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Sony Vaio CW2
Introduction
Installation on that model is not really easy due to lak of support of the graphic card…
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Specifications
| Name | Sony Vaio CW2 |
| Processor | Intel i3-330M, i5-430M, i5-520M : 2 core (i3) or 2 core with Hyperthread (i5) |
| Screen | 14” TFT (1366×768) |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 310M |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| HDD | 320GB or 500GB - 5400rpm |
| Optical Drive | DVD Super Multi Blu-Ray Drive |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Atheros Wifi link AR9285 |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | Blueray not tested |
| Graphics | Yes | works out of the box with nvidia drivers 256.44 or higher. With previous driver versions see http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=8748678&postcount=16 for all the procedure to make it work ! not supported at all with Nouveau driver → blacklist the module |
| HDMI | Not tested | |
| Sound | Yes | |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Just works | running out of the box but with big performances issues in 2.6.32, works a little better in 2.6.33, there is some patch here ( https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/535222 ) but not tried yet |
| Bluetooth | Yes | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Yes | |
| Card Reader | Yes | |
| MemoryStick HG Duo Reader | NO | not detected on kernel 2.6.32 neither with 2.6.33 |
| ExpressCard Slot | Not Tested | |
| Webcam | Yes | recognized as “uname”, but works out of the box |
Notes
2 main troubles i encountered when installing that laptop :
- conflict with nouveau driver with lucid lynx backport (add blacklist nouveau in your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf *before* install nvidia proprietary driver)
- athk9 module as stability and performance issues see : https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14980 for more info. It is usable, but not comfortable !
Summary
Globally, this is not too hard to install that laptop considering 90% of the material is recognized out of the box. The main ugly thing is graphic card because of the lack of support in the nvidia driver and in nouveau. the second thing is wifi with the lack of stability, but it works for day to day web surfing…
Every other parts is working out of the box !
Discussion