Debian GNU/Linux (single-boot) on a
Sony VAIO VGN-T1XP

P.J. Gawthrop

DISCLAIMER

Although the following worked for me, I cannot accept any responsibility for loss or damage arising from this document. In particular please note that this procedure completely removes all previously installed software and data.

Installation (Single boot)

1. Buy a Knoppix CD (version 3.8.2 or later).
2. Insert into CD tray and reboot
3. I use a docking station and connect both my USB disks and WACOM tablet: this means that Knoppix automatically creates appropriate /etc entries.
4. At the Knoppix boot prompt, type knoppix alsa=intel8x0 xmodule=i810 screen=1280x768
   • Working at this point:
     • Internal wireless (!!)
     • Internal ethernet
     • My external USB disks
     • My LCD Monitor
     • KDE
     • internet access via my home wireless network with dhcp.
   • Not working at this point:
     • Full screen (comes up non-widescreen).
     • Sound
     • Wacom CTE-430 (Saphire) USB graphics tablet
   • You can get sound working at this point by running amixer
     • amixer set 'External Amplifier' mute
5. Qtparted crashes for me, so bring up a terminal window and type sudo cfdisk. Knoppix likes to install into a single / partition, so I created
   • hda1 (38GB) - Linux, bootable
   • hda2 (2GB) - Linux-swap
6. Bring up a terminal window and type sudo knoppix-installer
   • Use defaults: reiserFS, install to hda1, boot from mbr
   • Ignore boot floppy creation - you can't.
7. Make a coffee and wait 1/2 hour.
8. Reboot without the Knoppix CD - you now have a working Debian GNU/Linux system (except for ehternet, sound and widescreen). Using Knoppix 3.8.2 gives a 2.6.11 kernel.

Post-install

1. To get sound working run amixer
   • amixer set 'External Amplifier' mute
   Put this in a start up script to run each time you boot.
2. To get wireless working edit /etc/network/interfaces to include the following (only lo is there the start with)

   auto lo eth1 eth2
   iface lo inet loopback
   iface eth1 inet dhcp
   iface eth2 inet dhcp
   

   Type ifup eth2 at the prompt.
3. Get wide screen (1280x768) working
   • Install 855resolution: apt-get update then apt-get install 855resolution
   • Edit /etc/default/855resolution to include:

     MODE=5c
     XRESO=1280
     YRESO=768
     

   • Add the following line to /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

     	Modeline    "1280x768" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795
     

     at the end of the Monitor section (after all the other Modelines)
   • Reboot
   • Note. If you are using a non-widescreen external monitor, it may look better at the old 1024x768 resolution. Under kdm go to K->screen resize and rotate.This gives an icon to the left of the clock. Click on this and change resolution.
4. To switch external monitor on and off:
   • Install i810switch: apt-get install i810switch
   • i810switch crt on switches on external monitor
   • i810switch crt off switches off external monitor
   • i810switch lcd off does nothing (unfortunately)
5. To adjust bluetooth:
   • Install spicctrl: apt-get install spicctrl
   • Create a device : mknod /dev/sonypi c 10 63
   • Load relevant module :
     • Run modconf modconf
     • Select kernel/drivers/char/sonypi
   • Bluetooth off: spicctrl -l 0 (blue LED goes off)
   • Bluetooth on: spicctrl -l 255 (blue LED goes on)

6. Power stepping using powernowd:
   • Install powernowd: apt-get install powernowd
   • Start the modules :modprobe speedstep_centrino, cpufreq_userspace
   • Load relevant module :
     • Run modconf modconf
     • Select kernel/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq_userspace
     • Select kernel/arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/speedstep-centrino
7. Update and upgrade:
   • Type apt-get update followed by apt-get upgrade
   • Time for another coffee
   • If asked, keep current version of all files.
   • Reboot.

To be done

1. Screen dimming

Links

I could not have done this without the help of:

• ``Knoppix Hacks''

  by Kyle Rankine and published by O'Reilly.

• Debian Installation on a Sony Vaio T1XP Notebook

• Installing Debian "Sarge" on Sony Vaio VGN-T1XP

About this document ...

Debian GNU/Linux (single-boot) on a
Sony VAIO VGN-T1XP

This document was generated using the LaTeX2HTML translator Version 2002-2-1 (1.70)

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The translation was initiated by Peter Gawthrop on 2005-06-03