sony-vaio-z-series team mailing list archive

[Chris Cannam <cannam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[I suspect you intended this to go to the list, not only to me -- so
I'm cc'ing the whole thing back even though I only have a couple of
comments to add]

On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 12:12 AM, thunderbee <thunderbee@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 11:09 PM, Chris Cannam
> <cannam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 5:37 PM, thunderbee <thunderbee@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > I'm new to the list; and discovered "nomodeset" thanks to your e-mail.
>> > Did you make any progress with 10.04?
>>
>> I am using Arch Linux rather than Ubuntu on this VPC-Z at the moment,
>> but if you see the "sony_laptop" thread, Xavier discovered that the
>> problem that had prevented 10.04 (when installed) from working for him
>> or me was something to do with the use of the grub2 boot loader
>> instead of "legacy" grub.  When booting via grub2, the screen just
>> goes blank at mode setting; booting the same kernel via grub1
>> apparently works.
>
>   Using the "nomodeset" parameter fixed that for me.

Right, but then the Intel video drivers don't work -- at least for
recent driver versions, which require kernel mode setting.

>> At the moment I have enough working for the machine to be useful.
>> Still not as much as I'd like, but enough for me to be spending more
>> time doing work and less trying to fix the remaining problems.
>
> :) Same here.
>
>>
>> Further to Simon Barber's post about the current mainstream kernel, my
>> understanding is that the vga-switcheroo code in mainstream does not
>> actually do anything useful for nVidia/Intel card combinations, but
>> only for ATI/Intel -- Dave Airlie has been working on this recently,
>> I've been testing some kernels to see whether i can switch off the
>> nVidia using one, but nothing that works for normal use yet.  I
>> haven't yet tried Xavier's suggestion of booting with an older kernel
>> first.
>
>   I use this trick to actually enable the nvidia board:
>   I boot 9.10's stock kernel (linux-headers-2.6.31-20-generic-pae) on rescue
> mode, hit ctrl-alt-del when the rescue menu appears, and on reboot the
> nvidia card turns on (switch was already on speed, green led turns on).
>   This ugly trick works 100% of the time.
>
>> For those editing the launchpad home page, it is probably worth
>> mentioning at the top that most of the available information (and
>> Raphael's script) is directly applicable only to VGN machines, and
>> especially those that come with Vista.  VGNs updated to Windows 7 and
>> VPC models seem to be something of a work in progress still.  Indeed
>
>   I completely agree.
>
>>
>> it probably should mention that there _are_ two different models, at
>> the very least!  At the moment the page gives the impression that you
>> can buy a new Z series and get Linux working well on it
>> straightforwardly, and this is not really true.
>
> For the record, I have a VPCZ11C5E (provided with Win 7 pro 64 bits &
> downgrade to XP on a CD for a laptop without a drive...)
>
> I had to:
> - upgrade bios in windows to fix hang on halt/reboot
> - build nvidia binary drivers v 195.
> - extract and hardwire the screen EDID in X
> - upgrade to the latest mainline kernel at the time (2.6.33-020633-generic)
> - install sony-laptop-zseries-0.9np6 (previous versions won't work with the
> kernel)
> - add i8042.nopnp to the kernel args to get the trackpad to work
>
> My final grub command line: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi=\"!Windows 2006\"
> nomodeset i8042.nopnp"
> sony-laptop options: "options sony-laptop speed_stamina=3"
>
> With the trick of always booting the rescue kernel to prime the video, what
> works:
> - screen, incuding console
> - nvidia with 3D accel
> - sound (incuding microphone and proper switch to headphones/external mic on
> jack in, and volume keys)
> - wifi (very slow to discover networks, but don't know if it's related)
> - wired ethernet
> - usb (mouse & thumb drive ok, see below for USB 3G WLAN)
> - battery information
> - webcam (UVC driver)
> - trackpad, including vertical side scrolling and tap to ckick, two finger
> scrolling doesn't work.
>
> Sort of works:
> - when screen goes to sleep, won't come back on, have to hit ctrl-alt-F1
> (should be console, doesn't display anything), then Alt-f7 (X), and screen
> comes back on
> - fan always on, turns on to high under graphic load, but never turns off
> (might be normal when using the nvidia board)
>
> What doesn't work:
> - cold boot won't activate video board
> - brightness keys (using nvclock doesn't work as the hardware is not
> supported, mailed relevant info to the dev)
> - suspend (laptop turns back on, nvidia board doesn't come back on, didn't
> investigate this too much yet)
> - external WLAN (ICON 225 3G usb) doesn't work more than a few seconds;
> seems to be linked to some laptop usb power saving feature that I still
> haven't solved
>
> Not tested yet:
> - bluetooth (activates/turns off OK when hardware "wireless" switch is used
> though)
> - ilink

The iLink works fine, I have one and use it routinely.

> - external screen switch key (although nvidia twin view works with onboard
> screen/external VGA screen)
>
>
> I second the suggestion that the current line of Z-series be clearly advised
> as NOT usable under linux.
>
> Most users won't be able to setup all the bits and pieces, and most people
> won't find the remaining problems acceptable.
> It took me about 15 hours to piece together information that led me to the
> current state (nobody seems to have such a recent model under linux).
>
> Cheers,
> Laurent
>