Install ubuntu 17.04 on dell xps 15 9560
Does anyone successfully install 17.04 on dell xps 9560? I made a bootable usb. It is able to boot, but it fails to launch GUI interface. i.e. black screen.
Solution 1:
Interestingly, I just did this earlier today on my Dell XPS 9560 with kernel 4.10.0-24-generic (latest as of this writing) and Gnome Ubuntu 17.04, and I get a black screen with cursor (cannot move it) on boot.
To get around the issue, you'll need to:
- Reboot, and press ESC just after the Dell logo to get to the grub menu
- Choose the older kernel (in my case, I think it's 4.10.0-09)
- Log into your session, and install the Nvidia driver (via Software & Updates, Additional Drivers tab)
- After the GPU driver has been installed, reboot
At this point, you should be able to log into your Ubuntu session running the latest kernel with no problems.
However, you're now running the Nvidia driver, which tends to run hotter (you'll hear the fan spinning), and reduces overall battery life between charges.
I'd prefer to run just the native Intel i915 GPU, but at the moment, it appears there's an issue with this (as of kernel >4.10.0-21). On this point, I haven't yet found a reasonable solution (I can disable ACPI entirely through the kernel, but the side-effects of this are not worth it).
Alternatively, you could also set grub to just boot an earlier kernel (<4.10.0-22), and you should be okay with running the i915 GPU.
UPDATE: After some investigation, it appears that the more recent kernels now support ACPI rev. 6, which requires a new kernel flag, acpi_rev_override=5. This appears to resolve my issues with disabling ACPI entirely (I can boot into desktop session, but lose various services, such as screen dimming), so using this flag instead may be a better overall solution. Sources: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5y3rii/xps_9560_battery_life_optimization_and_fan/ and https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=223056
Hope this helps!
Rich