5

I have the XPS 13 9350 (2016 edition) dual-booting into Ubuntu 15.10. I have an issue with the touchpad where it will run fine after starting up the computer, but typically within 5-15 minutes of use the touchpad will start acting up. Sometimes the whole thing will freeze and won't respond at all, or will only respond on the far-right edge. Other times I can click and drag, but I can't move the cursor without clicking. Occasionally the cursor itself will jump all over the screen when I'm not touching the touchpad at all. None of these problems are apparent on the Windows install, which makes me think it isn't a hardware problem.

When I set up Ubuntu I followed this guide http://hgdev.co/install-ubuntu-15-10-on-the-dell-xps-13-9343-2015-a-complete-guide/ and created the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf file, but I deleted it to see if it would fix any of the issues I was having (it did not).

Anyone else have this problem? Any fixes out there?

Jonathan Seitz
  • 51
  • 2

1 Answers1

1

The problem is the graphics card, you need to force it into high power mode otherwise when it starts switching between modes, the cursor pauses. Also happens when you scroll, etc.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/PowerManagement/PowerSavingTweaks

Enable Intel i915 RC6

NOTE: If you are running 12.04 LTS ("Precise"), this is already enabled by default.

The Intel i915 RC6 feature allows the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to > enter a lower power state during GPU idle. The i915 RC6 feature applies > to Intel Sandybridge and later processors. RC6 was switched between enabled and disabled earlier in the Ubuntu 12.04 Precise LTS development > cycle, but eventually all problems were fixed and it is now enabled by default.

On Ubuntu 11.10 and earlier, you need to enable it manually: edit /etc/default/grub (you need superuser privilege to do this)

change:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.i915_enable_rc6=1"

and run:

sudo update-grub

And reboot.

Robin Duckett
  • 11