Dell XPS 15 - ArchWiki

# Dell XPS 15

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Device | Status
--- | ---
Network | Works
Wireless | Works
Sound | Works
Bluetooth | Works
Touchpad | Works
Graphics | Modify
USB 3.0 | Works
Webcam | Works
System info | Not tested
Power management | Buggy
WiDi | Not working
Touchpad gestures | Not working

- Works - Works out-of-the-box
- Modify - Works with modifications
- Not tested
- Not working

## System Settings

Hardware settings om January 2011 model

    00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 18)
    00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 18)
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 18)
    00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
    00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
    00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
    00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
    00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 06)
    00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev 06)
    00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev 06)
    00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
    00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6)
    00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
    00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
    00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
    00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
    02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0df1 (rev a1)
    02:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
    04:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000
    05:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
    09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)
    ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 05)
    ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 05)
    ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 05)
    ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 05)
    ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05)
    ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 05)

For Sandy Bridge model (L502X)

    00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
    00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
    00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
    00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
    00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)
    00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5)
    00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b5)
    00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5)
    00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
    00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
    00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
    00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
    01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0df4 (rev a1)
    03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (rev 34)
    04:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)
    06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)

For 2012 Model (L521X)

    00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
    00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
    00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
    00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
    00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
    00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
    00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev c4)
    00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
    00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] (rev 04)
    00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
    01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107 [GeForce GT 640M] (rev ff)
    07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 07)
    08:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
    09:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
    09:00.1 SD Host controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5209 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)

For 2013 Model (9350)

    00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06)
    00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller (rev 06)
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)
    00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller (rev 06)
    00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 0c03 (rev 06)
    00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 05)
    00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 (rev 05)
    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
    00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
    00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev d5)
    00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev d5)
    00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 (rev 05)
    00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM87 Express LPC Controller (rev 05)
    00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
    00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
    00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series Chipset Family Thermal Management Controller (rev 05)
    02:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 750M] (rev ff)
    06:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 (rev 6b)
    07:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 5249 (rev 01)

## System Setup

### Power Management

For the Sandy Bridge model (L502X): Suspend works; hibernation does not (it gets hung on a flashing cursor in text mode and does not even switch video modes).

### Graphics

By default, both Intel and NVidia cards are active, which can consume a lot of power. Using the Intel-only setup below, you can reduce your battery usage due to disabling the Nvidia card. The Intel and Nvidia setup describes how to utilize both cards and save power using Bumblebee.

#### Intel only

Install the Intel video driver using the xf86-video-intel package.

To make sure nvidia module will not load into your system:

- Remove nouveau and/or nvidia drivers
- Use acpi_call (compile acpi_call or use the AUR package ) to disable the nvidia card

##### acpi_call usage

    modprobe acpi_call
    test_off.sh

If you have a positive value then do:

    echo '\_SB.<YOUR>.<POSITIVE>.<VALUE>._OFF' > /proc/acpi/call

Else your can test the other script m11xr2.sh (it worked for me):

    /usr/share/acpi_call/m11xr2.sh off

You can use this command before and after to see how the battery consumption change (you need to disconnect sector first):

    grep rate /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state

To make this permanent, just add your working command in `/etc/rc.local`. Example:

    modprobe acpi_call
    /usr/share/acpi_call/m11xr2.sh off

#### Intel with Nvidia

The Optimus setup consists of the integrated Intel chip connected to the laptop screen and the Nvidia card runs through this. As such, the Nvidia chip cannot be used without the Intel chip (some other laptops have the option in BIOS to turn Intel off and use just Nvidia, but not this laptop).

See the Bumblebee page set of instructions, particularly the Intel/Nvidia section which has been tested. The main thing to note is that installing both the Intel and Nvidia packages at once tends to avoid dependency issues.

### Screen

### External Display

Since the Display Port is controlled by the Intel driver, it tends to work quite well and will usually mirror the laptop display without configuration. Getting both the HDMI and DP adapters to display separate requires additional setup.

#### Multihead

The following instructions should help configure the laptop to display separate output on two external monitors. These instructions are similar in nature to the instructions on the Bumblebee page, though recent advancements in virtual displays on Intel reduce the number of steps and packages needed.

- First, follow the instructions in the previous section to install drivers for both Intel and Nvidia with Bumblebee.
- Run `Xorg -configure` to generate a `xorg.conf` file. It may have a different filename, so watch the output and regardless of where it generates it, copy it to `/etc/X11/xorg.conf`. This should generate something like the following (for two external monitors):

    /etc/X11/xorg.conf

    Section "ServerLayout"
    	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    	Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    EndSection

    Section "Files"
    	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"
    	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"
    EndSection

    Section "Module"
    	Load  "glx"
    EndSection

    Section "InputDevice"
    	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    	Driver      "kbd"
    EndSection

    Section "InputDevice"
    	Identifier  "Mouse0"
    	Driver      "mouse"
    	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
    	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
    EndSection

    Section "Monitor"
    	Identifier   "Monitor0"
    	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
    EndSection

    Section "Monitor"
    	Identifier   "Monitor1"
    	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
    EndSection

    Section "Device"
    	Identifier  "Card0"
    	Driver      "nvidia"
    	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
    EndSection

    Section "Device"
    	Identifier  "Card1"
    	Driver      "intel"
    	BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
    EndSection

    Section "Screen"
    	Identifier "Screen0"
    	Device     "Card0"
    	Monitor    "Monitor0"
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     1
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     4
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     8
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     15
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     16
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     24
    	EndSubSection
    EndSection

    Section "Screen"
    	Identifier "Screen1"
    	Device     "Card1"
    	Monitor    "Monitor1"
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     1
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     4
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     8
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     15
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     16
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
    		Viewport   0 0
    		Depth     24
    	EndSubSection
    EndSection

- Change the `bumblebee.conf` file to the following settings (these are scattered throughout the conf file):

    /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf

    KeepUnusedXServer=true
    Driver=nvidia
    # In the [driver-nvidia] section,
    XorgConfFile=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

- Add the following to your `.xinitrc` file.

    ~/.xinitrc

    # Start Bumblebee, create VIRTUAL display, and configure monitors.
    optirun true
    intel-virtual-output
    xrandr --output VIRTUAL2 --left-of HDMI1 --mode 1920x1080 --auto

    # Turn off the laptop display (optional of course, leave out if you want triple display).
    xrandr --output LVDS1 --off

    # Execute a window manager or desktop environment here.
    # ex: exec awesome

- Run `startx` and check that your displays are working.

The modifications to `.xinitrc` automate the configuration of the displays. First, `optirun` is launched to run Bumblebee. Then, the `intel-virtual-output` utility (included with xf86-video-intel versions 2.99+) creates a few `VIRTUAL` displays; `VIRTUAL2` was the display mapping to my HDMI port, run `xrandr` to double check this for yourself. The remaining commands may vary for your configuration, note that `LVDS1` is the laptop screen and `HDMI1` is actually the Display Port.

### WLAN

Some users will need to install the rfkill package in order to switch on the wireless adapter with the fn+F2 key. Remember that wireless_tools will be needed for using a network manager such as NetworkManager, see Wireless network configuration for more information.

#### Note

It seems that rfkill used in conjunction with NetworkManager will cause a normal shutdown to result in reboot when Wlan is powered off. To avoid this DO NOT install both together.

### Bluetooth

Some users may need to run

    hciconfig hci0 reset

to get blueman working

### Webcam

If the camera seems that it does not work (black image), try to enable/disable auto-exposure (for example in Skype, the option is in the Video Settings and in guc). In reality, the camera tries to record at 0.5 fps and this is why it seems not to work, even if everything seems normal.

### Power management

### Special Touch Keys

The special touch keys are strangely mapped by default. One changes brightness, one does next track. They seem to be linked to the same key sequences as the Fn+F# keys that do the same job. To fix this, make this new file:

    /opt/dell_touchkeys_keymap

    0x90 previoussong # Previous song
    0xA2 playpause # Play/Pause
    0x99 nextsong # Next song
    0xDB computer # First touch key, Dell apparently uses a key sequence here where 0xDB is a modifer, 0x2D stands for the touch key and 0x19 for the monitor toggle
    0x85 prog1 # Second touch key
    0x84 media # Third touch key

and add this to /etc/rc.local:

    /etc/rc.local

    …
    # Fix touch keys
    /usr/lib/udev/keymap input/event0 /opt/dell_touchkeys_keymap

Source

#### Alternative method

For L502x model the above method can be improved:

1. No need to remap Play/Pause, Previous song, Next song keys as they are mapped correctly by default.
2. For the first (leftmost) touch key: it's wired in a weird way on the hardware level. It seems to be wired to both Super_L and x. Your best bet would be to remap this using your DE or something like xbindkeys. You may want to double-check with `xev` or `xbindkeys -mk` to see exactly what keys it is producing.

Thus the keymap file should be (I prefer standard location):

    /usr/lib/udev/keymaps/dell-xps-l502x

    0x85 prog1 # Second touch key
    0x84 media # Third touch key

and add this to /etc/rc.local:

    /etc/rc.local

    …
    # Fix touch keys
    /usr/lib/udev/keymap input/event0 /usr/lib/udev/keymaps/dell-xps-l502x

OR make a udev rule (the former remaps keys on boot, this lets udev take care of the remapping):

    /etc/udev/rules.d/99-local.rules

    …
    # Keymap Dell Touch keys
    SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event0", RUN+="keymap $name dell-xps-l502x"

### Hidden Keyboard Keys

For L502X model: there are additional Fn+<Key> (sequences) that are not marked at all on the keyboard but underlying hardware generates them anyway. Here they are (if you find more add them to the table below):

Hidden Fn Keys
Fn+<Key> | Resulting key (sequence)
--- | ---
Fn+Esc | Sleep
Fn+Super_L | Super_R
Fn+Ins | Pause/Break
Fn+Del | Ctrl + Pause/Break
Fn+PrntScr | Alt + PrtSc/SysRq

### Notes

- Remember to turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth by pressing the F2 button.
- Touchpad can handle multitouch. Read Synaptics to get that working.
- Card reader is finnicky. Try booting with a card inserted or inserting a card after it is booted and running `sudo echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/rescan`. Otherwise, card reader will not be detected. It seems that a certain kernel update results in the workaround not working as well. More info needed.

## Howtos

- A fairly comprehensive writeup of running Arch Linux on an XPS 15.

Category:

- Dell