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[Conor O'Neill <question704179@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

New question #704179 on Ubuntu-Certification:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-certification/+question/704179

I recently bought a Dell G15 5521 laptop.
This has an Intel i7-12700H CPU, NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 6GB video card, 32GB RAM.
I want to use this as a home machine and for software development.

It comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed. I have installed XUbuntu 22.04 as a dual-boot.
The basic XUbuntu desktop (Xfce) is now working.

According to these two links, I think that Ubuntu should be working (certified) on this spec:
Dell G15 Special Edition 5521: https://ubuntu.com/certified/202112-29779
Dell G15 5520 (RTX 3060): https://ubuntu.com/certified/202111-29683
However, I do note that these say:
Pre-installed in some regions with a custom Ubuntu image that takes advantage of the system’s hardware features
and may include additional software. Standard images of Ubuntu may not work well, or at all.


Initially, I had problems with random temporary freezes, but after some googling,
I seem to have fixed this by adding this to the kernel command line in the Grub config:
ibt=off acpi=off 

However, I'm still having some significant issues.

Using the HDMI port. Nothing seems to recognise the HDMI port for an external monitor.
This is a blocker for my expected usage.
I did some googling around this, found various suggestions about installing different NVidia drivers,
but not clear on details. I tried using Software Updater => Settings => Additional Drivers.
This was originally set to use X.Org X.server -- Nouveau.
I changed this to use "NVIDIA driver (open kernel) metapackage from nvidia-driver-525-open (proprietary, tested)"
This doesn't seem to have helped to recognise the HDMI port, so I have currently reverted this back to Nouveau.

The system freezes on shutdown; it never completes, and I have to hold down the power key to complete the shutdown.

I am an experienced Linux user, though not experienced in diagnosing desktop issues such as these.
I have been running XUbuntu on my previous laptop for many years. It generally "just works",
and I have not had to dig in to diagnose display issues like these.
I have also used Linux for professional software development.

My questions:

I'm currently on XUbuntu 22.04. Am I likely to have better luck if I upgrade to 22.10?

How to diagnose the HDMI behaviour? Again, which logs to look at.
Various suggestions tell me to try a plethora of different NVidia drivers.
Which ones are relevant, where should I get them from, if not just from the standard XUbuntu sources?

In the Ubuntu Software & Updates settings GUI, under Additional Drivers, it lists 8 different NVidia drivers,
each with different numbers associated with them.
Are these version numbers (bigger is better), or are they intended to match the hardware?
If the latter, which should I choose on my system (NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 6GB video card).

If I really need to use the exact kernel which was used in the certification steps (5.14.0-1011-oem kernel),
where do I get that from and how should I install it? 
uname -a currently shows:
Linux DellG15 5.15.0-56-generic #62-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 22 19:54:14 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Any suggestions on how to diagnose the shutdown issues?
Which log files should I be looking at? Which settings may be relevant?

What else should I be investigating?

Many thanks for any assistance.



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