FS115z DVD ROM Nightmare

[espoke]

Dear All.

I am not having much luck with technical support at the moment, so here goes.

I took delivery of a VAIO FS115z 3 days ago.

The DVD RW will not open using the button mounted on the drive, nor will it read any disks.

I have tried everything: The firmware update application is telling me it doesn't need updates. I have done a full system restore. I have restored the BIOS to defaults etc.

If anyone can shed even the smallest amount of light on this, it will be truly grateful.

Pete

[seb21__]

What does the e-support have said?

[espoke]

Upgrade the firmware! As i mentioned the firmware application (x-flash)? says it does not need to be updated.
Tech support have said if the full system restore does not work, I will have to send it back for inspection, which can take up to 4 weeks. There is no way I am prepared to do this; the laptop is 3 days old! Sorry for my ranting nature, I am just extremely frustrated, I have saved for months for my dream VAIO, receive it faulty, and Sony don't seem to give a crap.

[seb21__]

Nope

A system restore has nothing to do with the firmware in your drive. You could make a complete system recovery and that wouldn't solve the problem!
The firmware on the drive is like a BIOS on the mainboard. It has nothing to do with the system on the harddisc.

But I would try to install the firmware again. Ignore the message that it doesn't need a update.

[espoke]

Sorry maybe I didn't make things clear. I am fully aware of the differents between the firmware, hard drive config etc...When you say to ignore the fact it says it doesn't need updated is it possible to continue anyway?

[Twisted-Rizla]

It's a long shot but is there anything in the original utilities package from Vaio-Link that might restore the button?

[seb21__]

When you say to ignore the fact it says it doesn't need updated is it possible to continue anyway?

I think yes. I can download the firmware from VIAO-link and install them. Uninteresting, wheter the same Firmware is on the drive or not. Do you can't this?

[espoke]

The more we think about it the more it does look like a firmware issue. The drive has power, as it will 'soft' eject in windows. The amber light even lights up. It is just the issue of it not ejecting using the button on the drive and not even trying to read any disks.

What is the latest firmware edition for this drive? Would it be possible to revert back to an older firmware, and then re update it. The two firmwares seem to match when in the application. Hence it telling me I don't need to update.

[seb21__]

Nope

If you install the new firmware, then you can't back to the old. Only if you have the old firmware. If you have the, you can overwrite the new.

You can download the firmware from VAIO-Link .

[kee-lo_]

Before we all get excited about firmware; lets just analyse this, Pete says his button doesn't work. This has nothing to do with the firmware, on this machine, the Sony Utilities actually control the keys (this is why you can soft-eject), so what you need to do is download and run the utils.exe file from VAIO Link. This should allow you to use the FN keys too.