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Installing Slackware 10.1 on Sony Vaio VGN FS 215E

VGN FS115B / FS215E (described below) / FS215B

• Intel Celeron or Pentium Processor, Integrated Intel i915GM Graphics
• Work with some fiddling, see below

VGN FS215M / FS215S / FS215Z

• Mobile Pentium Proccessor, some have bigger hard disks, Nvidia GeForce Go 6200 Graphics Chip
• I tried a bootable Linux CD on a different VAIO with this graphics chipset but xorg did not work (GeForce Go 6200 is not currently supported)
• The Nvidia binary drivers do support this chipset (available in IA32, IA64 and AMD64 versions). I have not tried them

Hardware Components	Status under Linux	Notes
Processor Intel Celeron M 370 1.5Ghz	Works	No problems
Memory 512MB (2x256Mb modules) DDR SDRAM PC2700 Maximum RAM 1024Mb	Works	No problems
Hard Disk Hitachi DK23FA-60 (60 GB Ultra ATA)	Works	No problems
Chipset, PCI Bridge, IDE Controller Intel 82801 (ICH6 Family)	Works	Compile kernel 'Intel PIIXn chipset support' This includes ICH support.
Trackpad Controller - Intel 82801 FBM LPC Pointing Device - Alps pointing device	Works	No Problems
Graphics Integrated Intel i915GM. Upto 128Mb shared memory.	Works	Needs :- Linux Kernel 2.6.12+ Xorg 6.8.99.10+
Screen 15.4" X-Black Widescreen LCD 1280x800	Works	Text mode works fine. Graphics work well at 1280x800, see below.
CD / DVD Drive Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-K15	Works	CD, CD-R, CD-RW DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Internal Wired Network Card Intel PRO/100 VE Network Connection 10/100Mbps	Works	No problems
Internal Wireless Network Card Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection 54Mbps. 802.11b/g	Works	IPW2200BG Mini PCI card External driver module needed.
Internal Modem HDAUSIO Soft V92 Data Fax Modem with Smart CP	Doesn't Work	This is a Windows software modem It will not work
PCMCIA / PC-Card slot Texas Instruments PCI7420 Integrated Flash Media	Controller recognised, not tested	1 slot
Sound Card Intel High Definition Audio	Works	Needs :- Linux Kernel 2.6.12+ OR ALSA 1.0.9+
USB High/Full/Low Speed 82801 family USB1 UHCI and USB2 EHCI controller	Works	3 ports. Compile kernel 'EHCI HCD (USB 2.0) support' and 'UHCI HCD (most Intel and VIA) support'
Firewire Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE1394 Host Controller	Controller recognised, not tested	1 port. Compile kernel 'OHCI-1394 support'
Memory Stick Texas Instrument controller	Don't know what controller to use, not tested	Should support Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Duo
ACPI	Working	Battery status, etc

Basic Installation of Linux

I booted up from the install CD and used 'fdisk /dev/hda1' to remove the windows partitions. I then created 3 new Linux partitions (see below), everyone does partitions differently, but this is what I decided to do.

Partition  Boot  Start  End   Blocks     Id  System      Size    Use

/dev/hda1        1      3615  29037456   83  Linux       26.8Gb  OS
/dev/hda2        3616   7230  29037487+  83  Linux       26.8Gb  Files
/dev/hda3        7231   7296    530145   82  Linux Swap   0.5Gb  Swap

Xorg / Intel i910GM Graphics / 1280x800 screen resolution

Short Version
Use Kernel 2.6.12+ (compile in AGP/DRI support) and Xorg 6.8.99.10+ (use i810 driver, change /etc/X11/xorg.conf to 1280x800)

Long Version
This laptop has a 15.4" widescreen at a resolution of 1280x800. The video card is an integrated Intel i910GM.

I initially tried to get this resolution working with Linux Kernel 2.6.11.9 and Xorg 6.8.2 (Current versions at time of writing). I compiled in kernel support for i810 and i830 chipsets and tried the xorg driver which supports i910G, no luck... the i910GM is different to the i910G :-(.

I then tried the vesa driver which worked fine but only at 1024x768 resolution, this gave me a stretched desktop and slightly fuzzy fonts... not really good enough. Tried changing the appropriate line in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to 1280x800 resolution but xorg still insisted on staying in 1024x768 mode.

Quick search on google revealed that other people had had the same problem. Tried the 915resolution program to alter an unused Vesa mode to 1280x800 so the vesa driver could find it. Also set xorg.conf to use 1280x800 as the default resolution... Still at 1024x768 :-(.

I downloaded and tried the Intel driver but couldn't get it to work either :-(.

I downloaded a more up to date release candidate kernel (2.6.12-rc6) and found that DRI support for the i910GM card had been added. For AGP compile in kernel support for '/dev/agpgart (AGP Support)' and 'Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support'. For DRI support compile in kernel support for 'Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support' and 'Intel 830M, 845G..... (i915 driver)'.

I downloaded a testing version of xorg server (6.8.99.10) from freedesktop.org snapshotsand found that i910GM support had been added to the i810 driver :-). Compiled the new xorg server (quite simple really, unpack the source, change into the xc directory, type 'make World', wait approx 45minutes until it's finished, type 'make install' then 'make install.doc').

Made a new xorg.conf with 'xorgconfig' choosing th i810 graphics driver. It worked straight away in 1024x768 mode, then change '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' to 1280x800 by hand and restarted xorg... Success at last at the native resolution of 1280x800. Then went back to xorg.conf and uncommented the DRI/GLX section to get OpenGL working. Running 'glxgears' and 'glxinfo' confirmed OpenGL was functioning.

Touchpad / Mouse

I also configured my kernel for USB HID support so that I could plug in my Logitech USB mouse aswell. This worked straight away when plugged in with the same settings and at the same time as the touchpad. I added the ZAxisMapping line (see xorg.conf below) to use the scroll wheel.

A Linux Touchpad driver called 'synaptics' is available from here that also works with the ALPS Glidepoint. It allows you to control more touchpad parameters. I have not tried it.

Networking - Wired

Networking - Wireless

The Kernel needs to be recompiled to be modular and include the below options.

Enable 'Loadable module support'
Enable 'Device Drivers'
	  'Generic Driver Options'
		'Select only drivers thatdon't need compile-time external firmware'
		'Prevent firmware from being built'
		'Hotplug firmware loading support'
	  'Networking support'
		'Wireless LAN drivers'
Enable 'Cryptographic API'
	  'ARC4 cipher algorithm'
Enable 'Library Routines'
	  'CRC-CCITT'
	  'CRC32'
	  'CRC32c'

Download the appropriate firmware and decompress with 'tar zxfv firmware-version.tgz', copy this into /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware.
Check that '/etc/hotplug/hotplug.agent' is pointing to the correct directory containing the firmware files.
Turn on hotplug (in slackware this done by typing 'chmod a+x rc.hotplug' in /etc/rc.d).

Download wirelesstools from the above site. Decompress as above and type 'make' to compile and 'make install' to install.

Download ipw2200-1.0.4.tgz (or later) and decompress with 'tar zxfv ipw2200-version.tgz', change into the ipw2200 directory and compile by typing 'make'.

NOTE : Driver compilation will fail on kernels > 2.6.12 as the kernel has changed subtly. The solution (found on the ipw2100 mailing list archives june 2005) is change '/ipw2200-1.0.4/net/ieee80211.h' at approximately line number 730 as below. Then type 'make' to compile.

/* ORIGINAL VERSION */
extern inline int is_multicast_ether_addr(const u8 *addr)
{
        return ((addr[0] != 0xff) && (0x01 & addr[0]));
}

/* ALTERED VERSION */
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(2,6,12)
 static inline int is_multicast_ether_addr(const u8 *addr)
{
        return ((addr[0] != 0xff) && (0x01 & addr[0]));
}
#endif

On rebooting typing 'iwconfig'. You should see something like below, note the first line may read radio off if the wlan switch on the front of the computer is in the off position.

eth0      unassociated  ESSID:off/any  Nickname:"vaio"
	  Mode:Managed  Channel=0  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
	  Bit Rate=0 kb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
	  RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
	  Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth0      IEEE 802.11b  ESSID:"Home"  Nickname:"vaio"
          Mode:Ad-Hoc  Channel:13  Cell: 06:54:AC:E7:E0:4D
          Bit Rate=11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=93/100  Signal level=-34 dBm  Noise level=-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

If you are having problems check '/var/log/syslog' for any ipw2200 errors.

PCMCIA / PC-Card

ACPI

Suspend to disk

CPU Speed throttling (CPUFreq)

Sound

i.Link / i400 / Firewire / IEEE1394

Memory Stick Reader

Modem

Other Information

Section "Module"
    Load       "dbe"   # Double buffer extension
    SubSection "extmod"
      Option   "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection
    Load       "type1"
    Load       "freetype"
    Load       "glx"
    Load       "dri"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
    FontPath  "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
    FontPath  "/usr/local/share/fonts/TTF"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard1"
    Driver "kbd"
    Option "AutoRepeat"   "500 30"
    Option "XkbRules"     "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel"     "pc105"
    Option "XkbLayout"    "gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse1"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"     "Auto"
    Option "Device"       "/dev/mouse"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "VAIO"
    HorizSync   31.5 - 64.3
    VertRefresh 40-150
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Intel"
    Driver      "i810"
    #VideoRam    8192
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "Intel"
    Monitor     "VAIO"
    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"
    Screen      "Screen 1"
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
   Mode 0666
EndSection

/proc/cpuinfo

processor     : 0
vendor_id     : GenuineIntel
cpu family    : 6
model         : 13
model name    : Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor         1.50GHz
stepping      : 8
cpu MHz       : 1496.567
cache size    : 1024 KB
fdiv_bug      : no
hlt_bug       : no
f00f_bug      : no
coma_bug      : no
fpu           : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level   : 2
wp            : yes
flags         : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca
                cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe nx
bogomips      : 2940.92

lspci output

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2590 (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2592 (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2792 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Class 0403: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2668 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub USB (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub USB (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub USB (rev 03)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub USB (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub USB2 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BAM/CAM PCI Bridge (rev d3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2641 (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub PATA (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. I/O Controller Hub SMBus (rev 03)
06:03.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments: Unknown device ac8e
06:03.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments: Unknown device 802e
06:03.3 Unknown mass storage controller: Texas Instruments: Unknown device ac8f
06:04.0 Network controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 4220 (rev 05)
06:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 1068 (rev 03)

Contact Information

• t DOT hanham AT doctors DOT org DOT uk
  

Links

• Sony International and Sony UK
• Xorg, Freedesktop and Xorg snapshots
• Linux Kernel
• Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
• 915resolution if you want to use the vesa driver
• Linux Laptops

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