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Models covered
Dell Pro Max 16 Premium MA16250

Sub-models options:
- Intel Core Ultra 7 265H (Arrow Lake-H), 16 cores
- Intel Arc Pro 140T integrated GPU + NVIDIA RTX PRO 1000 Blackwell (GB207GLM) discrete GPU
- 32 GB LPDDR5X (soldered)
- ?SanDisk PC SN8000S SED 1TB NVMe
- 16" 1920x1200 eDP display
- Intel BE200 WiFi 7 / Bluetooth
- ?SoundWire audio (Cirrus Logic CS42L43 + CS35L56)
- ?OmniVision OV08F4 webcam via Intel IPU6
- Goodix MOC fingerprint reader
- Intel JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 (Barlow Ridge)
- Realtek RTS5264 SD card reader
- Intel Meteor Lake NPU
- 86 Wh battery

Overall Status

Legend :
= OK ; Unsupported(No Driver) ; = Error (Couldn't get it working); [?] Unknown, Not Test ; [-] Not-applicable
= Configuration Required; = Only works with a non-free driver and or firmware

Important Notes

• BIOS: Switch Secure Boot to Audit Mode. The laptop ships with Secure Boot in Deployed Mode, which prevents the Debian installer from booting. In BIOS setup (F2): Boot Configuration > Secure Boot > Secure Boot Mode — change from Deployed Mode to Audit Mode. After installation, you can switch back to Deployed Mode (see Configuration section below).

• BIOS: Switch SSD from RAID to NVMe mode. The laptop ships with the SSD in RAID/VMD mode. Under Linux, this causes random NVMe I/O timeouts and complete system freezes. See kernel bug 219220. In BIOS setup (F2): Storage > Storage Configuration > SATA/NVMe Operation — change from RAID On to AHCI/NVMe.

• BIOS: Enable Discrete Graphics Direct Output Mode. If using a dock with external monitors, enable this to prevent monitors from failing to wake from power saving. In BIOS setup: Hybrid Graphics / Advanced Optimus > set Enable Hybrid Graphics / Advanced Optimus to ON and Discrete Graphics Controller Direct Output Mode to ON. This routes the left-side Thunderbolt ports through the NVIDIA GPU while keeping the internal display on the Intel iGPU.

• WiFi does not work on the stock trixie kernel (6.12). The Intel BE200 requires the iwlmld driver which is only available in kernel 6.17+. You must use a full DVD ISO for installation (netinst will not work without network). After install, use ethernet (via dock or USB adapter) to enable backports and upgrade the kernel.

• Bluetooth also requires kernel 6.17+. Same driver/firmware dependency as WiFi.

• NVIDIA driver must come from NVIDIA's repository. Debian trixie ships NVIDIA 550.x which does not support the RTX PRO 1000 (Blackwell). Install from the NVIDIA CUDA repository for Debian 13 to get the 590.x series.

Installation

Use the full DVD ISO (not netinst) since WiFi is not available during installation.

The default trixie kernel (6.12) will boot and give you a working desktop. Here is what works on the stock kernel vs. the backports kernel:

Your first priority after install is getting network access (ethernet via dock or USB adapter) to enable backports and upgrade the kernel.

Configuration

Backports and Non-Free Firmware

Edit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources to include contrib non-free non-free-firmware components and trixie-backports:

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
Suites: trixie trixie-updates trixie-backports
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/
Suites: trixie-security
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Optionally pin backports to a lower priority so packages only upgrade when explicitly requested. Create /etc/apt/preferences.d/backports-pin:

Package: *
Pin: release a=trixie-backports
Pin-Priority: 450

Then:

apt update

Firmware

Install firmware before the kernel upgrade so the new kernel picks it all up on first boot:

apt install -t trixie-backports firmware-iwlwifi firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-realtek

• firmware-iwlwifi: Intel BE200 WiFi/Bluetooth

• firmware-misc-nonfree: Intel microcode and other blobs

• firmware-realtek: Realtek SD card reader

Kernel

apt install -t trixie-backports linux-image-amd64 linux-headers-amd64

This gives kernel 6.18 (at time of writing). Reboot into the new kernel before proceeding.

Intel GPU

The Intel Arc Pro 140T works out of the box with the i915 driver on any kernel.

Optionally, to use the newer xe driver instead, create /etc/modprobe.d/xe-driver.conf:

blacklist i915
options xe force_probe=7d51

Then run update-initramfs -u and reboot.

For hardware video acceleration:

apt install -t trixie-backports intel-media-va-driver-non-free mesa-va-drivers

NVIDIA GPU

Add the NVIDIA CUDA repository (see official guide):

wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/debian13/x86_64/cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
dpkg -i cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
apt update

Install the open kernel module driver:

apt install nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel-open-dkms

Create /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf:

blacklist nouveau
options nvidia NVreg_TemporaryFilePath=/var/tmp
options nvidia NVreg_EnableS0ixPowerManagement=1
options nvidia NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations=1

Create /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-modeset.conf:

options nvidia-drm modeset=1

Enable suspend/resume services:

systemctl enable nvidia-suspend nvidia-resume nvidia-hibernate
update-initramfs -u

Re-enabling Secure Boot

After installation and NVIDIA driver setup, you can re-enable Secure Boot in Deployed Mode. Debian ships with a Microsoft-signed shim bootloader, so the boot chain is already trusted. The only extra step is enrolling the DKMS module signing key (used to sign out-of-tree modules like the NVIDIA driver):

sudo mokutil --import /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub

This prompts for a one-time password. On the next reboot, the ?MokManager (blue screen before GRUB) will ask you to confirm the enrollment. After that, reboot into BIOS and switch Boot Configuration > Secure Boot > Secure Boot Mode back to Deployed Mode.

Verify with:

mokutil --sb-state

Audio

?SoundWire audio (CS42L43 headphone codec + CS35L56 speaker amplifiers) works through the SOF driver stack with kernel 6.18. Speakers, headphones, and microphone all work. PipeWire is used as the audio server with the GNOME desktop.

WiFi

Works out of the box with kernel 6.18 and firmware-iwlwifi from backports. Uses the iwlmld driver.

Bluetooth

Works out of the box with kernel 6.18 and firmware-iwlwifi. Uses btusb/btintel drivers. Requires kernel 6.17 or later — does not work on the stock trixie kernel (6.12).

Fingerprint Reader

apt install fprintd libpam-fprintd
fprintd-enroll

Integrates with PAM for sudo, GDM login, and GNOME authentication prompts.

Thunderbolt 5

Works out of the box. GNOME handles device authorization automatically.

Backlight

Works via nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight. Brightness keys work in GNOME.

External Displays and Docking

Tested with Dell Performance Dock WD19DCS (USB-C) and two external 1920x1080 monitors via DP-MST. GNOME on Wayland handles the hybrid multi-GPU setup (Intel iGPU for internal display, NVIDIA for external).

The Discrete Graphics Controller Direct Output Mode BIOS setting (see Important Notes) is required for monitors to wake from power saving mode reliably.

Known issue: occasional brief blackouts (a few seconds) on external monitors through the dock. These leave no trace in kernel logs and appear to be a dock-side DP-MST hub glitch.

Power Management

Suspend works well with NVIDIA power management services enabled. Hibernation not tested (requires swap >= RAM). Battery life is excellent in balanced mode via GNOME power profiles.

Webcam

Not working. The ?OmniVision OV08F4 is connected through Intel IPU6 via a USB-to-I2C bridge (Synaptics SVP7500/USBIO). As of kernel 6.18, the IPU6 driver detects the sensor but the full camera pipeline does not work. The gpio-usbio driver needed for camera power control first appeared in kernel 6.19, and libcamera has no IPU6 pipeline handler.

Intel's proprietary out-of-tree ipu6-drivers compile on kernel 6.17+ but hang and never produce frames. Since kernel 6.17+ is required for Bluetooth, they are not a viable option.

May improve with kernel 6.19+ and future libcamera releases. Use an external USB webcam as a workaround.

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System Summary

lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake-H 6p+8e cores Host Bridge/DRAM Controller [8086:7d06] (rev 05)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-H PCIe Root Port #12 [8086:7ecc] (rev 10)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake-P [Arc Pro 140T] [8086:7d51] (rev 03)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P Dynamic Tuning Technology [8086:7d03] (rev 05)
00:05.0 Multimedia controller [0480]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake IPU [8086:7d19] (rev 05)
00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:774d]
00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 PCI Express Root Port #1 [8086:7ec5] (rev 10)
00:08.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake Gaussian & Neural Accelerator [8086:774c]
00:0a.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P Platform Monitoring Technology [8086:7d0d] (rev 01)
00:0b.0 Processing accelerators [1200]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake NPU [8086:7d1d] (rev 05)
00:0d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 USB Controller [8086:7ec0] (rev 10)
00:0d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P Thunderbolt 4 NHI #0 [8086:7ec2] (rev 10)
00:12.0 Serial controller [0700]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake Integrated Sensor Hub [8086:7745]
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake USB 3.2 xHCI Controller [8086:777d]
00:14.2 RAM memory [0500]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake Shared SRAM [8086:777f]
00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake CNVi WiFi [8086:7740]
00:15.0 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake-H [Serial IO I2C Host Controller] [8086:7778]
00:15.3 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake-H [Serial IO I2C Host Controller] [8086:777b]
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake HECI Controller #1 [8086:7770]
00:16.3 Serial controller [0700]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake Keyboard and Text (KT) Redirection [8086:7773]
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:7738]
00:1c.6 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:773e]
00:1e.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake-H [PCH Serial IO UART Host Controller] [8086:7725]
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:7702]
00:1f.3 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake cAVS [8086:7728]
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake SMBus Controller [8086:7722]
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Arrow Lake SPI Controller [8086:7723]
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GB207GLM [RTX PRO 1000 Blackwell Generation Laptop GPU] [10de:2db8] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GB207 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:22ec] (rev a1)
02:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Sandisk Corp SN8000S NVMe SSD [15b7:5049] (rev 01)
3b:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G Bridge [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5780] (rev 84)
3c:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G Bridge [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5780] (rev 84)
3c:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G Bridge [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5780] (rev 84)
3c:02.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G Bridge [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5780] (rev 84)
3c:03.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G Bridge [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5780] (rev 84)
3d:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G NHI [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5781] (rev 84)
52:00.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 80/120G USB Controller [Barlow Ridge Host 80G 2023] [8086:5782]
68:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5264 PCIe SD UHS-II & SD Express Card Reader controller [10ec:5264] (rev 01)

lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 06cb:0701 Synaptics, Inc. SVP7500
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 27c6:634c Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co.,Ltd. Goodix Fingerprint USB Device
Bus 003 Device 008: ID 8087:0037 Intel Corp.
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

dmidecode

System Information
        Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
        Product Name: Dell Pro Max 16 Premium MA16250
        Version: Not Specified
        Wake-up Type: Other
        SKU Number: 0D33
        Family: Dell Pro Max Laptops

Base Board Information
        Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
        Product Name: 055KWN
        Version: A00
        Type: Motherboard

Quirks

• NVMe: Must switch BIOS from RAID/VMD to AHCI/NVMe mode (see Important Notes). Without this, random I/O timeouts cause system freezes.
• WiFi/Bluetooth: Require kernel 6.17+ (not available on stock trixie 6.12). Use full DVD ISO for installation.
• NVIDIA: Requires driver from NVIDIA's CUDA repository (Debian's 550.x does not support Blackwell GPUs).
• External monitors via dock: Enable "Discrete Graphics Controller Direct Output Mode" in BIOS to fix monitor power save wake failures.
• External monitors via dock: Occasional brief blackouts (few seconds) on DP-MST. No kernel trace; appears to be dock-side issue (tested with WD19DCS).
• Webcam: Not working as of kernel 6.18. Needs kernel 6.19+ (for gpio-usbio driver) and libcamera IPU6 pipeline handler.
• Intel proprietary ipu6-drivers: Compile on 6.17+ but hang without producing frames. Not viable since Bluetooth requires 6.17+.

Resources

Useful Links

• Kernel bug 219220 — NVMe I/O timeouts with Intel VMD

• NVIDIA CUDA Installation Guide for Linux — NVIDIA driver repository setup

• intel/ipu6-drivers on GitHub — Intel IPU6 camera drivers (issue #417 discusses this hardware)

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