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I got a Dell XPS M1530 with Following specification

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

• Graphics: nVidia GeForce Go 8600M GT with 256 MB video memory

• Screen: 15.4-inch widescreen, 1680 x 1050 CCFL (LG) with 2.0 Mpixel webcam

• RAM: 3 GB (2GB + 1GB) 667 MHz DDR2

• Harddisk: 250 GB SATA

• Wireless: Intel 3945 WiFi

• Bluetooth: Dell TrueMobile 355

• Fingerprint reader

• DVD+/-RW slot-load drive

• 90W AC adapter, standard 6-cell battery

It came with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition. I mainly work in linux evironment , i choose to install ubuntu 8.04. I had a gr8 time configurin it ,thought of bloggin it to help other having the same problem

Touchpad

first shock i got after successful installation was that the touch pad was not working properly .MY dell XPS M1530 came with A08 bios i have upgraded it to A09. Small Tweak in the grub/menu.lst solved the problem,i found out this in ubuntu forums

This problem is solved by using the following kernel boot parameter:

i8042.nomux=1
ie make this change in u r grub/menu.lst

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,8)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=b0dcf52b-86d4-4dd6-aa7c-31a462ed09d8 ro quiet splash i8042.nomux=1
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

GRAPHICS
Immediately after makin the touch pad working ,next thing was to get my graphics driver installed . i went to System / Administration / Hardware Drivers . I installed it and reboot my system and Xserver Crashed. i just got a white screen .They changed myself to terminal CTRL+ALt+F1, i got the drivers purge removed . but actually my friend also have same laptop and he did not have any problem worked out of the box for him
After searching the web , i actually found two method working without any problem
before selecting any of two method c that u don have any drivers installed ,purge remove them if u have any

method 1

sudo apt-get install envyng-gtk
then type in terminal
envyng-gtk
select Nvidia and go for install nvidia driver(automatic hardware detection )
this will solve the problem

Method 2

first download the drivers from
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_173.14.09.html
after downloadin the driver do this
press ALT+CTRL+F1
log into u r system … warning before goin further c that u have removed all the existing drivers
then type this commands into u r teminal

u need to stop the Xserver first type this command
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
after that go to the folder where u have downloaded drivers in the terminal and type this command
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.09.pkg1.run
accept the the license and this will do the job

Reboot the System and Graphics driver will work.U can select any of the two methods , i have tested both and both worked,just c that before doin any method u don have any driver installed

to be continued ……

1. 
   Jack said...
   9:39 am - November 8th, 2008

   Thanx For Info.. Do update on other issues also

2. 
   John said...
   3:51 pm - November 27th, 2008

   Sounded good until I actually tried it, I have the exact same graphics issue, and don’t want to use Envy as it will cause problems with another program I use. So I tried Method 2 which sounded perfect, but I’m thinking you missed out a step because “sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop” doesn’t work, it just says “not found”, Google hasn’t been very helpful either when it comes to stopping the X server so I’m still stuck

   Thanks for pointing me in the right direction though, just need to figure out the missing piece of the puzzle!

3. 
   John said...
   5:04 pm - November 27th, 2008

   Turns out that the line should be…

   sudo killall gdm

   and NOT…

   sudo /etc/init.d/gdm

   You also need to install build-essentials before it will install the driver.

   Unfortunately though it still didn’t work for me, I’m now stuck in 800×600, fully enabling the driver just gives me a white screen again, so it’s worse than before I did this