sony-vaio-z-series team mailing list archive

[Glenn Moloney <glenn.moloney@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Also new here. At the weekend I installed vanilla ubuntu natty on my
vaio vpc217gg. Almost everything works straight up - as demonstrated
with Live CD.

I have not yet tried any additional scripts or newer versions of the
sony-laptop module or any other special tweaks.

There is one important gotcha - partitioning - see below.

What works:

Intel graphics works fine. Full HD.
Audio including microphone ok.
Brightness controls work fine.
Suspend and hibernate work.
Bluetooth won't turn on. Needs investigation.
Existing ssd raid0 detected and working fine. Dual boot with existing
windows 7 installation.
Battery life very good.
Touchpad works.
wireless and wired ethernet ok.
external media dock is detected and radeon graphics. Ubuntu installs
driver - but i haven't had time to test it yet. Still using intel
graphics.

The glitch is that using the graphical or alternate install....
      - the original partition table is restored after rebooting after
installation completes.
That means you are presented with a "grub rescue" prompt and are
unable to boot the system.

At that point, the Win7 filesystem has been shrunk, but it now sits in
a partition that is too big for it. I
 - rebooted from the install CD, and followed the install (including
activatiing the ssd raid),
 - drop out to a shell when the installer is ready to partition the disk.
 - Used "resizentfs -i" to work out the size of the Win7 filesystem,
 - Use "fdisk /dev/dm-0" to delete the Win7 partition and recreate it
to just accommodate the size of the Win7 filesystem with a little
safety margin
 - Use fdisk to create a new linux and swap partition in the left over space.
 - Reboot - just to be sure the partition table is saved this time....
 - Follow installer again up to the point of partitioning the disk -
and YES, the new partition table is saved.
 - Select the new, empty partitions for installing linux - for a
second time. luckily it is very fast on this laptop :-).
 - Reboot when doen - all good. I can now dual boot into Windows or Linux.

If you are prepared in advance - what may work for you is to take
precautionary action during the initial install:
 - Use alternate install disk (though graphical might work OK too).
 - Shrink the Win7 partition during installation and partition the
disk as normal
 - Drop out to a shell before proceeding with install (Alt-F2)
 - fdisk /dev/dm-0
 - Type "u" and "c" as recommended so that you can see partition
layout in blocks.
 - Use the "p" command and record the exact layout of the partition
table (just in case!!!!!)
 - Use "w" command to force the partition table write.

If you are feeling lucky, proceed with the install, or reboot into the
live cd and check the partition table has been saved. If it hasn't,
recreate the exact layout you recorded above manually with fdisk and
reboot again. Then proceed with the install.

Oh - and did I mention - this is an awesome laptop - and even better
with linux onboard :-).

Cheers,
Glenn.

On 15/08/2011, at 5:56 AM, Nicklas Overgaard <nicklas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Fist of all, I'm brand new here - I also just got one of the brand new VAIO z21, same model as soteri :)
>
> I have successfully installed ArchLinux on it, which runs kernel 3.0.1.
>
> To solve the problem with the black screen, I had to append "nomodeset" to my kernel boot line, like suggested by others.
>
> I do have problems with the brightness switches though, as well as a seemingly high battery use, compared to running windows.
>
> I would really like to see KMS working though, as gnome-shell does not function without it, and I've already grown fond of it.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Nicklas
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Craig Stevens" <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: "Sjoerd Cranen" <scranen@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: sony-vaio-z-series@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2011 1:29:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [Sony-vaio-z-series] Lastest Z series and Ubuntu
>
>
> I'll try what you suggest, shortly and report back.
> There are many changes from the old Z series (which I loved). Not least the build quality, which is very cheap and nasty. I particularly don't like the trackpad and buttons which is a single bit of plastic that is allowed to bend at the two bottom corners. Just like really cheap mice. For the price it feels very cheap indeed.
> Craig
> On 13/08/11 12:36, Sjoerd Cranen wrote:
> On my VPCZ12, adding the "nomodeset" parameter in GRUB solved this problem for me. Removing the "quiet" and "splash" parameters is usually instructive, too. If it still doesn't work, then adding "acpi_osi=" might do the trick (maybe you need to reboot more than once). I'm assuming the Z21 also has a speed/stamina switch -- keeping that on stamina was the easiest to get working for me.
>
> Good luck! / Sjoerd Cranen
>
>
> On 13 August 2011 12:24, Craig Stevens < craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
>
>
> I finally got to install Ubuntu on the new Z21 using Wubi. The screen is totally blank. I've tried it with 10.10 and 11.4.
> Anyone any clues to what might be wrong?
> Craig
>
>
> On 12/08/11 21:38, soteri panagou wrote:
> I have just been drooling over a youtube clip re the new vaio Z, and have the same concerns as Craig.
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 10:31 PM, Craig100 < craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I successfully ran a VGNZ11WN for 3 years on Ubuntu till it was stolen 6 weeks ago. Today I received a fresh out, brand new Z series (VPCZ21V9E/B). I didn't realise it had an external optical drive in a docking station connected by a new tech called "Light Peak" or "Thunderbolt". So I'm now REALLY worried I won't be able to get Ubuntu working on it. I haven't even powered it up yet, it's killing me. Can someone tell me if I'll be ok or what my options are. If it's going to be a COMPLETE pain then I'll take it back to the store unopened for a BIG (and I mean BIG) refund. I normally wipe Windoze off completely and only run it with Ubuntu.
> Any advice would be appreciated. -- This message was sent from Launchpad by Craig100 ( https://launchpad.net/~craig-incrediblyuseful ) using the "Contact this team" link on the Sony Vaio Z-series Laptop team page ( https://launchpad.net/~sony-vaio-z-series ). For more information see https://help.launchpad.net/YourAccount/ContactingPeople
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