Camera Not Functioning in Ubuntu 24.04 After Kernel Update

Affected Platforms:

• XPS 13 9350

Affected Operating Systems:

• Ubuntu 6.17.9-1012

The camera may stop working or become non‑functional after updating the OS kernel from version 6.14.0‑1013 to 6.17.0‑1012 (or after updating directly to kernel 6.17.0‑1012). The Canonical team has confirmed that similar issues have been reported and is investigating the root cause and developing a fix.

During an online update, a software component related to the camera (libcamhal‑ipu7x) is upgraded to a newer version. This change affects the order in which computer resources needed by the camera are initialized. As a result, the camera driver cannot access the required resources at startup and fails to load correctly.

Dell Technologies recommends using the original Dell factory image provided with the computer. If a different image is used, the solution below may not apply. The critical step is to downgrade the kernel to version 6.14.0-101 or an earlier release.

Recovery:

There are three ways to recover functionality of the camera.

Manually switch to an older version of the kernel:

1. Power on the unit
2. Press F4 and select Advanced option for Ubuntu
3. Select kernel v6.14.0-1013 or older version kernel to boot.

Make the target kernel persistent:

1. Open Terminal
2. Type sudo update-grub
3. Enter password for sudo user, if requested (the below image shows the command output):
   
4. Count the target kernel (the first entry is 0, the second is 1, and so on)
   • Kernel 6.14.0-1013-oem for example is 2
5. Edit the grub settings (this opens the nano text editor):
   sudo nano /etc/default/grub
6. Change the line GRUB_DEFAULT=0 to GRUB_DEFAULT=”1>2” (to change to Kernel 6.14.0-1013-oem from the example above)
   
7. To save the file, press CTRL + X, then Shift + Y and Enter
8. To update Grub, type sudo update-grub
9. Reboot the computer
10. To verify changes have been made, Open Terminal and type uname –a

Set the target kernel as default:

1. Open Terminal and type sudo update-grub
2. Enter password for sudo user, if requested
3. Edit the grub settings, type sudo nano /etc/default/grub
4. Update the below two lines:

   GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
   GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true
   

   
5. To save the file, press CTRL + X, then Shift + Y and Enter
6. To update Grub, type sudo update-grub
7. Reboot the computer and press F4 and select Advanced option for Ubuntu
8. Select kernel v6.14.0-1013 or older version kernel to boot

Resolution

The Canonical team will release kernel version 6.17.0-1017 and later, with a planned release date of April 6, 2026. it will be provided through an over-the-air (OTA) update.

To update the kernel:

1. Open terminal
2. Type: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:canonical-kernel-team/ppa2 (provide password if prompted)
3. Type: sudo apt update
4. Type: sudo apt install linux-image-6.17.0-1017-oem linux-headers-6.17.0-1017-oem
5. Reboot the computer
6. Once back to the desktop, open terminal:
7. Type: sudo apt update
8. Type: sudo apt upgrade (press Y if prompted)
9. Reboot the comptuer

The camera should operate correctly.