3 beeps and screen doesn't light up

[tatfontaine]

Hello everyone,

I have had my VAIO VGN-FZ21E for 4 years and it is now out of guarantee.

Since last week, when I try to switch the laptop on, there are 3 beeps (the first one being slightly longer) and the screen never lights up. I know the laptop (or part of it) still works, as if I wait for a while, I hear the windows music, and I can type my password (even though there still isn't anything on the screen - just pitch black) and enter windows.

I have tried to plug the laptop on my external screen and it still doesn't work (so the problem maybe doesn't have anything to do with the laptop's screen?).

Has anyone had this problem before? And if so, is there anything I can do?

Help needed! Help appreciated

[rich912]

Hi tatfontaine,

The beep code would tend to indicate a failure of the graphics adaptor or shared system memory. You could try re-seating or replacing the memory, but graphics adaptor failure is more likely.

That said, Sony has acknowledged that the VGN-FZ21E is a model affected by the well known NVIDIA chip problem and will repair this free of charge within four years of purchase.