Hardware Abstraction Layer on VGN-FE11S

[anforti77]

Hi,

I'm going to be away from home for about a month and, as luck would have it, my VGN-FE11S has decided not to start properly. It gets as far as the XP startup screen (the blue one with Windows XP and the logo on it, just before the Welcome screen), and then hangs. I didn't bring my recovery disk with me, but I have a slipstreamed copy of my Windows XP MCE SP2 setup disk.

I am attempting to repair the installation by booting into the setup disk and pressing F5 when it prompts for RAID drivers. However, I'm getting stuck when it prompts for the computer type/Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). My laptop has a Centrino Duo, but I don't know which of these options correspond to it:

1) Standard PC
2) Standard PC with C-Step i486
3) ACPI Multiprocessor PC
4) ACPI Uniprocessor PC
5) Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC
6) Compaq SystemPro Multiprocessor or 100% Compatible
7) MPS Uniprocessor PC
😎 MPS Multiprocessor PC
9) Other

I've pretty much ruled out 1-3, 5, 6, and 8, but I don't know which of the rest it is. If it turns out to be 9, I'll need some kind of device driver for the recovery to proceed.

What kind of HAL does the VGN-FE11S's Centrino Duo have? If it's none of the above, where could I get the appropriate drivers?

I'd really appreciate any advice on this.

Thanks,
doonyakka

[Blencogo]

I presume you have tried tapping F8 when you see the Vaio Logo at boot-up - Selecting 'Last known good configuration' and hitting enter? This will set your Vaio to the last Restore Point when your Vaio booted successfully. Alternatively, select 'Safe Mode' from the same menu to see if your Vaio will start Windows with a minimal driver set.

It is always worth resetting the BIOS to its default settings by tapping F2 on boot-up.

My Pentium D shows as "ACPI/Processor" for each of the two processors - so my guess is 3 or 4.

Anyone out there with a Centrino Duo?

If Yes - then click on

Start -> Right Click on My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager

Expand "Processors" - Are there one or two processors shown?

Right-click on it (or one of them) choose Properties then Details. From the drop-down box Choose "Compatible IDs"

What type of processor is given?

[anforti77]

Thanks for your reply. I've tried Last Good Config and Safe Mode and neither work - in other words, the system hangs at the same point. I've also tried a repair reinstall, but the process stalls at around the "34 minutes left" mark.

If anyone with a Centrino Duo could look in their Device Manager, that would be great.

Cheers,
doonyakka