Setting Up A Vaio PCG-F450 with RedHat 6.1
The following are the notes in my log for setting up the vaio
with linux redhat 6.1. This info is here just incase it helps
someone with the similar task. But please, don't inundate me with
questions. Thanks ;)
--- 02/21/00,23:17:58 - erco: Installed linux on vaio PCG-F450 as 'workstation'
Started right away by blowing away Microsoft windows..!
I wiped away the little 'mystery' partition that comes with the vaio.
As it turns out, that partition is for the 'sleep mode' of the vaio
to save its state information. But screw it, I don't want my system
to ever 'sleep', so I disabled sleep mode, and didn't bother with
putting the partition back.
My new partition table looks like:
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 3 24066 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 4 1099 8803620 5 Extended
/dev/hda5 4 258 2048256 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 259 261 24066 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda7 262 389 1028128+ 83 Linux
I've left a large percentage of the disk unused (390~1099),
saving it for future partitioning.
Did a plain vanilla install. Used these settings during X windows setup:
Mouse type: ALPS GLIDEPOINT PS/2
Screen type: LCD Panel 1024x768
Graphics: Neomagic Corporation|[MagicGraph 256AV]
Resolution: 1024x768
Installed these packages:
_
kernel-source-2.2.12-20 \ Gotta have the kernel source and docs
kernel-doc-2.2.12-20 _/ See /usr/src/linux/Documentation, etc
_
howto-6.1-1 \ Howto docs are full of great stuff..
howto-html-6.1-1 _/ See /usr/doc/HOWTO/*
apache-1.3.9-4 -- httpd server
fortune-mod-1.0-10 -- so Xscreensaver can access 'fortune'
wu-ftpd-2.5.0-9 -- ftp server
xv-3.10a-13 -- xv is great! Visual Shnauzer, filters, etc
knfsd-1.4.7-7 -- nfs server
_
lpg-0.4-4 \
install-guide-3.2-3 \ Linux Documentation Project (LDP)
nag-1.0-4 / Useful when using Netscape to browse
sag-0.6-3 _/ online RedHat docs.
> My /etc/lilo.conf file.. nothing special here, except includes
VGA tweak so kernel boots using nice font with wide and tall text screen..
-------------------------------------------------------
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
vga=791
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.12-20
label=linux
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda7
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kernel wasn't recognizing parallel port.. that's a first.
Got this error in the /var/log/messages:
Apr 19 19:14:45 vaio kernel: lp: driver loaded but no devices found
Went to the BIOS to find the port/irq info, then, after booting,
invoked the following commands, based on help from kernel docs in
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/parport.txt:
# START OLD STYLE PRINTER DRIVER
insmod /lib/modules/2.2.12-20/misc/parport_pc.o io=0x378 irq=none,7,auto
# REINSTALL THE LP DRIVER, SO IT RECOGNIZES THE ABOVE
rmmod lp
insmod lp
Put this in the boot scripts. Probably there's a more 'redhat' approved way
of doing this, but screw it.
> Bought an HP DeskJet 932C and hung it on the vaio. Works ok;
I have to admit, the driver they supply for windows does a much better
job of printing color photos.. the linux driver prints out mirky
looking color. See my HP 932C Setup Instructions
to set that printer up for linux.
VAIO -- SPECIAL KEY SEQUENCES
=============================
> Hit ESC while sony logo on screen, then hit F2 for BIOS setup
Use this to disable PnP in the BIOS for the OSS sound drivers (below).
> Fn+S does the same as apm -S
> Fn+D turns the display off
> Fn+F toggles pixel doubling in some video and text modes
VAIO -- OTHER INTERESTING ITEMS
===============================
The text between these dashed markers are a mixture of my notes
(erco@3dsite.com) and notes from some other webpages.
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> add vga=791 to /etc/lilo.conf you get a much nicer console display.
(I did this -- he's right, it looks ALOT better -erco)
> Turn on DMA on your drive for a x2 throughput speedup and around
a factor of 10 less CPU utilisation. hdparm -d1 /dev/hda is your
friend. If you get messages in your log telling you about missed
interrupts or other such stuff, the IDE driver should
automatically turn DMA off.
> In XF86Config, enable panel AND ext vga monitor via:
# ENABLE INTERNAL DISPLA
Option "intern_disp"
# ENABLE EXTERNAL VGA MONITOR DISPLAY
Option "extern_disp"
> Lilo.conf that boots linux and/or windows.
LILO works like a charm, allowing (gulp) W98 booting as well as
Linux. Particularly handy is the ability to choose the PCMCIA scheme
at boot time via the append option in the /etc/lilo.conf file. See
the example.
When running lilo, first test it with /sbin/lilo -v -t. Then back up
the boot sector when you finally run lilo with the -s flag. Oh, and
always write your new kernel to a spare disk (e.g., with cat bzImage >
/dev/fd0) so that if you totally mess up your MBR, you'll presumably
be able to get Linux running easily so that the problem may be remedied.
In order to get LILO to properly boot the hard disk, I had to toggle
the boot flags with /sbin/fdisk so that only /dev/hda2 is registered
as bootable (even though I still want to be able to boot W98 on
/dev/hda1). Some people have reported problems with LILO not booting
if no label is typed at the prompt (timeout scenario). I have not
experienced that problem with the scheme described here. In fact,
a co-worker having exactly that problem overcame it with this fix.
boot=/dev/hda2
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
image=/boot/bzImage
label=linux
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12_new.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda2
image=/boot/bzImage
label=work
append="SCHEME=static"
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12_new.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda2
image=/boot/bzImage
label=dhcp
append="SCHEME=dhcp"
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12_new.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda2
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.12-20
label=linux-old
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda2
other=/dev/hda1
label=w98
table=/dev/hda
> Neomagic X drivers:
XFCom-neomagic-glibc-2_0_0-1_i386.tgz
mv XFCom-neomagic-glibc-2_0_0-1_i386.tgz /
tar xvzf XFCom-neomagic-glibc-2_0_0-1_i386.tgz
ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XFCom_NeoMagic /etc/X11/X
mv /etc/X11/XF86Config /etc/X11/XF86Config.old
cp /etc/X11/XF86Config.neomagic /etc/X11/XF86Config
> Edit /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers to read (this chip supports 24
bit depth at 1024x768, but screen refresh is a little choppy,
so I chose 16 bit depth):
:0 local /usr/bin/X11/X vt7 -bpp 16
> Sound.
The PCG-F4** series uses a Neo Magic AND a Yamaha sound chip
to do sound.
The open source community supports the Neo Magic, but NOT the
Yamaha (yet).
To get sound to work, I took the advice from the guy who wrote
the freeware linux Neo Magic driver, and got commercial linux
drivers from:
http://www.opensound.com/
You can download their eval for free, then purchase the full
license once you get everything working.
Here's the invoice showing which products I purchased:
Unit Total
Quantity Description Price Price
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 License for Linux (Intel) $ 15.00 $ 15.00
1 Yamaha DS-XG Option $ 15.00 $ 15.00
I had to purchase both the Linux license, and the Yamaha option.
> Be sure to *DISABLE PnP* in the BIOS.
The speakers in the Vaio PCG-450 are a little 'tin-ey', but
work ok. Headphones work better.
I can play CDs and sound files (.wav, etc) with both normal linux
tools, and the tools that come with OSS in /usr/lib/oss.
Also, I downloaded RealPlayer7 for linux from http://www.real.com/
and it works fine too. Woo hoo!
> The builtin modem is a winmodem. This sounded scary, so I
went out and bought a "Linksys Etherfast" PCMCIA combo
10-100 ethernet, 56k modem cards. Kills two birds!
This card works great. It's supported by the kernel. It has a solid
RJ45 and RJ11 connectors you can yank on, and the cable will stay in
solid. (ie. it does not use one of those weak sucky cables
that falls out when you breath on them.)
I've had no problems at all with the card, and have travelled
with it quite a bit, and pushed alot of data through it.
> IrDA (Infared Data Association) Project for linux:
http://www.cs.uit.no/linux-irda/index.html
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