Upgrading the Sputnik 3 from 12.04?

Question

Hi, since two days I have the third edition of the Dell XPS 3 (with touchscreen and Haswell CPU). It comes with Ubuntu 12.04 preinstalled together with the Quantal kernel (3.5.0-45-generic after pending upgrades). With this factory configuration, the touchpad and touchscreen seem to have only limited functionality (no three or more finger taps or gestures on the touchpad, for example). If I type `xinput --list` I get that they are recognized as a Synaptics Touch Screen and TouchPad. Thus, I tried to upgrade the whole thing to a newer kernel (e.g. 3.11) using a newer stack as per this document: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack. The result, however, was an unusable system as it hanged at boot time (while showing the boot splash screen). So I tried a regular update to 12.10, and then to 13.04. While running the 12.10 system I had issues with a non-working X system (this has already been reported here), but somehow I could get around and was able to install 13.04 on top with the Raring stack. This kernel, however, hanged again at boot time. So the last thing I tried was a fresh install of 13.10 from an USB stick. What I got was an abmyssal slow system (the slowness maybe related to the hanging (or maybe just being very slow) of the newer kernels while booting) that was booted from USB, so still no success. Now I am at my wits' end. What are the problems of the kernels 3.8 and newer with the Sputnik 3? Does the Sputnik 3 have a different touchpad than the older models? Best, Marc

petrhosek · Answer

I have the same experience, I have tried upgrading my Sputnik to Ubuntu 12.04.4, but result is an unusable system hanging at boot time.

Has anyone successfully managed to install Ubuntu 12.04.4 onto Sputnik?

naumrusomarov · Answer

I'm not sure what you did with your system. I installed ubuntu 13.10 on a separate partition and I've had no problems whatsoever. It runs just as well as the ubuntu on my old laptop.

The touchpad drivers are not the problem, nor the kernel. Ubuntu removed the touchpad gestures from unity several versions ago. You can add them back but only through third party software. I haven't done that and I can't say how well it works.

Ingotian · Answer

Is there a Sputnik up grade from 12.04 to 14.04 LTS? If so where do I get it?

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