Linux SRX87 install guide

Introduction

I recently decided to splurge and get myself a laptop. I have been a stationary computer user since I could count. I was looking for a light weight laptop that I could easily bring to school and run linux on. The Sony Vaio SRX87 fit the bill, and I liked its sleek design.

I loosely followed the instructions for the SRX77, which is a similar model. Another, good resource is the linux-sony mailing list.

Please note this is a work in progress and this document should be considered a rough guide. If you have any suggestion or corrections my email address is logisticNOSPAMATsdf-euNOSPAMDOTorg.

Installation of Debian/GNU Linux 3.0

Keep in mind that because the DVD drive is not supported by the stock kernel you will need another way of getting the base of the distribution installed. My solution was to connect the laptop (via ethernet) to my home network. During the install Woody can use DHCP to configure the network interface, and then, it can use apt-get to install the base system. This method is probably only practical if you have a broadband connection. Another option is to put the contents of the CD on a MSFAT partition.

Partitioning the hard drive

Most parts of the installation will go without much thinking. Defining the different partitions on your hard drive is not one of them. The SRX87 comes with a 20 gig hard drive which is partitioned into two different segments. Be careful here because you could easily destroy the partition with Windows on it.

The following table gives the partition scheme I used.

Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 2432 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

Device	Boot	Start	End	Blocks	Id	System
/dev/hda1	*	1	1275	10241406	7	HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2		1276	2432	9293602+	5	Extended
/dev/hda5		1276	1397	979933+	c	Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda6		1398	2394	8008371	83	Linux
/dev/hda7		2395	2432	305203+	82	Linux swap

Package selection

• wireless tools
• pcmcia-cs for supporting the wireless card.
• spicctrl for controlling the brightness and getting information on battery power,
• sjog for using the jog-dial on the laptop.

Compiling a new kernel

Downloading the source

First download the latest kernel from kernel.org. In my case the latest stable kernel version was 2.4.23. Once you have unpacked the kernel into /usr/src type: "ln -s linux-2.4.23 linux".

There now is a patched kernel designed for laptops which can be downloaded.

Patching

$ cd /usr/src/
$ gunzip ./acpi-20031203-2.4.23.diff.gz
$ cd /usr/src/linux/
$ patch -p1 < ../acpi-20031203-2.4.23.diff

Configuring

You can check out my kernel .config file to see all the options that I selected.

Installing

$ make dep
$ make bzImage
$ make modules
$ make modules_install
$ make install

Ethernet

$ ifconfig eth0 down
eepro100-diag -ee # to determine if your card was set to sleep mode
eepro100-diag -ee -G 0 -ww # to rewrite the eeprom on the card

Wireless support

Get the latest Orinoco drivers for linux. Unpack the source into /usr/src and follow the usual "make" steps. I had to copy the following module files into "/lib/modules/2.4.23/pcmcia": "hermes.o", "orinoco.o", and "orinoco_cs.o". Make sure that you have compiled into the kernel pcmcia support for network and wireless network interfaces, and you have not selected any specific support for the card.

If you want to use kismet you will need to patch the drivers to allow monitoring of the wireless connection. I'm currently having problems switching it out of monitoring mode.

Sound

• alsa-source-0.9
• alsa-headers-0.9
• alsautils
• debconf-utils
• debhelper
• alsa-base
• alsaconf

The kernel has to be configured for sound support as a module but don't select a specific card in the kernel configuration.

$ cd /usr/src/
$ tar -xvzf alsa-drivers.tar.gz
$ cd /usr/src/modules/alsa-drivers
$ ./configure --with-moddir=/lib/modules/2.4.23/alsa
$ make all
$ make install
$ ./snddevices
$ chmod u+rw /dev/dsp /dev/mixer # for giving user access to sound support
$ modprobe snd-intel8x0 # should load correctly
$ alsaconf # too correctly setup the device

I have not correctly installed the sound drivers. It is not correctly loading on the boot-up. I have to load the module by hand and then there is sound.

Sound alternative

Adding an "rc.local" to Debian

Because, I came from mandrake, I was used to using rc.local to add my local hacks to it. I found the following instruction on google groups on how to setup a similar file on Debian.

Linking a Sony CLIE via USB

I found the following website helpful for setting up syncing my CLIE with my laptop.

I compiled usb support as a module, with usb-uhci as a module, and visor as module. In my /etc/init.d/local file I added:

modprobe usb-uhci
modprobe visor
usbmgr

Then I linked ln -s /dev/ttyUSB1 /dev/pilot

DVDS via firewire

When you are ready you can try this:

modprobe ohci1394
modprobe sbp2
sh /usr/local/bin/rescan-scsi-bus.sh
mount /dev/scd0 /mnt/dvd/

To play dvds I use ogle. There are debian packages for it in potato and the libdecss packages can be found on the web.

If a blue band appears on the side of the window when playing a dvd you need to use xvattr (deb).

xvattr -a XV_COLORKEY -v 0

Journaling filesystems via ext3

Still needs to be configured

• More advanced ACPI support for different actions like closing the lid and using speed step technology to save battery life.
• Modem
• Memory stick -- This can be done but I don't have any memory sticks so I don't care

Additional resources

Some of these links are found in this document

• returntonature.com is the home of linux sony mailing list and the linux sony wiki
• The laptop kernel project home of a prepatched linux
• PCG-SRX51 (european version)
• Roger's SRX87 Install page
• An install guide for SRX87 with SUSE and RedHat.