Ubuntu 16.04 on Dell Xps 15 9550 (i7-6700HQ - 1TB SSD - UHD 4k touch)

Hi all,

Thanks to the splendid work detailing how to run Ubuntu 15.10 on the Dell XPS 15 9550 (started by @jchedstrom and followed up by many others) and the latest specific posts on ruing Ubuntu 16.04 beta (by @Rommel_Lapuz, and others), I decided to open a new thread on the forum for the Ubuntu 16.04 version, share my experience, and discuss any pending issues.

My hardware configuration is (my system shipped mid february):

• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
• 32G DDR4 RAM
• SSD hard disk (not the usual SAMSUNG reported by others): THNSN51T02U7 NVMe TOSHIBA 1024GB
• Intel HD530
• NVIDIAGeForce GTX 960M

I required a working system with dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 10 (Home edition in my case), and this is what I did:

0. Update the BIOS to the latest version provided by DELL:

• I did this from Windows
  
• Reboot and enter BIOS (Press F2 when the DELL logo shows up)
  
• "Restore to BIOS defaults" before continuing.
  
• Exit to reboot

1. Boot in windows and create recovery disk from the Windows box, in case something goes wrong

2. Repartition SSD:

• I repartitioned from my original Windows Installation with "Minitool Partition Wizard Free" as I was used to it, but you can do this using gparted without problems, using the /dev/nvme0n1 disk.
  
  • My XPS came with:
  
  

Partition | Capacity | FileS | Type | Status
*:ESP | 500.00 MB | FAT32 | GPT (EFI System partition) | Active & Boot
*: | 128.00 MB | Other | GPT (Reserved partition) | None
C:OS | 941.18 MB | NTFS | GPT (Data partition) | System
*:WINRETOOLS | 450.00 MB | NTFS | GPT (Recovery partition) | None
*:Image | 11.63 BB | NTFS | GPT (Recovery partition) | None

• I resized the windows partition (C:OS) to 100Gb (97.66 in the partition tool)
• The new partition design is (I didn't bothered with separated / /var /home, etc. partitions):

Partition | Capacity | FileS | Type | Status
*:ESP | 500.00 MB | FAT32 | GPT (EFI System partition) | Active & Boot
*: | 128.00 MB | Other | GPT (Reserved partition) | None
C:OS | 97.66 MB | NTFS | GPT (Data partition) | System
*: | 843.52 MB | Unused| GPT (Data partition) | None
*:WINRETOOLS | 450.00 MB | NTFS | GPT (Recovery partition) | None
*:Image | 11.63 BB | NTFS | GPT (Recovery partition) | None

3. Disable fast boot option in windows:

• In Windows 10, run "Control Panel | Hardware and sound | Power Options | Choose what the power buttons do", and at the bottom you'll see "Shutdown settings", with "Tu ohttp://ubuntuforums.org/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=332n fast startup (recommended)", which I disabled.
• I also had the "Hibeate" option disabled by default, and I let it that way

4. Get ready for booting windows in Safe mode afterwards:

• Tthis is required to allow successful boot after changing the RAID to AHCI SATA configuration)
  
• While in Windows, WIN+R and execute "msconfig"
  
• Go to "Boot" and select "Safe mode boot". I left "Minimal" selected

5. Reboot and enter BIOS (Press F2 when the DELL logo shows up)

• "Secure Boot" | "Secure Boot Enable": Change from "Enabled" to "Disabled"
• "System Configuration" | "SATA Operation": Change from "RAID On" to "AHCI"
• Apply changes and save everything, and finally "Exit", to reboot

6. Enter windows. It will show up in Safe mode.

• In my case I was not able to run msconfig with the WIN+R key, so that I pressed the "Start button" on screen, selected "All applications" and search for "Administrative Tools" and "System Configuration". Then go to the "Boot" tab again and unselect "Safe mode boot". Accept and shutdown.

7. Insert 16.04 USB stick (the one I downloaded dated late february), reboot, and enter BIOS again.

• Go to "General" | "Boot sequence", and move the USB stick entry to the top.
  
• Apply, save eveything, and "Exit" to reboot.
  
• In my system I had "Windows Boot Manager", and then the "THNSN51T02U7 NVMe TOSHIBA 1024GB".

8. Enter ubuntu and run installation or run the installer in the Grub Menu.

• I partitioned ALL the unused disk space in 16Gb SWAP (JIC ) and / (I know this is not wise, but that's it)

• The system installed perfectly and I had wifi+touchpad+sleep+shutdown+reboot working out of the box, with a 4k display resolution and tiny sized for everything

Desktop and additional issues/Idea:

• I'm fan of the "Gnome flashback" desktop, but after installation it didn't work: I couldn't make to appear the right part of the top panel (that with notifiers, and the system menu), and neither the bottom panel with the application list showed up . If you have any clue, I'll really appreciate hints on this issue.
• I finally decide to run the ciamon desktop (given its suposedly reported ability to run hidpi natively). It works reasonbly well, but I still have some aoying issues. Mainly:
  
  • The battery information in the panel does not update!!!
  • The touchpad is "lost" sometimes (didn't look into this issue yet)
  
  
• To avoid tiny fonts in the Grub screen, add GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768 to /etc/default/grub and run sudo update-grub

• Regarding the use of NVIDIA/intel:
  
  • From the applications menu, I selected "Preferences|Additional drivers", and selected to use the "NVIDIA binary driver - version 361.28 from nvidia-361 (privative, tested). Then apply changes.
  • I installed nvidia-prime
  • Now I can run nvidia-settings and select either NVIDIA GPU (Performance Mode) or Intel (Power Saving Mode).
  • Others reported various stories when using the PPA NVIDIA repositories. I didn't tested them yet.
  
  

• Some other details on getting the hidpi to look reasonable in size and application specific information:
  

• Problems with palm detection on the touchpad. http://stevenkohlmeyer.com/fixing-pa...-ubuntu-14-04/ deals with it
  
  • In my XPS, xinput reports having two touchpads (?):
    
    • DLL06E4:01 06CB:7A13 Touchpad id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
    • SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=15 [slave pointer (2)]
    
    
  • I played with id=15 first, without success, but with id=13, things seem to work. This is what I added to startup programs:
    
    • xinput set-prop 13 "Synaptics Palm Detection" 1
    • xinput set-prop 13 "Synaptics Palm Dimensions" 5, 5
    
    
  • If you still had problems with detection on edges, you can apply ideas shown in http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2153813
  • I still have problems to avoid the palm to be undetected and I'm still investigating. If you happen to get usable parameters for the xinput props, please let me know.
  
  

So, my pending not-fully-working issues are:

• Palm detection: Working parameters are needed
• Gnome flashback not working
• Ciamon: battery info in the panel notification area does not update
• Touch pad: Breaks from time to time

That's it for now. I'll try to do some power demands calculations and keep you posted (some results are already available from @bertusrex at the original 15.10 thread).

Javi