LINUX ON SONY VAIO PCG-R505GL(US model) marketed in Autumn 2002

Updated on 2004 February 12

PLEASE TAKE YOUR OWN RISK BY USING THESE INFORMATION BELOW. NO WARRANTY IF YOUR HARDWARE GETS BROKEN!

I started to use KERNEL 2.6.1 on this machine. Prior to the Kernel Upgrade, I upgraded the system to Sarge(Testing). I am going to test the component gradually. Please be patient for a lot of dead links

HARDWARE PROFILES:

1. rescue.bin
2. root.bin
3. drivers.tgz
4. base (through FTP/HTTP)

PRE-INSTALLATION :

• rescue.bin
• root.bin
• driver-1.bin
• driver-2.bin
• driver-3.bin
• driver-4.bin

Write those image files to floppy discs using dd in the following example using Linux machine. Or rawrite in Windows?

#dd if=rescue.bin of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 conv=sync ; sync

INSTALLATION :

Use the 2nd partition for Linux installation.
I had to use the floppy installtion, since the iLINK DVD/CD-ROM on the Docking station does not work during the installation. After installation of kernel drivers using floppy discs, select eepro100 in the section of Install kernel modules, configure your network, and finish all the installation through network.

POST-INSTALLATION:

• kernel-source-2.6.1.tar.bz2
• module-init-tools
• additional required packages,as described below in the "kernel upgrade to 2.6.1" section.

• kernel-source from http://www.kernel.org
• latest acpi.diff.gz from http://sourceforge.net/projects/acpi

• X430-src.tgz

• X420-src.tgz and 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz from http://www.xfree86.org
• i830-1mb-stolen-hack.patch from http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~chak/linux/c400.html

KERNEL UPGRADE TO 2.6.1:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
o  Gnu C                  2.95.3                  # gcc --version
o  Gnu make               3.78                    # make --version
o  binutils               2.12                    # ld -v
o  util-linux             2.10o                   # fdformat --version
o  module-init-tools      0.9.10                  # depmod -V
o  e2fsprogs              1.29                    # tune2fs
o  jfsutils               1.1.3                   # fsck.jfs -V
o  reiserfsprogs          3.6.3                   # reiserfsck -V 2>&1|grep reiserfsprogs
o  xfsprogs               2.6.0                   # xfs_db -V
o  pcmcia-cs              3.1.21                  # cardmgr -V
o  quota-tools            3.09                    # quota -V
o  PPP                    2.4.0                   # pppd --version
o  isdn4k-utils           3.1pre1                 # isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
o  nfs-utils              1.0.5                   # showmount --version
o  procps                 3.1.13                  # ps --version
o  oprofile               0.5.3                   # oprofiled --version
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can use "make menuconfig" as you do in kernel 2.4 series, but not "make xconfig"

To use "make xconfig", you need to apt-get Qt library instead of tcl/tk.
I needed to get additional packages such as "libqt3-dev" and "g++".

For "make gconfig", I needed the development packages of gtk+-2.0, glib-2.0 libglade-2.0 libglade2-dev, libgtk2.0-dev libglib2.0-dev.

Download the kernel from www.kernel.org. In order to successfully use the previous config file, I had to unselect some modules out of the config. You will have to pay attension to a lot of error messages of failing module compilation like "unresolved....." during the building the new kernel.(This information reflectes only when I was running Woody.)

I had to select most importantly :

• acpi
• agpgart
• usb
• ieee1394
• sound
• sonypi

Here is my 2.6.1 config file.

KERNEL 2.4:

Patch kernel 2.4 with the latest acpi.diff.dz, in order to fix IRQ routing problems as much as possible. Without the patch, the DVD/CD-RW drive on the docking station will not work. Recompile kernel with the latest acpi.

NETWORK:

SOUND:

• SOUND
• SND
• SND_OSSEMUL
• SND_MIXER_OSS
• SND_PCM_OSS
• SND_INTEL8X0

• alsa-base
• alsa-utils
• alsa-source

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 0.9.7 (Thu Sep 25 19:16:36 2003 UTC).
PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:1f.5 (0000 -> 0001)
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1f.5 to 64
intel8x0: clocking to 48000
ALSA device list:
  #0: Intel 82801CA-ICH3 at 0x1c00, irq 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#alsamixer

Sound is supported using I810 in kernel 2.4 series. If you compile as modules, load both modules “ac_97codec” and “i810”

"XMMS Input plugin which will read an audio CD as data and play it in realtime. This allows XMMS to use an audio CD for visualization, and also lets you play an audio cd from a drive which does not have an audio cd cable connected."

Xfree86:

I upgraded to Xfree4.3.0-0pre1v5, which supports i830, However, there is no official debian package for sarge(testing) yet. You can upgrade Xfree by using the source which is available from David Dawes' www.xfree86.org page, and follow the instructions from TuxMobil.org. In my case, I used the Debian experimental package. To do this, you have to put apt-line,

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

deb http://ftp.debina.org/debian/ experimental main

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#apt-get update

#apt-get -t experimental install xserver-xfree86

Maybe it may be very unstable like M$ Windows, though this upgrade stopped the funky geometrical startup just before X-window starts. You know what I mean. So far my laptop is running fine.

For XFree 4.2.1 using “Debian testing package” but it does not bring the resolution of the notebook. I had poor 800x600 on low color. It was not fun to run X-window. So I had to obtain a patch called“i830-1mb-stolen-hack.patch” from http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~chak/linux/c400.html. Patch the source X420-src.tgz with 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz and i830-1mb-stolen-hack.patch. Then I compiled it with the source X421src-1.tgz. By doing it, i810_drv.o will be created. After placing the modules in right location, run

#dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

DVD/CD-RW DRIVE:

Insert modules, “ieee1394”,“ohci1394”, and “sbp2”.
Data CD-ROM mounts fine.
DVD Movie plays with sound using mplayer. GREAT! One problem: after playing, I could not eject DVD until rebooting.
Music CD works with XMMS using xmms-cdread.

USB:

There are three USB UHCI root hubs. One root hub seems to be dedicated to Memory stick slot. One port on the laptop is on SN1800 hub [00:1d:0]. Two ports on Docking station are on SN1820 hub [00:1d:1]. Memory stick slot is on SN1840 hub [00:1d:2]. USB seems to work fine. Tested with USB ZIP250 using modules “usb-storage” and usb mouse.

USB MOUSE:(only tested with kernel2.4)

It is sometimes convenient to have USB mouse on my laptop. For using external USB mouse, add mousedev.o in "INPUT CORE SUPPORT" section and usbmouse.o in USB section as kernel modules.
Write in the sections of InputDevice and ServerLayout section of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "USB Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "USB Mouse" "SendCoreEvents" "T"
EndSection
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PCMCIA:(tested only with Kernel 2.4)

I prefer using pcmcia-cs modules. It works pefectly. Tested with HAGIWARA SYS-COM SmartMedia adaptor model#HPC-SV03A and 3COM 10/100Base-TX Network card.

JOGDIAL:

Install Sjog by apt-get.
Do the following #mknod sonypi c 10 ? #put your number in ? which you see in dmesg when you insert “sonypi” module. My minor no. is 63
Load modules “sonypi” and type sjog on your terminal. It works perfectly.

MEMORY STICK:(tested only with kernel 2.4)

Vendor ID:054c Product ID:0069 on usbview. Therefore I assumed it as MSC-U03 from several references. It is not supported yet on kernel 2.4.20. So As suggested in those references, I add the following line in /usr/src/linux/drivers/usb/storage/unusual_dev.h after the section ofMemrystick MSC-U01N.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNUSUAL_DEV( 0x054c, 0x0069, 0x0000, 0x9999,
"Sony",
"Memorystick MSC-U03",
US_SC_UFI, US_PR_CB, NULL,
US_FL_SINGLE_LUN | US_FL_START_STOP ),
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While "insmod usb-storage" produces some garbage messages in dmesg, I can mount umount Memory Stick as sda1.

ACPI:

ACPI recognizes whether my laptop is on AC or battery. The GNOME battery monitor also seems to work. I am currently working on software supend with swsusp. But no success yet....

SENSORS:(tested only with kernel 2.4)

I wanted to use lm-sensors, therefore I obtained the latest i2c-2.7.0 and lm-sensors-2.7.0. "sensors-detect" detected

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bus 'SMBus I801 adapter at 1880'
Busdriver 'i2c-801' I2C address 0x50
Chip 'Serial EEPROM (PC-100DIMM)'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I selected those modules, and followed the rest of instruction in sensors-detect. Those modules successfully loaded, but sensors gave no values.

DOCKING STATION:(tested only with kernel2.4)

I did a simple test. I booted the laptop without the docking station, then I attached the docking station to see if the components works or not.
Docking did not turn on the orange docking indicator on the laptop and some error messages on acpi appeared in dmesg.
Network works fine. I could surf with galeon.
DVD/CD drive was recognized successfully after loading modules, ohci1394, sbp2. Data CD can be mounted. Music CD was recognized.
USB mouse works fine after loading module "usbmouse"
I think that floppy support should also be modularized....

MODEM:(tested only with kernel2.4)

Modem is located at PCI 00:1f:6. It is the Intel MC97 Controller (ICH), PCI ID 8086:2486, AC-link modem. Download hsflinmodem-5.03.27mbsibeta02122600.tar.gz from http://www.mbsi.ca/cnxtlindrv/index.html. Untar it and modify KERNELSRC definition in modules/common.mak for Debian. Run

#make install
#hfsconfig

The device is now accessible as /dev/ttySHSF0 and automatically symbolic-linked to /dev/modem.
Modem was detected and initialized using wvdial. Make sure to run wvdialconf as root.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scanning your serial ports for a modem.

Port Scan<*1>: Scanning ttySHSF0 first, /dev/modem is a link to it.
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 Z – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Modem Identifier: ATI – 56000
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 4800: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 9600: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 19200: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 38400: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 57600: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Speed 115200: AT – OK
ttySHSF0<*1>: Max speed is 115200; that should be safe.
ttySHSF0<*1>: ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0 -- OK

Found a modem on /dev/ttySHSF0, using link /dev/modem in config.
Modem configuration written to /etc/wvdial.conf.
ttySHSF0: Speed 115200; init "ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0"

Success! You can run "wvdial" to connect to the internet.
(You can also change your configuration by editing /etc/wvdial.conf)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SERIAL PORT:

PARALLEL PORT:

MONITOR CONNECTORS:

iLINK:

REFERENCES:

I would like to acknowledge those web resources. Without checking these pages, I could not have installed Debian/GNU Linux on this laptop. Thank you all!

Gentoo Linux on a Sony Vaio PCG-R505GL

Liberating the Dell Latitude C400

Linux on the Sony VAIO R505J

My Vaio

Linux on laptops

Linux-Sony

VAIO SRX3 de Linux

Linux/Redhat 7.3 on Sony VAIO GRX570

TuxMobil.org

David Dawes: Intel 830M/845G/852GM/855GM/865G Driver for XFree86

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Please send any comments to torus2000@yahoo.com

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