Dell XPS 13 9300 Ubuntu setup notes

notes.md

Random notes from woring with a new XPS 13 9300 with Ubuntu

Notes from when I was on the default Dell OEM Ubuntu

Disable trackpad middle click:

sudo vim /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf

Add Option "ButtonMapping" "1 1 3 4 5" under

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"

Get serial number

sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number

Notes on stock Ubuntu

Make the trackpad better

They must have done something with the Dell Ubuntu because the trackpad felt much better there than with stock Ubuntu. My major gripe was that clicking would always result in a mouse cursor jump, so I had to switch to the Synaptic driver so that I could set a deadzone for the bottom of the trackpad.

Install the Synaptic driver: sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics-hwe-18.04

Edit config: sudo vim /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf

Change trackpad section to:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Driver "synaptics"
        Option "PalmDetect" "1"
        Option "AreaBottomEdge" "82%"
EndSection

I also disabled "Tap to Click" in trackpad settings, because palm detection wasn't working great.

Reverting my trackpad changes

I eventually went back to libinput and tap to click, it was the best I've found so far. :(

Install standard developer stuff

sudo apt install git
sudo apt install sqlite
sudo apt install php7.2-cli
sudo apt install composer
sudo apt install golang-go
sudo apt install curl
sudo apt install php7.2-sqlite
sudo apt-get install -y php-xml php-mbstring php-curl php-bz2 php-gd

I also installed Drush/Composer based on their install docs.

Allow touchpad while typing for gaming

xinput set-prop 11 290 0