Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
Good info about tlp and other related topics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDdGK8Z_qzs
Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
This laptop is the king of tiny screws. But it's not that hard to take apart actually.
Got my new (used) Samsung 250GB SSD installed. Upon boot, I got this error and 2 beeps. I guess I upset the ancient TPM 1.2 module by replacing the hard drive? Well I was able to move forward by pressing F1.
Then I proceeded to install Mint 64-bit which is the first time this computer has ever executed 64-bit code. It is like 19 years old. Things were going well until they weren't. I began to get suspicious that the system was not running as smoothly as I expected, though it's hard to gauge performance expectations on a 19 year old laptop running current Linux. Nonetheless, I was onto something.
The short of it was, it was only running on 1 CPU core!! This laptop originally shipped with an Intel Core Duo, which is like a dual core Pentium M, a 32-bit CPU. I upgraded it to a Core 2 Duo T7600 which is a dual core 64-bit CPU. This required flashing the BIOS to the "latest" which supported the opcode stuff. The thought occurred to me that maybe something in the BIOS didn't support executing 64-bit instructions but DID work as a dual core with 32-bit instructions. But I pressed on. There was no doubt - it was in fact only bringing up 1 core. Super weird.
However, the BIOS was acting weird still. I tried clearing the TPM. Then the option disappeared entirely. It also required me to choose a boot device after I pressed F1. The whole thing was odd. Adam found a thread with a similar issue on a totally different computer and the solution was to reset the BIOS because it got into a corrupted state. As a hail mary, I gave it a shot. To my absolute shock, this worked!! It has had a slow POST for years this seemed to fix that as well. I wonder if it was running on 1 core in Windows 10 years ago?? Or, it was fine, but after sitting for years with a dead battery and then being used again (plus I started manipulating the TPM settings because it seemed to be hanging the Mint boot sequence up), it got into a corrupted state.
Either way, this is much better.
Camera and fingerprint reader don't work. Probably drivers. Internet says Linux support is hopeless for fingerprint readers. I MAY have to compile a driver for the camera.
I am having more fun with Linux on this Vaio than the HTPC for a number of reasons. I guess the main one is, it's running AND in 64-bit mode against all odds and mostly stuff seems to work. The second one is, it's really just a toy at this point. The HTPC needs to perform a specific task and it is not optimized for that yet (but is getting there I guess). Perhaps the third reason is, the Vaio was just sitting in the corner doing nothing. It DID have a fully functional Windows 10 but it wasn't that enjoyable to use. This gives me a reason to use it again and I still think it's a cool machine. With the HTPC, I had a fully functional (Windows 7) media center that actually still performed the deprecated tasks perfectly, and in a way that Mint + Kodi is still not able to do. I guess it is doing better than I expected but it's going to take more horsing around with perhaps another Linux distro to hopefully close some of the major remaining gaps. It feels more like work and the Vaio is fun, because using it at all exceeds expectations. It'a all about the expectations.
That said, I think the purpose of the Vaio now is to get some time with Mint as a desktop (laptop) OS to evaluate it for general computing tasks. I may need to buy another battery so I can use it on my lap for reasonable amounts of time. I have other batteries somewhere but it may not be worth looking for them.
Got my new (used) Samsung 250GB SSD installed. Upon boot, I got this error and 2 beeps. I guess I upset the ancient TPM 1.2 module by replacing the hard drive? Well I was able to move forward by pressing F1.
Then I proceeded to install Mint 64-bit which is the first time this computer has ever executed 64-bit code. It is like 19 years old. Things were going well until they weren't. I began to get suspicious that the system was not running as smoothly as I expected, though it's hard to gauge performance expectations on a 19 year old laptop running current Linux. Nonetheless, I was onto something.
The short of it was, it was only running on 1 CPU core!! This laptop originally shipped with an Intel Core Duo, which is like a dual core Pentium M, a 32-bit CPU. I upgraded it to a Core 2 Duo T7600 which is a dual core 64-bit CPU. This required flashing the BIOS to the "latest" which supported the opcode stuff. The thought occurred to me that maybe something in the BIOS didn't support executing 64-bit instructions but DID work as a dual core with 32-bit instructions. But I pressed on. There was no doubt - it was in fact only bringing up 1 core. Super weird.
However, the BIOS was acting weird still. I tried clearing the TPM. Then the option disappeared entirely. It also required me to choose a boot device after I pressed F1. The whole thing was odd. Adam found a thread with a similar issue on a totally different computer and the solution was to reset the BIOS because it got into a corrupted state. As a hail mary, I gave it a shot. To my absolute shock, this worked!! It has had a slow POST for years this seemed to fix that as well. I wonder if it was running on 1 core in Windows 10 years ago?? Or, it was fine, but after sitting for years with a dead battery and then being used again (plus I started manipulating the TPM settings because it seemed to be hanging the Mint boot sequence up), it got into a corrupted state.
Either way, this is much better.
Camera and fingerprint reader don't work. Probably drivers. Internet says Linux support is hopeless for fingerprint readers. I MAY have to compile a driver for the camera.
I am having more fun with Linux on this Vaio than the HTPC for a number of reasons. I guess the main one is, it's running AND in 64-bit mode against all odds and mostly stuff seems to work. The second one is, it's really just a toy at this point. The HTPC needs to perform a specific task and it is not optimized for that yet (but is getting there I guess). Perhaps the third reason is, the Vaio was just sitting in the corner doing nothing. It DID have a fully functional Windows 10 but it wasn't that enjoyable to use. This gives me a reason to use it again and I still think it's a cool machine. With the HTPC, I had a fully functional (Windows 7) media center that actually still performed the deprecated tasks perfectly, and in a way that Mint + Kodi is still not able to do. I guess it is doing better than I expected but it's going to take more horsing around with perhaps another Linux distro to hopefully close some of the major remaining gaps. It feels more like work and the Vaio is fun, because using it at all exceeds expectations. It'a all about the expectations.
That said, I think the purpose of the Vaio now is to get some time with Mint as a desktop (laptop) OS to evaluate it for general computing tasks. I may need to buy another battery so I can use it on my lap for reasonable amounts of time. I have other batteries somewhere but it may not be worth looking for them.
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Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
This will also become my Linux Mint as a desktop OS thread even though I haven't touched the Vaio for a week.
https://thelinuxcode.com/install-onedri ... x-mint-21/
https://thelinuxcode.com/install-onedri ... x-mint-21/
Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
Onedrive integration. I installed Onedrive and then Onedriver which I guess is a GUI for it. It mounts as a removable drive and even shows how much space is remaining right in the file explorer. Pictures open and LibreOffice even opens docx files. I mean, this is definitely pretty usable for basic computer tasks.
Ignore the size thing. It seemed to be counting files slowly. The pie chart seems accurate.
This Vaio could possibly benefit from a lighter XFCE situation but even with Cinnamon and some stuff open, memory is 71% used which is....servicable? I have onedrive going, Edge with a bunch of tabs including e-mail and youtube, a terminal window and a file explorer window. I think that's about as intense as it would get.
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Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
XFCE will use less resources, but I don't think it will get your RAM usage down to 512MB. One of the drawbacks of 64-bit OS is the code is all twice as big.
There's also some even more lightweight desktops you could try, or something like OpenBox which is completely modular (doesn't even come with a taskbar by default).
There's also some even more lightweight desktops you could try, or something like OpenBox which is completely modular (doesn't even come with a taskbar by default).
Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
Yeah the thing is with 3GB of RAM there isn't much to go around...we're only talking ~2GB of usage which in modern terms is pretty lightweight if dealing with a full desktop OS.
I do remember that fact about 64-bit code. Isn't there theoretically a performance increase though? Tell me about computers.
At some point things are so trimmed down that it's not really a useful computer to me and the hardware is just too old. I think it is acceptable the way it is.
Other things: https://ctrl-alt-rees.com/2024-08-13-in ... CPU%20time.
I wanted to look into whether my i915-based Intel thingy was actually using acceleration. Turns out it was out of the box, unlike Debian on this guy's Macbook with very similar hardware.
I do remember that fact about 64-bit code. Isn't there theoretically a performance increase though? Tell me about computers.
At some point things are so trimmed down that it's not really a useful computer to me and the hardware is just too old. I think it is acceptable the way it is.
Other things: https://ctrl-alt-rees.com/2024-08-13-in ... CPU%20time.
I wanted to look into whether my i915-based Intel thingy was actually using acceleration. Turns out it was out of the box, unlike Debian on this guy's Macbook with very similar hardware.
Code: Select all
kmoore@kmoore-VGN-SZ280P:~$ inxi -GSaz
System:
Kernel: 6.8.0-59-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0
clocksource: hpet avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.8.0-59-generic
root=UUID=7786c786-2a10-48e7-8b98-52c86a11e50e ro quiet splash
Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.4.8 tk: GTK v: 3.24.41 wm: Muffin v: 6.4.1 tools:
avail: cinnamon-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0
Distro: Linux Mint 22.1 Xia base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics
vendor: Sony driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-3.5 process: Intel 90nm
built: 2005-06 ports: active: LVDS-1 empty: SVIDEO-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:27a2 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Ricoh Visual Communication Camera VGP-VCC2 [R5U870] driver: N/A
type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-6:3
chip-ID: 05ca:1830 class-ID: 0600
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X:
loaded: intel unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: i915 gpu: i915
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x800 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 338x211mm (13.31x8.31")
s-diag: 398mm (15.69")
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 mapped: LVDS1 res: 1280x800 hz: 60 size: N/A
modes: 1280x800
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel i915 platforms: device: 0 egl: 1.4
drv: i915 device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: egl: 1.4 drv: i915 surfaceless:
egl: 1.4 drv: i915 x11: egl: 1.4 drv: i915 inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 2.1 vendor: mesa v: 24.2.8-1ubuntu1~24.04.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: i915 (: 945GM) device-ID: 8086:27a2
memory: 187.5 MiB unified: yes
Re: Sony Vaio VGN-SZ280P: stripped to the chassis
5 years later and a lot of sitting and this Chinesium battery is trash. So I found my OG 6 cell and the newer 9 cell. I am currently using the OG 6 cell and it actually works compared to the Chinese one which gave me a few minutes at best before everything just shut off.kevm14 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:33 pm Holy old thread!
Yeah this machine is still kicking around. I used it heavily during my graduate school work from 2011-2014 and sort of less frequently as the years progressed, with my Surface 2 tablet (which I've had since August 2014, so like 8 months after I posted this) taking on more of the light computing tasks. But, the kids use it more and more for Netflix so I often find myself either stuck with my phone (which is acceptable but even at 6" pales to a real screen and keyboard), or having to go upstairs to use the desktop. Sometimes neither of those are appropriate. Enter this post.
I finally ordered a new 6 cell battery. It is advertising better cells which I guess I believe because even the worst Li-Ion battery in 2019 is going to be a lot better than 2006 (maybe Bob has an opinion on this). I had a 9 cell before because battery life was never this laptop's forte. This must be the 3rd or 4th battery. But battery life even with the 9 cell was down to like 35 mins. Pretty bad. So if I am going to actually use this it would be nice to have a halfway functional battery. With a good 6 cell, I expect 2.5 to 3.5 hours life. Hey, it was a fairly high power but small machine for 2006 so that's kind of what you end up with. That's probably enough anyway for what I'd use it for. $41.60 w/ tax which isn't super cheap but is still quite affordable.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/121492627105
image.pngI love the last line. Nearly all our cars are safe!Specification:
Condition: Brand New - Grade A cells.
Battery Type: Li-ion
Voltage: 11.1 Volt (10.8 Volt compatible)
Capacity: 5200mAh (better than 4400mAh)
Smart surge short circuit protection
High quality UL SA CE RoHS approved
This product is good for the following Models and Part#
Battery for Sony Vaio VGN-S56C/S VGN-S59CP/B VGN-S90PSY6 VGN-SZ25CP VGN-SZ280P
100% New Components - never refurbished, recycles, or used
Non-OEM but 100% Compatible - Guaranteed to meet the specifications of your original device
Nearly all our products have UL, CE and RoHS certificates.
With nearly 58Wh of claimed capacity, you can kind of see how my projected battery life is in the ballpark. The CPU alone has a TDP of 34W, and it is probably going to be run pretty hard even for light computing tasks (it's 12+ years old!!). So, assuming it is run at heavy loads a lot of the time, call it 50% of TDP on average (which is quite high considering it still tries to idle as much as possible), that means the battery powering the CPU alone would only last for 3.4 hours. Plus there's the screen, rest of the board, SSD, fan, etc. So 2.5-3.5 is really all it could possibly do. Because physics (or chemistry?).
So we'll see how the 6 cell does and then I'll try the bulkier 9 cell.
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