ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr on Dell Latitude E7440

In my opinion, this laptop works perfect with ubuntu. It’s a good choice for software engineer.

Dell website

Ubuntu certification

Review

The review for hardware and windows benchmark. So what about ubuntu?

Software

Latest

Bios Version A15

E7440A15

Unfortunately, we need to use Windows or DOS in other to flash the BIOS.

As @Alexander Sheremet: said in below comment, we just need to put bios exe file into flash drive and select it in boot menu (F12)

uname -a

Linux dell-e7440 3.13.0-19-generic #40-Ubuntu SMP Mon Mar 24 02:36:06 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

lsb_release -a

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu Trusty Tahr (development branch)
Release: 14.04
Codename: trusty

Works

• Keyboard
• Touchpad
• Track Stick (Track Point)
• LED backlit keyboard
• Wireless (with Wireless switch ) (Please read the Wifi section below)
• Lan
• HDMI (with external display)
• USB 3.0
• MicroSD
• Bluetooth
• Suspend / Resume
• Battery Infomation
• Turbo Mode (0.78Mhz -> 2.5Mhz)
• Webcam
• Integrated Microphone
• Speaker
• Headphone + Headset microphone
• Display + Screen Brightness controll
• Hotkey
• Dell Companion 12000 mAh – Need upgrade bios to use it.
• HDMI Sound output. (Ubuntu software upgrade)

What doesn’t work

WiDi – Wireless display. Unfortunately. Screen monitor of Intel are just available in Windows 7 and 8.1 😦

HDMI Sound output.

What are not tested

• Mini-display port – Does not work with Thunderbolt Display – Need some dell to test it.

What are not included

My laptop doesn’t have these components:

• 3G
• fingerprint reader
• smartcard reader
• touchscreen

My comments

This laptop is good for daily using. The weight is just about 1.7KG and MIL-STD 810G standard, I can bring this laptop everywhere. This is the best ubuntu laptop I’ve ever seen for 8 years using ubuntu.

Hardware

I have a 2013 model, configured with Intel Core i5-4300U.

Output from lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT DRAM Controller (rev 0b)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0b)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller (rev 0b)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP USB xHCI HC (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP HECI #0 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I218-LM (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP HD Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev e4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev e4)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev e4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP USB EHCI #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 04)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: Wilocity Ltd. Wil6200 PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
03:00.0 PCI bridge: Wilocity Ltd. Wil6200 PCI Express Port (rev 03)
03:02.0 PCI bridge: Wilocity Ltd. Wil6200 Wireless PCI Express Port (rev 13)
03:03.0 PCI bridge: Wilocity Ltd. Wil6200 Wireless PCI Express Port (rev 13)
04:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
07:00.0 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. SD/MMC Card Reader Controller (rev 01)

Output from lsusb:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0c45:64d2 Microdia
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Wifi connection problem with AR9462

It might be related with https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/263245

It’s very hard to connect to wifi, and if it’s connected, very slow speed.

dmesg:     IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready

Then I decide to upgrade to latest Kernel version

“Linux truclk-dell-e7440 4.0.0-040000-generic #201504121935 SMP Sun Apr 12 23:36:33 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux”

And run following command
echo "options ath9k nohwcrypt=1 blink=1 btcoex_enable=1 enable_diversity=1" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k.conf
sudo modprobe -rfv ath9k
sudo modprobe -v ath9k


Update boot time from

Boot into Ubuntu with Dell Latitude E7440 in 17 seconds