Is 12.04 compatible with the Dell XPS 14Z laptop?

Thinking of buying above Ultrabook and installing Ubuntu. Anyone done this already?

Solution 1:

I have a Dell XPS 14z (L412z) running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and, in general, I'm very satisfied. It's a great machine but some issues need to be solved after installing Ubuntu 12.04.

I've made a thread in Ubuntu Forums about how to solve temperature, battery and touchpad issues.

Here it is:

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on Dell XPS 14z - temperature, touchpad and other issues

Here are solutions and workarounds that I found for temperature and battery consumption on the Dell XPS 14z (L412z) notebook, while running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin).

TEMPERATURE ISSUE AND BATTERY LIFE ON DELL XPS 14Z WITH UBUNTU 12.04 LTS

After these tweaks, the CPU temperature will run in about 40 up to 48ºC with regular use (this is OK), and up to 80ºC when gaming (my alarm is set to 85ºC). The HDD temperature will decrease to 36 up to 41ºC.

1. Install and configure lm-sensors and cpufrequtils:

    sudo apt-get install lm-sensors cpufrequtils indicator-cpufreq
    sudo sensors-detect

(confirm all options with "y")

2. Install Psensor to keep track of your CPU and HD temperature:

    sudo apt-get install psensor

(choose to activate "hddtemp" on boot when asked)

After install it will execute automaticaly on system startup.
You can block it on the launcher to see it permanently (the launcher icon has a neat temperature indicator).

3. Install Jupiter to manage battery consumption:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/jupiter && sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install jupiter

4. Install Bumblebee to manage battery consumption and the use of the nVIDIA GPU when needed (use "optirun" before the application name to open with nVIDIA GPU):

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable && sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install bumblebee

Test and compare:
```
glxspheres
optirun glxspheres
```

5. To decrease Hard Disk temperature (the unconfortable heating on your left palm hand, where the HDD hardware is set), you will have to install laptop-mode-tools and follow the instructions on the link below:

    sudo apt-get install laptop-mode-tools

Edit laptop-mode.conf file:

sudo gedit /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf

Find the bellow text and change value to 600:
```
NOLM_HD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=7200
```
Find the bellow texts and change both values to 1:
```
LM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=254
NOLM_AC_HD_POWERMGMT=254
```
Refers to: http://askubuntu.com/questions/14134...ng-on-ac-power

6. Use Powertop (from Intel) software to tweak some power consumption settings:

    sudo apt-get install powertop
    sudo powertop --calibrate

(wait)

    sudo powertop

(change "Bad" values to "Good" using keyboard arrows and 'Enter'. Type 'Esc' when finished.) -- this is not 100% tested.

7. Those above are the easiest tips that I've found. To go more deep, you can refer the links bellow and, later, post here what you accomplished:

http://smackerelofopinion.blogspot.c...in-ubuntu.html

TOUCHPAD SENSIBILITY ISSUE ON DELL XPS 14Z WITH UBUNTU 12.04 LTS

The mouse pointer keeps shaking and jumping on the screen when I use touchpad on my Dell XPS 14z, especially in cold rooms. It's horrible! These are some tweaks that I tryied with the synclient software, that manages the Synaptics driver (responsible for touchpad in Ubuntu 12.04). Try some of those an let me know if it worked for you.

1. Ultimately, I've had success by changing the HorizHysteresis and VertHysteresis values on the synclient for 48. Do this:

Check the current value (should be 8):

synclient | grep HorizHysteresis && synclient | grep VertHysteresis

Change value to 72 on each (first I tried 48, with goog results also):
```
synclient HorizHysteresis=72 && synclient VertHysteresis=72
```
These tweaks will be lost after system restart. To make the changes permanent, you'll have to create and edit a xorg.conf file. Do this:
```
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
```

It will open a blank text file. Insert the following content and save:

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
Option "VertHysteresis" "72"
Option "HorizHysteresis" "72"
EndSection

For more options on xorg.conf file, refer to:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/13021...xorg-conf-file and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...y_used_options

2. Other tweaks that I've tried before (with less success) was changing the FingerLow, FingerHigh and FingerPress values with the above commands:

First, check the FingerLow, FingerHigh and FingerPress current values with the above command:
```
synclient | grep FingerLow && synclient | grep FingerHigh && synclient | grep FingerPress
```

You will probably get:

FingerLow = 25
FingerHigh = 30
FingerPress = 256

Try decreasing FingerLow and increasing FingerHigh values (I actually didn't try to change FingerPress values becouse the HorizHysteresis and VertHysteresis tweaking showed to be the better solution). To change any value, do such as:
```
synclient FingerLow=20
synclient FingerHigh=50
```

Refer to: http://askubuntu.com/questions/12802...sitivity-issue

For more settings on Synaptics driver, refer to: http://www.x.org/archive/X11R7.5/doc...naptics.4.html

3. Enable two fingers scrolling in System Settings > Mouse and Touchpad > Touchpad (this is optional)

OTHER THINGS THAT I DO AFTER INSTALLING UBUNTU 12.04 LTS ON MY DELL XPS 14Z

This is my personal check-list, but it has some cool tips.

1. Install Java (necessary for internet banking):

    sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre icedtea-plugin

(resolve problema do Banco do Brasil no Ubuntu / funciona para o Mozilla Firefox) -- this is a tip for my brazilian fellows.

2. Install ubuntu restricted extras package:

    sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

3. Show global menu in LibreOffice:

    sudo apt-get install lo-menubar

4. Improve clipboard (copy and paste between apps even after closing the previous one):

    sudo apt-get install parcellite

To make it run on system startup, go to settings (cog in the top right of your desktop screen in Unity) and click on Startup Applications. Then click 'Add' and write "parcellite" on the two first fiels. Confirm.

5. Reduce font size, Launcher appearence and put a Show Desktop Icon on the Launcher:

    sudo apt-get install myunity

On Font, set font sizes -1 of the current.
On Launcher, set Backlights as 'Active Icons Only'.
On Desktop, set Active "Show Desktop" icon as ON.

6. Install the best app to backup personal files, usb drives and external drives (FreeFileSync):

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freefilesync/ffs && sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install freefilesync

7. Install Radio Tray Indicator (I recomend the "CINEMIX" radio):

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:eugenesan/ppa && sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install radiotray

For other great indicators, refere to: http://maketecheasier.com/10-must-ha...-04/2012/06/15

8. Creating a keyboard shortcut to open files and directories (Nautilus) - Similar to 'Super + E' on Microsoft Windows:

Go to System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Launchers > click 'Personal Folder' and type 'Ctrl + Alt + A' on your keyboard.

9. Install Storage Device Manager and configure particions to mount on boot:

    sudo apt-get install pysdm

10. Speed up Ubuntu

Watch: http://youtu.be/vwBoHZuauL8

11. Disable/remove overlay scrollbars:

    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars false

FULL REFERENCES

http://handytutorial.com/install-fre...-04-using-ppa/ http://thedaneshproject.com/posts/ho...ntu-12-04-lts/ http://www.webupd8.org/2012/04/thing...ng-ubuntu.html http://askubuntu.com/questions/14134...ng-on-ac-power http://askubuntu.com/questions/12802...sitivity-issue http://www.x.org/archive/X11R7.5/doc...naptics.4.html https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...cs/+bug/992330 http://askubuntu.com/questions/13021...xorg-conf-file https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...y_used_options http://smackerelofopinion.blogspot.c...in-ubuntu.html http://smackerelofopinion.blogspot.c...in-ubuntu.html

Solution 2:

I don't know if anyone has tried this particular model, but in general it would seem that Dell laptops work well with ubuntu. There's a list of certified hardware available here:

http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/make/Dell/?page=1&category=Desktop&category=Laptop&category=Netbook