Graphic driver 2,5 years old, when do we get an update?

[Pennsan]

When I bought my SONY in Dec 2010, I upgraded the specs to a 1GB graphic card as I didn't not want to end up with an under spec’d laptop after just a few years. Well it's not the hardware that is letting me down but SONY's inadequacy of providing even basic customer service such as regular updates for the graphic cards.

Now, after just 1,5 years of purchase I get freezes and crashes and running DxDiag and looking at the driver in the settings reveals SONY's driver is from January 2010 and in Version 8.6 as compared to the manufactures issued updates which is in version 12.4 (see table below)!!!!.

1. 2.5 years.. in computer terms that is like driving in a horse drawn carriage while everybody else  such as software manufactures, the internet, streaming media content, etcetera; is travelling at warp speed.

Now if SONY can't be bothered to provide these updates regularly then why not just stop fiddling with the card and letting the user go straight to the OEM as AMD has provided more than 44 updates.

Nobody forced SONY to fiddle with the functions making the card incompatible with the AMD updates – but it means SONY is now responsible for providing said updates... yet they don't and when you write to their customer service you get complacent indifference.

Below is the list of drivers SONY have not yet bothered to provide their customers with since their 8.6 release which so antiquated it isn't even listed any longer on the ATI website as it in computer terms it is simply tooooo old!

Catalyst 12.4	4/25/2012
Catalyst 12.3	3/28/2012
Catalyst 12.2	3/7/2012
Catalyst 12.1	1/25/2012
Catalyst 11.12	12/13/2011
Catalyst 11.11	11/15/2011
Catalyst 11.10	10/31/2011
Catalyst 11.9	9/28/2011
Catalyst 11.8	8/17/2011
Catalyst 11.7	7/27/2011
Catalyst 11.6	6/15/2011
Catalyst 11.5	5/9/2011
Catalyst 11.4	4/27/2011
Catalyst 11.3	3/29/2011
Catalyst 11.2	2/15/2011
Catalyst 11.1	1/26/2011
Catalyst 10.12	12/13/2010
Catalyst 10.11	11/17/2010
Catalyst 10.10	10/22/2010
Catalyst 10.9	9/15/2010
Catalyst 10.8	8/25/2010
Catalyst 10.7	7/26/2010
Catalyst 10.6	6/16/2010
Catalyst 10.5	5/26/2010
Catalyst 10.4	4/28/2010
Catalyst 10.3	3/24/2010
Catalyst 10.2	2/17/2010
Catalyst 10.1	1/27/2010
Catalyst 9.12	12/17/2009
Catalyst 9.11	11/17/2009
Catalyst 9.10	10/22/2009
Catalyst 9.9	9/9/2009
Catalyst 9.8	8/17/2009
Catalyst 9.7	7/23/2009
Catalyst 9.6	6/15/2009
Catalyst 9.5	5/15/2009
Catalyst 9.4	4/8/2009
Catalyst 9.3	3/18/2009
Catalyst 9.2	2/20/2009
Catalyst 9.1	1/29/2009
Catalyst 8.12	12/10/2008
Catalyst 8.11	11/12/2008
Catalyst 8.10	10/15/2008

Here are a few more comments which I picked from Forums that pretty much reflect what my rant is about and could go under the heading "Why I'll never buy another SONY product again!"

http://forums.anandtech.com/archive/index.php/t-2186016.html

Since Sony doesnt per se care about its customers they dont bother releasing new drivers so I had to use the mobility moder to modify the newest catalyst driver for my laptop.... Asus do have a very good support for costumer.but still most of the time getting drivers for it is very easy from there website. but sony d'ont

http://pcsupport.about.com/b/2012/07/10/amd-drivers-windows-7-vista-xp.htm

Version 12.6 of the AMD/ATI video card driver suite is now available. This update adds dual graphics configurations for a number of 7000-series GPUs, fixes a number of issues (mainly in Windows 7), and adds several new game profiles. Fixes a number of issues, most in Windows 7, but at least one in Windows Vista.

Important: Toshiba, Sony VAIO, and Panasonic notebooks with integrated AMD/ATI graphics are not supported by this driver. Please use the video drivers provided by your computer manufacturer in place of these drivers provided by AMD.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/344417-15-driver-update-sony-vaio

Sorry to say it, but welcome to the world of laptop graphics.... Since the standard AMD drivers are not compatible with your system, you are stuck with the drivers SONY provides. If they do not update their drivers, there's not much you can do.

I also agree with you! then bad thing is that i am in middle of a cracked bamboo ! as sony does not provide me driver and ati says their driver not compatible with my laptop mean sony vaio!

Message was edited by: Pennsan

[rich912]

Hi Pennsan,

I completely understand your frustration and can’t defend Sony on this one!

However it is possible to install updated AMD graphics drivers on a Vaio notebook. Have a look at the following YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2_thUnvJv4

Rich

[Pennsan]

Hi Rich912,

Thanks for the tip; tried that but it didn't work so started to wildly download and install every previous version, profiles and patches I could get my hands on from AMD.

No idea which version finally did it but driver is now updated to an August 2011 version which has greately improved stability and what is more - the card has stopped overheating and running the fan 24/7 as soon as the laptop is turned on.

One thing is for sure, my next laptop is not going to be a SONY but will be from a manufacture who either takes customer care serious or allows customers to use OEM updates.

Many Thanks for trying to help, your short reply was about 100 times more helpful as the 4 useless emails I received from SONY's customer service.

Ta

Message was edited by: Pennsan

[rich912]

Hi Pennsan,

Sorry to hear that the method in that link didn’t work. It is strange as it has worked for at least two other members. Not having a Vaio with an AMD graphics chip I haven’t been able to test it myself... but pleased to hear that you somehow managed to update the driver.

Rich