Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
31 Posts
0
26217
June 5th, 2015 09:00
XPS 13 DE fixes - kernel or Ubuntu version?
I got the XPS 13 DE 3 days ago and having the same problems as people are reporting here. This forum is a great help. I am still running BIOS A03, Ubuntu 14.04, and kernel 3.13. Before starting the upgrade I am looking for advice. Dell suggests to upgrade the kernel. Is there an additional merit in upgrading the Ubuntu version to 15.04 instead? I have seen here that people had problems with 15.04.
Additionally to the problems with the touchpad, the suspension recovery and the key repeating (all are annoying but not fatal at the moment) I noticed other issues:
- the syslog is filled with "sound hdaudioC0D0: HDMI: invalid ELD buf size -1"
- Wifi is often disconnecting in the places where my old EeePC with Fedora does not.
0 events found
No Events found!
MRC01
80 Posts
0
June 5th, 2015 12:00
You can go either way - install 15.04 or update kernel to 3.19+. Both run about equally well, though the latter is easier because you don't have to wipe the disk. I'll give a summary of steps - you'll have to search the forums here to get details how to run the steps.
First upgrade kernel to 3.19.0-20, using ppa:canonical-kernel-team/ppa. This will fix the trackpad, sound & microphone issues, while staying with Ubuntu 14.04.
Next blacklist kernel modules mei & mei_me. This fixes kernel panics on suspend / wake.
Next patch the broadcom wireless driver. Or replace the wireless card with an Intel 7265 and remove the Broadcom drivers (which won't be needed anymore). This fixes kernel panics on wireless config changes.
Next (if you want Bluetooth to work) download the Windows broadcom driver, extract firmware from the CAB file, and copy to the filesystem. You don't need to do this if you use the Intel 7265 card.
After the above, mine's been running through heavy use at work all week, 5 days straight without a kernel panic or reboot, with many networking changes and suspend/wakes.
The only remaining issue is the keyboard throwing out spurious characters, even BIOS A04 doesn't fix this. Dell - are you listening? Please fix/debounce the keyboard!
Earlgreyjunior
2 Posts
0
June 5th, 2015 14:00
Do you have any simple instructions on how to get bluetooth running? I understand the principle of what you are describing, but not quite the steps. I feel sure there are others who have got this far and are frustrated with the bluetooth issue.
eugene55
31 Posts
0
June 5th, 2015 22:00
Thanks. I will try. Apparently, it is worth to get the intel 7265, even with a slight risk of breaking something.