Feedback on the Dell Inspiron 5521

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This system is only certified with the pre-installed version of Ubuntu (12.04)

This system pre-installed with Ubuntu might not be available in some regions as pre-loaded in systems.

We will aim to certify this system in future versions of Ubuntu.

HI, thanks for your answer.

I'm pretty sure I can reproduce the problem on 12.04 as well, I think a boot on a live 12.04 would give us a quick answer about that. I'll try to check it, if no one having a 12.04 come up on this thread.

Hello Nicolas,

The version of Ubuntu that it is pre-installed on those systems is not exactly the same as the one that someone can download.

You can learn about the differences here:

   https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-certification/+faq/2219

I would encourage you to file a bug about it in Launchpad.

HI Ara,

I'm sorry, I was not aware there was such differences with OEM provided version. Also, i was a bit surprised to read that canonical is not able to provide those oem version for download. I'll follow your advice and fulfill a bug in launchpad about it then.

However I'm wondering if Canonical is not able to provide the complete OEM img, can you provide instead information about it like:
- the list of the embedded drivers provided and matching version
- a changelog or/and .diff of the patch made to kernel or some other internal component

Thanks,

Nicolas

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Hi Ara,

I didn't get an asnwer from Canonical regarding those modifications. Does that mean and imply that Canonical is doing modification to opensource software and distributing them without providing those changes ?

In this case, I would be surprised to learn such practice from canonical as it would looks like a big and fundamental violation of the GPL licence.

Nicolas

Hello Nicolas,

Canonical does not distribute those images, the OEMs (hardware vendors)
distribute those binaries, pre-installing the images in the systems.
We do, however, send all the patches we create upstream, in an effort to
make those fixes available not only to Ubuntu users, but also to the
rest of the Linux community.

We didn't encounter that bug you mention in the system we have tested.
We could give you temporary access to the image for that system, but we
cannot guarantee is going to solve the issue, as the configuration might
be different.

Also, I would recommend you to open a bug about your issue or to check
in Launchpad if there is already a bug about your problem.

Thanks,
Ara.

Hi Ara,

I'm a bit confused about this Canonical answer. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think canonical do distribute the binary to the hardware vendors in term that are covered by the GPL and thus should provide the modification made. Also I'm wondering why some of such OEM image are available on ubuntu website but not the one for this DELL hardware ?

Does Canonical keep a track of the modification made for the generation of OEM certified image or not ? If so why such changelog can't be made public ?

For purpose of information and regressions tests I already created the followings bugs on Launchpad:

- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1172294 | [Dell Inspiron 15R 5521] overheating => bug was fixed using i8ktool specific modules.

- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1214287 | [Dell Inspiron 15R 5521] suspend/resume failure
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1225811 | [Dell Inspiron 15R 5521] Can't toggle backlight brightness

( Those problems are happening with recent kernel which means either there are others change preveting the problem to happen on certified version, either certified version patch haven't been released in upstream, either there are regression problems. )

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

Nicolas, sorry for the late reply and thanks for the bug reports.

Technically we are not distributing the binaries, the OEM is, and therefore, they are the ones with the obligation to comply with GPL. Installers for OEMs are not ours to deliver freely, but we are working with our partners to find a way to host these images.

We could give you access to the image temporarily if you want and confirm the configuration you have is the same as the one certified.

Thanks Ara for all those answers.