I have just bought a DELL Precision M6800 Mobile work station running Ubuntu 12.04 SP1. I have created just two users. My M6800 has a 256 GB SSD as /dev/sda and a 1 TB HDD as /dev/sdb. I am using gdm with Gnome. Currently, the gparted shows the HDD as unallocated. It has 16GB 1600 Mhz Ram with two slots free for further upgrade
Problem Statement: Whenever I logout a user or try to switch a user, the screen blanks out, though I can see disk activity going on, power is present, and overtime 5 mts to 15 minutes the log out or switch over takes place...sometimes I have to press Escape key to make it happen and sometimes touch the power button...It is most frustrating and I need urgent help. I have sent a mail to Dell support but they are mainly windows guys and have not given any reply so far...Can anyone help me please???

2. I also have a Vostro 3750 Laptop with a SSD running ubuntu 15.04 and it boots in less than 5 secs or logs out a user in less than 2 secs...though it is using a 2nd gen i7 and 16GB RAM BUT a 512 GB SSD...So, my M6800 should work similarly with the SSD? Am I wrong?

so the system was already installed when you got the machine.
first of all, there's no "SP1" for ubuntu.
in any case, i'm pretty sure 12.04 is outdated and most probably end of life for non-server use.

please install a current version of your favorite distro.

Hi all...

Not yet, it's got a little over a year left to go but, yes, it might be better to install a newer version, like 14.04 LTS, from scratch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...le_of_versions

Regards...

Hi,
Ths SP1 was mention in Dell document, I am fairly conversant with Ubuntu...
I can understand your reasoning but Dell does not support 14.04 yet, as one year is still left for 12.04...
Also,when I did check with the dist-upgrade tool, it reported that it will disable all repo stuff which is not supported by cannonical. I also know from the problems I had faced with Ubuntu on Dell Vostro 3750, primarily with WiFi config and Graphics Driver... that is what made me ask you guys first before updating to ubuntu 14.04 LTS

2. I also would like to know that since I have a 256 GB SSD as /dev/sda and a 1TB HDD as /dev/sdb... what kind of installation should I follow? LVM or custom or Raid...

With Thanks and Regards,
madan

Hi...

If upgrading to a new version will void your warranty, then by all means you should stay with 12.04 until they do support later versions for your particular computer. I didn't know Dell had a policy like that for their Linux systems.

I'm sorry I don't have an answer or solution to your other questions.

Regards...