A new toy, Sony Vaio UX300CN, came into my possession. It comes preloaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Buisiness Edition which is only to be expected but, out of the box, runs a bit slowish on this 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo CPU. It has 1GB of RAM, and 37GB hard disk space (about 7GB are dedicated to a recovery partition and 20GB are gobbled up by Vista). As you can see from my tag line, I'm not really a proprietary systems guy so my first question was 'can it run Linux?' The answer is yes and so far it is relatively straight forward.Googling UX300 and Linux did not result in any help, but I did find Linux on the Sony VAIO UX180P which was encouraging. The first step is to make sure you create the recovery media. With a USB DVD R/RW drive this is also easily done by following the Vaio documentation.
The next step is to shrink the Vista partition to make room for linux. On other Windows pre-installed systems I would have used Power Quests Partition Magic, now available from Symantec as Norton Partition Magic. However this is not compatable with Vista, fortunately Vista disk management tools include the ability to resize partitions. I was able to pry a whopping 7.6GB loose, plenty for a Linux install.
I used Fedora Core 6 because that is what we use in the shop, but other distributions should work as well. To boot the installation media some minor changes to the BIOS configuration are needed. Shut down the Vaio. Slide the screen up to access the keyboard. Locate the Fn and F2 keys. Turn the unit on and when you see the Vaio logo press and hold the Fn key while pressing the F2 key. It should switch immediately into BIOS configuration.
Paging over to the BIOS Boot menu will show six items that should boot before the internal hard drive. So why can't we boot from a USB DVD by just plug-and-go? Look closely at the very tiny screen to see that all six items are marked with an asterisk. On the right side is a note which says: External drives are available when the External Drive Boot is set to Enabled. Page back to the Advanced menu to find External Drive Boot, set it to Enabled, save the settings and away we go. While there the Keyboard Backlight can be Disabled if desired.
Install linux to your taste. To be able to dual boot linux and Vista you will can install the grub boot loader on the hard drive boot sector and follow the instructions here: Dual boot Linux Vista. Actuall Fedora Core 6 does this quite well for you.
What works: Sound, wired networking, Bluetooth, USB, touch screen (some calibration issues), dual head display (at least on intitial install). Apparently wireless networking works, but I'm still looking for a site that has all the RPMs in sync to do it without compiling the driver.
What doesn't work (yet): Motion Eye, finger print scanner. zoom buttons.
I'm not finished yet so more later.
3 comments:
Still running XP, which I'm sure would run better if it had a penguin for a mascott.
I read your notes on running Linux on your Vaio UX300CN with great interest. I have a VGN-UX300 machine with solid state disk running Vista and am interested in switching it to Linux as Vista is a pig to put it mildly. However, unlike you I am not a computer tech person -- actually I am a writer by profession. I am therefore a little hesitant. A friend suggested that I install a distro (I am considering Ubutu) onto a Memory Stick and boot it from that. The UX seems to integrate Memory Sticks directly as part of its memory. At present I have a 2 GB memory stick but could get a larger one if needed. I have no idea at present how much I would need for a Linux distro.
You didn't mention whether your machine runs WiFi successfully under Linux. I have heard that some people have had problems running WiFi under Linux, and since this is absolutely necessary for me (I work through a wireless network rather than a hard-wired connection), this is a major issue. Can you advise on whether I could expect WiFi to work?
Thanks,
Bert Latamore
Bert,
You are able to write efficiently on that tiny keyboard? You're my hero.
As I recall WiFi functionality was not supported by any of the distributions I used. Linux is a quickly moving target so that could have changed, so it is worth a try.
2GB is sufficient for a working Linux installation, but I have to wonder if it would support the applications you would want. Luckily you can try before you buy, so to speak. Many Linux distributions, Ubuntu included, have Live CDs available. A Live CD lets you run the operating system entirely from the CD and system RAM without changing your hard drive. Data you wish to persist from one session to another can be saved on your memory stick. Once you find a flavor you want to give a more serious try you should be able to install to the memory stick. Does it not also have a Compact Flash, or Secure Digital memory slot? If so you could use that for your operating system.
One warning: some Linux distributions may offer to mount your Vista drive (mistaking it for a WinNT/WinXP drive. I wouldn't recommend that unless you could live with loosing everything on that drive.
You may have guessed that I no longer have the UX300 to play with. Like many devices around the shop, in my evaluation I made the mistake of making it useful to someone else and off it went.
Good luck, let us know how you make out.
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