Sony VAIO PCG GRV550 and Suse 8.1

Laptop Specifications:

Processor:		Intel ® Pentium®-4 2.4 GHz
Memory:		512 MB SDRAM (maximum supported)
Motherboard:		Possibly PIIX4
BIOS:		Unknown, Not clear there is APM supported in addition to ACPI
Hard Drive:		30 GB Ultra DMA
DVD/CDRW:		Matsushita Modular DVD 8x, CDR/RW 24/16/10x
PC Card Slots:		Two Type II or One Type III
Other Ports:		IEEE 1394 Firewire, 3 USB 2.0, SVGA, Parallel, S-Video In, TV-Out, Headphone/Speaker, mini-stereo in/out, 10-base T and RJ45 phone jack.
LCD Screen:		16.1" SXGA Active Matrix TFT Color
Display Card:		ATI Mobility Radeon 7500-C (M6 LW) w/ 32MB DDR SVRAM
Pointer:		Touch Pad
Battery:		Lithium Ion, external charger
NIC:		Intel PRO 10/100
Modem:		Unknown integrated winmodem
Floppy*:		None (can use USB floppy)
OS:		MS-Windows(TM) XP Home + Software bundle
Func Keys:		No suspend, hibernate.
Weight:		8.5 lbs.  (14 x 11.8 x 1.6)

*Floppy drive is optional for additional $79 US.

Summary:

The Sony Vaio PCG GRV550 is a gorgeous desktop replacement, but not very portable being both oversized and heavy.  My report is limited as I decided to return this laptop, given unsure r.e. modem, no functional suspend, no thermal control or battery monitor, and particularly with problems with sound after Suse 8.1 install (just too many ifs).  This might not be the case with a different distribution, or using a custom kernel with full ACPI functions enabled.

Installation:

Boots by default from CDROM.  I chose to trash a 20 GB partition, and installed Suse 8.1 without problems, though DVD would not boot ;-(  This may have been a mistake, as RedHat may have been able to negotiate for APM with BIOS.  Fan came on and stayed on continously with SuSE (not a mobil processor, may be default when AC connected).  Install recognized screen/display, ethernet.  Limited notes on other below.

What Works and What Doesn't:

HD: Unsure DMA support, but I think so.

DVD/CDRW: Kept getting messages about I/O errors on access CDROM, but it largely worked.

Ports: Didn't get that far.

PCMCIA: Not tested.

NIC: Believe EE Pro 100 recognized on install.

Graphics Card: ATI driver, radeon module, works fine with XFree86 4.2, truly beautiful display.

Modem: Could not definitely identify.  Listed as Intel 8086 Unknown device 2846 rev 2.  Could be any AC'97 winmodem modem hiding via MDC/AMR.  Should have checked via scanModem to get codec information to possibly help identify, and/or simply try the lucent/agere/smartlink/broadcom drivers and see if any worked.  Didn't, sorry.

Sound: WinXP claims sound is Yamaha AC-XG (no linux drivers in kernel,  ALSA, or OSS), but PCI bus states Intel i810 AC97 audio.  Suse loads alsa intel 8x0 drivers, which only partially work, giving 0.5 second snatches of waves echoed 3-5 times at frequency of 1 second when testing system sounds, and with absolutely nothing when I tried to play wavs or CDs. Unclear workable or where to start to fix. Have seen posts indicating AC-XG not working under Suse or Mandrake.

Function Keys: Don't recall that anything worked under linux.

BIOS Capabilities: Not extensively examined.

Power Mangement:  With the fan running all the time and not being a pentium M processor, I suspect great battery life isn't great, but not tested.

Experimental:  Would have been useful to build custom kernel, ACPI enabled, and see what options were there what could be done, but I elected not to do so.