Linux Mint on new Dell XPS 13 touchscreen (model 9360) (dual boot)

[minthappy]

DISCLAIMER:
--------------------
This is just a brief and sketchy description of what I did to install Linux Mint on my laptop.
It's not intended as general advice on how to do it.
Any of the steps below can potentially brick your machine, destroy the data on it and void any manufacturer/seller warranty.



Laptop: Dell New XPS (model 9360) 13.3” - i7-7500U - QHD+ (3200 x 1800) Touchscreen - 16GB RAM - 500GB SSD with Windows 10 pre-installed.
Distribution: Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64bit

After installing Mint and updating the BIOS (see below), virtually everything worked without any particular tweak: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound, touchscreen, special keys, backlit keyboard, sleep mode.
I didn't fully tested the battery life, but it seems to be at least 8 hours with moderate usage.

Before starting I strongly suggest to update the BIOS with the latest firmware from Dell (there is a pre-installed Dell app on the XPS that will notify about such updates, or you can go
to the Dell website and find the instructions on how to do it and where to download the latest BIOS).

Updating the BIOS immediately fixed at least two major issues that I had after installing Mint on the XPS:

- resume after sleep was not working (there was no way to awake the machine but to reboot it);
- the sound was totally unreliable: output and input devices occasionally were not identified or not working and was getting a persistent white noise when connecting headphones;


Here are the steps I followed:

- Create a bootable USB stick with Startup Disk Creator on another Linux machine using an ISO image of Mint (what I did);
- Alternatively create the bootable USB on a Windows machine with tools like rufus or pendrivelinux Universal USB Installer (those didn't work for me, though);

- Shrink the Windows partition to make room for Mint (temporarily disable paging and restore points if needed to allow more shrinking);

- Disable Secure Boot (may not be needed), but keep UEFI;

- Change SATA to AHCI from RAID 0 (https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardw ... ation.html):
0. Without doing this the installer won't see the SSD (only the USB stick);
1. Run Command Prompt as Admin
2. Invoke a Safe Mode boot with the command: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal
3. Restart the PC and enter your BIOS during bootup.
4. Change from IDE to AHCI mode then Save & Exit.
5. Windows 10 will launch in Safe Mode.
6. Right click the Window icon and select to run the Command Prompt in Admin mode from among the various options.
7. Cancel Safe Mode booting with the command: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
8. Restart your PC once more and this time it will boot up normally but with AHCI mode activated.

- Reboot, insert the usb stick and go to BIOS setup again (F12) and manually add the boot option for the USB stick to the Boot Sequence menu;

- Reboot again, F12 and select the newly added UEFI USB option to boot;

- Check that everything works in the booted Live Mint and launch its installer from the desktop icon;

- See steps at http://www.tecmint.com/install-linux-mi ... uefi-mode/

- Choose to customize your partitions (when requested, choose to install grub on the same device with the Windows Boot Manager);

- Let the installer run;

- If it fails to install grub at the end, install boot-repair and run it (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair

- Now you should be able to dual boot;

- Given the high resolution of the screen, it's better to change the UI scaling to Double (Hi-DPI) (Settings->General->Desktop Scaling)

[clem]

Hi,

I performed a quick test with Linux Mint 18.3 on the Dell XPS 9360. Here are my findings:

- As mentioned above, the installer will not detect the SSD until you switch SATA from RAID 0 to AHCI.
- The tool to upgrade the BIOS is already installed in Windows. It's called "Dell SupportAssist" and there's an icon for it on the panel.
- Bitlocker (the disk encryption tool used in Windows) will complain if you disable SecureBoot. If you plan on disabling SecureBoot, disable Disk encryption in Windows first.
- If you're installing Mint 18.3 with SecureBoot, make sure to be online during the installation and DO NOT check the option to install additional codecs/drivers. Note also that using SecureBoot will prevent you from using any non-signed kernel module down the line.

Except for the SSD which had to be switched to AHCI, everything seems to be working out of the box. I didn't test everything but the wifi, webcam, sound, multimedia keys (volume, brightness, keyboard backlight), touchpad, everything seems to be working well.

Suspend/resume shows no issue. Display is working as it should, HiDPI detected, resolution at 3200x1800, touchscreen is functional.

I wasn't successful with the card reader. I might find a solution for it later. Other than that, this looks like a great laptop and a great alternative to the new Macbooks.