This is a guide to running Linux with the Sony VAIO VGN-AR laptop. The Sony VGN-AR has a large screen with some nice internal components. Linux support for the VGN-AR laptop is great.
This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.
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| Name | Sony VAIO VGN-AR Series |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz |
| Screen | 17” WXGA+ |
| RAM | 1GB |
| HDD | 100GB |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 |
| Network | 10/100 Ethernet, Intel 3945 802.11g Wireless |
| Other | 3 x USB2.0, 1 x Firewire, Webcam |
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Optical Drive | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | |
| Sound | Yes | Use the snd-hda-intel module |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | Use the ipw3945 module |
| 56K Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| Card Reader | Yes | |
| ExpressCard Slot | Not Tested | |
| Camera | Not Tested |
The GeForce Go 7400 graphics used in the VAIO VGN-AR is supported by both the open source 'nv' module or NVIDIA's proprietary 'nvidia' module. For installation instructions on the NVIDIA driver you can view our guide.
The Sony VAIO VGN-AR series of laptops offer great support for Linux. The installation went routinely without any difficulties at all.
Discussion
That would be
“To install the webcam driver ON LINUX you need to download and compile the Ricoh R5U870 Webcam driver.”
It's actually much more of a challenge to install the webcam driver on Windows 7 (64-bit), than on Linux (either 32-bit or 64-bit) To install the webcam driver you need to download and compile the Ricoh R5U870 Webcam driver.
It's available from the following link.
arakhne*org/ricoh/
Does anybody know how you can get the webcam to work. So far the only problem I have found. Running Ubuntu 9.10 x64.
The only thing that does not play is the built-in microphone.