I have had really excellent luck with Ubuntu (or Xubuntu to be specific) on my TR3A.  Just about everything worked right out of the box, only the display needed some manual patching.  Even the Suspend & Hibernate functions work fine.

The only thing that still doesn’t work is the Motion Eye camera… But it’s not a big deal since Skype under Linux still doesn’t support video.  :evil:

The K network manager really works well with the Sony’s built-in wireless, one of my beefs with older distros.

I had to replace the original DVD with one I purchased over Ebay - some of the posts on this board on how to remove the components helped a lot.  Even though this laptop is getting a little long in the tooth, I’m starting to think about getting a larger hard drive to extend its life a little longer.

I’m really digging it!

JM

Could you PLEASE email me how you got the resolution working on it? I have tried repeatedly to get the resolution working on my TR3 while trying to install Ubuntu and Kubuntu. I’ve tried that 915Resolution fix, but maybe I just wasn’t doing it very well. Now, I must come clean that I’m just a Linux noob, so any advice/tips/suggestions would be great.

If you can’t email me those instructions please share how you got the resolution working in this thread.

Thanks!

Hi! I also have successfully installed Ubuntu on my Sony TR3A and everything works flawlessly. I don’t know if the first person that posted before have shared with you how to make the widescreen to work. If he didn’t let me know – my e-mail is : .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I will send you detailed instruction with the all the files that you need to fix it. I also recommend installing the latest version of Ubuntu which is 7.04 – it has some very good improvements, but unfortunately no widescreen support for TR3A’s. There are also some thing that I was never able to make them work:  this includes web camera and external vga-out.
Let me know if you need help. I hope you will like Ubuntu, to my opinion TR3A is a perfect laptop for this distribution.

Sent you an email.

I haven’t tried the last suggestion to install Ubuntu on my TR3A, but I am thinking about giving it another shot. Has ANYONE else here gotten Ubuntu to install properly? I’m most concerned about getting the video and sound to work, since I had the wireless working at from previous install.

I wanted to let everyone know that I have now been running Ubuntu Feisty 7.04 on my PCG-TR3A for almost two months, and it has been running EXTREMELY well! Linux rocks! It’s just a damn shame how long it took to get everything running on it.

why dont post here to shared with everyone,
Im actually interested ,too

I wiped my TR3A this afternoon and installed Ubuntu 7.10, previously I had 7.04 installed, and it seems that just about everything worked out of the box. Well, the audio wasn’t working, but doing the following suggestion it worked for me.

Go to the Add/Remove applications—find and install the application called gnome-alsamixer. Then when you done installing it open it and uncheck the External Amplifier option. After that you should hear the sound fine.

So far I’m really liking the changes in this newer version.

Okay, I take back my previous post as there seem to be some quirky things about Gutsy Gibbon on my TR3A. Apps just close on their own without any error messages, apps lock up, and then wireless networking just craps out without any notice (even though it appears I have a strong connection). For now, I’m putting Windows XP back on it, but may go back to 7.04 Feisty Fawn.

I put Windows XP back on my TR3A, and I kept getting the BSOD. Couldn’t tell what the problem was as it rebooted after that showed up. Reinstalled Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn and it’s working great again.

Thanks for the post on the sound.
I’m running Gutsy 7.10 and it works fine. Just not the motion eye.

I put Windows XP back on my TR3A, and I kept getting the BSOD. Couldn’t tell what the problem was as it rebooted after that showed up. Reinstalled Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn and it’s working great again.

I’ve just installed Ubuntu 8.10 as a last-ditch after a (VERY) troublesome TR3A BSOD, posted here http://www.siliconpopculture.com/forum/viewthread/7597/

Been running great for only a few days: 
- Guided setup and device installation were troublefree
- Display resolution works great
- Wireless works great

Only minor issues:
- Wired NIC not yet functioning
- No audio

Sound fix listed above will be tried, though it seems like the ALSA mixer is now installed in packages (pull down option.) Will look to disable amplifier.

Questions RE: function keys/special TR functions:
- Any insight into all F-key options?
- Any hope for screen controls for zoom & volume?

Next connect up:
- PS3 media service using forum steps posted, http://www.howtoforge.com/set-up-a-linux-playstation-3-media-server-with-ubuntu8.04

Try 8.04. I haven’t tried 8.10 Intrepid yet; frankly, don’t think I’m going to until they stop supporting 8.04 Hardy, which works fine. My Fn-F keys all work, as does the sound (with ALSA mixer and the PCM sliders turned all the way up) and the wired NIC. Forget the screen controls for zoom & volume.

Thanks cdz~ - 8.04 has definitely cured some of the minor functionality questions. Still reading through support/docs and learning how to engage a couple of other sticky aspects. Don’t want to lean on this list for general use-case questions, so until I’ve decided definitively something fails, I’ll keep at it.

I can dig the recommendation to ‘forget about screen controls’. Found the Window+R&E keys replaces ZOOM, and a few other key combos bring a few more tricks to the table.

So we have that going for us, which is nice

I tested my TR3A with Ubuntu 9.10 and couldn’t get the audio to work.  I booted off the Ubuntu CD and used the system test, so didn’t go into it in more detail.

I’m new to Linux and would prefer to get some experiences from others before I go much further.  Anyone else used Ubuntu 9.10 on the TR3A…?  Cheers