LINUX
ON SONY VAIO:
by Francesco Palmisano
This is a tutorial for the installation of a Linux
distro on notebook Sony Vaio
(particularly on FZ21M)
Distribution: GNU/Debian Linux 4.0 (version: Sid)
Architecture: 32 bit
Installation modality: by the net with NetInstall CD
Kernel version: 2.6.23
Notebook: Sony Vaio FZ21M
Main features:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 Santarosa
2GB Ram upgradeable to 4GB
hard disk: 200GB , 5400 rpm
Wifi: Intel A,B,G,N-draft
Monitor 15,4'' X-black single lamp
Video device: Nvidia 8400 GT with 256MB of dedicate Vram
What you need:
A CD or DVD of your preferred Linux distro, in our case download and
"burn" a CD of a Debian/testing image.
The last kernel version, downloadable from www.kernel.org.
Driver and firmware for Wifi and video devices.
In particular you need the firmware iwlwifi-4965-ucode-4.44.1.20.tgz
(or above), and the driver iwlwifi-1.2.23.tgz
(or above) for wireless Intel 4965
A,B,G,N-draft and the video device Nvidia
8400GT driver.
Let's begin:
Install your Linux distro as usual and parted the hard drive like:
2 Gb Linux swap space
the rest of the space as you prefer (for example 90Gb to windows 90Gb
for Linux)
IMPORTANT: if you want a dual boot system,
you have to install the boot loader (Grub or Lilo) into the MBR of your
disk.
Netinstall Debian users can have a graphic installation giving the
command installgui
at the prompt.
During the installation select end install your favorite
windows
manager (KDE or Gnome or other).
Complete the installation and upgrade the system:
for Debian's user modify (use a text editor) in the file /etc/apt/sources.lst
the word lenny
o testing
with Sid
end add non-free e
contrib repository.
there is, in the download
section o this web site, a sources.list file (one for 32 bit and an
other for 64 bit)
ready to use.
So this is the result:
deb
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
deb-src
http://ftp.it.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
deb
http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main
deb
http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main
(yes, in the last line it's write lenny! it's NOT an error)
Save the file and,as root, give the commands:
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
Now you had upgrade to Debian/Sid from Debian/Lenny!
Reboot your notebook.
IMPORTANT: All operations need to be
root, using commands su
or sudo.
VIDEO DRIVE:
Shut down the X server (if running):
/etc/init.d/kdm stop (for Debian and KDE or Sidux or
Ubuntu and
KDE)
or
/etc/init.d/gdm stop (for Debian and Gnome or Ubuntu and
Gnome).
go into directory where you download
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-169.09-pkg1.run
(or above) file and give the command:
sh
NVIDIA-Linux-x86-169.09-pkg1.run
or
./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-169.09-pkg1.run
To configure the X server give the command:
nvidia-xconfig
For more informations go to the official guide of Nvidia here.
Now reload the X server with command:
/etc/init.d/kdm start
or
/etc/init.d/gdm start
Well, now your Xorg has 3D acceleration and AIGLX support (for
compiz-fusion or similar).
This is my xorg.conf
configuration file (with compiz-fusion
support and touchpad configuration too): put it into /etc/X11/ directory.
PACKAGES THAT
NEED TO BE INSTALL FROM REPOSITORY:
With your package manager (for example
synaptic) install:
acipi-support
acpitool
kmilo (if use Kde)
laptop-detect
laptop-mode-tools
pcmciautils
powertop
cpufrequtils
libcpufreq0
kde-guidance-powermanager
spicctrl
motioneye
lphdisk
nvidia-settings
nvidia-xconfig
and also:
libqt3-mt-dev
kernel-package
gcc
g++
cpp
dpkg
dpkg-dev
WIRELESS DRIVER
(1):
IMPORTANT: If you
are using a kernel
2.6.24
or above, WiFi support is included into the kernel, so you need to
install only the firmware.
Untar the file
iwlwifi-4965-ucode-4.44.1.18.tgz (or above) in the
/lib/firmware/ directory, and copy the iwlwifi-4965-1.ucode
file in /lib/firmware/.
KERNEL:
Copy the downloaded kernel pack into /usr/src/ and untar it;
go inside the kernel directory and give command:
make xconfig
(graphic mode)
or
make config
(textual mode)
Configure and compile your kernel:
make-kpkg clean
make-kpkg --initrd
--append-to-version -Vaio -rev 1 kernel_image
Then install the package:
dpgk -i (package name)
If you don't know how to configure the kernel, download this
.config file made by me for kernel 2.6.23 optimized for Sony Vaio FZ21M
and FZ21S.
Put the .config file into
/usr/src/Linux-2.6.23.8/ (your kernel directory).
Or, if you want, i've created ready kernel
(for FZ notebook) in Debian package version:
1) vers. 2.6.23.8
2) vers. 2.6.25.9
(the last one kernel at the moment)
with the command:
dpgk -i (package name)
In the Grub (or Lilo) menu, there are now two kernel images: the old
one and the new one.
WIRELESS DRIVER
(2):
IMPORTANT: if you
are using a kernel
2.6.24
or above, jump this step.
Untar iwlwifi-1.1.17.tgz in /usr/src/
, go inside the directory and give the commands:
make
make install
Reboot and enjoy your Wireless device.
AUDIO
DRIVER(Debian Users):
IMPORTANT: if you
are using a kernel
2.6.24
or above, jump this step.
Audio ALSA server supports HD-Intel device present into
chipset ICH8 of this Notebook from the version 1.0.15.
For using the headphones
output, you need to do:
1)Install ALSA
1.0.15:
alsa-base
alsa-oss
alsa-utils
Create the file /etc/modutils/alsa
and insert:
# ALSA portion
alias
char-major-116 snd
alias
snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
# module
options should go here
# OSS/Free
portion
alias
char-major-14 soundcore
alias
sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
# card #1
alias
sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias
sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias
sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias
sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias
sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
and save.
Now add at the end of the file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base the line:
options snd-hda-intel
model=vaio
and add at the end of the file /etc/modprobe.d/sound:
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
alias sound-slot-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=vaio
Save the files.
IMPORTANT:
Into the kernel 2.6.23 there is a bug for alsa support of HD-Intel
audio device, so you need to use the ALSA module instead of the
kernel's module.
install alsa-source
(1.0.15) package end give the commands:
cd /usr/src
m-a prepare
m-a update
m-a build alsa-driver
m-a install alsa-driver
WEBCAM (Ricoh):
Work on Kernel 2.6.23 and Kernel 2.6.24 !!
IMPORTANT: if you
are using a kernel
2.6.24
or above, to install the webcam go to this
page and jump this step.
1) download r5u870 modify driver here
2) untar it and enter into its directory
3) give the commands:
make
make install
add to /etc/modules file:
r5u870
videodev
v4l1-compat
v4l2-common
video-buf
meye
Webcam is an inode: /dev/video0 !
For more information about the Webcam go to this page.
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