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HP Recommended
Spectre/Envy x360
Linux

Hi,

 

I am planning to buy a HP notebook and want to run it as a Win10/Ubuntu dual boot. I would like to buy either the HP Spectre x360 13-4116na or HP ENVY x360 15-w101na.


I have seen threads in this and other forums that a dual boot is possible and that there are some problems with the sound, but that there are solutions for these problems.

 

But I have seen threads complaining about problems with graphic cards and especially some people saying that they deliberately chose NOT a QHD screens as if Ubuntu would not be able to deal with this higher resolution. Sounds unlikely to me, but could this pose a problem for Ubuntu with those two models I mentioned?

 

Thanks for helping me to choose the right computer.

ToruOkada

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Can't speak specifically to those models but my personal laptop is a Lenovo Carbon X1 with a 2560 x 1440 touchscreen. Intel i7 4th gen with Intel HD video Intel wireless and a SATA M.2 mSSD. Very similar if not identical hardware to the x360. I have run Windows/Kubuntu (variation of Ubuntu) since it was new. First had 15.04 then 15.10 and just last weekend I upgraded it to the new 16.04 LTS version, which is also available as Ubuntu. These recent versions of Ubuntu variants have no problem with Secure boot or gpt file systems. In fact the old limit of 4 primary partitions which used to be a real problem to install Linux just does not apply to a gpt hard drive. 

 

All the hardware is supported and has been out of the box. I did have to make a small tweak to one configuration file to enable 5ghz wifi but all else is working fine. The screen scaling was a bit dicey on the previous 15.04 and 15.10 versions but is much better with 16.04. One thing Windows 10 does very very well is to scale Ultra HD displays. Way better than 8.1 or prior. Kubuntu 16.04 seems to have gotten the message.

 

Post back with any more questions. I have run Linux on every laptop I have owned since about 2000, back when it used to be a struggle. Now, not so much. 

View solution in original post

7 REPLIES 7
HP Recommended

Hi

 

Triple boot is possible, and this is a Notebook 17 p100na, and I have no problems with Debian or OpenSuse or W 10 booting and running.

 

It is not easy to get the boot loader system right from the start, there can be conflicts with secure boot and legact boot.

 

Step 1 CREATE W10 Recovery Media, onto a USB or DVD's and store safely.

 

Step 2 DISABLE Turn on Fast Startup (so it does not fast start).

 

WARNING: there are probably 4 partitions there EFI, C:\ and 2 recovery areas.

DO NOT touch anything on the HDD until you have RECOVERY MEDIA, and DO NOT change,move, alter or anything the Recovery Areas, it is an expensive mistake to make.

Remember BIOS updates are best done in Windows.

 

Step 3 Shrink C:, create common storage area, leave space for Ubuntu using Live Linux and Gparted.

 

Step 4 Go for it.

HP Recommended

Thanks, doughjohn. I do own a dual boot computer since Windows Vista forced me to install Linux. <Thank you, Microsoft, forever grateful. 🙂 >

 

So I am aware of the general procedure. My question was specifically about these two models I mentioned and their graphic cards/QHD touchscreen compatibility with UBUNTU.

 

Anyone with positive or negative experience regarding these models?

 

Thanks for your help.

HP Recommended

Can't speak specifically to those models but my personal laptop is a Lenovo Carbon X1 with a 2560 x 1440 touchscreen. Intel i7 4th gen with Intel HD video Intel wireless and a SATA M.2 mSSD. Very similar if not identical hardware to the x360. I have run Windows/Kubuntu (variation of Ubuntu) since it was new. First had 15.04 then 15.10 and just last weekend I upgraded it to the new 16.04 LTS version, which is also available as Ubuntu. These recent versions of Ubuntu variants have no problem with Secure boot or gpt file systems. In fact the old limit of 4 primary partitions which used to be a real problem to install Linux just does not apply to a gpt hard drive. 

 

All the hardware is supported and has been out of the box. I did have to make a small tweak to one configuration file to enable 5ghz wifi but all else is working fine. The screen scaling was a bit dicey on the previous 15.04 and 15.10 versions but is much better with 16.04. One thing Windows 10 does very very well is to scale Ultra HD displays. Way better than 8.1 or prior. Kubuntu 16.04 seems to have gotten the message.

 

Post back with any more questions. I have run Linux on every laptop I have owned since about 2000, back when it used to be a struggle. Now, not so much. 

HP Recommended

Great. This is good enough for me, the specifications seem to be indeed pretty similar. I don't mind if not everything works out of the box as long as there are solutions available. Some tweaking makes a machine really your machine 🙂 And you are right, in 2000 installing Linux was a horrific experience and I gave up after several botched attempts. Was a revelation, how easy it was with my next try in 2009.

 

Thank you so much for the information, much appreciated.

HP Recommended

Just a short feedback for users who have the same questions.

Installation was indeed without problems. Questions about UEFI are answered here

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295

I did use Windows Disk Management tool to shrink the Windows partition and installed Ubuntu 16.04 into the free space.

 

To quote doughjohn: Go for it.

HP Recommended

I have been trying out several versions of Linux including Ubuntu and think I like Zorin the best. I have only been running on a bootable USB drive and find most installs of Linux doesn't allow to save settings or the installed partition ends up being too small. I am using a 16 GB USB 3 drive and should have plenty of room.

My computer is an HP OMEN fully loaded. None of the installs seems to be able to use the WiFi adapter and I always have to plug into a network cable. I also get some flickering on the screen and would probably need to upgrade those drivers as well. Other than that, I like Zorin the best as it seems to function the most like the Windows environment I am used to. I do believe Zorin is layered on the Ubuntu  OS right?

 

Oh, also miss the HP HotKeys and keyboard backlight functions.

Is there someplace I can go to the the necessary drivers and instructions for installing in the Linux environemt?

HP Recommended

Spectre x360 with Ubuntu 18.04

I know I'm late to this thread, but this general topic is not one that will go out of style!

 

I purchased the HP Spectre x360 15-ch011dx last week. (8-core, Gen8 I7).

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05927047

 

I report Ubuntu 18.04 is amazing on this machine! From what I can tell so far, just about EVERYTHING works.

 

WORKS

  • 4K screen resolution
  • Touchscreen
  • Multi-touch
  • Screen rotation
  • Tablet mode (keyboard and trackpad disable, onscreen keyboard works)
  • Wifi
  • Sound
  • Special keys: screen brightness, keyboard backlight, audio volume/mute, help (brings up Ubuntu Help content)

 

NOT WORKING

The Airplane Mode special key does not seem to do anything. In Windows, it cuts your Wifi. However, I never use this anyway, and if I want to turn off Wifi or Networking entirely, Ubuntu makes this easy with the menu in top bar.

 

NOT TESTED

  • I have not tested HDMI out
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 -- lspci shows this video card is known, the kernel modules are loaded, and it is using the nouveau driver. Right now, my system is using the built-in Intel video as it should since I'm not doing anything intensive--this indicates power management is doing the right thing.

Battery Life

An Issue I've had with other laptops and Ubuntu is power management. My old ASUS came with Windows 8 and would last a good 8 hours on battery. With Ubuntu 14 and 16, I was lucky to get 90 minutes! This Spectre x360 with Ubuntu 18 has proven to last a good 8 hours on battery!

 

WARNING

BEFORE YOU WIPE WINDOWS OFF -- Download the latest BIOS update from HP and install it--it is a Windows program. I did NOT do this and now I can't update from the base f.04 BIOS. f.13 and f.14 apply fixes to a heat problem. Hoping I don't have any heat issues--so far so good. HP has instructions for how to install the BIOS update "if Windows will not run" using UEFI management, but FAIL.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/Updating-BIOS-on-HP-Spectre-x36...

 

I have been running Ubuntu as my only OS for over 3 years starting with 14, then 16 and now 18. 18 is a serious improvement in UI quality and ease of use.

 

 

 

 

 

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