Hi, I have bought a DELL xps 13 developer edition. I m trying to connect with a usb-ethernet adapter but it doesn't seem to work. I have tried this adapter with another pc (much older) and it works well.

You should first check to see if the kernel is emitting any messages when you plug it in. In a terminal run

$ dmesg --follow

When I plug my ethernet adapter in I see the following...

[10389.226631] usb 2-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[10389.599596] ax88179_178a 2-1:1.0 eth0: register 'ax88179_178a' at usb-0000:00:14.0-1, ASIX AX88179 USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet, 8c:ae:4c:fd:12:5a
[10389.599674] usbcore: registered new interface driver ax88179_178a
[10389.604696] ax88179_178a 2-1:1.0 enp0s20u1: renamed from eth0
[10389.939741] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp0s20u1: link is not ready

Is there a way to configure it on the XPS13 or at least to check if it's compatible with ethernet?

You've not told us what your ethernet adapter actually is. The manufacturer may state if Linux is supported. For example the adapter I purchased states that they support Linux (although for Ubuntu 12.04 you'll need to compile the driver yourself or upgrade your kernel). You should also try both USB ports, I've had problem using my adapter with one of the USB ports before (I never resolved the issue).

Apparently that was just a problem of usb port choice... The right usb port works for ethernet, not the left one.

Thanks for you answer, apparently it seems to be a pb of the choix of the usb port...