Member Avatar for tony1604

Hi everyone, I'm not a tech but I have a problem with a Sony SR21K. The PCMCIA slot is not working and it seems the bios is set only to boot from the external cd reader throught the PCMCIA slot.
The machine needs to be restored to factory settings and the op system reloaded. I have the disks but can't get the machine to be able to boot from any other source. Can annyone offer some advice? Thanks Tony

Just as a note I have gone into the bios and checked there is no option in the boot section to tell it to boot from USB, Network or anything else that might be of use.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sparky2410

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Short summary of the problem and prior replies: the Sony PCG‑SR21K in this thread has a nonworking PCMCIA path and only very limited boot options in firmware (so the recovery discs cannot be started from the usual external route). and correctly pushed looking at vendor docs and firmware defaults; also noted a vendor-side recovery route. The suggestions below expand on practical, durable workarounds that still apply years later.

Practical fallbacks (ranked by simplicity and reliability):

  • Remove the laptop hard drive and connect it to another PC with a USB↔SATA/IDE adapter or a desktop spare. Use that host to run the recovery media, copy or image the recovery files onto the drive, or restore an image directly. This avoids any dependence on the SR21K firmware. (manuals.plus)
  • If reinstalling from USB is preferred but the BIOS has no USB-boot support, install a small boot manager to the drive MBR that can chainload a USB installer. Plop Boot Manager is built for that scenario and can be installed to the disk so the machine will start Plop at power-on and then boot a USB installer. (plop.at)
  • If hardware work is not an option, have a repair shop clone the drive or temporarily fit a working internal optical drive; a technician can perform the physical tasks and preserve the recovery partition if present.

Quick workflow for the two recommended approaches:

  1. Drive‑swap method: power off, remove battery, remove HDD (photograph cable/hardware for reassembly), attach HDD to a host with a USB‑to‑SATA/IDE adapter, boot the host, run the recovery disc or image‑restore tool (Clonezilla or similar) to the attached drive, reinsert drive and boot the Vaio. (manuals.plus)
  2. Plop method: on a working PC download Plop, use its Windows/Linux installer to write Plop to the target disk’s MBR while the Vaio drive is connected to that PC, return the disk to the Vaio and select the Plop USB boot option to start the recovery USB. Make an MBR/drive backup first and keep the original Recovery media safe.

Final notes: preserve any COA/product key and any user data before overwriting the disk. If the SR21K’s internal screen or other hardware also fails, physical drive removal is the safest way to recover or restore the system without relying on damaged laptop subsystems.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

manual for laptop .

tip,read ,read and read .
i would make this suggestion on boot hit f2 and go to setup/bios and load defaults,exit and save settings , ,because i really dough if the pcmcia slot is the default boot option ,but i could be wrong

Member Avatar for tony1604

Thanks for the help. I tried your suggestion but the defaults don't change anything. The options available are diskette ( there is no reader in the machine), ATAPI CD ROM or Hard Drive. Could the Hard Drive allow me to load the disks on top of itself if I put the recovery disc contents on?

Member Avatar for acejames1

my thought is that the option might be disabled in bios maybe dont know if there is an option

Member Avatar for tony1604

Thanks JAmes

I'll check it out but on the initial look there wasn't an option to enable, but I'll look see.

Many thanks

Member Avatar for sparky2410

I have the same problem as well so i contacted Sony Vaio they told me to press F10 to access the recovery partion on your hard disk so that should set the computer back factory reset but unfortunately my laptop lcd screen wont show anything.;)

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