Fedora 20 and Dell Latitude e6400

[Doug]

On 08/27/2014 03:00 PM, Brian Johnson wrote:
> Well, a couple of updates:
>
> 1) I don't think I have a camera -- a user wrote me and told me to 
> look at the configuration using my service tag. I did and there's not 
> a camera listed. Which is fine, but there's something odd on the 
> bottom bezel of the screen. It's square and looks like it has a lens 
> in it, like a camera. If it isn't a camera...I have no clue what it is.
>
> 2) the touchpad is...kind of working? After I sent the initial email, 
> at a friend's urging, I booted it with an Ubuntu live cd. It worked as 
> I hoped, and when I ran "xinput list" it was listed as "Alps/PS/2 ALPS 
> DualPoint TouchPad". When I reboot into Fedora and ran "xinput list", 
> it was now listed as "Alps/PS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad" as well and 
> working. I was able to configure it using the Settings Mouse and had 
> no problems. Then I reboot to see if it was persistent and when I did, 
> it was listed as just "PS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad" and stopped 
> working again. Another reboot and it was correctly detected and working.
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts on why it's seen as one way and doesn't 
> work, then seen correctly and working?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Brian
>
Look on the Internet for a user manual for that computer. The older 
Dells had good user manuals. the newer Dells have squat!
You can probably find a service manual there too. I have an old Inspiron 
6400/E1505,The user's manual is 186 pages, and includes
servicing parts inside the machine. I also have a Dell Latitude, E6510. 
The user's manual is 9 pages. A manual for a "similar" machine,
an E6500, is 72 pages. There is an unpaginated service manual for the 
E6510. It looks somewhat useful.  All this printware was
downloaded off the Internet. to say that I was disappointed in the 
documentation would be a gross understatement! It's not a bad
machine, however.

--doug