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$ inxi -Fz
System: Host: mxXPS Kernel: 4.15.0-1-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3
Distro: MX-17.1_x64 Horizon March 14 2018
Machine: Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 13 9343 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0TRX4F v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: A15 date: 01/23/2018
Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 40.2 Wh condition: 51.1/52.7 Wh (97%)
CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-5200U bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 3072 KiB
Speed: 799 MHz min/max: 500/2700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 798 2: 798 3: 798 4: 798
Graphics: Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.2 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 5500 (Broadwell GT2) v: 4.5 Mesa 13.0.6
Audio: Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-1-amd64
Network: Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter driver: wl
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives: Local Storage: total: 489.05 GiB used: 5.95 GiB (1.2%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT525MX300SSD4 size: 489.05 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 19.10 GiB used: 5.95 GiB (31.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0 C mobo: 41.5 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info: Processes: 194 Uptime: 9m Memory: 3.76 GiB used: 641.7 MiB (16.7%) Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.25
Installation
I shrank the Windows partition, creating space for a MX install. I was unable to get Grub to install correctly--others may well have no problem--so ended up using grub2win. That program has many idiosyncracies but can be made to work.
Bios and drivers
Upgrade Bios from the Windows side. Download and run
https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER047981 ... 43_A15.exe
There may be a later driver available at some point in the future, so check
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en ... p/drivers
Type “Bios” in the Keyword box.
Also use that page to update any other drivers.
Kernel
I eventually discovered that using a recent liquorix kernel brought significant improvements. On this machine, for instance, Suspend worked correctly for the first time after upgrading the kernel to 4.18-17.
SSD
I upgraded the SSD from 128 GB. Bought the new 512 GB SSD from Crucial, whose online site is terrific. Then followed these excellent directions (with occasional hiccups and faint-hearted spells) to make the change. See my shaking hands in this pic:
Needed to adjust partition sizes afterwards.
Display
MX Tweak > Config Options, check to “Use Intel driver...” and reboot
Sound
The problem is that often only the HDMI output is listed. Enter BIOS > System Configuration > Audio: click “Load defaults,” then boot back into MX and use MX Select Sound to enable “PCH” -- ADDITIONAL: this only works sporadically.
From Arch Wiki: If you are dual-booting with Windows, you will have to do a cold boot twice into Linux before to have sound working in a dual-boot config. This seems to work
Drop-down terminal
F4 is dedicated to a multimedia device playback command, but I can use the Fn key and then it toggles correctly (with Fn-F4).
Touchpad
To get the pad disabled while typing, first try the usual Xfce method: click Settings > Mouse and Touchpad. Use the pull-down menu to select the driver beginning "DLL..." and check the box to disable while typing. This box does not appear if the Synaptics driver is selected.
That did not work for me, so I wrote a tiny script following caprea's (h/t) suggestion below:
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#!/bin/bash
##turns off touchpad while typing##
syndaemon -i 2 -d
Issues
• I can’t stop Xfce Terminal from popping up on login, clearing Sessions in the Xfce settings doesn’t work.Well it now seems to work. Yeah!
Resources