Trying to revive the Sony VAIO PCG-N505VX

So it's March 2012 and I'm trying to revive my Sony VAIO PCG-N505VX.  This is the 2nd iteration of the famous Sony VAIO 505TX that turned laptops into a fashion statement.  The N505VX was featured as a fashion accessory in ads and was small enough to fit into a purse.  Why you ask do I even care?  Sentimental reasons.  It's still the thinest and lightest notebook I own and it still runs.

Resources:

• http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_sony.html - Provides a comprehensive list of Sony VAIO 505 enthusiast information.  However, it's mostly in Japanese.  Use translate.google.com to read the page in english.

Today, it's old and it's slow.  I managed to upgrade the harddrive to the 40GB variety, but haven't made much headway into getting a more modern operating system that would work, that is short of going back to Windows XP SP3.  Windows 7 won't install because it has a minimum of 512MB RAM limitation, unless I modify the Windows 7 boot disk to ignore that minimum RAM requirement.  I've tried Ubuntu, but the Gnome interface is too heavy for the 128MB RAM and Pentium II 333MHz processor.  Xubutu and LXDE is better, but once you load up an application, it's all over.

See Sony VAIO PCG-N505VX support.

Specifications

• Release Year:  2003
• Mobile Intel® Pentium® II Processor 333 MHz, 256K Cache, 66 MHz FSB
• 128 MB RAM
• 10.4" XGA Active Matrix (1024x768) LCD
• NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV with 2.5 MB Video RAM

I've been considering that perhaps I could upgrade the processor to the Mobile Intel® Pentium® II Processor 400 MHz, 256K Cache, 66 MHz FSB.  The Mobile Pentium II 400 MHz is old enough that it's difficult to find the processor on the 2nd hand market.  The N505VX processor is a BGA package, so I think the spec number is SL3EM.  This SL3EM processor is available on eBay, but on a different board, the Compaq Armada m700, so I'll also need to employ a BGA service to swap out the processors.

Some other things I'm considering is getting an PATA IDE SSD.

Some helpful tips to get the computer to perform marginally better:

• In BIOS, enable the 32-bit transfer mode for the primary and secondary drives.

I also tried the Windows registry harddrive performance tweak, but the N505VX is set to UltraDMA-2 in BIOS.

32-bit tranfer mode enabled

32-bit transfer mode disabled

The original external CD-ROM drive died so I had to swap out the CD-ROM drive with a DVD drive.  I meant to get a DVD drive with a standard flat bevel, but ended up buying the HP Pavilion dv4000 series replacement DVD drive.

The original floppy disk drive failed as well, so I swapped out the FDD drive inside the original Sony VAIO N505VX case with a different external USB floppy disk drive.

2012-03-06 Update

I tried to setup the Sony VAIO N505VX as a music jukebox, but I had trouble getting Windows XP SP3 to interact with Windows 7 Ultimate.  After several days of goofing around with settings found splattered all across the internet, it turned out that McAfee SecurityCenter Beta Personal Firewall was blocking all Windows XP filesharing.  I didn't realize there was a difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP filesharing, but apparently there is.  Even turning OFF McAfee SecurityCenter Beta Personal Firewall doesn't actually stop the firewall.  It was still blocking the traffic.  I actually had to uninstall McAfee SecurityCenter Beta to open up the traffic.  I couldn't even figure out which ports I needed to open up because I couldn't find the logs.

Needless to say, I've COMPLETELY removed McAfee SecurityCenter Beta from my network and I'm going with Avast.

2012-04-25 Update

So I took the plunge.  I purchased the Compaq Armada m700 mainboard with the Intel Pentium II 400 MHz BGA processor and looked for a BGA rework service to replace the stock Intel Pentium II 333 MHz BGA processor with the 400 MHz processor.

First off, let me say, finding this kind of service in the US was a major pain.  I contacted 5 different vendors before I found one that would even attempt the work.  I did find 2 different eBay vendors that listed BGA rework service, I did not end up using that service.  See here for the eBay reballing services.  I considered wpbcomputertech and MTEK (eBay listing here).  Ultimately, I went with SRR Manufacturing.  I contacted 4 other vendors:  Ztronics (no reply), Circuit Technology Center (no reply), eTech-Web.com (they do not work on consumer electronics), and Notebook Tek/The PC Pitstop (declined to work on specific laptops, especially Sony notebooks, because of complexity).

Sony VAIO N505VX Intel Pentium II 333 MHz processor

Compaq Armada m700 mainboard Intel Pentium II 400 MHz processor

I requested a quote to replace the Sony VAIO N505VX Intel Pentium II 333 MHz processor with a salvaged processor from a Compaq Armada m700 mainboard Intel Pentium II 400 MHz processor.  The quote amount was for $75, and if all goes wrong, there will be an additional $35 to replace the original chip.

As of 2012-04-25, I have shipped my Sony VAIO N505VX notebook and Compaq Armada m700 mainboard to SRR Manufacturing.  Stay tuned for developments.

Cost breakdown to date:

• BGA rework/reballing service:  $75
• Compaq Armada m700 mainboard (plus shipping):  $23.94
• Shipping to SRR Manufacturing:  $35.58

Yes I do realize that the $134.52 isn't worth the laptop itself, but let's just say that this is the precursor to finally getting the Sony VAIO TXN27N modded.  Also I'm interested in upgrading a Samsung netbook to the Intel® Atom™ Processor 330.  The Atom 330 is a dual core processor.

2012-06-06 Update

I've received my laptop and all the accompanying parts back from SRR Manufacturing today.  I have some good news and I have some bad news.  I plugged everything back in and I turned it on and it booted!  On the boot screen I saw the new Pentium II 400 MHz processor accepted and I tried to go into BIOS and it hung.  I turned it off and turned it back on and this is where things got wierd.  The boot screen came back MUCH slower than before and the VAIO startup logo was really slow.

At this point, I opened up the laptop to make sure that all the pads were there and the heatsink assembly was reassembled incorrectly.  The original heatpad on the CPU was missing so I replaced that with Artic Silver and fixed the CPU heatsink assembly and the bad news is that it's not even booting anymore.

My guess, the reballing wasn't done properly.  I don't think the CPU overheated and broke the solder joints.  I would think the CPU would shut down first.  Oh well.  Right now I'm considering my options.  I sent my laptop in on 25 April and just now got it back 6 June, which would make it 6 weeks to get the service complete and delivered to my home.  I'm not excited about the prospect of having to wait another 6 weeks for a another repair job.  To make matters worse, I think they may have mutilated the touchpad ribbon cable, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.  I picked up a new one here on eBay, but it's way too long and pricey for a ribbon cable, but the original won't stay in anymore.

Note to anyone out there reading this, this is WAY harder than it is in other countries.  There are lots of BGA services in the UK and India, but in the US, there are large scale vendors that won't do this kind of work and there are lots of hobbist and repair shops that try to do the work.  I'm a little bummed out, but I'll try again.  There's another reballing service that I haven't tried to contact yet, B.E.S.T.  Otherwise, there's always, Anh.

2012-06-08 Update

I'm fed up with reballing services that don't usually deal with notebook computers, so I went with Anh.  We exchanged a few emails to discuss my situtation with a potentially poorly reballing service.  For my particular situation, he quoted me $150.  So, my Sony VAIO N505VX went back in the box it came out of and back to the UPS Store and off to Anh.  Stay tuned for developments.

If this goes well, I'll ask if maybe he can replace the memory chips on the proprietary memory modules.  I'm guessing the system won't be able to take much more than 384 MB RAM.  The memory modules only have 2 memory chips per module, so I'll be happy if I can upgrade it to 256 MB RAM.

2012-08-05 Update

Things are not looking up.  After receive no word from Anh regarding the Sony N505VX, I called him.  He gave me some pretty bad news.  The CPU reballing didn't work.  He said the the other side of the mainboard was burned and that the mainboard is probably dead.  When I originally sent the laptop to SRR Manufacturing they said that the board was burned when they received it.  I didn't take the laptop completely apart after receiving it from SRR Manufacturing so the mainboard may have been a lot worse off that I originally thought.

I looked around online for a replacement and the last fully functional Sony VAIO N505VX was last sold on eBay on May 2011.  Since then, apparently, there has been no other postings.  Interestingly enough, I managed to find parts by searching for "n505".  The parts however, are specifically for the Sony VAIO N505VE.  The N505VE was the Intel Celeron 333 MHz version of the notebook.  All the other specifications are exactly the same.  I don't have any information other than that the specifications are the same so I purchased an available Sony VAIO N505VE mainboard and I've sent it to Anh and hopefully everything will work out just fine.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

2012-12-23 Update

After about a month of trying harass Anh over forums, telephone calls, and emails (I guess he's more stubborn than me), I've been officially ripped off.  He hasn't responded to any of my inquiries regarding my Sony VAIO N505VX.  I guess you can't trust these forum guys after all.

For anyone looking for a review of Anh Nyugen reballing/BGA service (http://www.micropctalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5468) (notebookreview.com forum profile name ngvuanh and micropctalk.com forum profile name anh), I would definitely say that he's not legit and you'll lose your equipment.

It's sad that I've lost my Sony VAIO N505VX, but at least I didn't lose my Sony VAIO TXN27N.

2020-05-02 Update

• Sony Application Recovery CD PCG-N505VE/N505VX Version G23.0
• ARCDG23R2.ISO
• Sony System Recovery CD PCG-N505VE/N505VX Version G23.0 CD#1
• SRCDG23R2_0_0_ENU1.CUE
• SRCDG23R2_0_0_ENU1.BIN
• Sony System Recovery CD PCG-N505VE/N505VX Version G23.0 CD#2
• SRCDG23R2_0_0_ENU2.CUE
• SRCDG23R2_0_0_ENU2.BIN

2020-05-03 Update

I created the floppy disk image using PowerISO http://www.poweriso.com/download.php. To write the image to disk, Start PowerISO -> Tools -> Write floppy disk image file.

• Sony CD-ROM Drive PCGA-CD51 Installation disk Version1.00
• SCDROMINSTALL.ima