[SOLVED] Sony Vaio and Linux

TobiSGD · 09-02-2012, 05:56 AM

I think you are mixing things up. UEFI and Secure Boot are not the same thing. If this is a laptop that has Secure Boot and came with Windows 7 pre-installed then Secure Boot will be disabled by default, since Windows 7 has no support for Secure Boot.
With Secure Boot disabled you won't need any key to install an OS.
I would recommend to wait until the Recovery disks arrive and then just give it a try.

Ztcoracat · 09-02-2012, 08:33 PM

TobiSGD:

I really don't understand what makes this UEFI so hard/challenging for me to work with.

Is there something that I need to adjust in the BIOS of this laptop since it has the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface?

Is it going to be complicated to put Fedora on this laptop in your opinion?

EDDY1 · 09-02-2012, 09:48 PM

http://womble.decadent.org.uk/blog/i...nder-uefi.html

Ztcoracat · 09-03-2012, 12:45 AM

Eddy:

Thank you for the link but I am unable to get past step one-
"Boot the installer in rescue mode and open a shell on the installed system"
If I understand it means to put the Vaio in rescue mode and than put the Fedora dvd in the laptop drive?

Anyway I have learned that this UEFI is a system partition all of it's own.The Linux bootloader should also be installed in UEFI-GPTmode if booting from the same disk.I also learned that for Linux to access UEFI firmware processor architecture and the Linux kernel processor architecture must match.
Furthermore; if I don't know what I am doing (and at this point I don't) if I fail to configure what is to be configured (and I don't know what that is) and the UEFI and Linux kernel don't match it will cause:

Code:

kernel panic

I'm still reading:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...tiboot_on_BIOS
And; https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting

To gain the knowledge to do this. This IMO is not easy and I can't say that I wasn't warned. As a member earlier in this post did say "jump thru some hoops"

I'm not excepting defeat but this is just a tad ridiculous-

If anything a noob can learn from this;

Ztcoracat · 09-03-2012, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

I think you are mixing things up. UEFI and Secure Boot are not the same thing. If this is a laptop that has Secure Boot and came with Windows 7 pre-installed then Secure Boot will be disabled by default, since Windows 7 has no support for Secure Boot.
With Secure Boot disabled you won't need any key to install an OS.
I would recommend to wait until the Recovery disks arrive and then just give it a try.

Thank You
....TobiSGD

I'll continue my searches and learning but waiting for the recovery disks is just what I'll do-
I recognize wise counsel when I hear it-

Ztcoracat · 09-04-2012, 10:12 PM

Thank You; all of you for helping me and writing.

EDDY1 · 09-04-2012, 10:54 PM

Can you tell us how you solved?

Ztcoracat · 09-05-2012, 01:17 AM

I didn't solve this stepping stone yet however; I decided to listen to TobiSGD and wait for the recovery disc's to arrive from Sony. (maybe Friday)

Other than that I have about 4-5 pages of information regarding the UEFI all the facts and how to configure.

After all of the note taking and reading on UEFI I realized the one thing that I have to learn but as soon as I can wrap my head around this:

Code:

For Linux to access UEFI Runtime Services, the UEFI Firmware Processor architecture
and the Linux Kernel processor architecture must match.  It's independent of the bootloader.

And

Code:

The required Linux Kernel configuration options for UEFI Systems

Once I have the match I think I'll have Fedora up and running but only if Fedora is Kernel 3.0 or higher-

I don't have the background in computer science and mathematics but I shouldn't need my bachelors in engineering just to install Linux on a laptop. Anyway; I don't have concrete evidence but I suspect that this UEFI was designed to create a diversion and complicate being able to work with this new partition.

I found the configuration for the terminal in the documentation to the link I posted but it's specifically for Arch Linux; lol (if I were a little more skilled in Linux I'd write my own)
"CONFIG_EFI=y.....etc...

Here's the even bigger surprise:

Code:

It's recommended to use Linux Kernel 3.0 or higher

If you have ever been so close and know that you are the suspense is (theoretically speaking)killing me-
Now, I could be wrong but if I am; I'm only human. If my theory is correct I shouldn't have to jump thru hoops just to install Fedora on this Vaio.

It's appears as tho you have to trick the UEFI System Partition to run Linux alongside it.

Now I'm on my way to finish the Manual on UEFI and the fedoraproject.org website.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/EFI

Ztcoracat · 09-05-2012, 02:08 AM

I found out that GRUB needs to learn to read an EFI GUID partition table.
GRUB needs to run as an EFI bootloader. (don't know how yet)

The configuration that I learned from was consistent with a mac computer so I replaced the word imac with vaio perhaps my decision to do that was in-correct but I am trying with the knowledge I'm gaining.

The kernel needs CONFIG_Vaio and CONFIG_XX_EFI merge upstream
The kernel needs CONFIG_XX_EFI and associated driver (efifb)
The kernel needs CONFIG_XX_Vaio (vaio support) for intel (obviated;pjones merged this into efifb)
GRUB needs to write out screen_info from UGA so we can use efifb instead of Vaio
Kernel needs CONFIG_EFI_VARS enabled on i386 and x86_64
efibootmgr meeds to be split out from the elilo package

Where the "XX" indicates that I do not know what should be in that field. As I mentioned this in for a mac.
Even if I do manage to learn how to configure this text file correctly I am not certain after creating it where I would place/insert/initiate it-

Still trying to wrap my head around these informative statements-
The EFI Boot Manager, which runs in the BIOS, is a new feature, which can be frobbed at runtime using efibootmgr.
The efi bootmgr is 2 platforms.

I'll continue my reading with the EFI manual and Fedora webpage.

I do hope that all this effort, reading, posting, thinking and etc. produces the task at hand that I am trying to accomplish.

Be honest TobiSGD and EDDY1...Do you think this is a waste of time?

business_kid · 09-05-2012, 03:20 AM

Just checking my own kernel sources (3.0.4)

Quote:

bash-4.1$ grep -ne 'EFI' -e 'VIAO' .config
367:# CONFIG_EFI is not set
2626:# CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION is not set

No mention of VIAO in the kernel config as of 3.0.4. I'd go later than 3.0.4 if you were building. If there's something like efilib.so, I'd expect it in a separate package, like this

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=376000

Have fun and post your results.

EDDY1 · 09-05-2012, 11:19 AM

The link I posted shows how to configure grub
The commands are preceded by 1 # not the ##

Ztcoracat · 09-05-2012, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY1

The link I posted shows how to configure grub
The commands are preceded by 1 # not the ##

I went back to the link you posted. This time I saw specifically the instructions under the Debian section.

Code:

Boot the installer in rescue mode and open a shell on the installed system:

# # We start in dash, so switch to bash.
# exec bash
# mkdir -p /boot/efi
# # Mount the EFI boot partition by UUID.
# # It's probably called sda1 now, but is subject to change.
# ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
...
# echo >>/etc/fstab 'UUID=efi-boot-uuid /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 0'
# mount /boot/efi
# # Enable unstable sources, but use stable by default
# echo >>/etc/apt/apt.conf 'APT::Default-Release "squeeze";'
# echo >>/etc/apt/sources.list 'deb http://cdn.debian.net/debian/ sid main'
# apt-get update
...
# # Install unstable grub-efi-amd64
# apt-get install -t unstable grub-efi-amd64
...
# # Install GRUB to the EFI partition.  The '--removable' options
# # inhibits setting EFI variables, which won't work because we booted
# # through BIOS emulation.  Instead, it installs as the default boot
# # loader.
# grub-install --bootloader-id=GRUB --removable
# # On the AMI/ASUS firmware, you cannot select a new bootloader
# # directly but can invoke a 'shell'.  So I made GRUB the shell:
# cp /boot/efi/boot/grub/grub.efi /boot/efi/shellx64.efi
# exit

I do not know how to boot the installer in rescue mode. I'll Google this and try to understand. I'll try again.
Thank You

Ztcoracat · 09-05-2012, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Just checking my own kernel sources (3.0.4)

No mention of VIAO in the kernel config as of 3.0.4. I'd go later than 3.0.4 if you were building. If there's something like efilib.so, I'd expect it in a separate package, like this

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=376000

Have fun and post your results.

Thanks for the bug report. I don't have a mac thank goodness as it says it needs patch work.

I'll post back when I fully understand how to do exactly what EDDY has advised me to follow those instructions.

Ztcoracat · 09-05-2012, 09:52 PM

Now I know why the instructions are confusing me.
They are for Debian to install along with UEFI
I need to Google and find How to install Fedora with use of UEFI for my vaio laptop.

EDDY1 · 09-05-2012, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ztcoracat

Now I know why the instructions are confusing me.
They are for Debian to install along with UEFI
I need to Google and find How to install Fedora with use of UEFI for my vaio laptop.

My apologies I had a 1 track mind was only thinking about uefi.
Also post # 9 got me stuck on debian since you liked ubuntu