Welcome! Thanks for stopping by; I hope these pages help you get the most out of your Sony VAIO PictureBook PCG-C1VN / PCG-C1VJ / PCG-C1VE / PCG-C1VM (Whew!). Averaging around 2900 pageviews a week.

Local Links

Looking for the C1MV/M? - Check out my page with info about it, links, etc.
Just got a PictureBook or don't have one yet? - Check out my page with info about it, pictures, cases for it, and the Hot (or Not) people who have them.
Useful Links - Over 60 links of interest to PictureBook owners here. Linux pages, mailing lists, support sites, etc.
Linux - How to install Red Hat 7.1 and configure X printable instructions and X config file
Solutions - Some tips for Linux and Windows 2000 here. Full width text console, BIOS update, screen brightness, etc.

News

XP On C1VE Help Offer  April 29th, 2003
  - Nick Brown set up XP on his C1VE and bravely offers to give advice to help you do the same. Thanks Nick!

Build A Driveable Computer  January 23rd, 2003
  - Mark Comeaux (President) notes his mobile mounts, stands, glareguards, etc. for notebooks and PDAs Interactive Products. Thanks Mark!

New Stick Not Same As Old Stick  December 27th, 2002
  - Sony creates new, incompatible, higher capacity memorystick. I guess we'll see readers for these on new PBs whenever they are announced.

Crusoe Monitoring Utility  December 4th, 2002
  - "paulnerd" notes a Windows util for monitoring the Crusoe for a tablet; may not work on the PictureBook. Thanks Paul!

DRI/XV/TVOut Support For The Mach64 Chipsets  November 22nd, 2002
  - Brian DeLuca notes accelerated XFree86 video drivers for the ATI Mach64 chipset on Linux. He says: "I have it running on my C1VP and it works quite well." Thanks Brian!

Move Over Lara, Now You Can Have Your Own PictureBook-powered Robot  November 10th, 2002
  - A US$599 robot kit to which you have to add a laptop here; Forbes review (free reg req'd) here.

Linux SPIC Daemon  November 6th, 2002
  - Prakash Shetty notes a Sony VAIO SPIC daemon here. (I have not tried it) Thanks Prakash!

Doing 80. Gigabytes, That Is.  November 6th, 2002
  - "stone" notes IBM has noted its ability to make 80gb drives in early 2003. Articles: one, two, three, four. Thanks stone!

Patch for LongRun on RedHat 8  October 27th, 2002
  - Des Johnston points you to this patch for LongRun on Red Hat 8. Thanks Des!

Give Slack The Boot  September 29th, 2002
  - David Watson points you to his C1Vx Slackware USB boot/root disks. Thanks David!

Automated Visits Policy  August 21st, 2002
  - Please limit your automated visits to SteveBarr.com to once per day. The site generally only changes 1-2 times a week, if that, so this is not a hardship. Violators may be blocked and/or tattled on to their mothers/universities. Thanks!

"One of these days I gotta get myself organizized." -- Taxi Driver  August 20th, 2002
  - Beverly Howard shares his method to Catalog Photographs using a PictureBook. Thanks Beverly!

Seek You In September  July 31st, 2002
  - "squid" notes Toshiba's 60GB 5400RPM 16MB Cache 9.5MM hard drive 'available' beginning in September. Thanks squid!

Low Resale Value :-)  July 28th, 2002
  - The Inquirer notes a store "selling" C1VE models "faux" only 76GBP.

5400RPM Drive Install/Case Mod  July 18th, 2002
  - A SteveBarr.com exclusive ;-) right here.

60 Gigs  July 18th, 2002
  - Fujitsu (German) and Toshiba.

Sony Goes Banias Over Intel?  July 18th, 2002
  - The Inquirer mentions rumors Sony may switch to Intel for the next PictureBook.
IBM Travelstar 40GNX 40GB 5400RPM Mobile Drive Sighting  July 1st, 2002
  - Googlegear has it on backorder. Anyone know where it is in stock? Thanks!

Slow News Week  June 27th, 2002
  - Looks like Evan Williams, of Blogger fame, has a PictureBook (click last (7th) image).

Toshiba 40gb 5400RPM  June 18th, 2002
  - Wadim Belentschikow notes Toshiba has announced a 40GB 5400RPM 9.5MM disk drive. Thanks Wadim!

Linux Has The BlueZ  June 8th, 2002
  - Roberto S. Tyley notes the Linux Bluetooth instructions and info. Thanks Roberto!

US Version of 867Mhz PictureBook  June 6th, 2002
  - Paul ("Paz") on the PB forum notes Micro Warehouse has a Sony VAIO Picturebook C1MW TC for sale. Thanks Paz!

I-O Data Discovers US, Sells 256MB Upgrades  June 3rd, 2002
  - Wright Gore shares the good news found here. Devicenet looks like the first vendor. Thanks Wright!

60GB, Some Waiting  May 15th, 2002
  - Toshiba has announced a 60GB 4200RPM 9.5MM disk drive No word on a 5400RPM one. Thanks Umit!

Frijoles Returns  May 7th, 2002
  - Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List. Thanks Kevin!

Sony Does OQO?  May 3rd, 2002
  - There's been press speculation Sony might be one of the makers of the OQO.

Frijoles Status  May 3rd, 2002
  - Kevin Lussie notes he lost the frijoles.com domain name; reach the site here. Thanks Kevin!

Suspend/Resume Linux Success  May 3rd, 2002
  - Read Peter Hardy's description of it for his C1VG here. Thanks Peter!

Updated Site: Slackware Via NFS, Sonypi, Jogdial  March 30th, 2002
  - Dave Watson directs you to his updated C1Vx site. Thanks Dave!

KSY-C1/128 OK  March 20th, 2002
  - Dave got this Kingston memory upgrade and states conclusively that "I did it and it fits and it works." Thanks Dave!

Honey, I Shrunk The PictureBook  March 12th, 2002
  - Fabien Musty directs your magnifying glass to Sony's prototype "bio U" ZDNet Japan Sony. Thanks Fabien!

Beta Linux Modem Drivers?  March 12th, 2002
  - David Ritter directs you to beta drivers here. Thanks David!

BlueStick  March 12th, 2002
  - News that Sony's long-threatened Bluetooth in a Memorystick format may be inching toward reality is here.

The P and the V  February 26th, 2002
  - An (occasionally misleading) performance comparison of a C1VE and a Fujitsu P.

Screwed Taking Apart C1VFK  February 23rd, 2002
  - Roberto Tyley (Roberto.Tyley @ his web site) seeks help finding a screwdriver for these star screws.

Pump Up The...Laptop  February 17th, 2002
  - Can't tell if this will work with the PictureBook: Stepcharger.

YA 40GB, 5400 RPM 9.5mm Hard Drive  February 17th, 2002
  - Choices: Toshiba Press Release.

40GB, 5400 RPM 9.5mm Hard Drive  February 14th, 2002
  - Begins shipping in April: IBM Press Release.

PictureBook Memory Upgrades  February 11th, 2002
  - Added Memory Upgrade Section

Kingston 128MB For The PictureBook  January 28th, 2002
  - Armando draws your attention to Kingston's KSY-C1/128. Thanks Armando!

Linux Modem Driver In May?  January 26th, 2002
  - Brian DeLuca fwd'd a note from Conexant saying "...generic HCF Linux drivers won't be posted on the Conexant site until the end of April." Thanks Brian!

Gnome Jogdial Applet  January 20th, 2002
  - Dave Reeve writes that he's written a Gnome applet for the Jog Dial. It has Volume, Mouse and Brightness modes. Thanks Dave!

TV Out For Linux  January 9th, 2002
  - Various links here and here.

Restoring A Mumblemumble From Coughcough Recovery CDs  January 3rd, 2002
  - I don't know if these instructions work, but they sure are detailed. Article Link. Use at own risk!

384/368MB Possible  December 15th, 2001
  - Ken Nishikatsu notes I-O Data is at it again, this time with a 256MB module for Crusoe machines with Windows XP. Look for Ken to sell them on ebay. Article Link. Thanks Ken!

No Business Like Slow Business  December 3rd, 2001
  - Not much news a-poppin', folks. RH 7.2 installs; I've not had time to do much with it. No word on when 2.5 will support ACPI.

Hexallent Six-way Memory Card Reader  December 3rd, 2001
  - The Y-E DATA Hexa Media Drive YD-8V14 reads memory sticks, and: "This product does not support any copyright protection."

IBM Drive PowerBooster  November 18th, 2001
  - Choose performance or battery life; from alphaWorks

Intel Compiles Crusoe Speedup  November 9th, 2001
  - New Intel compiler for Linux helps Crusoe; see story on Slashdot Thanks Bram!

The Big, Quiet Type  November 7th, 2001
  - IBM releases 40GN: 40gb 9.5mm quiet drive: press PDF spec

New C1 Forums  November 3rd, 2001
  - Mr. Bojangles multiple C1 forums

Linux: 2D Accel/Framebuffer Support  November 2nd, 2001
  - 'gandalf' sent this message to the C1 sourceforge list. Let me know how/if it works for you. Thanks gandalf!

MV'n On Up  October 28th, 2001
  - I've started a C1MV/M web page here. News on it will go there, C1VN news here.

XP 4 VN  October 25th, 2001
  - Official Sony support --> C1VN

Linux PictureBook...or Brick  October 15th, 2001
  - Bram Stolk's Installing linux on sony vaio c1ve without CD or Floppy. May hose your system. Thanks Bram!

Small USB To IrDA Adapter  October 15th, 2001
  - Mathias Krber notes a USB to IrDA converter. Thanks Mathias!

Linux External Display Patch For XFree86 4.1.0  October 12th, 2001
  - Stelian Pop has another contribution for everyone: This "patch applies cleanly against XFree 4.1.0" (stable source) Patch Thanks Again Stelian!

Linux External Display  October 11th, 2001
  - Stelian Pop not only does great work with the sonypi driver, he has also figured out external display support! Thanks Stelian!

Ask Sony for Linux Support!  October 10th, 2001
  - Go here NOW and send a message to Sony asking for docs and specs to help develop Linux Support!

Fraud Ring On Ebay  October 3rd, 2001
  - Some charming individual is 'selling' PictureBooks on ebay. Caveat Emptor...

Look Good In Leather  October 3rd, 2001
  - Bram Stolk informs us of a leather Sony Vaio C1VE Case. Thanks Bram!

XP 4 VP, VPK 4 $0  September 29th, 2001
  - Sony is offering 'free' upgrades of the C1VP and C1VPK to XP for $5 shipping and handling. See link for all details.

YA Memory Sale  September 29th, 2001
  - eBay seller Gelobter with good feedback and 10 memory units to sell.

A Winning Supplier of PictureBook Stuff  September 24th, 2001
  - An eBay seller with good feedback and supposedly a line on the new thin memory cards.

New Linux Mobile Guide  September 22nd, 2001
  - Version 3.10 available here or in a German version.

HD RIP FAQ  August 28th, 2001
  - Consolidated Hard Drive Failure Info into one section.

A Joint for Casing  August 28th, 2001
  - Michael Wagner recommends Computer Trade for PictureBook Cases. Thanks Michael!

IBM Drive Improves Performance  August 21st, 2001
  - IBM's 30GN yields ~50% MB/s improvement over the stock C1VN drive, according to Abe.

Making Those Fn' Keys Do Something Under Linux  July 5th, 2001
  - Rusty Foster makes fn-key/camera utilities available: Instructions and the package. Thanks Rusty!

Feedback

Looking For
  - Links to relevant sites and/or news, tips, hints, corrections...

Can't Answer Questions
  - I have repeatedly failed to answer the questions sent to me. If it's not up on these pages, I just don't know the answer. I will delete your message without responding.

Get Help With...
  - Windows 2000 questions: Try the PCG-C1 Web Forum
  - Linux questions: Try the Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List or the Linux (Open Source Vaio-pcg-c1-general Mailing List
  - Other PictureBook questions: Try either the PCG-C1 Web Forum or the Sony Vaio C1 Forum Mailing List

You Were Warned
  - Basically, don't send me anything that would make me get lawyers involved at any point.
  - Except as noted, this page is copyright Steve Barr. Anything you send me may be posted at my sole discretion.
  - Relevant postings in a public forum may be paraphrased/quoted and posted, noting the author if possible.
  - The use of trademarks here is without permission, and does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of those properties.

Still Interested
  - You can reach me here. Thanks!