Ubuntu 8.04 on Sony Vaio using Wubi installer for Windows

[forhire]

I wanted to install Ubuntu on my laptop, an old Sony Vaio PCG-SRX99. I decided to try the Wubi Installer because it allows me to dual boot windows and I didn't need to find my external cdrom.

Started by downloading the installer from here: http://wubi-installer.org/
I also downloaded the Ubuntu ISO image to the same folder as Wubi. I then ran the Wubi-8.04.exe with the 32bit option like "c:\wubi\Wubi-8.04.exe --32bit"

Once the dead simple initial install completed it prompted me to reboot. Upon the reboot there was a dual boot option for Ubuntu. Choose Ubuntu and the installation completes.

After I logged in I had to change the screen type using "sudo displayconfig-gtk" because by default the screen size was limited to 800x600. Changed to 1024x768. This also fixed the black block that appeared under the mouse. I also set the visual affects to None under Appearances because my laptop is only a P3 850mhz with 387 megs of ram.

Installed some updates and installed flash. So far everything is working well... so well I decided to try installing on my wife's Vaio VGN-TX670P... to be continued.

[forhire]

I originally installed Ubuntu on my Sony Vaio because my wife wanted to dual boot Ubuntu on her Sony Vaio VGN-TX670P and I didn't dare subject her laptop to the unknown. Good news, it is installed and working well. But, not without a bump the way.

After the initial reboot the machine stopped at the busybox (intramfs) prompt. Argh! But as it turned out it wasn't a big deal. The IDE drivers simple didn't load. So, type:
modprobe ide-core
exit

The installation will continue and it completed without any issues. After installing the updates I can report the machine is working well. I haven't tested everything but it looks great so far.