silicon pop culture!

Hi everyone, first time post here.

I’ve just bought a TR3A off ebay and i’m very pleased with its smallness, and the fact that the camera is working!

However i’ve noticed that it doesnt keep the time properly :( I can set the time in Windows (xp home) and it will keep displaying the time fine, but then when I turn it off, leave it for an hour or so, then turn it back on, it is showing the time that I turned it off at (or roughly that time)

To me this would imply the CMOS battery is duff, but then wouldnt it forget the time altogether? Does anyone have any ideas what the issue could be, and the reason that I put this in the hardware section is, if it comes to it, does anyone know:

a) where the CMOS battery is (i havent looked inside yet)?
b) where I can get a CMOS battery from (im in the UK)? - Or will this one do the job http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260162124925&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

Also, how do I actually get into the BIOS on this little machine, I get a VAIO logo then a the Windows loading screen pop up all to fast for me to even notice if it says what key to press to get into it.

Many many thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out

Krill

Hi welcome to the forums, and to the TR.

Like you say it seems odd because normally you’ll loose the time & date altogether it it’s bios battery. It wouldn’t hurt to reset it though by disconnecting the bios battery.

Here is my walkthrough on how to get the TR apart, you wont need it all for bios battery, but thought it was worth giving it all. just follow the yellow text only to remove the keyboard

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Remove Battery, Lay laptop on its lid upside down on a soft cloth or soft towel.
take out all screws you can see note the two under the battery are shorter (don’t get them mixed up when you replace)
there is another screw under the ram cover and, remove the two screws that hold the keyboard in under the rear rubber feet, (also small ones)
when all screws are out turn laptop over carefully.
use a thin screw driver or pick to lift the top right corner of the keyboard just a little (hook it carefully under the delete / break key)
lift it just enough so you can hold it lifted with your finger now while holding it use the thin screw driver or pick to release the two catches above the F11 & F6 keys. (if you can’t lift the keyboard don’t force it but check you have removed the two screws under the rubber feet).
Keyboard should now be loose. remove it enough to undo the connector the brown catch needs to be lifted with pick or thin screwdriver.
There is a connector just below the keyboard one that is a push / pull fit and one more screw not quite top left corner under where the Tab key would be when assembled.
The top cover / palm rest should come off now but you may have to wiggle it gently as there are a few clips on the front. Don’t force it. If it wont come off you have missed a screw somewhere:-
You should have 14 screws total.
1 short / medium (ram cover centre rear)
4 short, (2 for keyboard under rubber feet, 2 under battery).
9 long (7 in casing rear, 1 in ram compartment, 1 under tab key)
With top / palm rest removed the rest should be pretty obvious..
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The above is how I do it but some of this is detailed on the forums with pictures so have a look there, (hdd replacement topic)
http://www.siliconpopculture.com/forum/viewthread/5486/
Before starting make sure you are earthed no static, and you’ll need jewellers screwdrivers or similar, a set of snap-on picks are useful to.
On reassembly don’t get screws mixed up, long ones where short ones go can damage the casing.

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With keyboard removed the bios battery is alongside the bottom edge of the heatsink fan, and is plugged in to the mainboard near the hetsink fan if you can tell which is which uplug both for 10 seconds or so.

Before trying the above go into the bios and set the time and date there. Also change something else like boot order or volume so you can see if it gets reset later. Hit F2 when booting just after vaio logo, (If it asks you for a password that’s not good)

Don’t think that bios battery on eBay will fit / is compatable, but I have good used ones if you need one..

thanks for the quick response! i’ve tried resetting the defaults in the BIOS as recommended by the Microsoft knowledge stuff and then resetting the time but to no avail. It seems to just startup with the time from when I last powered down. Im not sure if it holds that time in memory somewhere like it would with a BIOS password and the RTC/CMOS battery thing just ticks that along.

From what i’ve seen on the net, getting a replacement isnt easy if its dead. I’m guessing its not just like a watch battery like on a PC motherboard is it? I’ve had no luck online finding a supplier in the UK, which isnt too helpful.

Is just disconnecting and reconnecting it likely to have any useful effect do you reckon? It’ll be a couple of days until I get the chance to try as work appears to get in the way of everything.

Why cant stuff just work?! Dagnammit

I can’t say if it will solve your problem as I’ve not encountered it before, but it won’t hurt to try and it only takes minutes to get the keyboard off.

make sure you remove the main battery and disconnect the laptop from the mains charger. When disconnecting the bios battery you are resetting the chip which is different than loading defaults and this does solve boot screen size issues I’ve had in the past with TR’s..

As said the bios battery will be ok if it’s keeping the changes you are making, but that’s not to say the IC hasn’t got it’s real time clocks knickers in a twist..

*EDIT*

found this:-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124618

Pictures being worth a thousand words…....

cool thanks. im in the middle of my 12 hour working shifts which leaves me no time for tinkering at the minute. I looked through that other thread you found, thanks for that one, and I’m trying the random advice of sony of taking the battery out and leaving the charger plugged in overnight to ‘recharge the CMOS battery’. Im pretty sure it doesnt work like that, but worth a shot as the easiest option. I guess after that i’ll take it apart and remove for a bit, then if not try a replacement, and then last shot I guess is a BIOS upgrade. Never been too fond of doing that.

Also doesnt help that I dont know if my TR3 is an American or European model, I think that makes a difference doesnt it?

http://www.zfz.com/pictures/vaio/files/tr3.pdf

Save a copy, on first page to left of laptop line drawing there is revision history it details model name with intended location TR3a is America - US Canada for instance.. (uk models were designated “MP” so TR3mp for instance although we never had a TR3 model here just TR1 TR2 TR5)

If you need to try a bios update (assuming there is one), I can dig out the links, can’t remember off hand but there is a windows based Sony flash utility). Also think you’ll need a special Sony downloader app to get the bios etc..

Try the bios battery unplugging first it may just solve it..

just as an update incase anyone stumbles accross this in the future, it is now resolved and the bios keeps the time whilst the laptop is turned off.

whilst i had the TR apart i removed the bios battery for a while, checked the voltage on it which read a steady 3v like it should, eventually got round to putting it all back to together, and as if by magic it works!!

pity the new hard drive doesnt appear to be…