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I have difficulty booting Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on Dell Inspiron 5558. The product originally come with Ubuntu (so I assume that it should run Ubuntu without any complication). I replaced the OEM HDD to SSD and I tried to install Ubuntu with USB. The installation process was going smoothly but I got a black screen after it reboot. I thought it was a problem in Dell UEFI configuration because I remembered that the original setting was set to legacy. I understand that (1) Ubuntu 14.04 LTS support UEFI boot, (2) UEFI have many advantages over legacy both performance and security so I'd prefer UEFI over legacy.

Please advice. Thank you in advance.

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  • Show a video of the installation process with no subtitles or editing, just pure video. I'll review it and tell what's the problem.
    – Star OS
    Oct 9, 2015 at 11:20

2 Answers 2

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DELL Inspiron 5558 has hybrid ( Intel / NVIDIA ) graphics.
This might be the reason that it boots to a 'black screen'.

First of all find out whether your special model has NVIDIA graphics hardware.
Some of the lower priced DELL Inspiron models only have integrated graphics.

Open a terminal and execute:

lspci -k | grep -EA2 'VGA|3D'  

The output should show information about your graphics hardware and look similar to this :

enter image description here

If the output shows NVIDIA info install the latest stable NVIDIA driver and Optimus support.

Open a terminal and execute :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-352 nvidia-prime 
sudo reboot
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Computers that ship with Ubuntu pre-installed often include additional drivers or other tweaks to the OS to get everything working. Often these fixes find their way into later releases, but if not, or if you try to install the "same" version of the OS using a standard installation medium, you may run into problems with certain hardware -- video drivers, touch pads, WiFi, etc. You may be able to enable a manufacturer- and model-specific PPA to get these things working, or install using media provided by the manufacturer. You should contact Dell about the requirements for your specific model.

As to EFI/UEFI, see "Legacy vs UEFI Help" for more information. In brief, the advantages of an EFI-mode boot are pretty modest once the OS has booted. Most of the advantages come in various changes to the boot process itself.

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  • Rod Smith's observation that "often these fixes find their way into later releases" turned out to be spot-on. I had exactly the same issue as the OP with an Ubuntu 14.04 install on a Dell Inspiron 5558. Ubuntu 15.04 installed seamlessly (legacy mode w/ secure boot off). Oct 22, 2015 at 18:03

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