saper
Marcin CieślakHere is an unexpected final to the story:
A replacement #Vaio Z11VN arrived yesterday, so I decided to put the old broken one together.
Having put everything back:
The laptop starts up
@Shufei it depends :) I have 34 reviews on my eBay account that has been opened well in the last millennium. This time it is mostly overdue replacements: next #VAIOtale laptop, additional laptop charger and replacement Cisco IP phone since the one I have is misbehaving due to being dropped.
But on Saturday I went to buy a new suit of course in person and I enjoyed it. But it was a quick decision - I know where to go and that was the only thing there. Another replacement piece due to failure :)
Could this little black part pointed by a hairpin be a lid sensor? Keyboard panel still comes on top of this but maybe that thing can sense the pressure. (It looks similar to the sensor I've had on SZ, different location though). An FEC connection goes in to the place pointed to by a screwdriver, with that stupid glued attachment I mentioned before. I think it should work disconnected for testing, but who knows? This little board has also other non-essential things #VAIOtale #HowIBrokeMyLaptop
Small update: having attached the keyboard (which also contains wireless, HDD and battery LEDs) it turns out that after plugging the battery and having applied AC power, the charging LED is glowing orange-red! So at least charging circuitry is somehow responding.
If anyone knows how to make a cable that matches that connector I would be grateful. Learning the embedded controller internals may lead to many interesting discoveries and improvements. I think the counterpart plus is easy available, I have no idea how to make a working cable out of this. Previous post includes photo and schematics of the connector. #VAIOtale
And, how my #HowIBrokeMyLaptop experience shows, I should stay away from hardware work :)
And, how my #HowIBrokeMyLaptop experience shows, I should stay away from hardware work :)
Both models feature a tiny 30 pin debug connector that seems to provide a direct access to embedded controller and it's firmware. Maybe it is even possible to feed firmware on its own? The embedded controller is a small chip that controls the inner life of the computer. VAIOs use Renesas H8/2117 processors that are pretty powerful and independent, making the machine to boot and work fast. This functionality is provided on newer laptops by the controversial Intel #ManagementEngine.
Even if this, possibly non-essential, connector is broken, it will reduce the utility of this box (yes I know I can tether to an iPad or my feature phone). But there is another piece in those two models that caught my attention. #VAIOtale #HowIBrokeMyLaptop
I gave up when I started to try to disconnect and reconnect ugly tiny FEC connector which is glued. (Pointed to on the first pic by a screwdriver). On the other picture it is clear that SZ (the cheaper series) has a relatively large and easy to lift latches. This particular connector probably belongs to the 3G modem, which is why I like this particular model - it can be used like a tablet or smartphone virtually anywhere online. #vaiotale @HowIBrokeMyLaptop
