[ILUG] sony issues

[Ronan Cunniffe]

Kae Verens wrote:
> this is probably totally off topic (doesn't concern CD players), but I 
> personally despise Sony for their Sonic Stage debacle (who ever heard 
> of an MP3 player that can't play MP3s??), but also like them for their 
> Vaio series (which I've been lusting after since they first came out - 
> one of these days, my precious...).
Hmm.  Be a bit careful...
    The new FE11S, FE11H (and possibly others) have the new wonder 
super-bright screens and default to maximum brightness.  And don't 
respond to either the sonypi or sony_acpi control methods.
    So, unless you enjoy staring into the sun, don't buy a recent Sony 
without cast-iron proof that someone has the screen brightness control 
working under Linux.

    Details: the new vaios apparently don't have the old Sony PI chip 
for their extra doodads, everything is now done via acpi.  A sony_acpi 
module has been hanging around outside the kernel for a while, (has gone 
into 2.6.17, but nothing happens when you twiddle the apparently 
appropriate knobs).

Ronan