[Naihua]

My Sony VAIO TX770 (Win XP Pro w/ SP2) freezes from time to time, sometimes during boot up, sometimes after running for a while. Every time this happens, the indicator light for the card readers (memory stick and SD) turns on even though there is no card inside the slot. Sometimes I can unfreeze the system by pressing down the case in the area above the card reader slots. Therefore it appears that the problem is caused by sporadic malfunction of the card reader.

The source of the card reader malfunction is probably due to soda spilled into the slots, which occurred several months ago when I was on an airplane.

I would appreciate your advice what I can do to prevent the system freeze in the future. I have never used the card readers, therefore I will be happy to learn how to kill the card reader if that will solve the problem. (I have disabled the card readers in device manager; however, the problem still recurs.)

Thanks very much!

[jamesx121]

The source of the card reader malfunction is probably due to soda spilled into the slots, which occurred several months ago when I was on an airplane

I have to ask-- was this a Cola????

the syrup that Coke and Pepsi put in their drinks to make a Cola --instead of say
Sprite or Seven-Up-- is corrosive.

when I haul a load of syrup for Coke I have to put a Oxidizer (Haz-Mat) Placard
on my trailer.

so I would say you are down to a trip to a computer repair shop.
probably were ever the soda came in contact with the card reader elements
inside of the slots is corroded --

if the warranty is void and you feel adventurous you could try to remove the main
back panel on the laptop and see if the card slots are on-board integrated chip
or hooked up by wires to a motherboard header??

you will have to wait on a post from some one more into laptops than I am---
if wires and you cut them????

[Naihua]

Thanks, JamesSX121. I believe the soda was sprite, but I might be wrong.

I did remove the screws and tried to remove the back panel, but was unable to open the panel completely; something remains connected in the middle and I was hesitant to put too much pressure to force the panel to separate. If you or someone familiar with this model can advise what is the right way to remove the back panel, I would appreciate it very much.

It would be great if the card readers could be disconnected from the motherboard.