Member Avatar for hgibbsbella

HI!

For my sins i have a vaio S1, It worked great for the first year and a bit I had it, but now, it has become unreliable! Sometimes it just will not power up!

The leds at the bottom of the keyboard tells me that the power is on and the battery is working but the hard drive does not work and the laptop just does not start up.:rolleyes:

Other times, however it is fine!:cheesy:

Any suggestions???????????????????????:?: I cannot see anything physically wrong with the machine and I have tried to restore the system and then reinstall all the relevant updates! PLEASE HELP!:!:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by MarkMaison

Dani AI

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Multiple people in this thread (, , , ) have pointed to hardware (storage or memory) and an odd Ctrl-Alt-Esc behaviour. The practical priority is: protect data first, then run low-risk checks that narrow the fault to drive, RAM, display, power, or the motherboard.

  1. Preserve your data first. Remove the laptop drive and connect it to another PC (USB adapter/enclosure) to copy important files or image the disk before doing repairs.
  2. Power-reset: remove battery and AC, hold the power button ~30 seconds to discharge, then try AC-only and battery-only boots.
  3. Drive check: listen for drive spin/clicks; see if the BIOS/POST detects the disk. If the drive is not seen, reseat the caddy and connector. If possible, try the drive in another machine or try a known-good drive in the Vaio.
  4. Boot from external media (bootable USB/CD). If the machine boots from external media, the problem is almost certainly the internal drive or its connector. Use a live Linux or Windows PE environment to run SMART or diagnostics.
  5. Memory test: reseat modules, test one stick at a time in each slot, and run Memtest86 for several passes. Intermittent black-screen/boot can come from bad RAM.
  6. Display vs. system: when the fan/power LEDs run but the screen is black, connect a VGA/monitor or shine a torch on the LCD to check for a faint image (backlight/inverter failure).
  7. BIOS/keyboard quirks: reset the BIOS by removing the CMOS battery briefly. The Ctrl-Alt-Esc oddity can point to a stuck key, ACPI or firmware issue — reseating or temporarily disconnecting the keyboard can be revealing. Update the BIOS only from Sony if other fixes fail (BIOS flashing has risks).
  8. When to replace or seek service: a dead/not-detected drive or persistent memtest failures justify replacing those parts. If the machine fails to POST, cannot boot from external media, and shows no device activity, suspect motherboard/power circuitry and consider professional repair.

Safety note: unplug power and ground yourself before opening the case. For an older Vaio S1, weigh repair cost vs. replacing the laptop; a failing motherboard is often not cost-effective to fix.

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Member Avatar for TT4Titans

Sounds like the HDD is failing may be needing a new one.

Member Avatar for takuntah

Hi
I have same problem, on boot up lcd is black, cpu fan is on, power led is on. If notebook is leave on in that condition after 10 to 20 minutes repeatedly switch on and of notebook start up and operate fine, it can start on and off for as long as two weak and it will fail again.
I belive is ram memory and as soon as I prove it will let you know

Member Avatar for MarkMaison

This problem is driving me nuts. I've reinstalled (actually repair recovery) using the WinXP Pro . At first it wouldn't boot except intermittently. All three LED lights go on, but it now only will boot up when I hold down Ctl-Alt-Esc. What in blazes does this mean?

Thanking everyone in advance,


Mark

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