4 ms·

I bought ubuntu-supported dell laptop, and there were still plenty of issues. Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack, to display issue plugging

by NhanH 4y ago

I bought ubuntu-supported dell laptop, and there were still plenty of issues. Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack, to display issue plugging it in an external monitor (this still happens to this day, Linux doesn’t work well with a 4k monitor + a lower resolution monitor). Two years ago, I built a threadripper machine, and even more than 6 months after the CPU was released, linux didn’t work on that yet (iirc, you had to patch or used a special settings on boot, or it crashed). Ubuntu on that same machine suddenly decided last week to NOT recognize a monitor being plugged in via a KVM (there are 2 monitors), booting to windows still works so I am not even sure if it is a hardware or software issue. At this point, I think people who are claiming linux works perfectly on their machines are the one with special hardware, either very old, or very limited.

api 4y ago
You have to go deep and really research it, which is confusing and rules out most users. If it’s not a well known Linux friendly model you have to search every chipset and other element of the system. It’s too bad that Dell is selling supposed Linux-supported laptops that are not. I’ve heard good things about the Thinkpad Carbon X1, System 76, and Star Labs.
ryukafalz 4y ago
> randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack That seems to be common to many laptops including those running Windows at this point in time: https://youtu.be/OHKKcd3sx2c https://youtu.be/OHKKcd3sx2c
- charrondev 4y ago
  For me the only laptops I’ve ever seen that had consistent, efficient, and “just working” sleep is MacBooks. I’ve had ThinkPads and and Dells over the past 10 years that I just shut down every time I put them in my bag because there were too many occasions where I opened up my bag to find my laptop on, fans blasting, and very very hot. On the other hand I’ve had a MacBook for the past couple of years and the only time it ever reboots is for system updates. My M1 Pro I can close the lid, come back 2 weeks later, have it instantly wake up and have 90% battery left.
  - ryukafalz 4y ago
    Sleep works consistently for me on older laptops in Linux. My main personal laptop is still an X230, which is rock solid. I do still check that it's asleep though, and there's a handy indicator light on the lid to confirm that. Newer laptops have indeed been less reliable. I always check the power LED if the machine has one. > For me the only laptops I’ve ever seen that had consistent, efficient, and “just working” sleep is MacBooks. Up until last year I've used exclusively MacBooks for work (not by choice) and I've had the same issues with those at various points. Tip for MacBook users with the same issue: turn off the setting that allows Bluetooth devices to wake the machine. If a key on your Bluetooth keyboard ever gets pressed while the laptop is nearby it'll wake the laptop in your bag and then often it won't go back to sleep.
pbhjpbhj 4y ago
>Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack // This has come up a few times on HN recently, it appears to be an issue with all brands of OS. There was an explanation for it to do with Windows wanting to keep the network stack live in "sleep" and so proper sleep having little support. Reports suggested it might be a problem with OSX too.
- dskgbajhlj 4y ago
  no no, you see, when it happens on linux, well that's linux not being ready for prime time when it happens on windows, well, it's probably $mfg's fault
  - account-5 4y ago
    100% this.
  - spookie 4y ago
    Yup, people are way more prompt to shit on something free, than something they've paid for. Seem counterintuitive, but people will always defend something they've spent money on. The more they've spent, the more they do.
- microtonal 4y ago
  I never had this issue on MacBooks (a user since 2007, after using desktop Linux from 1994-2007). I don't know any macOS users that had this issue. I had a Linux certified ThinkPad. I enabled S3 sleep in the firmware to avoid this issue. My battery was always dead after letting the laptop sleep overnight. The fun thing is when this happened Lenovo's USB-C charger would refuse to charge the laptop. At any rate, I really wanted to switch to Linux on laptops, bought a Linux-certified ThinkPad with a Ryzen CPU that everyone recommended. And it was just a miserable experience. Everything from terrible sleep-wake, bad support for 4k screens to half-working Lenovo USB-C Docks. Near the end, I'd just run Windows, since at least the hardware worked properly and the battery didn't drain in 3-4 hours.
  - 4y ago
hotpotamus 4y ago
I've had the exact same things happen to me with Windows machines - apparently computers are still hard. I won't disagree though that the Linux laptop experience is still pretty bad - basically the power management has made it unusable in my experience. I'm a happy Pop!_OS (or however ridiculously they render their name) desktop user, and so I'm inclined to give their hardware a try next time I look at laptops. Framework may also be a contender.
zeroc8 4y ago
Well, my Company provided a Dell XPS 13 running Windows, and that piece of crap doesn't work right with their own docking station. I think it's an issue with that particular company. Same docking station, but with an Ubuntu based Hp DevOne doesn't cause any troubles at all.
account-5 4y ago
Assuming Dell is providing this laptop, the fact Ubuntu doesn't work properly on it sounds like Dell being at fault. I've said previously that Linux gets the blame for not working in situations the OEM gets blamed if windows doesn't work. I personally don't think that's fair.
noisy_boy 4y ago
> this still happens to this day, Linux doesn’t work well with a 4k monitor + a lower resolution monitor I'm typing this response right now from a Thinkpad that is connected to a 4k monitor and two 1920x1080 monitors (using KDE Plasma); works perfectly. All the monitors are Dell.
cdelsolar 4y ago
Built my own machine early in 2022 with 12th gen intel chip and other new components and put arch on it. It has never given me an issue. The only occasional problem is KDE clock freezes rarely and I have to restart the window manager. Overall it’s an incredibly fast computer.
- tomnipotent 4y ago
  > It has never given me an issue I had constant iGPU-related crashes until kernel 6.0.x on my Framework laptop. Since then it's been smooth sailing.
maximus-decimus 4y ago
> Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack This is so much of an issue in Windows that LTT basically took the stance to tell everybody to buy a MAC instead because they just can't take it anymore. It seems to be more an issue with gaming laptop, not that they wake up more, but that they go through their battery so fast that you charge it overnight, and by the time you take it out of your backpack, the battery is already dead. Personally it's not that Linux "just works" for me, it's that Windows doesn't either anyway. Once, I had Windows 7 not being able to find my user account and I had to open Windows in failsafe mode and play in the bios. The worst I've had happen to me in Arch is the DNS not working after an update and having to manually edit it in a file. The thing with Arch though is that when something breaks for you, there's a ton of other people with the same problem so it takes 2 seconds to find an answer. Ironically, Ubuntu, Debian and Mint always gave me much more smaller problems. Like KDE on Kubuntu makes the os bar disappear after I play a certain video game in steam, or my monitor stopped working one time after playing that game, etc.
sangnoir 4y ago
> Two years ago, I built a threadripper machine, and even more than 6 months after the CPU was released, linux didn’t work on that yet (iirc, you had to patch or used a special settings on boot, or it crashed). Ubuntu on that same machine suddenly decide Are you perhaps thinking of a different Ryzen processor? I built a ThreadRipper PC 5 years ago, and got it running Linux weeks after launch. Interestingly, I couldn't get it to boot off a Windows USB stick; so it only ever ran linux.

by NhanH 4y ago

api 4y ago

You have to go deep and really research it, which is confusing and rules out most users. If it’s not a well known Linux friendly model you have to search every chipset and other element of the system. It’s too bad that Dell is selling supposed Linux-supported laptops that are not. I’ve heard good things about the Thinkpad Carbon X1, System 76, and Star Labs.

ryukafalz 4y ago

> randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack That seems to be common to many laptops including those running Windows at this point in time: https://youtu.be/OHKKcd3sx2c https://youtu.be/OHKKcd3sx2c

charrondev 4y ago
For me the only laptops I’ve ever seen that had consistent, efficient, and “just working” sleep is MacBooks. I’ve had ThinkPads and and Dells over the past 10 years that I just shut down every time I put them in my bag because there were too many occasions where I opened up my bag to find my laptop on, fans blasting, and very very hot. On the other hand I’ve had a MacBook for the past couple of years and the only time it ever reboots is for system updates. My M1 Pro I can close the lid, come back 2 weeks later, have it instantly wake up and have 90% battery left.
- ryukafalz 4y ago
  Sleep works consistently for me on older laptops in Linux. My main personal laptop is still an X230, which is rock solid. I do still check that it's asleep though, and there's a handy indicator light on the lid to confirm that. Newer laptops have indeed been less reliable. I always check the power LED if the machine has one. > For me the only laptops I’ve ever seen that had consistent, efficient, and “just working” sleep is MacBooks. Up until last year I've used exclusively MacBooks for work (not by choice) and I've had the same issues with those at various points. Tip for MacBook users with the same issue: turn off the setting that allows Bluetooth devices to wake the machine. If a key on your Bluetooth keyboard ever gets pressed while the laptop is nearby it'll wake the laptop in your bag and then often it won't go back to sleep.

pbhjpbhj 4y ago

>Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack // This has come up a few times on HN recently, it appears to be an issue with all brands of OS. There was an explanation for it to do with Windows wanting to keep the network stack live in "sleep" and so proper sleep having little support. Reports suggested it might be a problem with OSX too.

dskgbajhlj 4y ago
no no, you see, when it happens on linux, well that's linux not being ready for prime time when it happens on windows, well, it's probably $mfg's fault
- account-5 4y ago
  100% this.
- spookie 4y ago
  Yup, people are way more prompt to shit on something free, than something they've paid for. Seem counterintuitive, but people will always defend something they've spent money on. The more they've spent, the more they do.
microtonal 4y ago
I never had this issue on MacBooks (a user since 2007, after using desktop Linux from 1994-2007). I don't know any macOS users that had this issue. I had a Linux certified ThinkPad. I enabled S3 sleep in the firmware to avoid this issue. My battery was always dead after letting the laptop sleep overnight. The fun thing is when this happened Lenovo's USB-C charger would refuse to charge the laptop. At any rate, I really wanted to switch to Linux on laptops, bought a Linux-certified ThinkPad with a Ryzen CPU that everyone recommended. And it was just a miserable experience. Everything from terrible sleep-wake, bad support for 4k screens to half-working Lenovo USB-C Docks. Near the end, I'd just run Windows, since at least the hardware worked properly and the battery didn't drain in 3-4 hours.
- 4y ago

hotpotamus 4y ago

I've had the exact same things happen to me with Windows machines - apparently computers are still hard. I won't disagree though that the Linux laptop experience is still pretty bad - basically the power management has made it unusable in my experience. I'm a happy Pop!_OS (or however ridiculously they render their name) desktop user, and so I'm inclined to give their hardware a try next time I look at laptops. Framework may also be a contender.

zeroc8 4y ago

Well, my Company provided a Dell XPS 13 running Windows, and that piece of crap doesn't work right with their own docking station. I think it's an issue with that particular company. Same docking station, but with an Ubuntu based Hp DevOne doesn't cause any troubles at all.

account-5 4y ago

Assuming Dell is providing this laptop, the fact Ubuntu doesn't work properly on it sounds like Dell being at fault. I've said previously that Linux gets the blame for not working in situations the OEM gets blamed if windows doesn't work. I personally don't think that's fair.

noisy_boy 4y ago

> this still happens to this day, Linux doesn’t work well with a 4k monitor + a lower resolution monitor I'm typing this response right now from a Thinkpad that is connected to a 4k monitor and two 1920x1080 monitors (using KDE Plasma); works perfectly. All the monitors are Dell.

cdelsolar 4y ago

Built my own machine early in 2022 with 12th gen intel chip and other new components and put arch on it. It has never given me an issue. The only occasional problem is KDE clock freezes rarely and I have to restart the window manager. Overall it’s an incredibly fast computer.

tomnipotent 4y ago
> It has never given me an issue I had constant iGPU-related crashes until kernel 6.0.x on my Framework laptop. Since then it's been smooth sailing.

maximus-decimus 4y ago

> Ranging from randomly wake up from sleep in my backpack This is so much of an issue in Windows that LTT basically took the stance to tell everybody to buy a MAC instead because they just can't take it anymore. It seems to be more an issue with gaming laptop, not that they wake up more, but that they go through their battery so fast that you charge it overnight, and by the time you take it out of your backpack, the battery is already dead. Personally it's not that Linux "just works" for me, it's that Windows doesn't either anyway. Once, I had Windows 7 not being able to find my user account and I had to open Windows in failsafe mode and play in the bios. The worst I've had happen to me in Arch is the DNS not working after an update and having to manually edit it in a file. The thing with Arch though is that when something breaks for you, there's a ton of other people with the same problem so it takes 2 seconds to find an answer. Ironically, Ubuntu, Debian and Mint always gave me much more smaller problems. Like KDE on Kubuntu makes the os bar disappear after I play a certain video game in steam, or my monitor stopped working one time after playing that game, etc.

sangnoir 4y ago

> Two years ago, I built a threadripper machine, and even more than 6 months after the CPU was released, linux didn’t work on that yet (iirc, you had to patch or used a special settings on boot, or it crashed). Ubuntu on that same machine suddenly decide Are you perhaps thinking of a different Ryzen processor? I built a ThreadRipper PC 5 years ago, and got it running Linux weeks after launch. Interestingly, I couldn't get it to boot off a Windows USB stick; so it only ever ran linux.