^M8WX5V: Sony (notebook|laptop) PCG-884L probable-SN 28..59 public notes http://1.JotHere.com/3543#M8WX5V

1. ^M31R7G:Definition

   1. ^M8VOWD: See the title for topic
   2. ^M8XUJA:Model
      1. ^M8XUAM: Unfortunately bottom has a model # which is valid but appears 2nd ary & is currently undocumented.
      2. ^M8XU8A: BIOS says: “PCG-GR390(UC)”; above keyboard says “PCG-GR390”
         1. ^M8XUMH: Maker support
      3. ^M8WZ4B:Bottom says “Model PCG-884L”
         1. ^M8WZCG:  Google Search
         2. ^M8WZ4K: Official info
            1. ^M8WZ4U:  http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-find.pl?mdl=PCG884L
               1.  ^M8WZ6A: Only has warranty, no software downloads nor even specs.; see snapshot (latest)
                  1. ^M8X0GA: So, to the site survey form which pops up, complete it with answers these answers:
                     1. 2of10 -“1: *Please rate the quality of information on this site.”
                     2. 2of10 -“2: *Please rate the degree to which content on this site is up to date”
                     3. 8of10 -“5: *Please rate the balance of graphics and text on this site.”
                     4. 9of10 -“6: *Please rate the readability of the pages on this site.”
                     5. 2of10 -“9: *What is your overall satisfaction with this site?”
                     6. 2of10 -“10: *How well does this site meet your expectations?”
                     7. 3of10 -“11: *How does this site compare to your idea of an ideal website?”
                     8. 5of10 -“12: *How likely are you to recommend this site to someone else?”
                     9. 2of10 -“13: *How likely are you to recommend Sony products and services to someone else?”
                     10. 2of10 -“14: *How likely are you to purchase additional Sony products or services in the future?”
                     11. 8of10 -“15: *How likely are you to return to this site the next time you have a question or problem with your Sony product?”
                     12. “17: *What was the main reason for your visit today? [pick one]” “Drivers or Software”
                     13. “17.2: *For which operating system? [pick one]” “Other[ Kubuntu,. which is a type of Ubuntu, which is a type of Linux]”
                     14. “18: *What product category is the focus of your visit today?[ pick one]” “Computers & Tablets”
                     15. “18.2: *What computer or tablet product are you visiting for today? [pick one]” “VAIO Laptop”
                     16. “19: What is your model number?” “PCG-884L”
                     17. “20: Please provide further detail about what you were looking for today.” quote: BIOS downloads&info for this older unit (since it runs Kubuntu seemingly fine&quite usefully), but the maker’s page http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-find.pl?mdl=PCG-884L lists nothing but a warranty, not even specs. Now really, how hard would it be to continue to list at least specs&downloads, esp when u’re the maker?? From this my 1st attempt to get computer support from Sony, I concluding (as I’ve suspected years ago for Sony CD players I had nightmare to repair) Sony makes a point to ANTI-support their products (as here DELETING web info) if discontinued, even if hosting it costs ~0 (as this) &the product continues to work &  -probably to needlessly force customers to buy new -that’s unGreeen & destructive! So unless I see action to a *constructive* attitude, I certainly won’t be buying another Sony, esp computer, nor recommending others do so, starting w/, as part of my notes on this unit, posting this my survey completion on the public web http://1.JotHere.com/3543#M8X0GA .
                     18. 8of10 -“21: *On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), please rate how much effort you had to put forth during your visit today?”
                     19. “22: *Was our search function helpful today? [pick one]” “Yes[, it found you seemingly deleted your info.]”
                     20. “23: *What type of content did you look at or use today? [pick at least 1]” “Drivers & Software”
                     21. “24: Did you find what you needed today?  [pick one]” “No”
                     22. “24.1: Please tell us why…[pick all that apply]” “Content was missing“
                     23. “24.2: What will you do next?[ pick one]” “”Browse the Internet for a solution”
                     24. “25: How can we improve your website experience?” quote: Per my answer to Q20, as most makers seem to do, put-up and especially *keep-up* full web support for every product you’ve ever made, at least since you’re having a website.
                     25. “26: What is your preferred method of getting help? [pick one]” “Manufacturer Support web site”
                     26.  “29: *How would you describe your attitude toward new technology? [pick one]” “Early adpoter”
                     27. everything else I left blank as it was irrelevant or too-personal, unless it was required so then I answered (above) else put (where allowed) “I don’t know”.
                     28. ^M8X3ZR: Successfully submitted.
   3. ^M8XUP7: Hard-drive
      1. ^M8XUPY: Along side the battery. Remove 1 screw and it pulls straight out (pull reasonably hard)
      2. ^M8XURA: An IBM TravelStar 30.00GB 4200 RPM, IDE, Model IC25N030ATDA04-0, S/N: 64116214
         1. ^M8Y055: Does not power up it seems (at least connecting to external USB-to-IDE)
         2. ^M935OS: Especially since it’s old, can I reasonably & inexpensively substitute it with solid-state memory of some sort?
            1. ^M935QB: Well how fast does it transfer?
               1. ^M93568:  A seller’s listing, title: “IBM 30GB 4200 IC25N030ATDA04-0 IDE/ATA 2E283Laptop 2.5″ HDD Hard Drive 977”
                  1. ^M93574: ~5min ago, found 1st (absolutely unbelievably) via Google Search(IDE 4200 MB/s)
                     1. ^M935CN: Must be because my ~1st prior search was for almost identical (but wrong) PN: Google Search(IC25N030ATD04) (missing final “A”) so Google Search put the similar part # first.
                  2. ^M935D7: Says it operates at “Drive Read/Write: 100 MB/s” (this is likely the interface max speed “Ultra-DMA 100 MB/s”) and sells for $40 used
               2. ^M935WI:  Google Search(IC25N030ATDA04 MB/s)
                  1. ^M935X1: Finds seeming-official specs which sound like they’ve got a warning flag if tranfer falls below “Minimum PIO Transfer Cycle Time With IORDY Flow Control \ 15- 0(=78) Cycle time in nanoseconds (120ns,16.6MB/s)”
            2. ^M936CL: talked about at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#Comparison_of_SSDs_with_memory_cards and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#Availability & especially http://club.myce.com/f7/sd-flash-memory-ide-adapter-vs-hdd-242910/#post2036137
            3. ^M937JP: Says ” The benefits of which I hear are major, namely in the speed department, provided you have a fast enough card.” says this
            4. ^M938GO: Adapters which would do the job
               1. ^M938G8:Syba‘s (currenly $9)
               2. ^M93ALE: XRP’s from Amazon (now $10; has detailed specs &which sound reasonable based on no other experience)
               3. ^M93A8L:  Micro Sata Cable’s from Amazon (currently $10.75)
               4. ^M938I5: None I found at frys.com but maybe in-store
            5. 2. d
      3. ^M8XUSD: Was seemingly disconnecting randomly; so pulled out, readjusted screws so it pushed in as far as possible, then reinserted.
   4. ^M8WYM9: Lacks built-in wifi
   5. ^M8WYMV: BIOS
      1. ^M8X8U6: Version
         1. ^M8WYNQ: Current
            1.  ^M8WYRG:doesn’t boot from a flash drive (volume M8UYMB(YUMI_MultiBoot) via 2 drives
            2. ^M8X8IP: “PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 Copyright 1995-2001 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.” “BIOS Version: R0224C0 \ KBC Version: RK224C0”
      2. ^M8X8VS: Settings
         1. ^M8X940: Main
            1. ^M8X94O: Date & time
               1. ^M8X952: Now was set to 01/09/1988 13:26:38. I changed to current (212.08.17fri1601)
         2. ^M8X8WR: Advanced
            1. ^M8X8XJ: Primary IDE adapter
               1. ^M8X8YG: 32 Bit I/O
                  1. ^M8X8ZE: Now was set to Disabled, I changed to Enabled.
                     1. ^M8X9EP: On reboot got “Operating System not found”
                     2. ^M8XBFT: Per that & M8XBDL, undo
                     3. M8XBPT: Still got same error; the hard drive may be loose
                     4. ^M8XC56: But Kubuntu install now sees the drive; was this because I hard-power cycled & light-jostled the computer or because of the “Disable”?
                     5. ^M8XDBW: Set “Enable” and retry: Windows still doesn’t boot;  Kubuntu install again fails at “at least 3.9 GB”.
                     6. ^M8XDPV:so undo: “Disable”; Windows still doesn’t boot (must be corrupted) but Kubuntu install now also fails at that point. So seems hard drive is loose.
            2. ^M8X917: Secondary IDE adapter
               1. ^M8X92X: 32 Bit I/O
                  1. ^M8X936: Now was set to Disabled, I changed to Enabled.
                     1. ^M8X9ME: On reboot was still able to launch Kubuntu 12.04 CD
            3. ^M8XBLL: Logo Motion
               1. ^M8XBLV: now was “Off”, set to “On”
   6. ^M8X8BD: Runs Kubuntu 12.04 test with no problems with even an external wifi & bluetooth & current bios M8WYNQ.
   7. ^M8XAL4: Install Kubuntu 12.04 (from CD as wouldn’t boot from USB)
      1. ^M8XBDL: attempt fails with “has at least 3.9 GB available drive space”; seems it can’t see the drive.  See this ID
   8. ^M8XJ2A: M8SLIK
      1. ^M8XJ35: M8SMIK

2. ^M31R7R:Some Additional document history, in order:

   1. ^M8WYIT: I create this
      1. ^M3KNZ6:Why?  Before, instead was:
         1. Not done
         2. ^M3KOSW:reached my limit when
            1. ^M8W7QC: Now sending into service and getting bad news from Geek Squad rep James
            2. ^M8WYJG: Trying to to use as a backup computer, including going from Wndows XP to Kubuntu 12.04
      2. ^M3KNXM:by:
         1. ^M37OOV:on (the most similar recent one=http://1.JotHere.com/3541#M8W7DB) latest version M8W9DB, do Copy to new draft overules.info/3541 Copy to a new draft.
         2. ^M37OP0:then there: give this a new ID & updated content to fit.
   2. ^M8WYV8: Just titled; 1st publish
   3. M8X40T:Added notable content including survey.
   4. ^M8XBRB: Notable additions.
   5. ^M8YXL1: additions
   6. ^M94QR9: additions

http://www.upperedgetech.com/ibm-30gb-4200-ic25n030atda04-0-ide-ata-2e283laptop-2-5-hdd-hard-drive-977/