Sockheaven
New Member
Hi All,
I stumbled on this forum while trying to find information about Linux distributions and hoped someone here would have some insight.
Back in 2011 I bought a Sony Z laptop (the last model before Sony sold off all their PC assets). It was a fantastic laptop and to be honest its been my backup PC since then, light portable and 'all the ports'.
Unfortunately 11 years later and it's just not quite the powerhouse it once was. It is currently running Windows 7, and here are the complications with migrating to Linux:
1) It has an onboard raid controller for the 2 SSDs (running RAID 0 at the moment - but its using some intel raid mode i think) - I have read that it is not natively supported by Linux
2) it has an external AMD GPU (and bluray writer in the external unit) that communicates over the unique optical LightPeak connection(Thunderbolt before it was over copper) - I think it may be one of the only commercial products that used the fiber optic one. This unique setup seems to not have wide support on Linux - I have read on a few posts of people figuring out how to get it to work as long as the docking station is connected at boot - but I couldn't find a guide that looked appropriate for my skill level.
3) not sure it matters but it has 2 batteries, an internal and an external skinny battery the laptop sits on. I wasn't sure if that was a normal item to support on linux distrubutions.
System Specs
Intel i7-2620M
8GB Ram
256gb SSD (2x 128GB in RAID 0)
Intel HD Graphics (internal)
AMD 6650M Graphics (external via LightPeak)
Questions:
Given those known issues - does anyone know of a Linux Distribution that may have native support for something like this, or if not native suppoort - a relatively friendly interface to add support for the GPU?
The only distributions I have used is Debian (whatever the latest recomended release that LinuxCNC recomends) so I am pretty ignorant of other options and the pros/cons of each distribution.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I'd love to breathe more life into this laptop since it is still impressively light and small, seems a waste to put it out to pasture.
Best Regards,
Paul
I stumbled on this forum while trying to find information about Linux distributions and hoped someone here would have some insight.
Back in 2011 I bought a Sony Z laptop (the last model before Sony sold off all their PC assets). It was a fantastic laptop and to be honest its been my backup PC since then, light portable and 'all the ports'.
Unfortunately 11 years later and it's just not quite the powerhouse it once was. It is currently running Windows 7, and here are the complications with migrating to Linux:
1) It has an onboard raid controller for the 2 SSDs (running RAID 0 at the moment - but its using some intel raid mode i think) - I have read that it is not natively supported by Linux
2) it has an external AMD GPU (and bluray writer in the external unit) that communicates over the unique optical LightPeak connection(Thunderbolt before it was over copper) - I think it may be one of the only commercial products that used the fiber optic one. This unique setup seems to not have wide support on Linux - I have read on a few posts of people figuring out how to get it to work as long as the docking station is connected at boot - but I couldn't find a guide that looked appropriate for my skill level.
3) not sure it matters but it has 2 batteries, an internal and an external skinny battery the laptop sits on. I wasn't sure if that was a normal item to support on linux distrubutions.
System Specs
Intel i7-2620M
8GB Ram
256gb SSD (2x 128GB in RAID 0)
Intel HD Graphics (internal)
AMD 6650M Graphics (external via LightPeak)
Questions:
Given those known issues - does anyone know of a Linux Distribution that may have native support for something like this, or if not native suppoort - a relatively friendly interface to add support for the GPU?
The only distributions I have used is Debian (whatever the latest recomended release that LinuxCNC recomends) so I am pretty ignorant of other options and the pros/cons of each distribution.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I'd love to breathe more life into this laptop since it is still impressively light and small, seems a waste to put it out to pasture.
Best Regards,
Paul