SonyVaioA497XP
Contact: MarkMc
- Make: Sony
- Brand: VAIO
- Model: VGN-A497XP
Website: http://www.vaio-link.com/specifications/specifications.asp?l=en&category=0&serie=VGN-A&m=1876
- S/N: NA
Current Issues
Re-installed with Feisty a few weeks ago. Lots of issues are cleared up now... see further down...
However, some new issues:
Sound quality is awful when on mains power, see http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2855374#post2855374 Quick update to this, I have actually tried using a Ferrite Loop (Choke) on the power lead, but this had absolutely no effect. 
Ejecting the CD-ROM (Using the "Software" button) causes ACPI to spawn a load of "eject" processes. Whenever you push the CD back in, it pops out again! I will try to do some more careful debugging to figure out how/why/when this happens. However, there is a "hardware" button on the drive itself, and that seems to work, and ejecting a CD from the desktop works fine. This is bearable for now.
SOLVED : Hard drive light constantly on see Bug 16251
SOLVED : Hardware lockup on reboot or shutdown about 1 in 2 attempts (once so fatally I had to remove the battery!)
SOLVED : WPA support is very clunky. WPA/WPA2 (mixed mode) working nicely now
SOLVED : HD LED still permanently on, now filed under Bug 15634
Well done to the Ubuntu and any up-stream teams, all the previous issues from Breezy appear to have been resolved!!
*NEW 2005-09-30* : Volume Shortcuts (Fn+F2,F3,F4) no longer work as of last night's update. See http://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=16667 Update: This is now working ok again! 
FIXED! FEISTY UPDATE : BROKEN AGAIN, Volume now jumps from zero to MAX
*NEW 2005-10-04* : Booting with LAN cable plugged in causes Gnome to hang at Login. The machine boots fine, but then when you attempt a gnome login, it just hangs. Ctrl+Alt+Backspace etc cannot resolve the issue, a reboot is required. FEISTY UPDATE : This no longer happens
Hardware details
|
in Hoary (current stable)? |
in Breezy (current development)? |
Installation works? |
|
Yes |
Hardware Information |
|||
Screen & Monitors |
|||
Device |
Works? |
Bug # |
|
in Feisty |
in Breezy |
||
Screen |
1920x1200 works |
1920x1200 works |
See next line |
Correct resolution? |
Yes |
Manual change to xorg.conf required |
See 16248 |
Correct refresh rate? |
Yes |
Close enough (60 vs 61Hz) |
|
3D Acceleration |
Yes (both drivers) |
Not sure (see notes) |
|
External monitor works? |
Yes |
No |
CRT didn't appreciate 1920x1200@61Hz!! |
External monitor - mirrors |
Yes |
No |
|
External monitor - extend desktop |
Untested |
No |
|
Power Management |
|||
Battery detected? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hibernates? |
Yes |
No |
WLAN, Graphics etc all ok on resume |
Sleep |
Yes |
No |
It is a bit slow to go to sleep, but all works |
Dim monitor on battery |
Untested |
No |
|
Blank monitor on inactivity |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Lid Close |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cpu frequency scaling |
Yes |
No |
|
Reboot + Shutdown |
Yes |
No |
|
Sound |
|||
Sound works? |
Yes, with issues! |
Yes |
|
Correct volume? |
Think so |
BIOS Tweaks required! |
|
Hardware volume switch |
Broken |
Not hot keys, Fn+F2-F4 works for mute, down and up |
|
Headphone jack |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Mic jack |
Yes - with issues |
Feedback yes, recording no! :-/ |
|
Plantronics USB Headset |
Yes - with issues |
Works nicely as additional DSP |
|
Skype Audio |
on Battery only (see above) |
Works well with USB Headset |
|
BT-ALSA (Bluetooth Audio) |
Untested |
Struggling to get it working properly |
|
Networking |
|||
Wired NIC |
Yes |
100Mbps ok, not tested on gigabit |
|
Wireless NIC |
Yes WPA ok |
Yes, WEP fine, WPA requires hacking |
|
PCMCIA NIC |
Untested |
Untested |
|
Firewire |
Untested |
Untested |
|
Bluetooth |
Untested |
Semi-working, only have a bluetooth headset but it detects it fine! |
|
Modem |
Untested |
Untested |
|
Infrared |
Untested |
Not available |
|
Touchpad & Mice |
|||
Touchpad |
Yes |
Yes (a bit sensitive) |
|
Touchpad - Doubletap = double click |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Touchpad - Scroll down side |
Yes |
Not working |
|
External mouse - USB |
Yes (Including Hotplug) |
Yes |
Sony Bundled mouse works brilliantly too |
External mouse - Serial |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Docking Station/Port Replicator |
|||
Not Tested |
No Dock |
Available!! |
|
Additional Hardware |
|||
Fingerprint reader |
N/A |
N/A |
|
CD/DVD drive |
Untested |
Untested |
|
PCMCIA cards |
Yes, Lexar Card Reader w/ CF card |
Untested |
|
Parallel Ports |
Untested |
Untested |
|
Card reader(s) |
See note --> |
Untested |
The light is permanently on, but I don't have a MStick! |
Function and other keys |
|||||
Fn key |
Operation |
Keycode |
Works? |
Bug # |
|
in Feisty |
in Breezy |
||||
Fn+Space |
Acts as Spacebar |
None |
Untested |
Unknown |
|
Fn+Esc |
None |
received event "sony/hotkey SPIC 00000001 0000000b" |
Untested |
Unknown |
|
Fn+F1 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F2 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F3 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F4 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F5 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F6 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F7 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F8 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F9 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F10 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F11 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+F12 |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Fn+1 |
|
received event "sony/hotkey SPIC 00000001 00000018" |
Untested |
No |
|
Fn+2 |
|
received event "sony/hotkey SPIC 00000001 00000019" |
Untested |
No |
|
Other special keys |
|||||
Key |
Operation |
Keycode |
Works? |
Bug # |
|
in Feisty |
in Breezy |
||||
Key |
|
|
Untested |
Untested |
|
Eject |
Eject CDROM |
/var/log/acpid : received event "sony/hotkey SPIC 00000001 0000001b" |
Untested |
No |
|
Vol Up, Vol Down, Magnify, S1 |
Various |
/var/log/acpid : received event "sony/hotkey SPIC 00000001 00000020" |
Untested |
No |
|
Notes
FEISTY UPDATE : Issue below still applicable
* BIOS has a setting for initial volume. This would appear to affect the maximum volume attainable under Ubuntu. After setting this up a bit, it appears to have a decent range now. Hardware Mute button on the VAIO works, but does not inform the Linux kernel of it's depression, so the mute icon does not appear on the volume control dock item.
FEISTY UPDATE : 3D performance using OpenGL is good using the standard driver, I've installed Beryl and am using it full time, and the speed is fine. Vast improvement, makes vista look rubbish!!
Dragging windows around the screen was quite slow and stuttery. I have found this is a feature of running a 128 Mb X600 at 1920x1200! So I downloaded and installed the ATI provided graphics card drivers for Linux, and this has vastly improved the 2D performance, which is what I wanted. I have not tested anything in 3D yet, as I don't really use the 3D side of the card under linux. If anyone can suggest a decent (and easy) way of testing 3D performance, please let me know!
FEISTY UPDATE : No longer any login logout problems
* When logging out and attempting to log back in to Gnome, more often than not it will just hang at login. After pressing Ctrl + Alt + Backspace a number of times, it will normally reset X11, and allow me to shutdown from the login screen, but I have never been able to get it to log me back in.
FEISTY UPDATE : Not retested, presume it will work ok now. I'm only shutting down using the menu these days.. will try it sometime no doubt!
* Shutting down from a console (telinit 0, poweroff, shutdown etc) usually causes the system to hang at powerdown stage.
LaptopTestingTeam/Old/SonyVaioA497XP (last edited 2010-03-02 11:30:57 by host226-241-dynamic)