Elementary on Dell XPS 15 (9570)

By Andy Barnes
Published

Preperation

We need to update the BIOS to the latest version, make some changes to the BIOS configuration and we need to flash a USB installer with the latest version of Elementary OS (more on that later).

We will need a USB stick with at least 2GiB of space.

BIOS

I updated the BIOS to 1.5.0 (the latest version currently available). I formatted a USB stick to FAT32 and put the BIOS update executable onto the USB stick. Then while powering on the laptop, I pressed F12 to access the boot menu and chose the option BIOS Flash Update - which allowed me to select the XPS9570010500.EXE and apply it without having to boot into Windows.

BIOS Flash Update

In the Dell XPS BIOS (accessed with F2 at startup) I set the following options.

  • General > Boot Sequence > Boot List Option > check UEFI
  • System Configuration > SATA Operation > check AHCI
  • Secure Boot > Secure Boot Enable > uncheck Secure Boot Enable
  • Secure Boot > Disable

USB Installer

I created a bootable USB installer using Rufus with ElementaryOS (5.0 Juno).

Whilst creating the USB in Rufus, I used GPT/UEFI mode and wrote the image in "DD" image mode.

Rufus Wite in DD Imag mode

You may be able to use Etcher on a Linux system in place of Rufus.

Installation

I had to write the USB installer in DD mode with Rufus. I was only able to get the Dell XPS 15 to boot from a USB stick in the left-hand USB port!

At power on F2 will access the BIOS settings, whilst F12 will provide you with a one-time boot menu.

The Elementary OS installation was performed as usual from this point onward, creating user accounts and encrypting the disk.

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