Sony Vaio VGN-S3XP aka model PCG-6E1M

[MrMille]

Hi guys,

One arrived in today, blue screening from normal and safe boot.

BSOD is up for less than a quarter second, had to use a video camera to get the error message

UNMOUTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME,
can't get the error parameter as the BSOD disappears even too quickly for the camcorder in sports mode.

either way, I'll have to take a look again tomorrow.

My question is this...
How do I get the recovery partition working, if the machine is dead?
Ctrl-F11 will get the Dell System Restore kicking in at boot,
but how do I do the equivalent on this Vaio?

Useful link http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=297185
but how do I get to the recovery console to run chkdsk /r?
can I use my original copy of WinXP pro and get it to recovery console safely
without further damaging the file system?

Or...
Perhaps I should pull the drive, and attach via my USB <-> 2.5" IDE drive adapter and run chkdsk from my own machine?

Best regards,
David

 

[Bryce W]

I had this exact problem on a clients machine a couple of days ago. They said that they didnt turn their computer off properly (they have also been having power-outs in their area) and it seems the filesystem became somewhat damaged. XP was BSOD'ing with Unmountable_boot_volume.

So I loaded up my UBCD4Win bootable CD which gave me a Windows like interface. I entered Command Prompt from tere and typed: chkdsk /r

Took about 20 mins for it to go though its processes, but afterwards the system booted with no problems at all.

Before I did all this, I tried a USB/SATA adapter and couldnt access anything on it. I couldnt even run a chkdsk. For some reason chkdsk wasnt working while connected to the USB/SATA interface. I highly recommend you try what I've tried above. Chances are that it'll fix you up. If it doesnt, let us know and I'll throw some more suggestions at you

 

[MrMille]

Hi Bryce,

Thanks for the pointers.

I tried UBCD and although chkdsk isn't fixing anything,
I have noticed the laptop contains a recovery partition.

Instead of the owner ordering the recovery disks,
is it possible for me to use the recovery partition in some way?
perhaps make it active and boot from it?
just guessing....

 

[steelaz]

I'm not sure if this applies to your model, but in some Sony machines to get to recovery partition you have to hit F10 on boot.

Also this guy explains how to create so called "Vaio Recovery Media Kit" using sony recovery console: www.ma.utexas[dot]edu/users/rogoyski/work/tr5ap_winxp/

Hope this helps.

 

[Holzster]

One more thing is to try Spinrite - http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm
I use it all the time - works like a champ - worth EVERY CENT!!

Holzster

 

[MrMille]

The problem is that when the recovery is in progress is stalls at 15%.
I thinking the drive is damaged.
When I analyse the drive, the C: comes up as -1 for all values, indicating the tools think it's not formatted. I will use UBCD if possible, to format that section of the drive, and then chkdsk /r c:, then try the recovery partition again.

 

[Bryce W]

With the recovery partition not working correctly. Id say its either a dying harddrive or a damaged cable.

 

[MrMille]

I think the drive is busted, as the transfer fails at exactly the same point, irrespective of the recovery option I choose.

Have used UBCD, chkdsk, and ghost won't work with the drive for some reason, the data transfer rate is about a meg a minute, very slow.

She said that previously, a fresh install was done and it worked fine, perhaps it did, but as I wasn't given a legal disk/COE, I don't know if that's true or not.

She offered, so I'll charge a nominal fee. I'd like to help her out, but as it's a Sony, I don't think Ubunto is going to be happy on that hardware, or float the owners boat.

Either way, thanks for the great help!