions to my problem I would be really grateful. Please excuse bad formatting of the text. I'm currently writing on a mobile phone. Best regards

[Blencogo]

Hi ragwo and welcome.

It doesn't sound good.

Have you tried attaching an external monitor to see if your screen or your nVidia Go 7400 are faulty? As you do not appear to get the usual Vaio boot screen, that points to a faulty screen or a faulty boot sector on your hard drive.

Have you tried looking very closely at the screen to see if there is an image but no backlight?

Try the good old favorite in case it is caused by static: -
Turn off the Vaio
Remove the mains lead
Remove the battery
Hold the Power Button down for 30 seconds
Attach the AC adapter and try to boot with the battery out.

Next thing to check is the hard drive. You will need to borrow a genuine XP Pro installation CD (not the Sony Recovery Set). Insert the disc and turn on. The Vaio should boot from the XP Disc and if you can see the 'Welcome to Setup' screen then your screen is OK and there is a problem with your hard disc or your windows installation. Try running a 'Repair' installation from the disc.

Let us know how you get on - the next step will depend on the results so far!

[ragwo]

Thanks for the fast reply! I've now tried to boot without the battery and the pc still doesn't work. When I look closely at the screen there is no picture at all. The laptop won't boot from a cd. It just spins for a while and then stops. If it's just a disk problem shouldn't the pc still respond with beeping when pressing keys repeatedly? And shouldn't I be able to enter the bios menu if the disk is faulty? I've tried to remove the disk, but I can't even figure out how to get to it. Built like a fortress this laptop..

[Blencogo]

You could be right - it is almost like the BIOS chip or its battery has died!

PM me your email address and I'll send you the manual as a .PDF - it's 3MB.

[ragwo]

You could be right - it is almost like the BIOS chip or its battery has died!

PM me your email address and I'll send you the manual as a .PDF - it's 3MB.

 

Thanks a lot for the manual! I've been in touch with vaio-link in Sweden and they charge between €800 and 900 for a new motherboard. In my opinion that is quite expensive, so I wonder if anyone could tell me if it is possible to find the motherboard's production number without disassembling the whole laptop. I hope to find a replacement board, but I don't want to buy the wrong one. Thanks in advance!
regards

[Blencogo]

You will probably have to order from the USA.

Nexttronics will ship worldwide.

Have a look on the diagram for Part 301down the page under 'Main Board'

A1216480A - BIOSED CTO MOTHERBOARD $878.11 but you get a $400 rebate when you return your faulty mobo - net cost $478.11

http://www.nexttronics.com/reference/sony/sz3/int-SZ72B-B.htm

Have you thought of checking the BIOS rechargable battery? Have you tried leaving your SZ3 connected to the mains adapter overnight to see if you can recharge it?

313175654421LITHIUM RECHARGEABLE BATTERY $21.10

[ragwo]

Thanks a lot for all your help! I've left the laptop charging for about 30 hours now and it still won't start. I will try to remove the bios battery and measure if it is charged. If it isn't I'll replace it and see if it starts. Thanks again!

[ragwo]

Have you thought of checking the BIOS rechargable battery? Have you tried leaving your SZ3 connected to the mains adapter overnight to see if you can recharge it?

313175654421LITHIUM RECHARGEABLE BATTERY $21.10

 

My laptop isn't listed as compatible for the battery. My model no. is sz3vwp. Do you think I still can buy the battery? I've managed to find the bios battery in my pc but it is difficult to measure it. The contact points are tiny and I don't want to short circuit it.

[Thalamus.]

My laptop isn't listed as compatible for the battery. My model no. is sz3vwp.

Once you select the part that Blencogo identified you can see your Vaio model listed..

See the image below..

[ragwo]

Thanks a lot! I didn't see that. Maybe it was temporarly blindness or something.. Thanks again.

Regards