Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

[Learn2Day]

Hi all,

I'm having a weird problem with a vaio laptop. It powers on fine, shows logo and boot BIOS when F2 is pressed, BIOS recognize HDD and DVD, but won't get pass that. When i turn on, doesn't matter what i try to boot (HDD, DVD, USB), it shows vaio logo and then goes blank, no blinking cursor, nothing, and doesn't boot anything.. I also tried removing all drives and running each one isolated.

At this point I was convinced the issue was BIOS related, but then a friend told me to test the laptop for beeps without RAM, and in fact it doesn't give any beeps errors without RAM which apparently points to a bad mobo.

Do you have any idea what might be causing this issue?

TIA.

[tomodachi]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

That model comes with GPU (G86-750-A2) problem mostly. Try a reflow on it with heater about 10-20 seconds
then give us feedback and lets see what we can do

[lefos]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Hello,

Have you tried with the cmos battery disconnected? Yes this vga has problems. Does the screen have any lines or strange characters ?

[Learn2Day]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

The screen in fine, it seems doubtful the issue is GPU related..
I left it on the BIOS menu screen for about an hour to rule out overheating.
Are you sure a reflow is the way to go?

Thanks.

[Learn2Day]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Sorry, forgot to mention, removing CMOS battery was one of the first things i did. Up until no RAM no beep errors I was convinced the issue was BIOS, obviouslu my first actions were remove CMOS batt, drain battery, load BIOS defaults, etc..

[lefos]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

You can try to reflow teh gpu and if the problem is there the best thing to do is change it with a new one. But first check for the cmos battery.

[tomodachi]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Well if you are able to find BIOS dump and flash it, if I were u I d try it.

[scsblackdragon]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

reflow the southbridge

[Dimitrios]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Most likely a GPU issue. When it tries to load the driver and activate the GPU in its fullest capabilities then it shuts down probably due to bad solder joints underneath GPU.

[spidey]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

re-flash bios.

[Learn2Day]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

I'd like to consider reflashing BIOS, problem is I don't have a BIOS programmer available, and obviously i can't access USB or HDD to flash it onboard.

Do you know if there's any BIOS recovery procedure available for this laptop? Might be worth a try..

I'm not discarding reflow jobs entirely, but right now seems illogical and unnecessary..
A couple of reasons - GPU - Laptop screen works fine, no glitches; SB - BIOS recognizes HDD and DVD.
Yes they might be failing, but unless someone else has experienced and solved such problem this way, I'd like to rule out some more probable causes before going this path blindly.

Thanks.

[lefos]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

No as far as I know there isn't any recovery process on this one. Also I think that if the gpu failed it will be after loading windows or there would have been lines, strange characters etc (which is usual on this laptop). I guess that you have tried without touchpad and keyboard connected right?

[dj_ricoh]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Worst case scenario cook the board dam it .
If you don't have the tools or the money to give it to some one for a reball and a new chip.

Just cook it.


Hmmm this will be my motto.

[tomodachi]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

Worst case scenario cook the board dam it .
If you don't have the tools or the money to give it to some one for a reball and a new chip.

Just cook it.


Hmmm this will be my motto.

Yeah, like MJ says "beat it !"
Keep in mind that motherboard is lead-free. and a problem generator if you don't handle right.

[spidey]

Re: Sony Vaio FZ21M - Blank screen after logo

you can find easy to build spi bios programmer by using google.