Missing Recovery Image for XPS 9360

Thanks for pointing that out. I've asked internally for this to be looked into.

You can also use this for getting the recovery image: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/OSISO/linux

Thanks Jared.

I can't use that link, as my system originally shipped with windows 10. The service tag therefore leads to a Windows 10 image. As the hardware for the DE machines is no different, afaik, an ubuntu image should run fine on it, which is what I'm trying to accomplish.

Many thanks

We're only permitted to share the media with customers who purchase with Ubuntu. You might try Ubuntu 16.10 since you bought your computer with Windows.

Thanks Jared. I actually did exactly that, but as the system is not running perfectly, I thought I'd try with the 16.04 factory image, which is why I was looking for it.

Hi Jared,

I cannot seem to download the .iso image for UBUNTU 16.04 Recovery Image for XPS13 9360 un-corrupted from Dell's website.

The download is very unstable and the files are corrupted when downloaded!

I am a XPS 13 DE owner. The oem-config-firstboot failed when I was trying to select an internet connection. I could only log in as a guest ever since.

A generic Ubuntu 16.04 image works just fine, so it is NOT the flash drive, nor the way I prepared the USB boot that is causing the problem. I talked to Ben and James over the phone. But it never came across our mind that it could be the .iso image that is the root of the problem.

I have requested that a pre-loaded thumbdrive for installation mailed to me.

I would suggest that you include this thumdrive for all customers. I spent almost 24 hours trying to resolve this, feeling very frustrated!

GZ

Hi Jared, 

May I ask why? I didn't know the developer edition was an option and I really want to get Ubuntu to work on my machine. Thanks.

Does that not really violate the terms of the GPL?  I want both Windows and Linux on my machine. There is no option under Dell's purchase to do that it seems.

If permitted to, Dell would distribute this Ubuntu image to non-Ubuntu customers.

... Or do you mean, that is not permitted TO Dell (by some third party) to distribute those image files? If that is the case, by whom isn't it allowed? Microsoft? Canonical? I can't think of a reason either of them would disallow it...

Hey jared, thanks for your reply. You seem to imply that it is not permitted, but that's not what i have heard from other dell technical support employees. I was told that I'm allowed to install Linux on my windows-bought machine, and no warranties would be voided. If that is the case, i don't see why sell would still not just supply the image of my/out machines, and instead require we install with a generic image from e.g. Canonical (for ubuntu)

Permitted or not permitted by whom? Under the GPL you are certainly permitted to distribute Ubuntu. Are there some proprietary drivers which you include which do not permit redistribution? That does come near (if not over the line) of violating the GPL which says you cannot restrict distribution. 

If not by downloading this image, how can we purchasers of the laptop with windows get the Ubuntu edition to install it? In particular you say that all of the changes to the drivers etc have been contributed upstream (and should presumably by say in Ubuntiu 16.10) or is there something else going on?

I suppose it is possible that Canonical supplied Ubuntu to Dell under some other license than the GPL. That would be pointless if that other version was just the same as the GPL version, but if not then the statement that all drivers etc had been contributed upstream would not be correct. So the statement is obscure.  Did dell pay Canonical for something extra, and a different license? I am very confused.  

Anyway, I would urge Dell to open up the distro to users who boght the MS version (and paid the MS tax) as well as to people who bought the DE version.

If Dell is unable or unwilling to open the distro to those who have the MS version without cost, would it be possible to pay some reasonable fee to Dell to have access to it? Although I don't relish the idea of paying, it may well be worth some small fee, rather than spending many hours (or days) trying to work out the many conflicts others seem to have been challenged with.

Can anyone from Dell weight in here, please?

@pill-gz,

Sorry to hear these numerous problems.  A few questions and comments:

1. Regarding the oem-config-firstboot failure, can you please comment what selection of options led to the failure if you remember?  Eg, what language and keyboard you picked.  This is most likely a Ubiquity failure, but we'll need to reproduce it to figure out what happened.
   1. If you still have your recovery partition on the machine, you can build your own USB media by copying all the files from the recovery partition to a FAT32 formatted USB stick.  You will need to rename the directory efi.factory to efi and then It will be bootable in UEFI mode.
2. Can you please confirm the md5 of the file you downloaded?  A bunch of people have downloaded and used the image successfully so it would be best to rule that out as a problem.

To the folks who want the Ubuntu recovery image but didn't purchase their machines with Ubuntu, I would recommend that you install the standard Ubuntu 16.04 and perform all of the updates.  That will get you closest to the Dell factory image.  Everything Dell and it's partners do for hardware enablement is either pushed upstream or developed upstream and backported to Ubuntu.  The timing for it landing in generic Ubuntu 16.04 will vary, but the most important kernel related fixes are in the generic Ubuntu kernel already.

Just like Dell can't distribute the Windows 10 image to customers who purchased with Ubuntu, the Ubuntu image can't be distributed to customers who purchased with Windows 10.  If you haven't yet purchased but intend to use the XPS 9360 with Ubuntu, I would recommend you purchase it with Ubuntu for the best experience.