Ubuntu 10.04 on Sony Vaio P

With the latest poulsbo hack for 10.04: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupp…sPoulsbo#lucid It is now possible to upgrade to 10.04 Lucid with no issues. In fact the previous gobi WWAN, sleep, and qcserial hacks are no longer needed. On first boot everything worked other than the videocard. Go Linux!

May 25, 2010 · 1 min · Nick

Sony Vaio P788K Ubuntu 9.10 Load

Ubuntu 9.10 is the last usable version of Linux for use with the GMA500 craptasic video card. As it stands today I cannot recommend using Linux full-time on the laptop. As a hardcore linux geek that saddens me in my heart. Hopefully with the release of the “new” drivers we will be good to all switchback to a big boy OS. Thanks to Jakob Westhoff for his notes on the Vaio X which helped a good bit here. Notes below: Install Windows 7 to active Verizon Gobi Modem and Firmware Install GMA 500 Graphics driver wget http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1338581/Gma500/scripts/poulsbo.sh && sh ./poulsbo.sh add mem=2000 /etc/default/grub update-grub After reboot dpkg-reconfigure psb-kernel-source Edit /etc/apt/sources.list to include universe and multiverse sudo apt-get dist-upgrade reboot Update system to include SSD optimizations Install sony-laptop-zseries module http://www.logic.at/people/preining/software/ sudo -i mkdir -p /usr/share/sony-laptop Extract np5 into directory ln -sf ../share/sony-laptop/sony-laptop-zseries-0.9np5 /usr/src/sony-laptop-zseries-0.9np5 dkms add -m sony-laptop-zseries -v 0.9np5 /etc/init.d/dkms_autoinstaller start vi /etc/modules Turn on WWAN hardware mkdir /lib/firmware/gobi Copy files from: C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Images\Sony\1\AMSS.mbn C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Images\Sony\1\Apps.mbn C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Images\Sony\1\UQCN.mbn to /lib/firmware/gobi <li dir="ltr"> Download qcserial and extract to <a href="file:///usr/src/">/usr/src/</a> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <a href="http://westhoffswelt.de/data/blog/vaiox_gobi2000/qcserial_with_gobi2000_support.tar.gz">http://westhoffswelt.de/data/blog/vaiox_gobi2000/qcserial_with_gobi2000_support.tar.gz</a> </li> <li dir="ltr"> cd <a href="file:///usr/src/qcserial">/usr/src/qcserial</a> </li> <li dir="ltr"> make </li> <li dir="ltr"> make install </li> <li dir="ltr"> echo &#8220;qcserial&#8221; >>/etc/modules </li> </ul> </li> <li dir="ltr"> Download gobi loader for Linux and extract to <a href="file:///usr/src">/usr/src</a> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <a href="http://westhoffswelt.de/data/blog/vaiox_gobi2000/gobi_loader_with_gobi2000_support.tar.gz">http://westhoffswelt.de/data/blog/vaiox_gobi2000/gobi_loader_with_gobi2000_support.tar.gz</a> </li> <li dir="ltr"> make </li> <li dir="ltr"> make install </li> </ul> </li> Enable Suspend Install PSB fix in /etc/pm/sleep.d/99_psb_fix Touch /etc/pm/sleep.d/98smart-kernel-video Install USB Wakeup fix for QCSerial Gobi issue in /usr/lib/pm-utils/sleep.d/00usbsleep Enable console framebuffer Edit /etc/default/grub set gfxmode=1024×768 You can do the full 1600×768, but on the console I prefer larger fonts <li dir="ltr"> Edit <a href="file:///etc/grub.d/00_header">/etc/grub.d/00_header</a> <ul> <li> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> if loadfont `make_system_path_relative_to_its_root ${GRUB_FONT_PATH}` ; then </li> <li dir="ltr"> set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE} </li> <li dir="ltr"> set gfxpayload=keep </li> </ul> </li> <li dir="ltr"> IT HAS TO GO UNDER &#8220;set gfxmode&#8230;&#8221; </li> </ul> </li> Enable scroll trackpoint sudo vi /etc/hal/fdi/policy/mouse-wheel.fdi Install RFkill Applet to disable radios http://www.logic.at/people/preining/software/rfkill-applet-0.6.tar.gz Execute with the following installer: rfkill install.sh Reboot and add to panel Internal Mic Fix sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-alsa-2.6.31-20-generic sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/unstable sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade Edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf Add at the bottom of the file options snd-hda-intel model=toshiba-s06 power_save=10 power_save_controller=N <li dir="ltr"> On Sound Preferences change Profile to Analog Stereo Duplex </li> <li dir="ltr"> Turn speaker volume up HIGH </li> ...

March 22, 2010 · 3 min · Nick

Sony Vaio P 788k Review

I hate long reviews, but the good gist below: Intel Atom Z supports VT instructions. Really neat to boot KVM up on a little netbook NetBooks are usually cheesy, this machine feels solid and well built. Sony does some nice engineering, but there in front of your face is a SD card and HG Duo… Battery life is OK, I am considering the extended the battery, but really don’t feel the need based on the 3 hours I get now Verizon built in is awesome! Riding the metro into work today I was on IRC (irc.freenode.net) loving life. On the way home I fired up a skype session with no issue No good: ...

March 22, 2010 · 1 min · Nick

Sony TXN-17P Linux Review

August 15, 2007 · 0 min · Nick