Anyone got Linux dual boot working with XPS 15 (9550)

From what I can tell, this is the notebook for me. Well, it has a few warts but I don't see anything out there comparable, other than Macbooks which have poor or non-existent Linux support.

However, I can only make the leap if a dual boot scenario works. I had assumed this would be mostly straightforward since Dell has a new focus on Linux developer edition laptops with the XPS 13, and I figured that the XPS 15 is almost the same thing, right?

From reading the thread here, however, it seems unclear if dual boot will work. Has anyone gotten it working?

 

I installed Ubuntu 15.10 gnome 64-bit last week on the XPS 9550. The OS installed without any problems but using the Software & Updates console to search and install the addition drivers (the Nvidia GPU and Intel drivers) did not. I didn’t give the terminal a try yet.

The support might get better with the release of Ubuntu 16.04.

 

Thanks for the reply. Did you see this thread and follow any instructions there? The second post has some details about solutions to some graphics driver woes, and there are nuggets of good info sprinkled throughout.

I haven't taken the plunge yet, but will do soon.

 

I did see that thread before my XPS 9550 was delivered but I didn’t read through the entire thread, almost looks like more trouble than its worth. I’ve got Linux running on two other desktops (both are running i7’s) in my office but neither one really have any advantage for me over Windows 10.

That being said I hope that Linux support is sorted out on the XPS 9550, one of the reasons why I bought this laptop was to boot off of multiple OS installs on external SSD’s using the Thunderbolt 3 connection.

 

There should not be many problems when updating to Linux. Dell is selling the precision 15 with Ubuntu 14.04 SP1 preinstalled.

 

I was able to install Linux Mint on a separate partition of my Dell XPS 9550. Everything works immediately after install and I was also able to load Nvidia drivers which allow switching between integrated graphics and the dedicated GPU. I suggest not updating the driver for the Broadcom wireless card since doing so resulted in Mint no longer recognizing the built-in wifi. The driver in use after a clean install works but wifi is limited to only 2.4Ghz connecitons.

 

Well sure, you'd think so, but the linked thread shows that at least initially there were a crapload of problems.

Are you guys dual booting with the factory Windows 10 install off of the original HD/SSD?

 

I tried Arch with the 3.xx kernel when I got my XPS 9550 first. Didn't work too well and ended up returning the laptop. I bought it again a couple of weeks ago and installed ubuntu 16.04 (nightly) the same night. Everything works right out of the box. No "no modeset" required. No issues with trackpad. WiFi works on the 5GHz band. It just worked.

 

Steps I took

1. Shrank windows partition to make space for Ubuntu 16.04
2. Used msconfig to boot into safe mode
3. During boot switched to ACHI mode in BIOS and disabled secure boot
4. Continued to boot into safe mode, used msconfig to boot back in normal mode
5. Inserted USB with 16.04 nightly
6. Rebooted, pressed F12 and selected UEFI boot of USB
7. Installed Ubuntu - took particular care that grub ended up on the correct drive.
8. Rebooted into BIOS and switched the boot order to Windows first and Ubuntu second (my preference - I use F12 when I want Ubuntu), also re-enabled secure boot.
9. Had a cup of tea.

 

Thanks!

Can you be more specific about " took particular care that grub ended up on the correct drive"? Is the right drive the 500 MB or so EFI partition which is the first partition in the factory setup?

 

For you folks running Linux, how do you find the touchpad? On my Lenovo Y50 I have a lot of difficulty getting a right button press with a two finger tap, palm detection doesn't seem to work and it's hard to double tap to drag because the pointer seems to move when I try to do that. I'm curious of the touchpads on the XPS models behave the same.

Thanks!

 

First time I did the install, I had an external HD attached and accidentally installed grub to that (which worked fine, until I undocked it!)

 

For you folks wanting to try a good Linux build I highly recommend Manjaro 16.06. it worked right out of the box and the battery life is on par with Windows 10 and the all stock drivers worked perfect other than bluetooth which requires a hex file. I compare it to Ubuntu Mate 16.04 which wasn't playing nice with the hardware and the battery life took a huge toll in Ubuntu.

From my limited understanding Manjaro is a simpler version of Arch and seems alot more stable than Ubuntu.

At the moment i couldn't be happier, now I'm considering wiping windows for good.

 

FWIW, I followed pretty much the same steps as Schmoo2k with Ubuntu 16.04 and it mostly just works.

A couple notes:

Need to set FastBoot option in BIOS to "Thourough" or else it seems like the live USB may not boot.
Need to disable hybrid sleep in windows.