Arch Linux

vtrac

Member

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 42

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

FYI - those who are having issues with suspend on 4.8 - it seems like the broadcom brcmfmac module is the cause of the problem. You can do a 'rmmod brcmfmac' under 4.8 to verify that your laptop will then suspend. I guess I'll just order the Intel card...

halka

Member

Registered: 2016-01-25

Posts: 19

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Any ideas where/if I could grab the latest build from the drm-intel-nightly branch before it started patching against 4.8 kernel instead of 4.7? 4.7 worked fine, but under 4.8 I'm experiencing occasional lockups (about once a day). Not leet enough to build my own.

Last edited by halka (2016-09-12 08:42:10)

---

Dell XPS 13 9350 | i7-6500U | 16GB | 512G nvme | Intel 8260 | QHD

SheepOnMeth

Member

Registered: 2014-04-03

Posts: 38

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

So, I am using frank's kernel from its GitHub (4.8 intel drm w/ nvme patchs), I have the FHD model with the HD Graphics 520, I replace the Broadcom wifi card with an Intel 8260.

I am using Openbox + tint2 + conky.

I was using Chromium (2 tabs open) and took a break of less than 30 sec, my power consumption went under 3W (30% brightness). Really happy about this behaviour.

damige

Member

Registered: 2016-09-02

Posts: 40

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Updated linux-nvme to 4.8RC6, available in AUR, and binary on git.

Those seeking lower power and are having no success, i use these kernel options:

pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_rc6=7 i915.enable_fbc=0 i915.lvds_downclock=1 i915.semaphores=0 i915.enable_psr=2

On 4.7.2 FBC and semaphores dont seem to work, they are default off but i list them anyway so i remember to keep an eye on them. Also PSR=1 causes hangs but is fixed for me with psr=2. (i use the iris 540 +FHD)
EDIT: im currently testing on 4.8rc6+nvme:

pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_rc6=7 i915.enable_fbc=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1 i915.semaphores=1 i915.enable_psr=2

And it seems fine, im pretty sure some of these are default by now, though im not sure which. PSR=1 still causes hangs.

EDIT2: also check your idle frequency (i like i7z) it is around ~500 mhz for me

EDIT3: I compiled the latest git intel-drm and nvme patches:

Running for 480.0 seconds (48 samples at 10.0 second intervals).
Power measurements will start in 0 seconds time.

  Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
18:56:05   0.8   0.0   0.5  98.6   0.0    1    983    524    0    0    3   6.94 
18:56:15   2.1   0.0   1.3  96.6   0.1    1   1533    265   30   18   29   6.58 
18:56:25   0.3   0.0   0.4  99.3   0.0    1    650     75    0    0    0   6.95 
18:56:35   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    546     50    0    0    0   6.52 
18:56:45   0.3   0.0   0.4  99.4   0.0    1    559     46    0    0    1   6.45 
18:56:55   0.8   0.0   0.4  98.8   0.0    1    764    105    0    0    0   6.61 
18:57:05   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    561     45    0    0    0   6.18 
18:57:15   0.3   0.0   0.3  99.4   0.0    1    626     46    7    2    3   6.33 
^C-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Average   0.6   0.0   0.5  98.9   0.0  1.0  777.7  144.4  4.6  2.5  4.5   6.57 
  StdDev   0.6   0.0   0.3   0.9   0.0  0.0  316.2  159.3  9.9  5.9  9.3   0.25 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Minimum   0.2   0.0   0.3  96.6   0.0  1.0  546.1   44.8  0.0  0.0  0.0   6.18 
 Maximum   2.1   0.0   1.3  99.5   0.1  1.0 1532.7  523.8 30.0 18.0 29.0   6.95 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
Summary:
System:   6.57 Watts on average with standard deviation 0.25  

mainline+nvme shows:

Running for 480.0 seconds (48 samples at 10.0 second intervals).
Power measurements will start in 0 seconds time.

  Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
19:01:10   1.4   0.0   1.3  97.2   0.0    1   1206   1853    1    1   20   5.75 
19:01:20   0.5   0.0   0.4  99.0   0.0    1    799     90    3    0    3   5.41 
19:01:30   0.3   0.0   0.3  99.4   0.1    1    660     77    0    0    0   5.25 
19:01:40   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.4   0.1    1    571     55    0    0    2   5.36 
19:01:50   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    554     38    0    0    0   5.58 
19:02:00   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    644     43    0    0    0   5.93 
19:02:10   0.3   0.0   0.4  99.1   0.2    1    765    124    7    2    3   5.20 
19:02:20   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    527     41    0    0    4   5.19 
19:02:30   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.5   0.0    1    556     34    0    0    0   4.80 
19:02:40   0.5   0.0   0.6  98.8   0.2    1    713    364    8    2    4   5.46 
19:02:50   0.2   0.0   0.2  99.6   0.0    1    549     37    0    0    4   5.60 
19:03:00   0.2   0.0   0.3  99.4   0.1    1    579     48    0    0    0   5.22 
^C-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Average   0.4   0.0   0.4  99.2   0.0  1.0  676.8  233.8  1.6  0.4  3.3   5.40 
  StdDev   0.3   0.0   0.3   0.6   0.1  0.0  181.3  496.1  2.8  0.8  5.3   0.29 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Minimum   0.2   0.0   0.2  97.2   0.0  1.0  526.6   34.1  0.0  0.0  0.0   4.80 
 Maximum   1.4   0.0   1.3  99.6   0.2  1.0 1205.9 1853.4  8.0  2.0 20.0   5.93 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
Summary:
System:   5.40 Watts on average with standard deviation 0.29  

So on my laptop the intel-drm-next patches cause increased power usage. (All tests with plasma5, wifi on and 50% brightness) can anyone confirm?

Last edited by damige (2016-09-12 17:11:16)

---

XPS 15 7590 | i9-9980HK | 32GB RAM | 512G NVME | Intel AX200 | NVIDIA 1650 | OLED 4K

jewetux

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2016-09-01

Posts: 14

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Hallo, my XPS-13 lost periodically its IPv6 connectivity, when it is in wifi-AC mode.
Details I posted here in the "Networking, Server, and Protection" forum.

I don't know the reason for this problem, but maybe it is caused by the bmc4350 driver.

I've got two questions:
1. Can somebody confirm same problems with a bmc4350 card?
2. To exclude it is hardware/driver related I plan to replace the broadcom card with the Intel Wireless-AC 7265 card. Is this a good replacement?

Thx!

---

XPS 13 9350 | i5-6200U | 8GB | 256G NVME | Intel 8260NGW | FHD

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

@jewetux I have the intel 7265.  I am enjoying this so far.  Zero issues and less headache.  Haven't done any tests for speed/range/connectivity compared to the broadcom.  Was really cheap on amazon (20-40 CAD) when I purchased.

@damige, I would run multiple tests.  Although similar there are a few avg numbers that need to collect more sample data.

                     Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
Intel              Average   0.6   0.0   0.5  98.9   0.0  1.0  777.7  144.4  4.6  2.5  4.5   6.57 
Mainline       Average   0.4   0.0   0.4  99.2   0.0  1.0  676.8  233.8  1.6  0.4  3.3   5.40 

Seems there is slightly more going on in the background with Intel loaded.  +0.2 for User initiated CPU process.  +0.1 for System initiated CPU process.  -0.3% In CPU idleness.  ~+100 context switch rate. etcetc.

When I have time I can run a few gos and average the results.  Perhaps run 10 times per kernel and add all results from the Average line and divide by 10.  This should take out any spikes in use or anomalies.  I still am not sure if this is an accurate way of measuring power saving though and real life usage would differ from the 2 min of measuring.

Alternatively, we could use:

 powerstat -i 99 

Which would reo sampling if cpu idle is less than 99%.  This would remove any sampling reading during cpu spikes caused by user/system processes.  This would just evaluate what our power saving usage is when cpu is purely idle. 

Or we could do

 powerstat -i 99 -d 120 -s 30

This would only record if cpu is idle at 99% or above.  It will start in 120 seconds after launching powerstat to let powerstat 'settle' down before the sampling.  Intervals of 30s between a sample.

All in all, there is definitely some power saving going on with the nvme patch.  However, in real world usage how much of this provides a gain in battery life is yet undetermined.  Or how best to take advantage of this patch I'm not too sure as well.  I'll email Andy with some questions and see if he has any feedback for us or something to test out.

Or perhaps a data/statistic guy can give us a pointer on the best practices of gathering sample data.

Last edited by frank604 (2016-09-13 03:58:50)

belette

Member

Registered: 2014-11-17

Posts: 121

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

USB type C Dell DA200...

Anyone who has been able to make it work correctly ?
I saw on different past posts that a lot are complaining, on my side in some previous kernel I was able to get Ethernet connectivity, then it was unstable, now on 4.7.3 no connection at all.
Speaking about HDMI, maximum resolution is 832x624 !!
Only VGA is working fine (full HD ok).
So at the end this multi adapter is only working on one slot for me it is too bad

I remember I saw on Dell support website that the firmware can be upgraded (only from Windows), someone tried and make it better after the upgrade ?
Many thanks

nos1609

Member

From: Moscow

Registered: 2016-01-09

Posts: 10

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

                     Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
Intel              Average   0.6   0.0   0.5  98.9   0.0  1.0  777.7  144.4  4.6  2.5  4.5   6.57 
Mainline       Average   0.4   0.0   0.4  99.2   0.0  1.0  676.8  233.8  1.6  0.4  3.3   5.40 

8.79 watts on qhd+ 6560U, wireless on

While I'm getting 5.09 on linux-ck

Last edited by nos1609 (2016-09-13 11:33:45)

damige

Member

Registered: 2016-09-02

Posts: 40

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

                     Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
Intel              Average   0.6   0.0   0.5  98.9   0.0  1.0  777.7  144.4  4.6  2.5  4.5   6.57 
Mainline       Average   0.4   0.0   0.4  99.2   0.0  1.0  676.8  233.8  1.6  0.4  3.3   5.40 

8.79 watts on qhd+ 6560U, wireless on

While I'm getting 5.09 on linux-ck

Is this with the intelDRM+nvme or the mainline+nvme kernel?

Obviously the qhd+ screen uses a lot more power to drive.

EDIT: I have not yet had time to do some propper testing but this might be an easy reference for some people:
Screen FHD: 1% brightness, wifi, bt & keyboard off. sitting idle at a prompt (plasma off): 3.7w average

Running for 480.0 seconds (48 samples at 10.0 second intervals).
Power measurements will start in 0 seconds time.

  Time    User  Nice   Sys  Idle    IO  Run Ctxt/s  IRQ/s Fork Exec Exit  Watts
16:26:53   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     18    0    0    0   3.74 
16:27:03   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     34     22    0    0    0   3.74 
16:27:13   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     39     26    0    0    2   3.65 
16:27:23   0.0   0.0   0.1  99.7   0.3    1     51     39    2    0    5   3.71 
16:27:33   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     20    0    0    0   3.65 
16:27:43   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     21    0    0    0   3.65 
16:27:53   0.0   0.0   0.0  99.9   0.1    1     37     26    0    0    0   3.65 
16:28:03   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     29     19    0    0    0   3.65 
16:28:13   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.66 
16:28:23   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     19    0    0    0   3.65 
16:28:33   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     20    0    0    0   3.65 
16:28:43   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     22    0    0    0   3.68 
16:28:53   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     32     21    0    0    0   3.66 
16:29:03   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     34     23    0    0    0   3.65 
16:29:13   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:29:23   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:29:33   0.0   0.0   0.1  99.8   0.2    1     51     34    3    2    2   3.63 
16:29:43   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     29     19    0    0    0   3.64 
16:29:53   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:30:03   0.0   0.0   0.0  99.9   0.1    1     35     26    0    0    0   3.65 
16:30:13   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:30:23   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.63 
16:30:33   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     32     20    0    0    0   4.57 
16:30:43   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     32     23    0    0    0   3.64 
16:30:53   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     21    0    0    0   3.64 
16:31:03   0.0   0.0   0.0  99.9   0.0    1     38     28    0    0    0   4.15 
16:31:13   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     21    0    0    0   3.64 
16:31:23   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:31:33   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     20    0    0    0   3.64 
16:31:43   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     31     21    0    0    0   3.64 
16:31:53   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0    1     30     20    0    0    0   3.65 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Average   0.0   0.0   0.0 100.0   0.0  1.0   32.9   22.1  0.2  0.1  0.3   3.70 
  StdDev   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.1   0.1  0.0    5.3    4.4  0.6  0.4  1.0   0.18 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
 Minimum   0.0   0.0   0.0  99.7   0.0  1.0   29.0   18.0  0.0  0.0  0.0   3.63 
 Maximum   0.0   0.0   0.1 100.0   0.3  1.0   51.1   38.7  3.0  2.0  5.0   4.57 
-------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ---- ---- ------ 
Summary:
System:   3.70 Watts on average with standard deviation 0.18  

Last edited by damige (2016-09-13 14:38:03)

---

XPS 15 7590 | i9-9980HK | 32GB RAM | 512G NVME | Intel AX200 | NVIDIA 1650 | OLED 4K

iv597

Member

From: United States

Registered: 2011-09-18

Posts: 96

Website

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Hallo, my XPS-13 lost periodically its IPv6 connectivity, when it is in wifi-AC mode.
Details I posted here in the "Networking, Server, and Protection" forum.

I don't know the reason for this problem, but maybe it is caused by the bmc4350 driver.

I've got two questions:
1. Can somebody confirm same problems with a bmc4350 card?
2. To exclude it is hardware/driver related I plan to replace the broadcom card with the Intel Wireless-AC 7265 card. Is this a good replacement?

Thx!

I replaced mine with the 8260. The antennae are a nightmare to attach, but beyond that, it's an amazing card. The difference between this and the 7265 is the upgrade from BT 4.0 to 4.2 - not sure whether you care about that. There may be power drain differences, though I don't have a 7265 to run comparisons myself.

---

Currently running Arch on a Samsung Chromebook Pro (dual booted with ChromeOS), and various VPSes and Docker containers.

Dotfiles on Github

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,212

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Oh the power stat I posted was quoting damiges post. Wanted to just put the avgs together.

eggze

Member

Registered: 2016-02-20

Posts: 3

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Does anybody here had issues with random (but quite often) segfaults/coredumps? I've tried to install new BIOS 1.4.4, to reinstall ArchLinux, to use combinations of recommended kernel/driver attributes, to install/uninstall intel drivers but it's still happening. I've got suspicion on HW problem but Diagnostics (from F12 menu while booting) found nothing (all tests passed)… I also tried to reset to factory settings and reinstall original Ubuntu image which at first sight seemed to work but after apt-get update/upgrade it started to happen again… The latest ElementaryOS (based on Ubuntu 16.04) also don't work… So it doesn't seem to be related to exact version of kernel or something…

I've be glad if someone have some idea what could I try to do or how to diagnose it further as I'm quite desperate now… Unfortunately memtest+ doesn't work with UEFI…

OdinEidolon

Member

From: Belluno - Italy

Registered: 2011-01-31

Posts: 498

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

I'm on the XPS15 and I also noticed lately an increase of hangs and lockups, which were rare before (once or twice a month) and seem to happen once or twice a week now. I'm a bit worried TBH.
Also, it seems now that suspend is having problems, as sometimes when I re-open the laptop it starts with the Dell logo instead then just unsuspending. Anyone got similar problems? I'm on 4.7.3-5.

---

Hardware: 2016 Dell XPS15 - matte FullHD - i5-6300HQ - 32GB DDR4 - Nvidia GTX960M - Samsung 840EVO 250GB SSD - 56Wh
Software: Plasma 5 - rEFInd - linux-ck - preload - prelink - verynice - psd - bumblebee

bart_vv

Member

From: Poland

Registered: 2011-04-12

Posts: 51

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Does anybody here had issues with random (but quite often) segfaults/coredumps?

My xps is rock stable. I once accidentally put it into backpack or left somewhere with fan holes covered with some cpu-hungry flash running, it got to ~90C for a few hours and it didn't even turn off. Only thing that worries me is that hardware diagnostics sometimes run when I boot, but it says everything is okay.

Unfortunately memtest+ doesn't work with UEFI…

Can't you run it with BIOS mode then? I remember having that option in bios, unless it has been removed on newer bioses (I doubt it). RAM is usually the reason, been there already (unfortunately in my case memtest said RAM was good when it wasn't)

Last edited by bart_vv (2016-09-15 20:17:25)

jewetux

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2016-09-01

Posts: 14

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

@ iv597: Thanks for your advice. I ordered the Intel 8260. I'll reply if it solve my problem with ipv6 connectivity.

@ eggze: I'm on BIOS 1.4.4 for more than two months and I didn't notice any segfaults/core dumps or things like that.
For further investigation you should also check the output of dmesg and journalctl.

---

XPS 13 9350 | i5-6200U | 8GB | 256G NVME | Intel 8260NGW | FHD

vtrac

Member

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 42

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

@eggze @OdinEidolon Are you guys using any usb-c devices when you have lockups? I had a ton of lockups with usb-c -> displayport until I realized that was the problem. Locking things down to 29mhz on usb-c -> hdmi has been a lot more stable.

OdinEidolon

Member

From: Belluno - Italy

Registered: 2011-01-31

Posts: 498

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

@eggze @OdinEidolon Are you guys using any usb-c devices when you have lockups? I had a ton of lockups with usb-c -> displayport until I realized that was the problem. Locking things down to 29mhz on usb-c -> hdmi has been a lot more stable.

Nope, never used.

---

Hardware: 2016 Dell XPS15 - matte FullHD - i5-6300HQ - 32GB DDR4 - Nvidia GTX960M - Samsung 840EVO 250GB SSD - 56Wh
Software: Plasma 5 - rEFInd - linux-ck - preload - prelink - verynice - psd - bumblebee

vtrac

Member

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 42

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

So I finally got around to swapping out the broadcom wifi card with an Intel 8260. WOW.. for the first time ever my laptop seems to work as designed. With linux 4.8, I can get 4k@60hz via USB-C -> DisplayPort, sleep/resume seems to work as intended, bluetooth seems to work, and even shutdown, which was previously hanging on both linux 4.7 and 4.8, now works flawlessly.  So many problems were caused by that stupid broadcom chip. I should have spent that $25 weeks ago.

xxxifan

Member

Registered: 2016-03-22

Posts: 15

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

So I finally got around to swapping out the broadcom wifi card with an Intel 8260. WOW.. for the first time ever my laptop seems to work as designed. With linux 4.8, I can get 4k@60hz via USB-C -> DisplayPort, sleep/resume seems to work as intended, bluetooth seems to work, and even shutdown, which was previously hanging on both linux 4.7 and 4.8, now works flawlessly.  So many problems were caused by that stupid broadcom chip. I should have spent that $25 weeks ago.

That sounds great! I have replaced broadcom with intel 8260 too but I seem to got bluetooth issue, I have to manually modprob btusb to make it work on every boot on. Maybe I should do a clean reinstall ...

gedh

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2015-03-14

Posts: 8

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Sorry if I should complain about things which were already discussed in this thread. I try to keep up with all posts but bought my XPS only recently. Here is just a general list of things that still bug me and I did not manage to fix:

• The firmware is taking about 10 seconds to start with the latest BIOS installed.

  Startup finished in 11.471s (firmware) + 407ms (loader) + 11.185s (kernel) + 1.184s (userspace) = 24.249s

  Bear in mind that since I use LUKS to encrypt my device the kernel time is not representative due to me not being able to type my password any faster.

• The average battery drain is about 8.31 Watts using

  pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_rc6=7

  as kernel boot parameters and TLP as power manager. TLP runs with its default configuration except for the touchscreen being omitted from usb suspending. Btw. I am not using linux-nvme and simply wait for the nvme patchset to be merged into the kernel.

• Nevertheless the touchscreen does not work after suspending and occasionally after hibernating.

• In addition I encounter slight screen stuttering. See this wiki thread.

To be honest the screen stuttering, though minimal, is probably the most annoying part for me. It tends to become more intense with computer uptime. The log contains a couple of errors concerning g_object_set and clutter_layout_manager_get_child_me which I could not directly relate to a specific cause but that's about it.

If you should have solved any of those problem please simply refer me to the right section or if you can spare the time edit the ArchWiki accordingly.

My machine is the late 2015 model, featuring a 256GB M.2 SSD, an Intel i7-6560U and the crappy broadcom wifi chip. The kernel has AppArmor enabled but besides this I try to keep it as close to the default Arch kernel as possible.

vtrac

Member

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 42

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Sorry if I should complain about things which were already discussed in this thread. I try to keep up with all posts but bought my XPS only recently. Here is just a general list of things that still bug me and I did not manage to fix:

• The firmware is taking about 10 seconds to start with the latest BIOS installed.

  Startup finished in 11.471s (firmware) + 407ms (loader) + 11.185s (kernel) + 1.184s (userspace) = 24.249s

  Bear in mind that since I use LUKS to encrypt my device the kernel time is not representative due to me not being able to type my password any faster.

• The average battery drain is about 8.31 Watts using

  pcie_aspm=force i915.enable_rc6=7

  as kernel boot parameters and TLP as power manager. TLP runs with its default configuration except for the touchscreen being omitted from usb suspending. Btw. I am not using linux-nvme and simply wait for the nvme patchset to be merged into the kernel.

• Nevertheless the touchscreen does not work after suspending and occasionally after hibernating.

• In addition I encounter slight screen stuttering. See this wiki thread.

To be honest the screen stuttering, though minimal, is probably the most annoying part for me. It tends to become more intense with computer uptime. The log contains a couple of errors concerning g_object_set and clutter_layout_manager_get_child_me which I could not directly relate to a specific cause but that's about it.

If you should have solved any of those problem please simply refer me to the right section or if you can spare the time edit the ArchWiki accordingly.

My machine is the late 2015 model, featuring a 256GB M.2 SSD, an Intel i7-6560U and the crappy broadcom wifi chip. The kernel has AppArmor enabled but besides this I try to keep it as close to the default Arch kernel as possible.

1) There's an option in the BIOS to do minimal hardware checking on startup (I forgot exactly what it's called, but look for it). That may help with start times.
2) That sounds about what I get for battery drain. Probably the QHD screen.
3) My touch screen does occasionally stop working. I've just learned to never use it.
4) I use the modesetting driver instead of the intel driver. Seems to work better.

gedh

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2015-03-14

Posts: 8

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

1) There's an option in the BIOS to do minimal hardware checking on startup (I forgot exactly what it's called, but look for it). That may help with start times.

I guess you are referring to the POST Behaviour section in which one may select whether some initialisation should be done in the BIOS prior to starting the system. However this was already set to Minimal by default and iterating through all possible values does not seem to change anything. Btw. disabling system analysis on certain boot errors does not help either.
If you though of a different option or in case you get better results with the same configuration please let me know.

2) That sounds about what I get for battery drain. Probably the QHD screen.

Yes, the value was for the QHD version but the measurement was started when the Laptop was not in use with the screen's brightness at about 10%. This value should really be lower! Under normal use (web browsing, coding and compiling) the laptop gets me only ~4 hours.

3) My touch screen does occasionally stop working. I've just learned to never use it.

That is not really helpfull...

4) I use the modesetting driver instead of the intel driver. Seems to work better.

I edited my Xorg config /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf accordingly but the screen stuttering (frame skipping) continues.

davidgf

Member

Registered: 2015-11-28

Posts: 58

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

vtrac did you file a bug to the brcmfmac driver guys? I hope they can fix that and we can use 4.8

Edit: what is the best intel wireless card out there? Would be great if it supports monitor mode to create softAP too.

Last edited by davidgf (2016-09-17 19:18:50)

OdinEidolon

Member

From: Belluno - Italy

Registered: 2011-01-31

Posts: 498

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Edit: what is the best intel wireless card out there?

8260 for now. A 3 antenna version will supposedly come out sooner or later next year.

---

Hardware: 2016 Dell XPS15 - matte FullHD - i5-6300HQ - 32GB DDR4 - Nvidia GTX960M - Samsung 840EVO 250GB SSD - 56Wh
Software: Plasma 5 - rEFInd - linux-ck - preload - prelink - verynice - psd - bumblebee

davidgf

Member

Registered: 2015-11-28

Posts: 58

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

Cool, does it get along well with both wifi and bluetooth at the same time? Broadcom sucks man
It's M2 socket right?