Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Beta 2 on Sony Vaio X

The latest Ubuntu versions have all been a mess to work with my Vaio X. The problems are mainly in desktop performance where the interface clearly deteriorated with the introduction of Unity. The best way to get Ubuntu to work well is probably to move back to 10.04 (or thereabouts) but I'm going to give Ubuntu one last chance with 12.04. Rumor says that the GMA500 (graphics chip) is now supported from start.
  1. Downloaded the beta ISO image: ubuntu-12.04-beta2-desktop-i386.iso
  2. Made the USB boot from ISO using usb-creator-gtk
  3. Started from USB with "Try Ubuntu" option
  4. Installed Skype
Results:

Ok, the "Try/Install" Ubuntu screen worked but it was really messed up and split horizontally with only the top half part working.

It took a couple of attempts to get the screen resolution right (no changes - just that many times the screen boots in only 1024x768 mode).

Also the screen is flickering slightly and I filed some 3-5 bug reports (popup kept informing abt. several background crashes). (bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/972294)

All this allowed me to try most of the gadgets. Working:
  • Display
  • Audio (with keyboard volume control/mute / Fn+F2,F3,F4)
  • Webcam (with Skype)
  • Trackpad (with edge scrolling)
  • Bluetooth (with Skype)
  • Youtube video/audio (full screen working but rather laggy/chippy)
Not working (tested):
  • Keyboard display light controls / Fn+F5,F6 (adjusts ok but has no effect on display)
  • Multitouch trackpad (never got that to work with Ubuntu before either)
  • External display/VGA (nothing happens when connecting a monitor, keyboard switch / Fn+F7)
CPU/fan noice is irritating (saddest part of the Vaio X) but I must say that it's behaving and the fan shuts off completely from time to time. Running nothing but a Youtube clip spinns it up though.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 21, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    Multi touch worked right out of the box for my Vaio E laptop with synaptic touchpad. Have you tried enabling two finger scrolling on "mouse" menu?

    ReplyDelete
  2. CalmityApril 27, 2012 at 5:47 AM

    I have never had a problem with multitouch but otherwise, every new distribution of Ubuntu works worse than the previous one. "It took a couple of attempts to get the screen resolution right (no changes - just that many times the screen boots in only 1024x768 mode)." I've got this problem and have re-booted and tried other "fixes" repeatedly and still have a half-screen. I'm going to have to ditch Ubuntu.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CalmityApril 28, 2012 at 5:46 AM

    Ditched. I gave up after numbers attempts and installed CrunchBang. This works so much better, and is faster to boot. (No pun intended. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. yadaMay 15, 2012 at 10:28 AM

    Hello,
    I installed Ubuntu 12.04 on my Vaio X VPCX131KX and I am having only half my screen displayed. I have tried several solution to no avail. I will appreciate if you have any suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  5. SvanteJuly 24, 2012 at 2:15 AM

    Installed 12.04 today. Still needs tweaks but works great so far. See: http://tech.jacobsen.se/2012/07/ubuntu-1204-precise-on-sony-vaio-x.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. SvanteJanuary 29, 2013 at 12:07 PM

    @Calmity, I tried CrunchBang on other computers a couple of rounds after your suggestion (it was really great and light weight). It lacked decent keyboard support for my Swedish keyboard though - some characters were impossible to type (@ and \). I'm back on Ubuntu 12.10 (Unity turned off).

    ReplyDelete

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