I wanted to share my experiences in installing debian etch in Sony Vaio FE 880.
BACKUP.
First do back up the Windows for any mishaps( though I didn't experience any in following the procedure outlined here). I have booted using sysrescueCD and did partimage of windows c drive which is /dev/sda2 in sysrescue to an external usb harddisk. Partimage saves only that portion of the partition used.
SHRINKING C drive.
I have read already that system rstrore, shadow files doesn't allow max space to be retrived.
First use disk clean up to remove temp files.
If you want to reduce the number of unnecessary files on your hard disk to free up disk space and help your computer run faster, use Disk Cleanup. It removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.
Click to open Disk Cleanup.
In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, choose whether you want to clean up your own files only or all of the files on the computer. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
If the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection dialog box appears, select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK.
Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then select the check boxes for the files you want to delete.
When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, and then click Delete files to confirm the operation. Disk Cleanup proceeds to remove all unnecessary files from your computer.
Then do defrag the drive.
then turn off system restore and aloow all restore to be deleted. After resizing the partition don't forget to turn on system restore. In my HdD of 160 GB( actually only 148GB), 6.6 gb was used by partition1(hidden partition) used by sony to store backup, and 21 Gb by windows vista. Still with restore on, , I coulkd get only shrink C: to 100 gb. After turning of restore, I could shrink very much. But I left 75GB for vista. To put restore off,
To turn System Restore on or off
Click to open System.
In the left pane, click System Protection. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
To turn on System Protection for a hard disk, select the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.– or –To turn off System Protection for a hard disk, clear the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.
After this, shrinking of C: drive done.
To shrink C:,
It's possible in this version of Windows to repartition your hard disk by using the Shrink feature in Disk Management. You can shrink an existing partition or volume to create unallocated disk space, from which you can create a new partition or volume. (Often, the terms partition and volume are used interchangeably.)
Click to open Computer Management. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
In the Navigation pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
Right-click the volume you want to shrink, and then click Shrink Volume.
Follow the instructions on your screen.
For detailed information on how to shrink a volume, open Disk Management, click Help on the menu bar, click Help Topics, click the Contents tab, click Disk Management: Welcome, click Manage Basic Volumes, and then click Shrink a Basic Volume.
Notes
If you have multiple partitions on your hard disk, you can delete and create partitions from the resulting unallocated space. When you delete a partition, all data on the partition will be erased.
You can also repartition hard disks with a third-party partitioning program. Several third-party manufacturers offer programs that allow you to repartition your hard disk without erasing data.
Rest I made extended partition. Extended partition has 3 Vfat drives, one swap and one 8GB ext3 and 8GB free space for future use.
Installing Debain etch
I installed etch using previously downloaded first disk. First I did base install using expert mode. I used my eth0 port to update as wireless was to be configured. Every thing went well. I use KDE.
For wireless
I used modules ipw3945* for installing wireless. As we have wep, I put the key in /etc/network interfaces.
Regarding sound
It needs a file in /etc/modprobe.d/snd_hda_intel which has
options snd-hda-intel model=vaio position_fix=1
Without the above file only built in speaker was working. After this in-built mike, also mic and headphone ports also work. Thsi can eb adjusted using kmix.
IE6 in linux
Some body may like to use IE6 in linux. For this go to http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/news/28
