Linux on a Dell XPS m140

A few weeks ago I received my new Dell XPS m140 and like every other machine in my house it had to run Linux. I followed the Gentoo installation guide and that got me to the point where the machine was bootable. I deviated a little bit from the partitioning scheme by only removing the NTFS Windows partitions and leaving the two Dell recovery partitions. I created a /boot, swap and one big / partition.

I am able to use just about all of the hardware at this point. The things I can’t use are not because they don’t work, but rather that I have not yet tried them. I will be posting more about specific features under the dellm140 tag.

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March 10, 2006 | Filed Under gentoo, hardware, dellm140 

Comments

  • Jon
    Hi

    I have an XPS M140 and I want to install Ubuntu, is there anything special I need to do with partitions, drivers? Also, it would be nice to keep diefer's speedswitch, and use the internal wifi, etc. What should I be aware of before I venture off of this cliff?

    Thanks

    Jon
  • dstanek
    @Brade

    That is odd. I don't seem to have any issues with my fans. They come on periodically to cool the machine down as expected. Did you have the problem of them never coming on or the one where the fans are constantly on?
  • Brade
    I so wanted linux to run well on my m140, but one major issue that I could not resolve despite all the man pages and other help was I could not get the fans to work. I installed all the necessary utilities (i8kutils, etc.), but I could never get an applet to appear in kde or gnome. And the command line would not respond (even though the install seemed good). Everything else seemed to work well. One other thing that I couldn't resolve was I could not make more than one vitual desktop (I could expand the current desktop with many screens, but not make more virtual desktops). I tried both ubuntu and opensuse. I'll try again in another year.
  • feveryear
    @sean: I had the same problem on my XPS M140. What you need to do is go into the Synaptic Package Manager, and check all the repositories (make sure you have all of them selected, the Multiverse and Universe ones), then once the list is refreshed, search for a "915resolution" package. Install that package. After it is done installing, press CTL+ALT+BACKSPACE. This will restart the session window, and the 915resolution package adjusts the resolution, so you should be seeing the 1280x800 that your XPS uses, like my own. I did that, and had no problems thus far. Hope this helps
  • dstanek
    @numabu: what drivers are you looking for? i assume you are trying to get some of the hardware to run in a Linux distro.

    @sean: i have been using Ubuntu on this box of a little while now and have not had any issues. my resolution is 1440x900 and looks good. per the Wifi card, i have not had trouble getting it working. does Ubuntu detect it?
  • sean
    I recently installed Ubuntu 6.10 on a Dell M140 and have some concerns. The screen resolution defaults to 1024x768 but it looks fuzzy. Back under XP is 1280x800 but can't figure any way to set this. Can't get the broadcom wireless card to work. I am in the process of moving everything that can be moved to Linux and an iMac for my main desktop. No more Windows!
  • numadu
    It's really hard for me to find some of the drivers for dell xps m140, is there any one who can suggest me the web site.
  • Ernest
    Dell XPS M170, Broadcom wireless internal card and Ubuntu. PClinux OS work once I had the wrapper installed correctly but I can't get it to work with Ubuntu. If anyone can help I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd love to say that i've been doing this for so long that I understand everything you say, but then I wouldn't be asking for help now would I. Yes you guessed it i'm a linux noob. Thanks for at least reading this
  • Hey, I installed Ubuntu Desktop on my Dell XPS M170 and it works amazingly great... The install was soo clean and soo easy... I highly recommend it! I immediately put the WEP key into my wireless card config and boom! I was online, surfing the internet, the display adapters, USB, DVD-RW, even an external hard drive were all recognized by Ubuntu! I was really amazed. Its the easiest Linux install I've had so far, and Ubuntu has their stuff together, I can install or remove programs on the FLY with their package management system, I give major Kudos to them for doing it RIGHT! What an amazing OS!
  • arthur
    Ran ubuntu and operate it on my m140, works great w/ the internal gard its the wireless G card no bluetooth.
  • Hey I have the same laptop here are the specs
    512mb ram
    60gb hard drive
    2.0ghz cpu
    Dell_Wireless WLAN card Rev:07



    Basically I would totally switch over to linux if i could get my wireless card to work. Its the only thing I'm really having trouble with. Everything else is smooth. I want to run Ubuntu*
    but with all linux versions I cant seem to get the wireless card working.(its an internal one too so no sliding out and getting another one)
    please please please if you have 1. instructions on how to enable it 2. help on where to get drivers 3. suggestions on how to throw my laptop out the window to increase damage to it feel free to email me at barrett@bellsouth.net

    ur help is really thanked!!!! excuse my spelling

    *using latest verions
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