VAIOLOGY
Debian GNU/Linux on SONY VAIO PCG-C1MSX

I had used Debian on a VAIO PCG-C1XE named "algernon" for more than two years. (You can read the records here.) Recently, I got a new PCG-C1MSX as algernon II. This model seems to be released only in Japan, so I find little reason to translate my install log into English. Besides, there is a wonderful web page for the C1 seriese already.

The page above is full of information. Just go there, and you will find what you need.

The followings are the essentials of what is written in my Japanese page.

• The graphic chip is ATI Radeon Mobility MG LY. Set Driver to "ati" and Modes to "1280x600" in /etc/X11/XF86Config. xserver-xfree86-4.2.0 or later is clever enough to manage this oddly shaped screen well.
• The internal NIC is Realtec's RTL-8139/8139C. Select the 8139too driver and everything works fine.

• The attached wireless LAN card is based on the Prism2 chip. First, enable the PCMCIA support. I used the one in the kernel, but the standalone package should work, too. Then turn on

  Hermes chipset 802.11b support (Orinoco/Prism2/Symbol)
  

  and

  Hermes PCMCIA card support
  

  in the section Network device support → Wireless LAN (non-hamradio).

  The interface of the wireless LAN is eth1. You will need the wireless-tools package to enable WEP.

  It seems that kernel-2.4.22 has some problem with IRQ handling for PCMCIA. I had to return to kernel-2.4.21 to use this wireless LAN card.

• The sound chip is ALi M5451. Turn on Sound → Trident 4DWave DX/NX, SiS 7018 or ALi 5451 PCI Audio Core. I heard that ALSA works as well.
• Turn on Character devices → Sony Vaio Programmable I/O Control Device support and install the spicctrl package. Then you will be able to control the brightness of the screen by

  $ spicctrl -b <num>
  

  where <num> ranges from 0 (darkest) to 255 (brightest).
• Turn on the ACPI support in the kernel to cut the power automatically when you shut down the machine.

• Select USB support → OHCI (Compaq, iMacs, OPTi, SiS, ALi, ...) support as USB controller.

  USB external storage devices (floppy disk, flash memory, etc.) are recognised as SCSI devices. Turn on USB support → USB Mass Storage support and SCSI support → SCSI Disk support. Note that the first one is assigned to /dev/sdb1 and not to /dev/sda1.

  To use USB mice and keyboards, turn on USB support → USB Human Interface Device support → HID input layer support together with Keyboard support and Mouse support under the Input core support section.

• Memory Stick is accessible as a USB-connected mass storage device. As root, type

  # mount -t msdos /dev/sda1 /mnt
  

  to mount a memory stick.