After a few days play with my new Dell Latitude E6410 I was expecting more from the “Ubuntu on the new laptop” combination. Here is a short summary for what to expect if installing Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat on a E6410 (check the previous post on the subject).
Video card – nVidia Corporation GT218 [NVS 3100M] (rev a2). Works with default version Nvidia driver from Ubuntu but the log is full of errors:
<span style="color: #008000;">NVRM: os_raise_smp_barrier(), invalid context!</span>
Some 3d applications do not work. Upgraded to ppa nvidia driver version 260.19.29.
<span style="color: #008000;">sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings</span>
External monitor using Fn-F8: does not work.External monitor does work using information from this thread. The solution I used consisted to modify the line GRUB_COMMAND_LINE in /etc/default/grub and then run update-grub. Here is my line with all the modifs. The acpi_osi is what interests you. I tells the bios to send the old codes instead as Super-p:
<span style="color: #008000;">GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset acpi_sleep=s3_bios acpi_osi=\\\"!Windows 2009\\\""</span>
Sound card – works ok. Sound quality is much better than on my old laptop. Having problems with microphone after updating to ppa kernel 2.6.36. Downgraded to latest mainstream ubuntu kernel: 2.6.35-24-generic
Suspend, hibernate – does not work. Partialy worked with kernel 2.6.36 but other problems occured. Also related to the ACPI problem it seems to be problems when restarting on battery power. Usb speed is slow (10 times slower as tested with hdparm -tT on an external hdd) and CPU seems to be throtled down. Changing to AC power does not fix the problem, restart on AC is required. Update 20110413 – partial works, on AC, using acpi_sleep=nonvs see bug description. Updated GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT is now:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nomodeset acpi_sleep=nonvs acpi_osi=\\\"!Windows 2009\\\""
Touchpad & mouse – partial works!! Touchpad is not recognized. It is recognized as a PS/2 mouse. Booting with an USB mouse makes it very slow and unusable. Have to boot with no external mouse and insert it after reboot. I don’t use too much an USB mouse and never used scroll or tap features on the touchpad but this might be very annoying for some people.
Wireless – works.
Bluetooth – works.
Webcam – works. Some problems when switching resolution.
SD card reader – works after creating a file in /etc/modprobe.conf containing the following:
<span style="color: #008000;">options sdhci debug_quirks=0x40</span>
Instant on button – does not work. It’s a useless feature for me anyway.
Fingerprint scanner – Broadcom Corp. BCM5880 Secure Applications Processor with fingerprint swipe sensor. Does not and will never work. No support whatsoever for linux.
Comments:
Andrei -
:)) Linux rulz Daca nici cu Ubuntu nu merg driverele prima, mai are sens sa mai comentez ceva ? )
len -
E normal, inseamna ca laptopul e chiar nou :) Problema e de fapt cu modificarile in bios. Cu siguranta o sa mearga in noile kerneluri.