Installing Kubuntu 7.10 GNU/Linux on a
Sony Vaio VGN-S5VP/B

Last modified: December 08, 2021. 15:46:32 pm

Lorenzo Bettini

This document describes the installation and configuration of GNU/Linux (Kubuntu 7.10) on a Sony Vaio VGN-S5VP/B.

You can find a similar page (describing the installation of Debian Linux on the same laptop here: https://www.lorenzobettini.it/linux/LinuxSonyVaioVGN-S5VP_B).

Warning: I'm about to get rid of this laptop, but I leave this pages on so that they can document my experience. Even if I don't have this laptop anymore, please feel free to e-mail about related issues (find my e-mail at my home page).

First of all, here's the output of lspci:

# lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
0000:00:1b.0 0403: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0168 (rev a1)
0000:06:05.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI7420 CardBus Controller
0000:06:05.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCI7x20 1394a-2000 OHCI Two-Port PHY/Link-Layer Controller
0000:06:05.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCI7420/PCI7620 Dual Socket CardBus and Smart Card Cont. w/ 1394a-2000 OHCI Two-Port PHY/Link-Layer Cont. an
0000:06:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82562ET/EZ/GT/GZ - PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller Mobile (rev 03)
0000:06:0b.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG (rev 05)

Quick Summary

Processor	OK	Also frequency scaling and ACPI
Disk	Almost	DMA does not work on the hard disk
X configuration	OK	Better with NVIDIA drivers
Networking	OK	both wired and wireless
Sound	OK
PCMCIA	Not tested	Needs some adjustments to make it work
DVDRW	OK
Modem	OK	works Linuxant drivers
USB	OK
Firewire	Not tested
Bluetooth	OK

General

Basically, almost everything works immediately after the installation of Kubuntu (if you compare this page with the one describing the installation of Debian, you can understand why I decided to leave Debian and switch to Kubuntu - probably, however, the problems with Debian were also due to the fact that I performed that some years ago...).

Kubuntu is really a user-friendly Linux distribution, with all the power of Debian :-)

In the following I'll detail some parts.

X configuration

Works right after the installation. The system detects that you may need to install restricted drivers in order to make your hardware work correctly, and it performs all the needed operations for you (well done!). Remember you need an internet connection to let it download the nvidia drivers:

the system detects you need restricted drivers

Networking

Both wired and wireless connections work perfectly and you can use the KNetworkManager.

CPU

Frequency scaling is already enabled and working.

Sleep

Suspend-to-Disk (aka "Hibernate") work, provided you don't use the nvidia driver: you need to use the nv driver to make it work.

Suspend-to-RAM (aka "Suspend") does not work.

Fn keys

They work! At least the one I tried: volume and lcd brightness

Screen projection

Does not work completely: you manage to project but not to see what you project on your screen.

Modem

The modem is integrated in the sound card, Soft V92 Data Fax Modem with Smart CP, and it's obviously a softmodem. The scanModem utility downloaded from http://linmodems.technion.ac.il reports this:

Though not displayed, an embedded soft modem may reside in this Audio card:
 0000:00:1b.0 0403: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
 Support is in an active developement stage. There is always an audio codec(s) 
 + (optionally) modem. ALSA HDA setup is likely automatic, but can be maually done with:
	su - root
	modprobe snd-hda-intel
 Information on the chips should map into /proc/asound/ folders.

The following command shows:

cat /proc/asound/card0/codec#1

Codec: Generic 14f1 ID 2bfa
Address: 1
Vendor Id: 0x14f12bfa
Subsystem Id: 0x0
Revision Id: 0x90000

As reported by the people of the linmodems mailing list, the Id shows it has a Conexant codec and it is supported by Linuxant, http://www.linuxant.com, the bad news is that you have to pay for this driver (unless you want to stick with 14k and no fax), but it's worthwhile, since it works pretty good.

I installed the .deb package you find on their site and everything worked perfectly (you may need to reboot after installation).

Final consideration

I didn't mind using this laptop, but I was definetely disappointed by Sony batteries, for more details, please see this post: http://tronprog.blogspot.com/2007/07/sony-vaio-vgns5vpb-and-low-cost-battery.html.

Accesses to this page