XP Video Drivers for Vaio

[Jeff Cooper]

I just ran a clean install of XP Home on a laptop (which had a
constantly crashing ME). It's a Sony Vaio PCG-FX240.

So far, so good, except for the video. We canot preview screensavers
"No Preview Available" it says. Anyway, from what I read, it's
because the video driver needs to be updated.

Sony's support site is useless. They have a driver there for the
modem and a BIOS update, but nothing about video. The "Device Restore
CD" which was made for ME, has a video folder with drivers in it, but
on XP I'm not sure where to put it so it'll find it. I'm also not
sure it'll work with XP, but I figured I'd give it a try and roll it
back if it doesn't work.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Jerry]

Go to www.windrivers.com and see what they have.

 

[Jef Norton]

| I just ran a clean install of XP Home on a laptop (which had a
| constantly crashing ME). It's a Sony Vaio PCG-FX240.
|
| So far, so good, except for the video. We canot preview screensavers
| "No Preview Available" it says. Anyway, from what I read, it's
| because the video driver needs to be updated.
|
| Sony's support site is useless. They have a driver there for the
| modem and a BIOS update, but nothing about video. The "Device Restore
| CD" which was made for ME, has a video folder with drivers in it, but
| on XP I'm not sure where to put it so it'll find it. I'm also not
| sure it'll work with XP, but I figured I'd give it a try and roll it
| back if it doesn't work.
|
| Anyone have any suggestions?
|
| Thanks,
|
| Jeff

Hi Jeff -

Try this link: http://ciscdb.sel.sony.com/cgi-bin/select-p-n.pl

Under "Product Support, Drivers, Updates and Questions", under the first
pulldown, select "VAIO Notebook Computers"

Under the second pulldown, select "FX Series"

Under the third pulldown, select "PCG-FX240" and then click on "Drivers &
Updates"

Click on the "Other OS" link on the upper left of the screen. You'll find
all the drivers and pre-installed program updates (those that need updating
for Windows XP, at any rate) that you need to support your laptop under
Windows XP.

There is a BIOS update on the page for your machine to properly support
Windows XP. If you have added additional memory to your laptop, return it
to the amount of memory that was installed on your system when you purchased
it - the BIOS update may cause your system irreparable harm if you attempt
to run it with additional memory installed.

If you want to install any of the Sony-written system control utilities
(such as the Hotkey utility, the Sony Notebook Setup, or the Power Panel
Utility, you will need to install the Sony Shared Library and Sony Utilities
Dynamic Link Library (DLL) before installing the updates for these
components.

Under the "Help" link on the upper left of the screen there is documentation
for upgrading to Windows XP on your laptop.

I upgraded my PCG-R505EL Laptop to Windows XP Pro. Unlike most other
situations with Sony's support, they've actually done a reasonably good job
of documenting the procedures for upgrading their systems which will support
Windows XP.

Good luck!

Jef

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I knew I shouldn't have toyed with it at the end of the day! Must
have been beary-eyed and didn't see the link. Thanks much. Turns out
the screensavers not previewing in the dialog is a "known issue" with
the intel controller, according to MS. But at least I have an updated
driver anyway.

Another problem, this computer has a DVD/CDRW. Well, CDs play fine.
But DVDs don't at all. I keep getting a message saying the decoder
isn't available. Sony has a link for this in the knowledgebase, but it
doesn't list my model (PCG-FX240). The restore CD is for ME, so I
don't even want to try it.

Also, XP keeps using what look like generic drivers. I found
something through versiontracker.com, but the installer in the package
(aspi_v470) doesn't seem to install anything. I remove the device in
the device manager, run the installer app (for a Matshita ujda710 --
which is what the device manager idendifies the drive as being). After
installing, I reboot and XP just reinstalls the same CD-ROM driver.

So I'm not sure if I don't have the right driver(s), the right (or
any) decoders, and I'm not sure how to get them. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

Jeff

 

[Jef Norton]

| I knew I shouldn't have toyed with it at the end of the day! Must
| have been beary-eyed and didn't see the link. Thanks much. Turns out
| the screensavers not previewing in the dialog is a "known issue" with
| the intel controller, according to MS. But at least I have an updated
| driver anyway.
|
| Another problem, this computer has a DVD/CDRW. Well, CDs play fine.
| But DVDs don't at all. I keep getting a message saying the decoder
| isn't available. Sony has a link for this in the knowledgebase, but it
| doesn't list my model (PCG-FX240). The restore CD is for ME, so I
| don't even want to try it.
|
| Also, XP keeps using what look like generic drivers. I found
| something through versiontracker.com, but the installer in the package
| (aspi_v470) doesn't seem to install anything. I remove the device in
| the device manager, run the installer app (for a Matshita ujda710 --
| which is what the device manager idendifies the drive as being). After
| installing, I reboot and XP just reinstalls the same CD-ROM driver.
|
| So I'm not sure if I don't have the right driver(s), the right (or
| any) decoders, and I'm not sure how to get them. Any thoughts?
|
| Thanks again!
|
| Jeff


Hi Jeff -

The reason you can't play DVD's is you don't have any DVD decoder software
installed on your system.

You can use the Windows ME Application Restore CD(s) that came with your
computer to reinstall WinDVD. Then go back to the Other OS Updates page I
referenced earlier and download and install the last item: "InterVideo®
WinDVD® 2.8 Patch Utility for the Microsoft® Windows® XP Operating Systems."

The above is exactly what I had to do on my laptop in order to play DVD's
after I clean-installed XP Pro.

The generic CD/DVD driver from Windows XP's installation also installed on
my system (and mine is also a Matushita drive) and they work perfectly.

As an aside, many of the other pre-installed applications from the Windows
ME Application Restore CD(s) will run just fine under Windows XP. However,
don't rely upon any of the drivers on the Driver Restore CD - everything you
need is either from the Windows XP installation or on the web page I
referenced.

Jef

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Thanks again, Jef.

Yes, after I posted that rather long-winded question, I decided to
roll the dice and install it from the restore CD -- even though
everything I read at Sony said "don't do this, they're for ME only".
I installed the patch an lo and behold, it seems to all be working!
DVDs, CD burning, the works. Thanks again.

Jeff

 

[Jef Norton]

| Thanks again, Jef.
|
| Yes, after I posted that rather long-winded question, I decided to
| roll the dice and install it from the restore CD -- even though
| everything I read at Sony said "don't do this, they're for ME only".
| I installed the patch an lo and behold, it seems to all be working!
| DVDs, CD burning, the works. Thanks again.
|
| Jeff


Cool! Glad to hear you got it working.

Jef