Sony Vaio sometimes doesn't get past POST

sluc December 20, 2020 at 19:55:56

Does it make any difference if you take out the battery and run on charger only?

It did to start with. I'd remove battery and run on AC only, and it would start. So I bought a new battery. But lately it hasn't helped.

A couple of times I had success by removing the battery and power, then holding on the power button for more than 60sec to try and drain all residual power. I has success with this twice in a row yesterday, but this didn't work for me today. I tried again and again. Also removed the SSD. Nothing changed. No VAIO logo, no message saying it couldn't find the hard drive. Finally after multiple attempts today, it worked again. Can't explain it. Anyone got any ideas?

sluc January 4, 2021 at 22:06:05

Are there 2 memory sticks present? Remove one and check if any difference.

Yes, the original 4gb plus a Crucial 8gb stick I added. I tried removing the 8gb, and it worked once but not the second time. I've noticed when it is going to fail, the HDD led comes on briefly when first turned on. It doesn't come on when it succeeds at post. It's a Crucial SSD. I can't find led error codes for led flashes at startup. I know Dell has them, but did Sony? I tempted to buy a new SSD and see if it is that. message edited by watermullon

riider January 5, 2021 at 09:15:35

"Also removed the SSD. Nothing changed" "I tempted to buy a new SSD and see if it is that" If you're having the same problem with the SSD removed, the SSD isn't the problem. "lately it is not getting to the VAIO logo, which means no BIOS access, no windows loading. I think it means it isn't getting past POST" Unplug the AC adapter & remove the battery. Temporarily remove the SSD & the 8GB stick of RAM. Press & hold the power button for 30 seconds, then re-insert the battery, plug in the AC adapter & try to power up. Report back the results. If you're able to access the BIOS, check all the settings & adjust as necessary, also record the current BIOS version. If the BIOS is outdated & you're finally able to boot into Windows, you might want to consider updating the BIOS to the latest version available. Have a look at the "Benefits and improvements": https://www.sony.com/electronics/su...

Thanks for the advice. I already have that BIOS version R0142C5. That was updated a year or more ago. The only way I'm able to get it to start right now is to 1. unplug laptop, remove battery 2. hold power button for >60sec 3. restart This works most of the time. Then I reinsert the battery while it is still on. Last couple of days I've kept the laptop on 24/7, but in a day or two I'll shut it down and try and access BIOS, but from memory there isn't a lot to change in there.