June 9th, 2016

Do Sony Vaios Dream of Ubuntu MATE?

A new open source tinkerer begins his journey with Ubuntu MATE Linux on an ancient laptop with almost the greatest of ease. Almost.

The Linux Gadabout

For years I’ve been toying with the idea of tinkering with Linux and seeing what this whole open source thing is all about. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve been mostly a Windows (and sometimes an OS X) user for most of my adult life (and a Commodore 64 and Apple IIe user when I was much less of an adult). In truth though, I’ve always had a healthy respect for those who dabble in the arcane arts of open source. The DIY aesthetic reminds me of the kids in high school shop class who would make their own guitars, and the punk bands I knew who would record demo tapes in their garages and tour the country in rusty, decades-old vans. The community exudes a spirit of exploration and an overall attitude of “permission be damned” that, as an outsider, I admire.

So why did I wait so long to dig in and get involved? Well, while I (like a lot of FOSS Force readers, I’d wager) have a closet of geriatric tech sitting around that would rival the innards of a Jawa sandcrawler, none of it’s been ideal for this purpose — until now.

My trusty old Sony Vaio VGN-FS550, purchased circa 2005, has been conscripted as fodder for this experiment. It’s served me well enough over the past eleven years, but its original install of Windows XP had slowed to a pitiful hobble no longer suitable for my needs (or the needs of anyone whose patience exceeds that of a particularly drowsy mollusk). These days, trying to open a webpage was like a nostalgic throwback to the golden age of dial-up. But in its heyday, this little computer was used for watching movies on planes and trains (though never automobiles), various writing assignments, DJing at the local bar, photo enhancements, and other countless missions of motion. My wife would keep track of finances on it when we were out of town, and sometimes our cat would even sneak in a game of World of Warcraft (as seen below).

But that was then and this is now. Enfeebled beyond practicality in its current condition, I gave the old machine a choice: take its place among the other dusty monuments to obsolescence in my office closet, or volunteer for a potentially revitalizing project that could ensure its most exciting days were yet to come. Admittedly, it wasn’t enthusiastic about either option, but that was hardly a surprise. It had been ages since it could muster enthusiasm about anything. I aimed to turn that situation around with the power of Linux!

But what distro could I expect to not only function, but thrive on an old computer with these specs?

Sony Vaio VGN-FS550

Intel Pentium M processor 1.60 GHz/1596 MHz

RAM: 512 MB

BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD R0104J0

Disk Size: 69.52 GB

Luckily, I was able to rely on the sage advice of my old friend and tech wizard extraordinaire Matt Hartley for a fine place to begin. Here’s the rundown he gave me:

“With regard to the Linux distro, I recommend Ubuntu MATE. I’d go with the Longer Term Support (LTS) 16.04 version. There is a ‘Direct Download’ option in the middle of the page once you’ve selected ‘Choose a Release.’

“This will download a file called an ISO image. With the ISO file ready, you’ll download LinuxLive USB Creator for Windows. This software will allow you to browse to your downloaded ISO file (the source the app will ask for), and you’ll have a formated FAT32 flash drive as the destination. Note, you will not need ‘Persistence’ or ‘Virtualization.’

“Once it’s done burning to the USB flash drive, remove the drive, plug it into the computer you’re looking to use, and make sure it’s set up in the BIOS to boot from USB flash device.

“From there, let it boot into Ubuntu MATE (it may take a bit since this is running off a USB flash drive), then choose ‘Try Ubuntu’ (not ‘Install’) so we can test the hardware out before installing anything permanent. From there, follow this tutorial video by Jay LaCroix for a walkthrough.

“A brief rundown of the steps above again are:

Download ISO file. Use USB Creator to put the ISO source onto the USB flash drive destination. On the test computer’s BIOS, make sure it’s set to boot from the USB device (it should be plugged in during this process). Reboot. Using the Fn key for boot menu works, too. Select ‘Try Ubuntu’ (not ‘Install’). Watch Jay LaCroix’s video tutorial for further details.

“If you find you’re dealing with GRUB errors, black screens after the Ubuntu logo, etc., let me know and I’ll help!”

Not knowing upon receipt of these instructions what I might expect from a GRUB error, my brain conjured up visions of sandworms on the Dune planet Arrakis. (While still frustrating, the truth of the matter is far less sinister.) With confidence bolstered by Matt’s clear guidance (and offer of help should I get stranded along the way), I pressed bravely onward.

Initially, things went well. The download of the ISO file was easy enough. Getting the bootable image onto the flash drive was a piece of cake. And then the first hiccup — one that kept me scratching my head well into the wee hours — made its grand entrance. Surprisingly enough, this hiccup had nothing to do with Linux. When trying to shuffle the boot order in my Vaio’s BIOS, I was startled to discover there was simply no option for a USB device.

Sources online seemed to agree that, if no such option existed, enabling External Drive Boot in the advanced tab should do the trick. Alas, this was also absent from available options.

Other sources reported success by physically plugging the USB drive into a different port. Still no luck nor love. Was my old Vaio ready to throw in the towel so soon?

Further research eventually directed me to salvation: Plop Boot Manager!

Having grown up in the Midwest where shortcuts through dog-walked vacant lots were the quickest way home before curfew, this may have been the first instance in my life where “plop” and “boot” in the same sentence turned out to be a good thing. But in this case, it was a very good thing. By following the very simple and comprehensive instructions included there, I was finally given an option to boot from my USB drive.

Success! After determining that Ubuntu MATE would work fine on the Vaio’s hardware by using the “Try Ubuntu” option first (per Matt’s cautionary advice), I crossed my fingers, took the next big step, and installed it.

Compared to any Windows install I’ve ever endured, getting Ubuntu MATE onto my old Vaio was a pretty speedy process. Once my new operating system was in place, I marveled at how quickly this 11 year old computer responded to every subtle click and drag as if it were a new machine again. I’m not going to say I went full-on Gene Wilder in “Young Frankenstein” mode (my wife was slumbering in the next room, after all), but inside I was shouting: “It’s alive!”

There were only two quirks post-install I experienced before finally heading to bed for the night:

Though I stated my language preference as American English, my calendar defaulted to Spanish. While I’m not averse to adding a little spice of variety to my life, I wanted to see if this was easily fixed. It was. A random clicking kept emanating from the laptop’s speakers; it was not a joyful noise. To keep the aforementioned slumbering wife from entering the scene to strangle me, I plugged in some earbuds to subdue the sound. Muting did no good, but a simple reboot remedied the situation. It’s the next day as I write this and all’s quiet on the Linux-infused Vaio front. For now.

For a first foray into Linux, I’d say my experience was pretty painless. (Thanks again, Matt Hartley!) The biggest pain in the behind was due to my attempt at bending an archaic, stubborn BIOS to my clueless human will, but the problem was ultimately conquered by an open source solution once I started asking the right questions. Now that my foot’s in the door, I hope to run into some problems that’ll be interesting enough to share next time around — but not so interesting that I swear off computers to pursue a less stressful hobby like hang gliding off Everest or jousting against subway cars.

Related