October 04, 2002
These drivers are only for the FX series AMD based Sony Vaio Laptops. Do not use them with the new NV laptops.
Hurray. Sony has finally released "official" drivers for the FX210/FX215 laptops running Windows 2000. According to Sony's site the drivers were posted on 5/9/2002. That is almost 1 exactly 1 year after the release of these laptops. Oh well. For links to the "official" drivers click below.
Bios Release: There are now nine (9) bioses that can be used with the AMD Based Vaio laptops.
For a full description of all of the bios options see the bios page
The original ATI Mobility M1 adapter driver I found was for a Dell. This driver works great and is very reliable. ATI Video Driver 5.29MB
A number of individuals have found other video drivers that also work. One of the best is from ziyadhosein's web site. You can download the driver from ziyadhosein's site or directly from here. ATI Video Driver 2.1MB
After almost a year Sony has released an official video driver for Windows 2000. The driver is the same version as the "Dell Driver" I found almost a year ago. Here is a link to the official ATI Mobility M1 Adapter version: 5.0.2195
The original Alps Touchpad drivers I found provided full capability of the Touchpad just like in WinME. These drivers are from the K versions of FX laptops that Sony sells. Alps Touchpad Driver 1.53MB
Sony has released a number of Touchpad driver updates. I have found that the WinXP Touchpad drivers work just fine under Win2K. I recommend checking the Sony Support site for the latest drivers.
The Modem is the Simple PCI communication Device found in Device Manager. The original modem drivers I found on Microsoft’s site under the corporate download site. Ambit-Conexant Modem Driver 1.50MB
Sony has released a number of Modem driver updates. I have found that the WinXP Modem drivers work just fine under Win2K. I recommend checking the Sony Support site for the latest drivers.
If you are doing an unattended Install of Win2K then the following tip from Alistair Bond will be useful for the modem.
Rather than copying the files into the PnP directory, I put it in another directory and call a batch file during the setup which uses the Windows 2000 INF installer (install.exe) to install the modem.
The command line is simple enough:
install DVIACM5.inf "PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3068&SUBSYS_80F6104D&REV_30"
The Audio drivers are actually on the Driver Recovery CD that Sony provides with the FX210. Audio Drivers 3.00MB
The NIC drivers I found on the Realtek site. It seems to work much better than the driver included with Win2K. Realtek NIC drivers 111KB
I recommend checking the Realtek Download site for the latest NIC Drivers.
PowerNow! utility.
Please note that PoweNow! only works if you have a mobile Athlon or "Morgan" core Duron processor. If you have an FX201, FX210, or FX215 with the original "Spitfire" core processor PowerNow! will not function. PowerNow! is not implemented on "Spitfire" core processors. See comparison table for more information.
I am running Service Pack 2 on Win2k. In addition, I have my system dual booting between Win2K and WinMe.
Later,
Brad
mailto:bhite@rocketmail.com
R0121K5