topic Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP! in PCs & Accessories

HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:38:28 GMT

Hi everybody,
It was a difficult decision for me to choose Sony VAIO as there were other laptops from comptetitor brands which came with XP. But I stumbed upon this link:
http://www.vaio-link.com/os/xp/downgrade/index.asp?site=voe_en_IE_cons
and I trusted Sony's professionalism that nothing would go wrong. But actually, when I got my laptop, registered it and tried to enter the details it didn't work. According to tech support they don't support downgrades for this series of laptops. I guess since it "only" cost me 1k euro it's not nearly as important as the business laptops. Nice start.

So now I'm relying on the goodwill of fellow VAIO owners for advice. I need a full list of drivers and their whereabouts before I can downgrade to XP. I guess the main ones are the floppy disk SATA drivers for the XP install and the network card drivers.

If anyone has any experience with downgrading any of the laptops in this series (N31X and N38X) please any advice you can give me is really appreciated.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:02:22 GMT

Hi phalaris and welcome to Club Vaio.

As you have found out Sony do not support XP on the N-Series Vaios so make sure you create recovery discs using the 'Vaio Recovery Utility' as you may need to reinstall Vista in the event of a warranty claim.

The last N-Series model released with XP as the OS was the VGN-N11S and I have just had a quick look at the specs and luckily they look almost identical to yours so the XP Drivers and the XP Utilities for that model should be all you need to install XP.

Download the Original Drivers Package and the Original Utilities Package for the N11S from here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&c=0&s=VGN-N&m=2392

Both downloads will be .ZIP files so you will need to right-click on them and choose "Extract All". Most Utilities will have a 'Setup.EXE' to run and so will some drivers but others will need installing from Device Manager.

Good Luck!

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:02:47 GMT

Thank you so much for replying,

So the last two files (original drivers and original utilities) include everything that would be needed for the N38Z? I don't want to bloat my fresh XP install but I would like to have everything working.

Also, do you have any recommendation as regards the SATA AHCI controller driver? I've got a floppy that I used to install XP Pro on a friends HP Presario, and my guess would be that the driver is universal. I don't want to end up with no driver and no OS during the installation though.

And lastly, do you recommend I flash the bios first? What is the latest bios for this type of system? At the moment I have Phoenix Technologies LTD R0100J4 02/08/2007.
Is the one posted on the download page you linked me (BIOS Update R0030J4) the latest?

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it. If you want any additional info I can post a Belarc audit.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 19:37:37 GMT

Hi Blencogo,

also thanks from my side!
Works absolute flawless.

But I have a few questions regarding the Utils-Package.
I don't now what the programms in that package are good for.

Utils Installer 1 SonyUtils DLL
Utils Installer 2 Sony Shared Library
Utils Installer Battery Checker
Utils Installer Setting Utility Series
Utils Installer Sony MP4 Shared Library
Utils Installer Sony Video Shared Library
Utils Installer VAIO Control Center
Utils Installer VAIO Event Service
Utils Installer VAIO Power Management
Utils Installer Wireless LAN Starter
Utils Installer Wireless Switch Setting Utility

Would it be possible, that you or someone else can give me an short description of every item? That would be great.

I have installed them all by I have no idea that they're doing.

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:03:18 GMT

The N11S Driver download does not include a SATA driver although the HDD is definitely a SATA drive. Perhaps someone who has done this downgrade can put me right, but I think SATA support is provided by the Intel Chipset drivers which are supplied in the download.

I think you will be able to install XP without the need for a floppy disc and pressing F6. I think that the SATA Controller is set to Legacy Mode in the BIOS on the N-Series. Legacy will allow the system to see the hard drive as an ATA Device and will run the install in enhanced PATA mode.

I don't think you will need it but the link for the SATA Controller for the Intel 945GM chipset is here: -

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/detail_desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=12474&strOSs=All&OSFullName=All%20Operating%20Systems〈=eng

Personally, I would leave the BIOS alone!!!

I am pretty sure that all the drivers and utilities needed should be in the two downloaded .ZIP files. However, I have not done this downgrade so I cannot swear that you will not need to track down a few drivers from the manufacturers sites. No guarantees I'm afraid.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:15:07 GMT

Hi Blencogo,

your right, there is no need for a floppy or F6 during the installation.

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:17:23 GMT

Hi Tom,

Glad you've managed to install XP.

Thanks for that information - that should help phalaris!

I'm not exactly sure what all the Utilities do but as they only take up a small amount of disc space, I usually recommend you install them all. If you don't something just won't work.

Some like the LAN Utilities are self-explanatory but Sony Utilities, Sony Shared Library and Vaio Event Service control all your special keys and Fn keys for screen brightness, speaker volume, etc.

Vaio Control Panel puts a utility into Control Panel to show system information and settings.

Power Management controls battery and fan usage and optimises battery stamina.

I'm sure someone else will know more about this than I do!!

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:25:48 GMT

Hi Blencogo,

thanks again for your help!
Fortunately there are not so many special keys.
Do you think, that Vaio Event Service also controlles the little Slider on the side, that says WLAN on/off?

In both positions XP says "No WLAN available". So I was wondering if I have missed to intall something.

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:38:29 GMT

The switch should be controlled by the Wireless Switch Setting Utility. Do you have a small green square in the system tray? If so try clicking on it and checking the box 'Enable 2.4GHz WLAN'

Have you installed the wireless driver? There are two options in the Drivers download. Check first but I think you will have the Intel PROWireless. It should be in the Drivers download and you need to run the .EXE file

C:\N1_Drivers\Drivers\WirelessLAN2\iProInst.exe

Or there is an updated XP Driver on the Intel Website.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:47:46 GMT

Oh, ok I will try this.
I have only installed the driver in the folder "WirelessLan1".

Thanks.
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:05:56 GMT

Thanks guys! amazing help!

The SATA thing was my main hesitation. So now I can get the install done and figure everything out from XP.

I'll keep you posted on my progress as I'm sure there will be plenty more people in the same situation as me.
This laptop is a great deal after all, and most people don't want Vista.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:13:04 GMT

Good Luck phalaris!!!!

I think you are right - hopefully others will find the info in this thread very useful.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:32:58 GMT

Hi phalaris,

that would be very nice if you could post on your progress.

@Blencogo
How can I check if I have Intels ProWireless?
The driver which is installed right now is "LAN-Express AS IEEE 802.11g PCI-E Adapter"
I have installed the ProWireless driver without Error-Messages but I don't think it had any effect on my system cause the Adapter is still named "LAN-Express AS IEEE 802.11g PCI-E Adapter"

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Omankit — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:40:36 GMT

Vista cool. You stupid.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:47:44 GMT

Blancenogo,

sorry for bothering you again.
In the driver folder are three folders named "FlashMediaSetting", "SonyNC" and "USBMouse"
Since there are no unrecognized (yellow exclamation mark) devices left in the device manager I wonder what these drivers are for.

@phalaris
Yes, I've never seen an more appealing notebook so far. In my opinion in looks even nicer than Apples iBooks

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:01:26 GMT

An update on my progress:

The XP installation went smooth. SATA drive was recognized perfectly (a lesson HP need to learn from Sony).
Usually then the most difficult leap is getting online. I went through all the yellow exclamation marks and chose Update Driver -> Manually Locate Driver. Then it was just a case of picking and matching the right folder in the N1/Drivers folder with the right exlamation mark. This all went smooth, except Realtek Audio Drivers.
As soon as I set up my ethernet adapter I installed NOD32 and did a full 5 or 6 cycles of Windows Update. After this, I managed to get the sound working (it hinged on some Microsoft update package). After this I got a relocated DLL error which I traced back to the freshly installed Realtek drivers. This was fixed with yet another Microsoft update package.

Blancenogo,

sorry for bothering you again.
In the driver folder are three folders named "FlashMediaSetting", "SonyNC" and "USBMouse"
Since there are no unrecognized (yellow exclamation mark) devices left in the device manager I wonder what these drivers are for.

@phalaris
Yes, I've never seen an more appealing notebook so far. In my opinion in looks even nicer than Apples iBooks

Regards
Tom

Basically this is where I am at the moment.

Right now I have no yellow exclamation marks and everything seems to be working fine.

But now I am not sure what to install. There are some folders in the drivers section that I didn't use. Likewise, I have not installed any utilities.

Some things that are bothering me at the moment (wechselbass, I am curious if it's the same for you):

-- The memory card slots are annoyingly coming up as drives in My Computer. One of them doesn't have an icon as well... I doubt this is supposed to be like that.
-- The scroller on the touchpad doesn't work. i.e. when you move your finger up and down the very right part of the touch pad it's supposed to be the same as the mouse wheel. I am not sure what controls this. There is supposed to be a touchpad control panel of some kind, right?
-- The brightness FN keys don't work.
-- The volume FN keys don't work.
-- The battery management tool isn't installed.

I know it's nitpicking at this point. I'm not a baby and of-course I can just install everything from every folder! But I have read articles about Vaio's features (such as auto-update) being a total nuisance and bloating people's computers with crap like Google desktop. I am extra-cautious about installing stuff that I DO NOT need.
But I definitely would like to have all my hardware working the way it would have on the VGN-N11Z, and this includes touchpad, sound, VGA controller (for multiple displays with monitor/laptop screen).

wechselbass I'm looking forward to hearing your experiences with these things, and I will try out some of the utilities when I get home and post my findings. Hopefully by the end of this thread there will be a nearly full set of instructions for people to perform the downgrade without trial and error.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

wechselbass — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:30:44 GMT

Hi phalaris,

for touchpad-support you have to update the ps/2 mouse driver with the drivers in folder "mouse".

Yes, the icon for the Memory-Stick is missing. And also the same problems with the Realtek drivers.

For battery management etc. just install all the utils from N1_Utilities.zip
The zip-File seems to contain only the real necessery utils. There is no update utility included for example.

So everything is very fine, expect that i don't no what the driver in the "FlashMediaSetting", "SonyNC" and "USBMouse" are for.

Regards
Tom

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:03:50 GMT

Hi phalaris,

for touchpad-support you have to update the ps/2 mouse driver with the drivers in folder "mouse".

Hey Tom,

Not sure what you mean. I am in Device Manager -> Update Driver -> Locate Manually.
Where is the folder called "mouse" ? In my N1/Drivers there is no folder like this.


Yes, the icon for the Memory-Stick is missing. And also the same problems with the Realtek drivers.

For battery management etc. just install all the utils from N1_Utilities.zip
The zip-File seems to contain only the real necessery utils. There is no update utility included for example.

So everything is very fine, expect that i don't no what the driver in the "FlashMediaSetting", "SonyNC" and "USBMouse" are for.

Regards
Tom

I think the USB Mouse drivers are for the Sony Mouse, which you can get at sonystyle.com. I'm pretty sure it's no harm to install them, but completely unnecesary..

FlashMediaSetting and SonyNC remain a mystery..

I installed all the utils for the sake of consistency, and most of them didn't seem to do anything, which is a bit unsettling. But all the FN keys work now, as well as the power management..

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

Blencogo — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:07:56 GMT

Hi phalaris, Hi Tom,

You both seem to be getting on fairly well!!

For Touchpad support you need to install the Alps Pointing Device for Vaio - you will find it in the drivers download = N1_Drivers\Pointing.

The USBMouse seems likely to install the drivers for a generic USB Mouse.
Sony NC is 'Sony Notebook Control' but I'm not exactly sure what it does!
FlashMediaSetting has got to be something to do with the SD Card and the Memory Stick Duo slots.

Re: HELP downgrading VGN-N38Z/W to XP!

phalaris — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:22:18 GMT

Got the touchpad working, so everything totally works now

Still having some problems where windows doesn't boot up properly like once every 5 attempts, but this is nothing to do with Vaio. Microsoft will sort this out for me I hope..

Thanks for all your help Blencogo!