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No, there totally isn't. I'm returning an Ubuntu certified Dell m3800. The hardware specs on the thing are amazing, but Ubuntu has no centralized method of con
by chisleu 11y ago
No, there totally isn't. I'm returning an Ubuntu certified Dell m3800. The hardware specs on the thing are amazing, but Ubuntu has no centralized method of controlling the UI, much like in Windows, it's up to the developer.
All the crashing aside, when I scroll from the left to the right side of my screen, I get 3 different cursor colors and sizes. Some apps are unusable on the 4k screen because of font DPI scaling.
The crashes are insane. When I turn it on, sometimes there is screen corruption before it even boots. Sometimes it works fine until it gets to the grub screen, but then it corrupts.
Sometimes it never boots up and gets stuck on the ubuntu loading screen. Sometimes it never shuts down and gets stuck there too. Sometimes the thunderbolt monitor works, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the touchpad works and sometimes it refuses to pick up multitouch unless I'm pressing firmly with the flat side of both fingers hard enough to almost click the button. Sometimes it registers button clicks when I'm hovering my palm or finger over the touchpad.
It has been a nightmare. I was trying to move away from Mac OS X because I'm so tired of their lack of uniformity to keyboard commands. Each application decides if ctrl+arrow is going to be line home, page home, or previous word... I'm a system architect and that stuff is important to me. However it just isn't worth the struggle and I'm going to return this laptop tomorrow and order a Macbook Pro. I need 4 cores and 16GB of RAM. My Macbook air's 2 cores isn't enough for me to run the number of virtual machines I need to be able to use together.
- zxcvcxz 11y agoI refuse to believe that what you described was a default experience. I've used the same model my self and never seen the issues you described. I've looked for reviews and all the ones I find only mention poor high DPI scaling, which has gotten better. http://www.networkworld.com/article/2897199/opensource-subnet/review-dells-ubuntu-powered-m3800-mobile-workstation-is-a-desktop-destroyer.html http://www.networkworld.com/article/2897199/opensource-subne... If what you described is what it's really like out of the box then there should be a lot more scathing reviews. I have a feeling you probably installed some third party software from some random website.
- nitrogen 11y agoIf what you described is what it's really like out of the box then there should be a lot more scathing reviews. I have a feeling you probably installed some third party software from some random website. The parent comment mentioned a Thunderbolt monitor. That's a more likely explanation for glitching issues. Linux users generally don't install random software from random websites.
- wlesieutre 11y agoA "thunderbolt" monitor is likely just Mini DisplayPort, unless he's talking about some funky thing that daisy chains a USB hub through the same cable.
- chisleu 11y agoI'm actually talking about an Apple Thunderbolt Display. I returned the laptop because it was unusable.
- vetinari 11y agoI'm running Mini-DP monitor off Thinkpad's T430s Thunderbold port with exactly zero issues (in Ubuntu 14.04).
- nitrogen 11y agoAn actual Thunderbolt monitor, with Thunderbolt daisy chaining, may behave differently.
- chisleu 11y agoA default experience? I don't use any laptop without reinstalling the OS from known good media. I work on security code for a financial site. I've also been running Linux since the 90's. I've got a pretty good idea on how to make things work. Unfortunately, the thunderbolt drivers aren't there yet, and high DPI support is weak. The trackpad or driver is garbage compared to Apple's touchpads, and screen corruption on boot is unacceptable. It's possible that I just had a bad unit, but with so many things bad, I think that's unlikely. I'm not hating on Dell. Most of the people I know work for Dell. I love their servers. I just don't appreciate something being labeled as Ubuntu-certified, and the hardware doesn't work. They installed a binary driver for the network card rather than putting an intel network card in the thing... Total crap.
- chimeracoder 11y ago> > Best part - there's a team of people who make sure there's 100% driver support for everything on the computer. > No, there totally isn't. I'm returning an Ubuntu certified Dell m3800. OP was referring to the Sputnik laptops, which he linked to at the end of his post, not the m3800. The Sputnik line actually has a team (albeit small) working on supporting Linux for the Sputnik machines specifically, including driver patches and all. What's more, they've pushed the patches upstream to the kernel, so you can actually get the benefits regardless of which distro you choose to run on it. I have the original XPS 13 (though not the 2015 line... yet). There were initially reports of issues with the latest XPS 13 (which is why they pushed back the release of the Linux edition), but from what I've heard, those seem to be fixed now. And again, that's the point: there's a huge difference between having third-party/community support for Linux on a machine you buy and having the actual manufacturer offer support for it. I currently use a Thinkpad that I had to get for work, but honestly, at my next job I'm going to make sure I get one of the new Sputnik machines. Even given Thinkpad's reputation of good support for Linux, the Sputnik was a better experience.
- vidarh 11y agoThis page refers to m3800 as "part of Project Sputnik": http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/555/campaigns/xps-linux-lapt...