Compatibility Reports for Dell Latitude E6420

Reported by Michael C.


Rating
Operating system
Linux other
Date

I installed Linux Lite a few days ago on my recently purchased, refurbished, Dell Latitude E6420 that had Windows 10 installed. The Linux Lite installation went smoothly using an installation ".iso" file on DVD. The only change I had to make was to switch from UEFI to "Legacy" boot in the Bios Boot options.

I'm no stranger to Linux distros, and based on my recent experience, I can honestly say that Linux Lite works very well with Dell Latitude E6420.

See more about Linux Lite here: https://www.linuxliteos.com/

and here: https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=lite

Reported by tuxayo


Rating
Operating system
Arch Linux
Date

The main issues I had were:
- suspend to RAM
- the touchpad
- Wi-Fi related freezes

Reported by LuisG


Rating
Operating system
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Date

RHEL 6.0 installed beautifully on my Dell 6420. I tried Fedora 19 but found it unreliable. I am sticking with RHEL 6.0 because stability-wise, it is rock solid.

Two issues though:
1) Wifi "Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)" does not work out-of-the-box. Drivers must be manually installed.
2) Multitouch (touchpad) functions as a generic trackpad/mouse. Left/Rick click buttons work, and has basic touchpad function. Multitouch touchpad functions do not work. So far, I have been able to live with this just fine.

To install wifi drivers, make sure your have installed the following: command line:
yum install gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel
--- or ---
yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
--- then download the driver and install it using the readme file. Follow the instructions exactly and it will work, it did for me. ---
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

Reported by Regis Stratton


Rating
Operating system
Linux other
Date

The optical drive quits working during a boot to live CD. A CD-on-a-stick USB boot is a way to work around this.
A second problem is the video quits working part way through a boot.
Live boot works for: Knoppix6.7.1 Mint11_LMDE Puppy5.2.8
Live boot fails for: Ubuntu11.04 Fedora15 openSUSE11.4
I have not tried full install yet because of quirky operation with Live boot.