sony-vaio-z-series team mailing list archive

[Justin Karneges <justin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Following the notes here:
  http://www.voip-x.co.uk/files/adam/IMPORTANT_README

I first installed using Ubuntu 10.04 alternate.  This uses a text-based 
installer and everything is smooth.  It was unable to figure out the 
preconfigured RAID0, so I had to go disable that in the BIOS first, which 
made both disks appear as normal in the installer.  I set up using an 
encrypted partition.

Of course, even if you use a text-based installer, the installed system is 
configured to be graphical and so booting into it results in failure.  I get 
a black screen and a crash (not even ctrl-alt-del saves me).  The crash 
occurs very early on, before I even get the disk passphrase prompt (so, not 
even root file system is loaded, so this is not X related).  Using the Ubuntu 
alternate CD, I boot into rescue mode and attempt to make bootup text based.  
E.g. adding "text" to my grub configuration, removing quiet and splash to see 
what is going on.  Upon reboot into the real system I see lots of nice kernel 
text scroll by but in just a few seconds I get the same black screen lockup.  
It would be really nice to know if there is an easy solution for this, as it 
is quite a shame that even in text mode 10.04 cannot be used out of the box.

Next I try Adam's basic setup, setting other grub options, installing the 
kernel debs, and setting up the video blacklist.  Since I still can't boot 
into my real system, I did this by booting the rescue again, connecting a 
physical ethernet cable (easier than mucking with wireless..), chroot to my 
real disk, then did apt-get update, apt-get install lynx, and browsed to 
Adam's site for some text-based downloading. :)  After following his initial 
instructions, the system boots!  Booting into the new kernel with the stamina 
switch works, and doing the boot into "old, reboot, then new" with the speed 
switch also works.  In either case I get a text login prompt.

Using the rc.local.moved script does NOT work in stamina mode.  I have a 
1600x900 screen, so probably this is the reason.  I get some garbage and then 
a black screen and a crash. :(

In speed mode, I've been fiddling around between nouveau and nvidia following 
instructions I found here:
  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia

Namely, I used the commands like:
  apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
  apt-get install nvidia-current

and then gone back, each time trying /etc/rc.local.moved (or simply startx).  
So far I seem to have to choose between either 1600x900 nouveau, with a black 
screen after a few minutes of use (not a full crash, I can still type and 
hear sound, etc, but I don't know how to make the screen come back...) or 
1024x768 nvidia, which seems to have more longevity but looks terrible.

If anyone has a tip on the best way to configure X, or the nvidia driver, that 
would be great.  Adam's guide doesn't spend much time on it.

-Justin