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Dell Latitude E6520
Introduction
This is a guide to running Linux with the Dell Latitude E6520 laptop. If you have the Dell Latitude E6520 and are running Linux on it please consider editing this page or adding a comment below with your compatibility details. By contributing you will help other people running this laptop or trying to make a decision on whether to buy it or not.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Dell Latitude E6520. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Dell Latitude E6520 page on LapWik.
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Specifications
For full specifications see the Dell Latitude E6520 specifications page.
| Name | Dell Latitude E6520 |
| Processor | Intel® CoreTM i7 (2720QM, 2620M) Intel® CoreTM i5 (2540M, 2520M, 2410M) Intel® CoreTM i3 (2310M) |
| Screen | 15.6” 1366×768 or 1600×900 or 1920×1080 Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 8GB |
| HDD | up to 500GB. Some models come with Advanced Format drives (4kB sectors) |
| Optical Drive | DVD+-RW |
| Graphics | Intel® HD Graphics 3000 NVIDIA® NVS 4200M |
| Network | Intel® 82579LM 10/100/1000 Ethernet Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6205 Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 Dell Wireless 1501 (802.11 b/g/n 1×1) Dell Wireless 1530 (802.11 a/g/n 2×2) |
| Audio | Cougar Point High Def Audio AND nVidia Audio IDT 92HD90 |
| Input | Keyboard Trackpad Fingerprint reader |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | SLE11-SP2 | Seems to work fine, System Monitor displays all 8 cores |
| Screen | SLE11-SP2 | Seems to work fine, full resolution |
| HDD | SLE11-SP2 | Seems to work fine |
| Optical Drive | Not Tested | |
| Graphics | SLE11-SP2 | Installed nVidia driver from website, seems to work fine with internal monitor and external displays. Installed disper and bound to F8 key to switch to external displays. Occasional “graininess” which then goes away on my system. |
| Sound | SLE11-SP2, Ubuntu 11+? (10.x needs patch) | Tested with Skype and youtube, works fine |
| Ethernet | SUSE Linux SP2 | Need SLE11-SP2 at least if Intel 82579LM card installed; older versions don't have the driver |
| Wireless | SLE11-SP2 | Works fine |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Not Tested | |
| Keyboard | SLE11-SP2 | Keyboard, numeric keypad, and most extended keys (vol up/down) work fine. Fn+F8 does not work and does not produce a valid scancode. Mapped F8 to 'disper -e' instead. |
| Trackpad | SLE11-SP2 | SLE11-SP2 does not have the kernel driver, so treated as PS/2 emulator |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| Card Reader | Not Tested | A reader commented below that this works with Ubuntu 12.04 (kernel?) |
| ExpressCard Slot | Not Tested | |
| Fingerprint Reader | SLE11-SP2 does NOT work | No driver available |
| Webcam | SLE11-SP2 | Works fine. A reader also commented below, but did not specify OS/kernel. |
Notes
- Laptops with newer Intel 82579LM NICs need a recent Intel driver. For SUSE Linux, this means SLE11-SP2 or later.
- Linux partitioning tool may need to support Advanced Format HDDs if one is installed.
- Trackpad works in PS/2 emulation mode, which is really irritating - tap-to-click is very sensitive so you end up typing where you did not intend. The root problem is that ALPS (the TP mfr) will not release specs so that a driver can be written. Linux devs are reverse-engineering (some help from Dell), but in the meantime I bound 'xinput set-int-prop Mouse[1] “Device Enabled” 8 0' to a hotkey so I could disable the TP when typing.
- NOTE: A proper trackpad driver is supposedly available for Linux kernels >= 3.2, and may have been back-ported to 3.1 for some distributions.
- Audio output jack is a 1/8” 4-contact jack, what they call a “smartphone” jack (it combines stereo output and mike input in a single jack). Since most laptop headsets have two separate 1/8” jacks for output vs. mike, you may need an adapter (such as the “Headset Buddy”).
Discussion
Tested the webcam with Skype calls, Works fine.
Hi!
I run Fedora 17 and normally have this values:
$sensors
…
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0: +86.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0: +86.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1: +86.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2: +84.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3: +86.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Any suggestions?
The smartcard reader doesn't seem to work. Too bad.
I run Ubuntu 12.04 on this laptop and the smart card reader works fine.
*Docking Trouble*
Dell Lat E6520
E-port Plus Docking Station
UltraSharp U2711 Monitor
Fedora 16 - Dual Boot w/ Win7-64
Can't get any display on the 27” Monitor while using DVI or display ports on docking station. Saw a brief flash of the Fedora logo but nothing else. Not even post info.
Using the GUI, under display settings, unable to detect anything other than lvds1.
Already toggled Optimus enabled/disabled in BIOS settings.
Any suggestions?
The E6520 series offers a hybrid card that splits rendering for 2D to the Intel and 3D to the nvidia card. This is called “Optimus”
Unfortunately there is no driver for Linux available that can handle this. You need to toggle Optimus disabled in BIOS settings to make the nvidia card primary for Linux and install proper nvidia drivers.
After rebooting the laptop open the nvidia settings (sudo nvidia-settings) and let it scan for monitors.
Actually there is a project called Bumblebee that aims to provide support for Optimus (that is, to support having Optimus turned ON in BIOS and be able to switch between the Intel and nVidia graphics). Haven't tried it but it looks like they've made a lot of progress.
I run an OS called Qubes OS which is based on Xen and Fedora Core. Unfortunately the current version of Qubes (v1 rc1) does not work with Optimus turned off. I have to turn Optimus on in the BIOS, which means, given that I don't have Bumblebee installed, it just uses the Intel graphics card and the nVidia doesn't work. I don't particularly mind this, except that the HDMI output doesn't work at all, which is kind of a bummer.
Actually with optimus off it just uses the nvidia one.
and wonderfully with it on it can't use more than one monitor through the docking station.
Audio drivers need upgrading to get the built-in speakers and microphone working.
Details here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/792233 (a different model is specified in this bug, but the upgrade fixes this model as well).
I haven't found any other problems yet, using the factory-installed Ubuntu 10.10.
(According to Dell support, Ubuntu 11.04 already includes the driver upgrades, so may work out-of-the-box.)
-Ben
The audio and mic appeared to work just fine with Fedora 17. Used with Google hangouts and Skype often.