All,
I wanted to report an XL302 success story to save some time for those out there who seem to be having so many problems with this machine.
Mine is currently running the 64bit version of Vista Ultimate, with 4Gb of RAM and displaying happily at 1080p.
I do believe Sony have done a great job in the manufacture of this system, and it's unfortunate that it's been discontinued. However, I must say the software installation provided left a lot to be desired, and does impair the overall quality of the product quite considerably. However, it is not difficult to resolve many of the issues found. I wanted to report some of the issues and misconceptions I've worked around - to provide a shortcut and advice for others. I don't claim to have done much, merely compiled a lot of research in one place. However I lay claim to the memory upgrade and 64bit install notes 🙂 Here goes!
*** Information included is for use at your own risk - If you expect to receive software support from Sony, do what they tell you and get your help from them. If you're comfortable with OS installs etc and want to be more independent of the rather insistent sony update tools, then go for it, at your own risk.***
Sony Software - this post assumes you are happy to lose all the Sony installed software. The only thing you'd perhaps want to restore is the software to play blu-ray discs. I've done no research there. In my experience, a media center pc wants the bare minimum of software installed to maintain system performance.
1) No sound from HDMI
If you have this issue you'll need to apply the update to the firmware of the graphics card following the instructions found in the driver updates section of the Sony support site. It's hard to make this work. I found it best to install Vista, then immediately install the display drivers that shipped with the system, then go through the update. Once you get this firmware update in place, you will get sound over HDMI. It does downgrade the firmware on the graphics card - which is odd, but it works afterwards.
2) Cannot display 1080p / "Full HD".
It's VERY misleading of Sony to suggest that the machine can do Full HD or whatever the labels that I have removed from the chassis say. However, it's a software issue and NOT a hardware limitation. There is a limitation in Windows Vista Home Premium edition that prevents full HD output at 60 Hz. This limitation doesn't exist in Vista Ultimate, which I am using instead of the home premium that shipped with the machine. You can enable Full HD output on Vista Home Premium by following the advice here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12485368#post12485368
This will allow 1080p as opposed to 1080i (interlaced). You'll see a vast improvement in output on a Full HD screen.
3) Cannot get reliable output from HDMI to screen - Vista starts but output is blank.
There's only one version of NVIDIA drivers to use with the 7500GT card. All others appear to suffer from the no-output issue, including the drivers that ship with vista (although the problem only occurs on restarts AFTER Vista setup hands control back to you. Remember if this happens after you update drivers, you can start Vista in VGA mode (which always works) by pressing F8 during startup and selecting VGA mode. Get this driver installed ASAP on a clean install of Vista after the chipset driver, it saves lots of issues. There's no need to update it - and do NOT let Windows update install later versions. Stick with it.
The only reliable NVIDIA Drivers I could get to work 100% are here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_163.75.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_163.75.html
4) Missing device drivers in device manager
After a clean install of Vista, only three devices will be missing in device manager.
The first is a Sony Notebook Extension Device - it's some kind of input device, probably the remote or similar.
To get the 32 bit driver - just let vista search online and a driver will be provided from the Microsoft site.
For 64 bit - get the driver here:
64bit driver for the Sony Notebook Extension device:
ftp://vug.vaio.sony.co.jp/pub/oth/64/EP0000140021.zip
Then you need drivers for the TV tuner cards. Assuming you have a UK XL302 with digital/analog hybrid cards, drivers are here:
32 bit and 64 bit drivers for the Avermedia A16E analog/digital hybrid cards:
http://www.avermedia.com/avertv/UK/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?Id=357&SI=true&tab=APDriver
Note - just let the Avermedia installer do its job - it works. No need to do anything in device manager here.
5) Upgrading the Memory
Sony says the max memory supported is 3Gb - which may be what they will "support" because it is all that 32 bit vista can support. However the machine will support up to 8Gb of faster memory than the 2Gb that is shipped.
The system ships with two PC-5300 DDR2 modules of 1Gb each at 667Mhz
The intel chipset supports DDR2 PC-6400 running at 800Mhz.
I have installed 4 x 1Gb PC-6400 modules - they work just fine at 800Mhz.
You can put 2 PC-6400 1Gb modules in with the 2 existing ones - they will all work at 667Mhz. However, memory is dirt cheap at the moment. I haven't tried 8Gb, but it is supported by the chipset, which is "Intel P965 Express" - lots of detail here: http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/p965/index.htm. 8Gb would be overkill in this system - the rest of the components aren't going to match it. A nice feature of this chipset is the ability to mix and match memory module sizes and still have them work.
Note: I installed the extra ram without needing to remove the graphics adapter. You just need to "flex" the graphics adapter card a couple of mm to the left to get the memory in / out. It's no big deal, but make your own choice here. Personally, I felt the risk of breaking the card removing it was far higher - you'll find it very hard to access the locking mechanism at the base of the card, and the cabling is tied to the chassis.
6) Moving to 64bit Vista
Now you've added more ram, you'll need an OS to support it. Vista Ultimate 64 bit edition works just fine.
7) Device Drivers - more notes
CHIPSET:
The very first thing you should do on a fresh install is install the intel Chipset drivers:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Default.aspx?lang=eng
In the left hand menu choose "Chipsets", then "Desktop Chipsets", then the 965 express.
Get the appropriate chipset INF update utility.
AUDIO: I have found no reason to use the sigmatel audio drivers. The Microsoft supplied ones for HD audio devices work fine. However, I don't output surround sound so cannot fully qualify this. However my HDMI outputs audio a treat to the LCD, and that's fine for my needs.
STORAGE:
Note vista installs drivers for the RAID controller on the motherboard.
You can install the latest Matrix storage manager for your choice of 32 or 64 bit vista.
If you do not have either a mirror (raid 1) a stripe (raid 0) or a three drive parity set (raid 5) it's possible Vista won't see the disks and allow you to install. I have added a third drive. If you want to change the drives already installed, beware that the SATA cables are the locking type and need a fingernail to unlock the little button on the connector. There's one spare SATA port on the board and one space for a third disk. At some point I will install three 1Tb drives as a raid 5 - when they get cheaper.
By all means install the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager.
KEYBOARD / REMOTE:
work great just out of the Vista install. I may have lost a couple of special feature keys on the keyboard along the top, but little price to pay for another device driver avoided.
CARD READER:
Works fine with no Sony drivers. The drivers only add the icons for the different card types. However, when you insert a card of a particular type, Windows informs you anyway and the volume label for the card shows up in Windows Explorer, so this is no great loss, and saves on another needless device driver.
WIFI:
Again detected and installed by Windows. There's a driver update on Windows update, but I have disabled the wireless card anyway.
Improving Looks
Removing the labels from the silver panel at the front - unperfumed nail varnish remover will remove the stickiness that remains if you pull the labels off here. I removed all of them. I left the bluray label on the black surface, as it's hardly noticeably and the surface would be risky to clean with solvents.
I hope this information has been of some use. Thanks to the many varied people out there who've inspired or helped along the way - too many to mention. Enjoy your XL302.
