And where does one obtain this updated bios? All the other bios images that I've been able to find are only available for Windows machines and not Ubuntu despite the fact that some of the fixes are specific to Ubuntu.

Thank you,
Keith

Dell Latitude E6540 System BIOS

http://downloads.dell.com/published/Pages/latitude-e6540-laptop.html

Dell Latitude E6440 System BIOS

http://downloads.dell.com/published/Pages/latitude-e6440-laptop.html

This has not solved my usb 3.0 function at all.  I have this latest bios and all updated drivers from Dell website, and I still get "This device can perform faster..." message.  I have also run the Dell diagnostic tool from the web.

I have the same issue , and this new bios update did not resolve the USB 3.0 problem. It is starting to be very annoying.

This BIOS has not fixed my USB 3.0 issue either.  With BIOS A15 none of my USB ports work if USB 3 is enabled in the BIOS.  It shows a USB device in Device Manager that has no driver, and no driver works with it because it says it is not compatible with the device (rolling back to a previous driver fixes the issue but not the speeds).  I have been dealing with this issue for more than 6 MONTHS.  I need USB 3 speeds daily and this really kills my productivity.  PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE get this fixed already.  I do not have time to screw around with this laptop trying to get USB 3.

If it matters, I installed BIOS A16 and then went and got Intel's latest usb 3.0 xHCI driver and now USB 3.0 is working for me.  I got a BSOD the 1st time, but after that its working well.  Not getting full USB 3.0 Speeds but it's far better than USB 2.0.  Getting about 150 MB/s on a USB SSD.

downloadcenter.intel.com/.../USB-3-0-Driver-Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver-for-Intel-8-9-100-Series-and-C220-C610-Chipset-Family