RSSSony VAIO Chokes on XP Upgrade
By David Worthington | Published December 6, 2001, 4:29 AM
Many OEMs are counting on Windows XP to boost sagging PC sales amid the economic downturn. Advertisements have appeared both on the Web and in print, in combination with rebates and other incentives, to draw customers into what is promised to be a new experience. Sony has used this momentum to showcase its series FXA series of VAIO laptops – designed for Windows XP.
A total of 36 laptops have been released by Sony - built specifically for Windows XP. A handful of these were ready for consumers early on, and came pre-loaded with the operating system prior to its official launch date. Sony touted a versatile product line equipped with the latest technology available. Alongside Bill Gates during his keynote address on October 25, a display of Sony PCs shared a glimmer of the spotlight as events unfolded.
The Sony Vaio FXA36 comes equipped with 1-GHz AMD Athlon, 256MB of SDRAM, a CD-RW/DVD combo drive, a 20GB hard drive, and an ATI Rage Mobility M1. It represents the zenith of its series, however it holds one dirty secret. Despite being shipped with Windows XP Home Edition –- a version of the operating system that according to Microsoft's own design is upgradeable to the Professional edition -- the FXA36 cannot follow the upgrade path.
A well placed source within Microsoft told BetaNews that customers have contacted support seeking answers while also confirming the existence of the snafu. Postings to Microsoft's support newsgroups continued to spell out tales of the failed upgrade, as customers flocked together to troubleshoot theirs issues.
One newsgroup posting read, "The last tech I talked to said they (Sony) don't support XP Pro since it wasn't the original software installed. Sorry, but my little sticker says "designed for Windows XP," said the post, detailing the depth of the frustration felt by users who expected a relatively painless experience.
According to the newsgroup postings, it appears as if either OEM software or drivers are at fault. Users claim that the process freezes roughly 32 minutes into the installation.
Although initially caught off guard, Microsoft has assigned a team of engineers to investigate the issue and is currently working in conjunction with representatives from Sony. A technical explanation is expected to become available within days. In the meantime, users continue to investigate ways to force the upgrade.
Sony could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts at contact.
I purchased a Vaio FXA32 from Best Buy, this would be my main computer for home and work. I had it crash no fewr than 6 times, it would not play games, had to get new BIOS update, new drivers for everyhting....on and on.
We took the computer back to return it, (well past 14 day period) after one month. Thanks to a printed out copy of the article from BetaNews we were able to show Best Buy that the problems were not user related. This enabled us to get a full exchange for another computer. I got a new HP Desktop with XP on it and have had NO Problems.
Thanks Beta News and Thanks Best Buy!
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|The upgrade on my PGC-505TL super-slim laptop to XP home went flawlessly. Sony shipped me a XP "companion" CD that had a BIOS update and updated versions of the OEM drivers and XP compatible program. There were detailed instructions, and I choose to do a clean install. Worked great, and it really flies now. The website had all the drivers too- http://www.sony.com/pcsupport. I had been expecting a nightmare after reading all the upgrade stories, and knowing about the driver issues, but every piece of hardware was identified and works fine.
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|This choking problem on upgrading has been a common occurence for me when using the home upgrade version - Hp was one a Tiger Symantec another - built for XP - hmmm. Professional seems to install well with no problems - home upgrade is literally a piece of crap. Don't think Sony has a monopoly on this one.
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|When I first tried to upgrade to XP PRO final, I had a similiar issue, although this was on a desktop pc, not a Sony Laptop.
The upgrade process always locked up my computer when there were approx. 6 minutes remaining on the install. So I formated the drives to get rid of EVERYTHING and try a clean install. Same problem.
I tried everything I could think of to get it to work. Eventually, I wiped the hard drive clean and re-formatted it in FAT32 (all along it had been NTFS). Suddenly it worked without any problems. The install worked perfectly.
I was surprised that something that simple could cause so many problems, although I don't know why.... with Microsoft, all things are possible. Hehehehehehe.
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|Sony is the KING of Proprietary Hardware and Software. They have got to be the biggest nightmare of an OEM to deal with. For example, most people don't know that Sony keys their BIOS to a particular operating system: If you buy a Sony laptop that comes shipped with Windows 98SE, you can't take a Windows 2000 Sony preload for the same machine and load it on that machine and have it work. Sony's explanation? "We want users to buy the upgrade which will include the BIOS to allow the newer OS. The user should not try to upgrade the machine." (That was a direct quote from a Sony Rep.) In fact, BIOS upgrades for Sony laptops are EXTREMELY hard to find - Go look for some! Since all of us know how buggy a BIOS typically is when it's initially released, it should be extremely disturbing to most that Sony very infrequently released updated / fixed BIOS's for their laptops unless the problem is ULTRA-severe. Sony is famous for bas****izing specifications and twisting technology to suit their specific needs. Perfect example: i-Link. An unnecessary clone of IEEE-1394 with a proprietary connector, but without bus power. Another example: Memory Stick. Sony's been trying desperately to cram this unimpressive and totally unnecessary memory "solution" down EVERY Sony customer's throat---Even the new Sony CD-RW drive comes with a !@#$% Memory stick slot!
Sony embeds their proprietary hardware in their laptops with a MASSIVE Preload - sometimes as large as 3.8 GIGS!! That's an incredible amount of scenarios and configurations for Windows XP's setup to enumerate, and anyone who fails to see the magic that the setup program performs is truly blind.
Sony's so bent on stuffing proprietary technology down people's necks that they fail to see the basic problems associated with sticking 3-12 new devices on the PCI bus and then use bad, leaky and uncertified drivers to run them.
Try clean-installing a Sony, and then go look at device manager. Ouch. The good news is that IF you can find drivers for the OS you clean install, you can rid yourself of the massive amount of preloaded TRASH that Sony blessed you with and actually make your Sony sometimes 3 times as fast!!
While I'm sure that there are quite a few configurations that XP can't successfully upgrade, I also know that we're talking about a piece of software that's exposed to more random configuration and scenarios than any other software on the planet. Microsoft can't cover them all, but they sure as heck managed to cover most of them.
Sony does this type of stuff to themselves all the time - one of the pitfalls associated with a lack of driver support in XP because Sony CHOOSES NOT TO SUBMIT DRIVERS TO WHQL PRIOR TO SHIPPING BRAND NEW LAPTOPS. You should see the mess Sony's "Battery Scope" program caused with Windows 98SE, Millennium, and Windows 2000 power-management. It was quite possibly the biggest POS driver I've ever seen come from Sony.
I can't stand Sony laptops and anyone who buys their junk without doing a lot of research is just asking for boatloads of pain and suffering if they ever deviate from the type of customer Sony requires them to be.
Go buy a Dell instead. At least you won't end up with 8 unknown devices in DevMan...
Sonartech
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|Hear hear! You nailed it, Sony's support is awful. And here I sit with 90% of my home entertainment hardware bearing the brand name "Sony" ... well it was all purchased before I knew any better. Now I see all Sony equipment for what it is, plain and simple, overpriced. You can get more features for less money from other brands that lately have had higher ratings than Sony...can you believe it? I've been shopping for a 27" TV lately, suffice it to say I ended up getting a Toshiba that has head and shoulders (for features) above what a similar Sony product did for about $200 less.
Ok enough ranting about TV's and such, here's a Sony PC complaint...my ex-girlfriend's parents bought a Sony Vaio (or however it's spelled) ... they wanted to put a larger hard drive in it. This was around the time that *ALL* PC mfr's (even Gateway, who I can't stand!) were coming out with bios updates to accomodate the issue. Well guess who didn't BOTHER? Sony! Had to use a hardware solution to work-around the problem (adding expense and time to the project) which never should have had to happen in the first place. Not to mention they are thankful they have the extended warranty on the thing, as it's been back in the shop NUMEROUS times (at least 4 that I know of) for lengthy periods of time.
And this laptop/XP issue is just another example of Sony's continuing incompetence.
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|You are right on about Sony's damb propritary crap. But, it worked for them in the past. Sony's Trinitron is the jewel in their proritary crown and it is a good product for them. The Trinitron is hands down the best CRT on the market... no question. If you go into any broadcast studio anywhere in the world they will be using Trinitrons, and not because they are cheap! The Trinitron CRT gives you the best reproduction of the original NTSC broadcast possible... period. That said, your right about Sony's propritary garbage in everything that they make. You would think that they would have learned a lesson after Betamax, MD and DAT... the list goes on and on I guess
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|Don't forget these are laptops! They often contain oddball hardware or variations. They are not as standardized as most desktop machines.
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|um this is only half a story! why cant it be upgraded? what happens? why is it only specific to that one make/model?
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|And *WHY* is it coming across as (or so it seems to me) Microsoft's problem? Why can't it be upgraded? I would assume it is something Sony did, because of the hardware specs? And like it says in the article "The last tech I talked to said they (Sony) don't support XP Pro since it wasn't the original software installed" sounds like Sony is the problem, NOT Microsoft as the article leads us to believe.
With the way the anti-MS people talk, you would think MS crucified Jesus, caused plagues, was behind the Terrorist attacks, etc!!
James Wheat
http://belprecomputerwizard.com
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|Well, they did didn't they?! :-P
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|I see you didn't let me down on that "setup", Fewt! LOL!!
James Wheat
http://belprecomputerwizard.com
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|heh heh
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