I got a new work laptop which is a Dell XPS 15”, which replaces my old Dell XPS 15”. Now back in 2018 when I got my old work laptop installing Linux was a bot of a troubleshooting paradise or hell, depending on how you look at it. I tried to install Fedora (I believe) 31 and Ubuntu 18.04 Unity and Mate versions, and both sucked to install. Fedoras installer would not even start properly and both Ubuntu’s was just a cluster f… of errors during the install process and afterwards, even after installing proprietary drivers (FUCK YOU NVIDIA). My supervisor found a GitHub README describing in detail how to install Ubuntu Mate and switch to Gnome 3, which seemed to work. Which did work and was an okay work around, however a firmware update from Dell broke my system and I could not fix the issue. After much Googling I conclude that I needed to reinstall my system and since I like Fedora more than Ubuntu I decide to try this again. I found a guide with over eight steps I needed to follow, where of 3 was just to get the install to boot. Anyways I succeed and ran with Fedora 31, upgrade to 32, and last 33 without any major issues, except for one time breaking Ethernet but that was an easy fix.

Now fast forward to 2021 I needed a new laptop and let me just touch on this. I did not need a new laptop because the Dell XPS is crap and broke, I need a new laptop because I literally (due to my research) wore out the SSD in the machine and did not want to bored with even trying to replace it (I have seen those YouTube videos).

So I got the newest Dell XPS 15” and my first worry was the USB-C only ports and an SD card reader. But unlike Apple, Dell actually includes a USB-C to USB-A and HDMI convert (much appreciated Dell), now here I had a small worry, would the XPS let me boot from a USB-A stick through the converter? Well I created the USB and plugged it in BEHOLD IT booted no problem what so ever. Then my problems started… When I go to the part of the install where I should choose installation disk, there was no options. What the heck! A little bit of searching the internet and I remember that Dell disable AHCI and opt for Intel’s Raid thingy instead. Reboot the laptop into BIOS disable stupid Intel Raid and enable AHCI. BOOM! I could now choose my disk and installed Fedora 34 and it worked, right?

Well almost, I ran dnf check-update it lets you check if any updates are available and what they are. I was a bit worried because there was a kernel update and two firmware updates from Dell. However, I installed all system upgrades and the only thing that was a problem was the second Dell update, which somehow killed external keyboard inputs. But that was a quick fix release came two days later and while it was not fixed I rolled back the update.

Now one thing I had big trouble with last time was NVIDIA drivers (fuck you NVIDIA), but someone have been really nice to “fix” this on Fedora by creating an auto installer: https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/t0xic0der/nvidia-auto-installer-for-fedora/ which makes the whole process super easy.

I forgot one thing and that was to disable secure boot as this block usage of the NVIDIA driver so I had to do that. So all in all compared to last time very easy.

I did run into one lite weird issue I had to install Open Broadcast Software and after doing that, somehow secure boot was re-enabled. I am not fully sure what happened there.

-Lars