Dell Precision 3470

Resources

Official Support Page

Specifications

Hardware Maintenance Manual

This article is a work in progress as I manage thru the installation and initial setup. Please add from your experience.

Hardware

Standard

Device	Make/model	Status	Vendor ID / Product ID	Kernel driver(s)	Kernel version	Notes
CPU	12th Gen Intel Core i7-1270p	Works		N/A	6.1.2
Video card (integrated)	Intel Iris	Works			6.1.2	Note example.
Video card	Nvidia T550	Works		nvidia (propriety)	6.1.2	Note example.
Wifi		Works
Bluetooth		Works
Sound
Camera (RGB)	Microdia Integrated Webcam FHD	Works	0c45:6733
Camera (IR)		Works				Using v4l2. /dev/video0
Fingerprint Reader	Broadcom ControlVault 3	Not working	0a5c:5843			Not recognized by fprintd

Installation

Look at the troubleshooting section for info about installation media not loading.

For installation use kernel 6.1 and above (the 5.15) doesn't work. In order to do so, it is necessary at this time (January 4th, 2 3) to use the testing package. In order to do so add the ~amd64 keyword to the relevant packages. If using distribution kernel one can do so by creating the following file:

FILE /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords/gentoo-kernel

~sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel-6.1.2 ~amd64
~sys-kernel/dist-kernel-6.1.2 ~amd64

Kernel

In order to get the framebuffer working at the earliest time possible (necessary for example if using encrypted LUKS root partition), you should enable the EFI framebuffer support:

KERNEL Enable EFI-based Framebuffer Support (CONFIG_FB_EFI)

Device Drivers
->Graphics support
   ->Frame buffer Devices
      ->Support for frame buffer devices [y]
          ->EFI-based Framebuffer Support [y]

Alternatively, if you use the distribution kernel, you can create the following file to add the option:

FILE /etc/kernel/config.d/100_framebuffer.config

#EFI framebuffer support
CONFIG_FB_EFI=y

Configuration

In order to boot the Gentoo installation media, first you need to disable secure boot.

Bluetooth

Make sure to run appropriate service according to Bluetooth:

root #rc-service bluetooth start

root #rc-update add bluetooth default

Fingerprint Reader

Fprintd does not recognize the fingerprint reader out of the box.

It seems that Ubuntu has a propriety driver for this fingerprint reader.

Troubleshooting

Intel video driver with <=5.15 kernel

Using distribution kernel version 5.15 result in video freeze due to incompatible Intel display driver. One should use kernel 6.1 from testing. As long as kernel 6.1 is in testing, this can be done by adding the ~amd64 keyword prior to emerging the kernel. If the Gentoo liveUSB is used for the installation, it also sometimes freezes during loading. If that the case, either try again (for some reason this is not consistent with the liveUSB unlike with the install) or use a different distro liveUSB for the installation.

Xorg fails on boot but works later

This is due to a race condition while loading the kernel modules and Xorg. Please add the i915 driver to the initramsfs.

FILE /etc/dracut.conf.d/nvidiaoptimus.conf

force_drivers+=" i915 "

Regenerate the initramfs image:

root #dracut --force

Please see NVIDIA/Optimus.