Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
Hi everyone, thanks again for all your help & support, I had a great result last night: once I had flashed peste's .bin file I rebuilt the laptop, and ran it for a few hours (using Linux Mint on an old HDD). The computer stayed running - no 30 minute shutdown!
Next I put in an SSD and installed Windows - that went very smoothly (before the flash, the laptop could not recognise my SSD). After a few Windows Updates the laptop is still running beautifully - and it's very responsive. I have it powered on right...
sijones99
Member
Last Activity: 02-07-2022, 07:49 AM
Joined: 01-21-2022
Location: Manchester
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
How embarrassing... here in the UK we call that a "schoolboy error"!
The YouTube video that I watched did not have that step, so I did not think to do it!
peste's .bin file file has now flashed successfully! I will rebuild the laptop and see what happens. I will report back to this thread with the results.
Thankyou [B]peste[/B] & [B]Vesko356[/B] for your kind help & advice.Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
How embarrassing... hereLeave a comment:
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
Thanks Vesko 356 - I have now removed the CMOS battery - I never thought to do that.
The wires have good continuity & I have pin 1 in the correct location. I have re-seated the clip many times, and I can read the current firmware from the chip OK, but I cannot write back to it, I get the same error:
[I]Verification error on address: 0x0000101B, Device: 0xA0, Buffer: 0xEE
[/I]
This may be a stupid question: right now I am trying to write peste's .bin file over the current file that...Leave a comment:
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
Thanks for your fast reply peste - I tried to write that file with Neoprogrammer, but the operation completed in less than 1 second, with the message:
[I]Verification error on address: 0x0000101B, Device: 0xA0, Buffer: 0xEE
[/I]
I guess the operation should take a minute or more?
Does that message suggest anything to you?
[edit: I'm reasonably confident that the clip is seated OK - I can still use it to read from the chip...]Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help requestLast edited by sijones99; 02-06-2022, 10:29 AM.Leave a comment:
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Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E BIOS dump & help request
Hi All, firstly big thanks to the forum members SMDFlea, piernov & mon2 who have got me this far, from when I posted over on this thread:
[URL="https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=102806"]https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=102806[/URL].
[B]Background:[/B]
My brother's [B]Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E[/B] appears to have a corrupt / missing ME Region firmware. When I boot it into BIOS I can see the [B]firmware is listed as version R0250DA[/B], but the ME Version says 'UnKnow'.
The symptom is that the machine boots, but shuts... -
Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E 'ME version unknown'
Thanks for the tip SMDFlea - I'll do that. I'm happy to buy from the UK, pay a bit more, and get faster delivery.
I've just opened up the laptop and identified the chip: marked as [B]WINBOND 25Q64FVSIG[/B]. There's a decent amount of space around it to get the clip on.
I can't see my chip listed as specifically being compatible with these clip gadgets, though the 25Q64BV seems to be universally supported. Do you think it's worth a punt (I'm guessing there are numerous chips and hoping the...Leave a comment:
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E 'ME version unknown'
Just in case anyone comes along before I report back, in case this helps, I came across this beautifully clear YouTube video on how to use an SOP8 test clip (I assume it's OK to post links like this here?):
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OttN8wQ1HhE&t=0s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OttN8wQ1HhE&t=0s[/URL]
The kit itself is dirt cheap, I'm going to order this set from Amazon UK:
[URL="https://www.amazon.co.uk/KeeYees-SOIC8-EEPROM-CH341A-Programmer/dp/B07SNTL5V6"]https://www.amazon.co.uk/KeeYees-SOIC8-EEPROM-CH341A-Programmer/dp/B07SNTL5V6[/URL]...Leave a comment:
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E 'ME version unknown'
Thankyou for the replies everyone!
[B]@mon2:[/B] good idea, I'll message that final poster on the other thread and ask for clarity - they suggest reflashing the BIOs 'without clear ME Region' but I'm not 100% sure what they mean.
[B]@SMDFlea:[/B] I'll order up those components, looks like they can be had for less than 20GBP, and they may come in handy in the future. I don't suppose you know of a good idiot's guide to the procedure for backing up the BIOS? If not I'll jump back onto Google & educate myself......Leave a comment:
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Re: Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E 'ME version unknown'
Hi mon2, many thanks for your reply. Yeah, you can set your watch by it: consistently 30 minutes after startup, it'll do what I'd describe as a 'hard shut down'. No 'shutting down' procedure, it just switches off in an instant.
(Imagine a desktop PC with no battery, if you were to simply pull the power cord: it's like that)
Once it's shut off I can reboot it, it's perfectly happy and will run for another 30 minutes, then shut off again. This is new behaviour - before the HDD failure, my brother...Last edited by sijones99; 01-22-2022, 10:39 AM.Leave a comment:
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Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E 'ME version unknown'
Hi Everyone, please can I share my situation and see if anyone has any ideas? I'm trying to help my brother out, but am at the outer limits of my knowledge. I'd like to do my best before this laptop gets thrown away - it's quite a good spec and I think it'd be a shame to trash it without trying. Also, I'd like to understand the problem for my own experience.
I've been searching online, but am not really any the wiser.
[B]The laptop[/B][LIST][*]Sony Vaio SVF1521K4E[*]Intel Core i5 - 3337U, 1.80GHz x 2[*]Onboard graphics[/LIST]
[B]Background / symptoms[/B]... -
Re: New Members - please post your introductions here
Hi, I'm a male Brit, based in the North of England, married with 2 kids. I work in graphics & marketing. I'm reasonably computer-savvy, probably more so than the average person, having built a PC and fixed many other PCs & Macs, but am well aware of my limitations.
In fact I found and joined this forum because of a specific problem that I have, which has defeated all my efforts & Googling.
I like tinkering, fixing & repurposing things. So with the help of online information I've messed...Leave a comment:
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