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Dell Studio 14z
Introduction
This is a compatibility guide to running Linux with the Dell Studio 14z laptop.
This page is just for discussing using Linux on the Dell Studio 14z. For a general discussion about this laptop you can visit the Dell Studio 14z page on LapWik.
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Specifications
For full specifications see the Dell Studio 14z specifications page.
| Name | Dell Studio 14z |
| Processor | Intel® Core™2 Duo |
| Screen | 14” 1366×768 or 1600×900 Widescreen |
| RAM | Up to 5GB |
| HDD | 160GB to 500GB |
| Optical Drive | None |
| Graphics | NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M |
| Network | 10/100/1000 Ethernet Dell 1397 Wireless G Mini-Card Dell 1515 Wireless Draft-N Mini-Card |
Linux Compatibility
| Device | Compatibility | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Yes | |
| Screen | Yes | |
| HDD | Yes | |
| Graphics | Yes | See Notes |
| Sound | Yes | See Notes |
| Ethernet | Yes | |
| Wireless | Yes | See Notes |
| Bluetooth | Not Tested | |
| Modem | Not Tested | |
| USB | Yes | |
| Firewire | Not Tested | |
| ExpressCard Slot | Not Tested | |
| Webcam | Yes | See Notes |
Notes
Graphics
Tested with the proprietary Nvidia drivers. For Fedora, these are available as a package from RPMFusion and updated for each new kernel release. Did not try the open source drivers for Nvidia.
Sound
Update : Fedora 12 fixes the first issue below : both headphone jacks work fine.
The headphone jack works and one of the two line out jacks works by default. On board speakers work but onboard mike array does not. Some folks report success getting it to work on adding it to rc.conf
Wireless
Tested the Dell 1397 card. It works only with the hybrid Broadcom drivers at http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
To avoid having to compile the above driver for every kernel update, grab the kmod-wl package from RPMFusion. It provides the driver above and takes care of updating with each kernel release.
The Dell 1515 card will work with the open source b43 or Fwcutter drivers.
Webcam
Update : Fedora 12 fixes this issue. The webcam always initializes.
Webcam works fine by default but sometimes refuses to start after waking up from hibernation. This was observed on Fedora. On such occasions, a restart fixes the issue.
General Notes
The RPMFusion updates to kmod-wl and kmod-nvidia are sometimes released a couple of days behind a kernel update. Be careful not to upgrade to a new kernel until the driver updates are also available, else you will end up with graphics and wireless not working.
Summary
Update : Fedora 12 fixes the issues listed with Fedora 11 below.
Tested with Fedora 11 and Ubuntu 9.04.
Fedora 11 works great for the most part. rare crashes due to the graphics or wireless drivers occur sometimes. Waking up from hibernation may cause issues with subsequent webcam use in that session sometimes.
Ubuntu 9.04 had several graphics glitches when starting up, frequently hangs when waking up from hibernation and has problems with sound in several applications.
Discussion