## page was renamed from HardwareSupport/Machines/Laptops/Dell/XPS_15_L502x
## page was renamed from HardwareSupport/Machines/Laptops/Dell/XPS/15
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== Introduction ==

This page should give some information you need about running Ubuntu on a '''Dell XPS 15 L502x''' laptop (the ones with sandy bridge cpu's).

For the L521X, see this page: [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/Machines/Laptops/Dell/XPS/L521X]]

== Installation gotcha's ==

 * USB installation: booting from the USB3 slots won't work. Use the e-SATA slot instead!

== Hardware Support Matrix ==

|| '''HARDWARE''' || '''UBUNTU RELEASE''' || '''STATUS''' ||
|| '''Keyboard''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works Except Fn+F1 ||
|| '''Screen''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
|| - || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||
|| '''Wireless ethernet''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||
|| '''Trackpad''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||
|| '''Wired ethernet''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||
|| '''Sound''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
|| '''Optimus''' || Natty (11.04) || Works with manual changes ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works with Bumblebee 3.0 ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works with Bumblebee 3.0||
|| '''9-in-1 card reader''' || Natty (11.04) & Oneiric (11.10) || Works with manual changes ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Not tested yet ||
|| '''Webcam''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||
|| '''Ntrig Multitouch screen''' || Natty (11.04) || Works with manual changes ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Not tested yet ||
|| '''HDMI''' || Natty (11.04) || ? ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Does not Work ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Does not Work ||
|| '''Sound Device''' || Natty (11.04) || Works ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works with a minor bug||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works with a minor bug||
|| '''Mini DisplayPort''' || Natty (11.04) || ? ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works (2560X1600 mDP) ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works (1920X1080 mDP) ||
|| '''USB 3''' || Natty (11.04) || ? ||
||  || Oneiric (11.10) || Works ||
||  || Precise (12.04) || Works ||

== Hardware ==
=== Optimus / Graphics cards ===
'''Switch off NVIDIA card'''

# echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch

'''Switch on NVIDIA card'''

# echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch


Using the following command before and after the switch, you should see a drop/rise in mW being used:

# grep rate /proc/acpi/battery/BAT0/state

You can also '''completely disable the NVIDIA card''' and only use the Intel onboard graphics card ( which has more than enough performance for day-to-day work:

||# echo "blacklist nouveau" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nvidia.conf||
||# update-initramfs -c -k all||
||# reboot||

If you prefer there is the bumblebee project that is currently supporting the optimus devices, especially the xps 15.

Here you can find Bumblebee:

https://launchpad.net/~mj-casalogic/+archive/bumblebee/
or even better:
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee

Bumblebee allows to run applications with nvidia card:
|| optirun application  ||

If you want to tweak nvidia propietary driver run
|| optirun nvidia-settings -c :8 (Bumblebee default screen is 8) ||

=== 9-in-1 card reader ===

In 11.10, to enable insert the card and run:
||# echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/rescan ||
keep informed about this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/703180

=== Trackpad ===

Full multi-gesture (2 points) trackpad usage work at this moment.

=== Top right keys ===
The special touch keys are strangely mapped by default. One changes brightness, one does next track. They seem to be linked to the same key sequences as the Fn+F# keys that do the same job. To fix this, create the keymap file as /lib/udev/keymaps/dell-xps-l502x:
{{{
0x85 prog1 # Second touch key
0x84 media # Third touch key
}}}

you can test it works with: 
{{{
/usr/lib/udev/keymap input/event4 /lib/udev/keymaps/dell-xps-l502x
}}}
Note that "input/event4" comes from executing: 
{{{
sudo /lib/udev/findkeyboards
}}}

To add this rule permanently add in /etc/udev/rules.d/99-l502x-keys.rules :
{{{
# Keymap Dell Touch keys
SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event4", RUN+="keymap $name dell-xps-l502x"
}}}



== External Links ==
[[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HybridGraphics]]

[[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_XPS_15]]
==== Trackpad ====
[[http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/1108661]]
==== Information on Bumblebee (for graphics card Optimus support) ====
[[https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee]]
==== IronHide Optimus Support Project ====
[[https://github.com/MrMEEE/ironhide]]
==== Dell XPS 15 L502X running Ubuntu Blogs ====
[[http://hanynowsky.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/dell-xps-15-l502x-ubuntu-linux/]]