hardware, linux

Dell XPS 9350 (4.4.0 kernel)

January 22, 2016

The laptop has been running well on 4.4-rc7 but the new 4.4.0 kernel came out and I’d rather be on the newest officially released kernel (until Dell releases the official XPS 13 with an official kernel that is).

So I grabbed the newest kernel and installed it by running

cd /tmp
wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.4-wily/linux-headers-4.4.0-040400_4.4.0-040400.201601101930_all.deb http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.4-wily/linux-headers-4.4.0-040400-generic_4.4.0-040400.201601101930_amd64.deb http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.4-wily/linux-image-4.4.0-040400-generic_4.4.0-040400.201601101930_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.4*.deb linux-image-4.4*.deb

Rebooted (remember to hit a key while grub is booting to select the kernel you want). Things are running like a champ so far. Will keep you posted and for anyone that installs please respond in the comments with your experiences.

Also, I wanted to clean up kernels I had installed (not the 4.2.x one that came with ubuntu though) and ran the following (help from this link)

 

(list kernels)
[jim@xps~]$  dpkg -l | grep linux-image
ri  linux-image-4.2.0-16-generic                  4.2.0-16.19                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.3.0-wifitest-custom             4.3.0-wifitest-custom-10.00.Custom         amd64        Linux kernel binary image for version 4.3.0-wifitest-custom
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-040400-generic              4.4.0-040400.201601101930                  amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-040400rc7-generic           4.4.0-040400rc7.201512272230               amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-extra-4.2.0-16-generic            4.2.0-16.19                                amd64        Linux kernel extra modules for version 4.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-generic                           4.2.0.16.18                                amd64        Generic Linux kernel image
 
(remove version i want)
[jim@xps~]$ sudo dpkg --remove linux-image-4.3.0-wifitest-custom
 
(rinse and repeat, i do not recommend deleting the 4.2.x kernel)
(when you are finished uninstalling kernels run the following)
 
[jim@xps~]$ sudo update-grub

Now that you are done installing the 4.4.0 kernel, make sure you enable libinput 🙂 and if you need to connect to a monitor grab a cable.

Thanks!

7 Comments

  • Reply Martin January 26, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    Hey there,

    first thanks for your guides.
    After trying several methods i found in the internet, i messed up my ubuntu on my xps 9350. So i reinstalled it and followed your instructions. I got it finally working, but the WIFI still was not working and sometimes black-screen problems during the boot-up occured.
    I fixed it by adding “nvme i915 intel_agp” to the /etc/initramfs-tools/modules.
    And adding “video=SVIDEO-1:d” to grub.
    But to get the WIFI doing it’s job, i had to follow your first guide for getting the 4.3 kernel working. At least i had to download the file and then follow the first three steps of 2.3 here:
    http://blog.jimbasilio.me/2015/12/dell-xps-9350/

    Cheers Martin

    • Reply Martin January 26, 2016 at 2:39 pm

      Sorry, but a small update:
      there are still 50% of getting black screen during the boot-process.

    • Reply Jim Basilio January 26, 2016 at 8:13 pm

      Sorry to hear about your struggles. I don’t have anything in my /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file. I do have the nvme modules loaded when i run lsmod, I vaguely remember doing some steps prior to the 4.3/4.4 kernel upgrades I did and maybe I did something that I didn’t note. I haven’t done a clean installation yet.

      I’m hoping Dell comes out with their official XPS13 soon based on the 4.4 kernel. The 4.4 kernel (from what I’ve read) has proper support for the Broadcom wifi card and the skylake support in 4.4 is needed for a smooth running system.

      The only persistent issue I have is a freeze of X if I go full screen on video (youtube, or other video player) and then use anything with on screen controls (like volume/brightness). Beyond that it’s been rock solid for me … that said I know that doesn’t help you.

      Good luck. If you get anything running more consistently let me know and I can update the blog for others in the future.

      I thought Dell was supposed to release an official XPS 13 skylake ‘dev edition’ in january so I’m disappointed I haven’t seen it yet. Should be soon I hope!

  • Reply Etienne February 12, 2016 at 12:23 am

    Did you try with 4.4.1 ? For some reason it would shutdown the XPS when going to sleep/closing the lid, so I reverted back to 4.4.0…

    • Reply Jim Basilio February 12, 2016 at 7:02 am

      I haven’t tried 4.4.1, thanks for the heads up. 🙂 At this point I’m waiting patiently for 16.04 to try out. I may even try 16.04 next month as it gets closer.

    • Reply David February 15, 2016 at 1:31 pm

      I had issues with the 4.4.1 that the updater started pushing out with my 16.04 Alpha2 installation – for a start the wifi went back to not working – so I took the 4.4.1-040401 images from Linuxdaddy and have had no problems with them.

  • Reply clems March 17, 2016 at 7:11 am

    Hello,

    Just install Ubuntu 16.04 and everything works for the moment.
    Wireless is working without patching Kernel.
    The only strange behavior I have is a very slow Ubuntu boot.
    FYU: I encrypt my /home.

    Regards,

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