Does Linux even work properly on Dell XPS laptops?

Macaroni9538@lemmy.ml to Linux@lemmy.ml – 61 points –

the more i am delving into things, the dell documentations are saying that the two really aren't compatible except for like an outdated version of ubuntu.... I never even thought about this, but looking back in time, I've tried many distros and the all have had some sort of internal issues that I couldn't figure out and had to wipe the disk and try a new one....

Considering it was a windows computer to begin with, is this causing problems with my Linux installations or is it more likely user error? Especially the firmware and driver side of things, as outlined in my prior post. Did Dell lock down their XPS laptops to basically only be compatible with Windows???? Im tired of distro hopping because of all the issues I have with other distros on my machine. I'm hoping you kind folks could help clear this up for me and offer insight? perhaps the bios needs some special configuring to help make Linux work as it should? Thanks

edit: whoops, I should clarify the exact model, I have an xps 13 9310 dell laptop

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I have two XPS laptops that run the latest Ubuntu Linux flawlessly. Hell, that's why I bought them. They are literally sold with Linux preinstalled, why wouldn't they work?

I even get BIOS/firmware updates in GNOME Software!

dude how do you get firmware and driver updates via the gnome store???? I know I've seen it at least once in my life time, but it's been a long long time. I have the lvfs repo enabled, so idk what the heck is going on. and when you say they come pre-intalled with linux, is that an option you have to choose when purchsing the laptop?

If comes from fwupd which I believe is installed by default on Ubuntu. The manufacturer needs to support it, of course. To get Linux preinstalled, you have to buy one of their "developer editions." They make them almost impossible to find on their website, but they're buried there somewhere.

The real problem is that certain XPS laptops like the 9500 had terrible design problems that dell tried to mask with software in linux. E.g., speaker balancing or high idle power draw. Other design atrocities such as unstable touchpads or improper grounding were initially blamed on linux even though the problem was hardware.

I got mine two years ago and I've regretted it since two weeks into it. But since my job bought it for me, I'm stuck with the POS. Do yourself a favor and stick with Thinkpad, or even better Framework.

yea i'm just about ready to invest in a new computer. the damn usb-c ports are so unreliable too after years of wear and tear. things disconnect just by the slightest shift in cable.

That's also true! I'm really disappointed in what the XPS line became after 2020. :(

Are you sure the ports aren't dirty? That's often/always the case with faulty USB-C ports

I've owned 3 of different generations. The first had a broadcom chipset, which gave me occasional trouble. The most recent, ca 2020, was rock solid and worked without issue under Arch. All hardware worked flawlessly. Currently runing Artix on it, and the challenges I'm finding have less to do with the XPS/Linux combo, and more with Artix.

Go ahead; it'll work fine.

Edit: fixed typos

Yes, I use one daily. The fingerprint reader of my model doesn't have the right drivers, but the rest is fine. Bluetooth works on mine, but might be dependent on the exact XPS model

Yes, the fingerprint reader on the 13 plus (9320) works fine.

I've been using a Dell XPS L502X with fedora since it was delivered 10/8/2011. No real problems, but I recently moved to voidlinux and almost doubled my battery life. Dell put quite a lot of time into supporting linux.

Void is probably my favourite rolling release distro. I ran it for 2 years on my old PC and had very few problems.

Says it can run Linux Ubuntu right on their website

Yes I know, I believe i mentioned that in my post. when you look for firmware or drivers, the only option for linux is an outdated version of ubuntu

Outdated?

At least on the 13 plus they support the LTS versions of Ubuntu. 20.04 and 22.04 at the moment. Basically any distro will work, just the alder webcam needs specific drivers that are not generally available.

Dell provides XPS laptop with Ubuntu on it. It works great and Ubuntu can be replaced with other distro ( I did successfully tested Mint and now Debian 11)

I support only Dell XPS 13/15 inch laptops at work exclusively with Fedora Linux, 99% of things work; occasional issues with things like the fingerprint sensor which is better supported in Ubuntu (it's a usb based goodix fingerprint sensor). The latest 15 inch has some issues with sound being quiet but over amplification solves this with some fidelity loss which isn't a problem for normal alet type noises.

Iirc your model (we had one of) works more or less flawless out of the box.

I have a hunch that the lvfs and updmgr setup is wrong. I just never receive any updates using those methods even though eveything appears to be configured correctly. I even looked at the firmware update history via fwupdmgr and it says there is no history, so pretty much I never received an update via that system. idk

Got an XPS 13 9350, works fine, bluetooth and all, though I upgraded Ubuntu and the kernel and the integrated webcam hasn't worked since, which I still don't really understand.

I had the same experience with my Latitude 9430. Apparently, Dell doesn't even maintain any model specific PPAs for Ubuntu 22.04 like they do for other models. "Linux compatible" apparently was only valid for this model and Ubuntu 20.04...

I've used debian without any issues on a couple XPS laptops, though the current one is admittedly a few years old at this point.

I have a 13 plus (9320). Everything works in any distro, except for the webcam. Dell provides drivers for it for ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04, and only for the default kernels it comes with. You can also get it working on arch.

Work is being done on these alder lake webcams, but there still is no support for them in the kernel at the moment.

I run mine in ubuntu with a newer kernel. And use my phone with droidcam as a webcam as a work-a-round. The newer kernels run better for battery life etc. I still have the default kernel installed, so I can reboot and use that, when I really need the built in cam.

so with these laptops, basically the only linux option is ubuntu based distros for firmware/driver updates?

I must either be way over thinking things or my fwupd is wrong. I've actually seen errors that fwupdmgr was not working. Maybe it has to with my firewall? Idk

That's only for the webcam. Arch has working drivers for it as well. And in the end this is only temporary, until Intel gets drivers for these webcams in the kernel source. Work is being done on them, so it's a matter of time.

With the exception of a fingerprint reader (which does not have a working Linux driver) I have had an exceptional experience over the last 5 years with Linux (Both Fedora, Ubuntu Gnome and Ubuntu Budgie) and a Dell XPS 9380

currently typing on my Dell Precision with a Bluetooth mouse, Bluetooth headset, and discrete NVIDIA graphics. This Precision replaced my XPS where I used the same install of Manjaro.

I don't buy Dell laptops anymore because of how poorly the hardware they choose works with Linux. I swear they'll literally look for the one wifi chipset that doesn't work on Linux when they're building they're laptops.

(I've had three different XPS laptops, each with unique hardware incompatibilities under Linux. I now have an Acer, an MSI, and a Chuwi, and all work 100%.)

Lenovos have been great as well, if you don't count the fingerprint reader incompatiblity

+1 for Lenovo. My Gen5 x1 carbon is without question, the single best Linux on a laptop experience I've ever had. Running tumbleweed as my daily driver, fwiw.

My yoga 9 graphics laptop is fantastic on Ubuntu.

I just hate the person who decided soldering in a 300mb wifi card was cool, and soldered ram.

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I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed on an XPS 13 9360 with an 8th-gen i7. No problems at all, and it runs much faster and cooler than it ever did under Windows. As far as I can tell everything works, including trackpad, touchscreen, wifi and Bluetooth. (This is under X11; under Wayland the trackpad doesn't work properly and the scaling is all off.) This one doesn't have a fingerprint reader though.

I remember only being able to run Manjaro on my Inspiron 15 7559 (i tried ubuntu, debian and a few others, couldn't get them to boot even in live environment)

Maybe try that. Manjaro gets a lot of hate but it saved me that time.

hey man, i like manjaro, not sure why there's so much hate....

I sure hope so . I have a new XPS 13 9315 on the way!

I've been running a 2019 XPS 13 on Debian without any major issues, just sleep that has high battery drain. But I think that's a common issue.

I have a 9510 that I use in my capacity as a MSSQL developer. Works great, except the touchpad randomly becomes laggy and sluggish. The solution is just to take your hand off the touchpad for 15 seconds, or just use a mouse, which doesn't have a problem.

Daily drive a 9500 on latest Fedora. Only thing that doesn’t work is the fingerprint scanner and honestly I don’t care in the slightest.

I have one of these and its been a nightmare of a machine. Linux works just as it's supposed to, but the computer internal design is hot garbage.

My XPS 9310 2 in 1 works great with Fedora. Literally the only hardware that didn't work after install was the fingerprint scanner. Everything else seems perfect. It even recognizes when the laptop is folded into a tablet and provides the virtual keyboard and does auto rotate.

I've found it works flawlessly on mine, with a minor caveat that the fingerprint sensor doesn't work (some Dell models do, just not the one I got). I'm using Arch Linux on a 9310 2-in-1.

I suggest checking the Arch Wiki The wiki has compatibility notes for many XPS laptops on what works, what doesn't, and what workarounds may be available. If you're not planning on using Arch, your distro of choice may have a wiki with that info too.

well damn, thats good to know. I shall give it a look

I've been running arch on XPS 15 a couple years ago with no problems. There was a problem with sound on laptop launch, but a couple of months in the kernel update fixed all the issues. Arch wiki has a lot of info on hardware compatibility, as well as steps you should take to enable something that doesn't work out of the box

I just feel personally that building the Arch OS would be too complicated for me, that's why I'm considering Manjaro. much more user friendly

9520, everything works but the trackpad sometimes has terrible lag. It's a common issue, some also report it on Windows. Don't care enough to ask IT to replace it.

You basically have to research the exact model you're interested in and how it works on specific distributions. Also a good idea to check hardware compatibility in the kernel you'd be using.