MLUG

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====== Sony Vaio S13P ======

*UPDATE: (Apr 2015) I recently put Linux Mint 17 on this and it works perfectly and has fixed a lot of problems such as the mouse works great now.*

Here are my notes on what I have working.

Yet to get working is
  * Work out why WIFI is so flaky. Doesn't work with all routers and drops signal.
  * Get Nvidia card working for certain applications using something like: http://bumblebee-project.org/
  * Turbo CPU mode for longer that a split second.
  * Control fan levels even more.
  * Get finger reader working

===== Crashing/Fan problem =====

When I installed a copy of Linux Mint 13 on this computer it crashed a lot sometimes three times a night.  The fan was also going at full speed most of time even when just sitting there. It makes a lot of noise and it's hard to work with.

I found the problem was the that the Nvidia card was actually on even though I had switched the switch to 'Stamina'. 

To fix both of these problem I turned the Nvidia card off.  This requires you to upgrade the kernel and use the bbswitch.

I started looking at Fan controls for the Sony Vaio S13P but the closest I found didn't work: [[http://vaio-utils.org/fan/]]. The problem here I think is that this is for older models than mine and most of the ACPI devices are not showing up in the kernel.


==== Upgrade to the latest kernel ====

[[http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=40185&start=0|How To Upgrade your kernel, painlessly]]

Upgraded from 3.2 to 3.4.0-030400-generic 64bit.

This combined with the bbswitch has stopped the freezing problem.



==== bbswitch ====

The bbswitch is used to disable the Hybrid Graphics card.

[[https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/wiki/Comparison-of-PM-methods|Comparison of PM methods]]
[[https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch|bbswitch git repository]]

Compile the bbswitch
<code>
   git clone https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch.git
   cd bbswitch
   make -j4
   sudo make load
   sudo /sbin/insmod bbswitch.ko
   sudo make load
</code>

Get status
  cat /proc/acpi/bbswitch

Manually switch off
  sudo tee /proc/acpi/bbswitch <<<OFF

Check status, first the proc, then the last line of dmesg.
  cat /proc/acpi/bbswitch
  dmesg | tail -1

Dmesg output should look like:
<code>
: [ 1727.770947] bbswitch: version 0.4.2
: [ 1727.770953] bbswitch: Found integrated VGA device 0000:00:02.0: \_SB_.PCI0.GFX0
: [ 1727.770960] bbswitch: Found discrete VGA device 0000:01:00.0: \_SB_.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP
: [ 1727.771008] bbswitch: detected an Optimus _DSM function
: [ 1727.771014] bbswitch: Succesfully loaded. Discrete card 0000:01:00.0 is on
: [ 1766.857393] bbswitch: Unloaded. Discrete card 0000:01:00.0 is on
: [ 1766.858123] bbswitch: version 0.4.2
: [ 1766.858130] bbswitch: Found integrated VGA device 0000:00:02.0: \_SB_.PCI0.GFX0
: [ 1766.858136] bbswitch: Found discrete VGA device 0000:01:00.0: \_SB_.PCI0.PEG0.PEGP
: [ 1766.858194] bbswitch: detected an Optimus _DSM function
: [ 1766.858199] bbswitch: Succesfully loaded. Discrete card 0000:01:00.0 is on
: [ 1801.720954] bbswitch: disabling discrete graphics
: [ 1801.721091] bbswitch: Result of Optimus _DSM call: 01000059
: [ 1801.736774] pci 0000:01:00.0: power state changed by ACPI to D3
</code>

Install as dkms so that it builds on new kernels
  sudo dkms remove bbswitch/OLDVERSION --all
  sudo make -f Makefile.dkms

Add the following to /etc/modules
  bbswitch load_state=0

Blacklist the open source nvidia drivers from starting

Add the following to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
  blacklist vga16fb
  blacklist nouveau
  blacklist rivafb
  blacklist nvidiafb
  blacklist rivatv

Update the boot process.
  sudo update-initramfs -u

Now reboot and make sure your card is off


==== Optimus Nvidia setup ====


1. Install bumblebee and nvidia tools
   : sudo apt-get install bumblebee primus bumblebee-nvidia nvidia-detect nvidia-driver

2. Add the following to the kernel boot parameters
   : rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay=1
    
   Make it persistent after reboot
   edit /etc/default/grub
   Adjust the following to look like this;
   : GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="rcutree.rcu_idle_gp_delay=1 quiet"

   re-generate grub.cfg
   : sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

3. Install glxspheres (use instead of glxgears) - For tests
   1. Download VirtualGL (.deb) from:http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualgl/files/2.4/ 
      : wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/virtualgl/2.4/virtualgl_2.4_amd64.deb
   2. Navigate to the folder containing the deb package and install it with:
      : sudo dpkg -i VirtualGL_*.deb
   3. Run glxspheres:
      : /opt/VirtualGL/bin/glxspheres64
   4. Link
      : sudo ln -s /opt/VirtualGL/bin/glxspheres64 /usr/local/bin/glxspheres

4. Results
   | Desc      | command                            | FPS |
   |-----------+------------------------------------+-----|
   | original  | vblank_mode=0 glxspheres           | 120 |
   | optirun   | vblank_mode=0 optirun glxspheres   | 145 |
   | primusrun | vblank_mode=0 primusrun glxspheres | 190 |
===== Touchpad =====

The Sony Vaio touchpad is what they call a 'ClickPad'. There are no buttons and it's one big touch surface.  Linux Mint 13 isn't setup to handle this out of the box so you have to do the following to fix the problem.

Create directory
    sudo mkdir /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

Create file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/synaptics.conf
    sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/synaptics.conf

Add the following to that file
<code>
 Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "touchpad catchall"
        Driver "synaptics"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Option "LeftEdge"               "2900"
        Option "RightEdge"              "4000"
        Option "TopEdge"                "1620"
        Option "BottomEdge"             "3800"
        Option "TapButton1"             "1"
        Option "TapButton2"             "3"
        Option "TabButton3"             "2"
        Option "FastTaps"               "1"
        Option "CornerCoasting"         "1"
        Option "CoastingSpeed"          "0.30"
        Option "PalmDetect"             "true"
        Option "VertTwoFingerScroll"    "true"
        Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll"   "true"
        Option "SHMConfig"              "on"
        Option "SendCoreEvents"
        Option "MaxDoubleTapTime"       "50"
        Option "LBCornerButton"         "1"
        Option "RBCornerButton"         "3"
        Option "FingerLow"              "7"
        Option "FingerHigh"             "8"
        Option "MaxTapTime"             "180"
        Option "MaxTapMove"             "110"
        Option "VertScrollDelta"        "20"
        Option "HorizScrollDelta"       "20"
        Option "MinSpeed"               "0.60"
        Option "MaxSpeed"               "1.10"
        Option "AccelFactor"            "0.030"
        Option "EdgeMotionMinpeed"      "200"
        Option "EdgeMotionMaxSpeed"     "200"
        Option "SoftButtonAreas"        "4000 0 3800 0 2000 3999 3800 0"
 EndSection
</code>

Save & reboot your computer.

Now you should have a left, middle & right button at the bottom of your touchpad and you should be able to drag and drop.