Tips and tricks to make XPS13 2015 work with linux.
See the collected configurations here (ordered by BIOS version)
BIOS A01 is out
BIOS A02 is out
BIOS A03 is out
BIOS A04 is out
BIOS A05 is out
BIOS A06 coming soon
BIOS A07 is out
BIOS A08 is out
BIOS A09 is out
BIOS A11 is out
BIOS A12 is out
BIOS A13 is out
BIOS A14 is out => removed. See this post
BIOS A15 is out
BIOS A17 is out => removed. See this post
BIOS A18 is out
BIOS A19 is out
BIOS A20 is out
After downloading a BIOS
.exefile from one of the links above, you can install the update by copying the.exefile to/boot/efi. Alternatively, you may install the update via a USB device:
- Download and verify the checksum.
- Copy the downloaded file to a USB flash device. It does not need to be bootable.
- Insert the USB flash device into any USB port.
- Power on the system.
- At the DELL logo screen, press F12 to access the one time boot menu.
- Select BIOS Flash Update in the Other Options section.
- Click on the ... button to browse the USB flash device to locate the downloaded file.
- Select the file and click Ok.
- Confirm the Existing System BIOS Information and the BIOS Update Information are as expected.
- Click Begin Flash Update.
- Reviewing the Warning message and click Yes to proceed with the update.
- The system should restart and show a Flash Progress bar on the Dell logo screen as the BIOS update is being performed.
- The system will restart once again when the Flash update is complete.
- QHD Patch to disable automatic adaptative brightness - Installs under windows only 😟
- Touchpad firmware A00 - Installs under windows only 😟
- XPS13 2015 drivers page
- DisplayLink Ubuntu drivers - Make Dell D3000, D3100 docks & DA100 external video adapter compatible
From A01, linux support is quite decent. The different encountered problems can be:
- touchpad freezing (i2c / ps2 mode)
- no sound (or sound after 2 cold reboots of some kernels, depending on boot options)
repeating keystroke issue (should be fixed with BIOS A01)(fixed with BIOS A01 & A04)- ?
From A02, boot options are not needed anymore. Sound will be ok (HDA mode by default) and touchpad will be in i2c mode as !Windows 2013 is not needed anymore to make audio work!
It's still recommended to have a recent kernel (3.17+). Verify your touchpad mode with xinput.
It should give you something like DLL0665:01 06CB:76AD UNKNOWN if i2c mode is on. You could have to blacklist psmouse too. See here.
BIOS A04: relevant things to linux are: keyboard repeat delay, fix an intermittent hang up at POST, update EC, update CPU microcode, intel platform trust technology updates
Anyway, you should upgrade BIOS to the latest version (at your own risk!). To upgrade, download the BIOS .exe, and save it in /boot/efi. Double-check the checksum, reboot, press F12 and patch.
Quote about the repeating keystroke issue (Author?)
Someone asked about the fix for the repeating keypresses. Yes, it was traced back to the source and will be fixed on all affected Dell platforms soon. I just saw that the one for 9343 was promoted to our factories so should be up on support.dell.com any day now as BIOS A01
- DELL Sputnik project on Launchpad (list of bugs known to both DELL and Canonical)
- major.io website (@major)
- Barton's blog last update, announcing BIOS A01
- Installing ubuntu 14.04 on the new Dell XPS 13
- Promising patches from Matthew Garret about reducing power consumption on Haswell and Broadwell systems
- ArchWiki dedicated to Dell XPS 13 (2015)
- DebianOn documentation on the Dell XPS 13 9343 (Early 2015)
- Install Ubuntu 15.04 on the Dell XPS 13 9343 (2015): A complete guide
- Repository of issues with the XPS 13 (2015) Developer Edition
IRC: #xps13 (freenode)
If you (are able to) use linux on this computer, please specify:
- your xps13 model (FHD/QHD, CPU, wifi chipset)
- kernel version
- boot options
- pros/cons of this combo
- applied patches
- distribution
- anything you think is useful to know
Thanks to contributors!