Dell Technical Support: Sputnik (XPS 13 or M3800 developer edition – Ubuntu)

The last issue I had was this wacky graphics issue. This has been fixed for me by installing the latest kernel:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1486036

It is still not stable for release, but hopefully what fixes it should eventually be. Those that can't wait should try the instructions in the link. At least this is the light at the end of the tunnel :-).

(And please do share if it does not fix your issue on the launchpad so that the developers can keep tracking this)

@JRMLHERMITTE

I glad it worked out!

I lost my recovery media for Precision M3800. After several requests, Dell customer support provided me with a secure link to download a file:

dell-bto-trusty-dino-A08-iso-20150508-0.iso

However they didn't provide me with any instructions of what to do with it. Is this what needs to be burnt to a bootable stick/DVD? Or is it something that needs to be fed into the Dell Recovery Tool for Ubuntu, in order to generate bootable stick/DVD?

I also have a package that I got a while ago:

Precision_M3800_A08.fish.tar.gz

which I downloaded from the Dell Drivers page. But similarly I don't know what to do with it, and when it;s loaded into the Dell Recovery Tool, the tool fails to build a recovery disk or crashes. It contains many Debian packages but I don't know what is what.

I am not a Dell Support Specialist.  I also don't have a Precision M3800 (I have a DE 13).  The following advice might also be common sense, but I thought I would offer a quick response since you haven't received one yet.

The package that has a bunch of .deb's in it is most likely a collection of separate hardware drivers.  Once you have an installation of Ubuntu, you could install them all using `dpkg -i *` or some thing like that.  If there are missing dependencies, you can install those automatically using `apt-get install -f`.  I doubt the order matters.

Your .iso image should probably be put onto some kind of bootable media.  I would guess that it is meant as a brand new install.  Before doing this I would confirm it with ProSupport and also inquire as to what will happen to the Dell Recovery tools.  When I went down the fresh installation route, my new partitioning scheme actually wiped out the Dell recovery tools (not that this was much of an issue because the 9343 was completely broken when I got it from factory, but it is something you probably will want to keep around if you can...or not, up to you).

Another thing you might try is see if the Dell Recovery tool accept .iso images...I doubt it since I think it is intended as a "Reset to Factory Settings" type feature.  But you might check to be sure.

I am not a m3800 user either, but why do you need the recovery partition? My recover partition is a USB cd with a 15.04 :)

In other words, I just do a fresh install.

Are there Dell-specific patches that you need?

In general, no you don't need the recovery partition, but it is a convenience that was one of the primary reasons for buying the DE in the first place (at least for me).

True, you can install a blank install yourself, configure it for UEFI support, and install all the basic hardware drivers on your own, but that is pretty mundane system configuration that seems like (more or less) a waste of time to me.

But, tbh, the 9343 XPS 13 DE I have was a mess at factory defaults on 14.04.1, so I would probably have to do a blank install myself if I was to attempt a fresh install anyway...it boils down to personal preference.

But, tbh, the 9343 XPS 13 DE I have was a mess at factory defaults on 14.04.1, so I would probably have to do a blank install myself if I was to attempt a fresh install anyway...it boils down to personal preference.

When we relaunched in September, we started using a newer factory image that should be better.

Awesome!  New purchasers should have a better experience all around then...but early adopters (like me) are still sitting on hardware which has a faulty factory image then.

If you need the newer factory image and bought your system with Ubuntu, please let me know. I can ask our social media person to setup a call-back with you so we can provide you that image.

DantesRequiem But, tbh, the 9343 XPS 13 DE I have was a mess at factory defaults on 14.04.1, so I would probably have to do a blank install myself if I was to attempt a fresh install anyway...it boils down to personal preference. When we relaunched in September, we started using a newer factory image that should be better.

Awesome!  New purchasers should have a better experience all around then...but early adopters (like me) are still sitting on hardware which has a faulty factory image then.

DantesRequiem Awesome!  New purchasers should have a better experience all around then...but early adopters (like me) are still sitting on hardware which has a faulty factory image then. If you need the newer factory image and bought your system with Ubuntu, please let me know. I can ask our social media person to setup a call-back with you so we can provide you that image.

Thanks for the offer!  But I don't think I will be going back to a 14.04 factory in the future, I tend to upgrade following the LTS release schedule and 16.04 is just around the corner.

That said, are there plans to have a 16.04 factory image available in the future?

Thanks for the offer!  But I don't think I will be going back to a 14.04 factory in the future, I tend to upgrade following the LTS release schedule and 16.04 is just around the corner. That said, are there plans to have a 16.04 factory image available in the future?

From what I understand you won't need the factory image. The patches have been incorporated directly into upstream, which 16.04 will have. So just do a fresh install, enable the proprietary driver if you have the broadcom, and you should be good to go.

I concur. I was part of the original Sputnik beta tester group on the first XPS13 and still use it quite a lot, it's a hearty little machine.

Recently I picked up an m3800 (refurb) and it shipped with Windows which I happily scrubbed off the drive. I installed Canonical's ISO for Ubunutu 15.04 had some issues, wiped the drive and installed Canonical's 14.04, and now I'm left wondering what to do next... which nvidia drivers do I install, and why doesn't Thunderbolt work?

If Dell could give us access to their ISO image it would be an incredible help.

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/t/19657506

any help is appreciated!

Hi,

I'm facing a fan & freezing issue with Linux kernels 4.1+ on my Dell M3800. I'm running Arch Linux with kernels 4.2.5 and 4.1.12 LTS, but the problem also occurs on Ubuntu 15.04. Linux kernel 3.16 (Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS) doesn't seem to be affected.

In detail, my fan is running at full speed and the system is freezing up for about 4 seconds during system boot up. This did not happen before - I'm running the same Arch Linux install since kernel 3.12 (mid February 2014) on this system. Also, the I'm facing the same symptoms, when I execute "sensors", which I use to read temperatures.

Here are my system specs: Dell M3800, Nvidia Quadro K1100M, 8GB RAM, Intel 535 SSD 120GB, 61Wh battery, 1080p screen, A10 BIOS, UEFI only, Legacy disabled.

Detailed bug report can be found here: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=112021.