Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

vtrac · 2016-09-18 03:28:11

This is the intel 8260 that I bought:

http://amzn.to/2cGpReh

Works great right on first boot.

tmotard · 2016-09-18 06:27:47

Hi,
thanks a lot for the link.
was it easy to swap the card ? are there only 9 screws to open this laptop ?

Last edited by tmotard (2016-09-18 06:32:47)

rgzfxf6bhu · 2016-09-18 07:59:55

davidgf wrote:

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

My connection is way worth when using bluetooth and wifi at the same time with the 8260.
See https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 4#p1651214

davidgf · 2016-09-18 09:59:59

Might it be that your card is broken? Maybe one of the antenna wires has disconnected itself or they are connected to the wrong pins? Just trying to guess, there's too many people saying it works well that sounds like something specific to you.
Tell us more about how to open the laptop and how easy/hard is to change the card.

rgzfxf6bhu · 2016-09-18 11:20:32

Well I cannot tell you how easy it was, because I bought the developers edition. So I had the 8260 from the very beginning.

I really cannot find out why the card in my laptop has so many problems.. Maybe I should use the warranty then!? So I probably would have to install ubuntu again to send it back, right?

EDIT: I tried it with Ubuntu Live and I have to say that the 8260 doesn't show the problems there hmmmm...

Last edited by rgzfxf6bhu (2016-09-18 14:10:40)

jewetux · 2016-09-18 12:15:53

I replaced my broadcom card by intel's 8260 yesterday. (Because of the problem I mentioned here.)
Till now I couldn't trace any problems with IPv6 connectivity in AC-mode.
Besides I believe my startup time reduced about 5s (form 17s to 11s).
My down- and upstream is now about ca. 60-62MB/s. I think that is a little faster than with the broadcom card. But I've got no reference values.

I couldn't confirm any problems in bluetooth-wifi parallel operation. I'm running a bluetooth mouse and my wifi and bluetooth connections are stable.

When you installed windows beside archlinux, don't forget to uninstall widcomm bluetooth sofware under windows. The rest is done by windows.
Under archlinux I rebuild the initial ramdisk environment. But I don't know if it is necessary.

How to open?
Have a look at ifixit . Don't forget the screw under the xps-flap.
There are also "user-friendly" clips around. Luckily you will find a segment with a small slit (for your nails) between cover and body. Otherwise you will need something like a scraper.
Then pull "softly" to drop the cover and go once around (for example with your credit card) to release the rest of the clips. Blunt force isn't necessary! Don't be afraid.

Before I replaced the card (see ifixit - step 10) I unplugged the battery connector to prevent e-damages (see ifixit - step 6).

davidgf · 2016-09-18 12:26:27

Cool thanks! I just bought the card. I will have to open it anyway, since I'm having this issue that whenever I close/open the lid I hear a "crack", caused due to the hinge being loose. I had a DELL guy to repair it on June (bought it on January) and now it's happening again, just a matter of puting the crew on the right place back again.

Thanks!

tmotard · 2016-09-18 16:04:45

@jewetux thanks a lot. i ordered the intel wifi card and will receive on wednesday.
Then i'll open the 9350 to change the card at this time.

eggze · 2016-09-18 17:22:20

vtrac wrote:

@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.

I'm not using any USB-C device… But I was successful to find the cause after running MemTest86 Free Edition (which supports UEFI boot from USB flash disk). It found 1196 errors on my RAM. So I'll call support yesterday and let them replace my motherboard as RAMs are soldered on it…

frank604 · 2016-09-18 17:29:41

getting to replace wifi is pretty easy with this laptop. just unscrew and lift back cover and wifi is right in front of you.

belette · 2016-09-18 22:00:28

Yep I got a lot...
Could you tell me which adapter you are using ? Is it the Dell DA200 ?
I am about to buy a new one as this sucks a lot... and unable to make it work better (my last post : https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … #p1653929)
If it is the case how do you lock it down to 29mhz ? Would be curious to test this..
Many thanks!

vtrac wrote:

@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.

vtrac · 2016-09-19 01:56:57

belette wrote:

Yep I got a lot...
Could you tell me which adapter you are using ? Is it the Dell DA200 ?
I am about to buy a new one as this sucks a lot... and unable to make it work better (my last post : https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … #p1653929)
If it is the case how do you lock it down to 29mhz ? Would be curious to test this..
Many thanks!
vtrac wrote:
@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.

This is the adapter I bought: http://amzn.to/2d4Mjjt It's expensive, but it does everything: DisplayPort (4k@60hz), HDMI (4k@29hz), charging, USB, etc. I haven't gotten the ethernet chipset driver to work under linux yet, but I'm usually on wifi anyway.

The latest nightly builds of kernel 4.8 intel-drm works fine at 4k@60hz on my Dell P2715Q monitor. The only problem I have is that when it goes to sleep, the laptop screen wakes up and thinks the P2715Q monitor is awake, but it's not. I have to manually hit the power button, wait 1 second, and hit the power button again before the external monitor will re-wake. It's a minor inconvenience that I hope the final release of 4.8 fixes.

kuia · 2016-09-20 20:55:21

Hi all,

I posted an issue I'm having with the Dell XPS 12 9350 screen over in Newbie Corner, but linking to it here if that's cool, in case anyone here can also help: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=217355

Thanks a lot.

tmotard · 2016-09-22 08:04:46

tmotard wrote:

@jewetux thanks a lot. i ordered the intel wifi card and will receive on wednesday.
Then i'll open the 9350 to change the card at this time.

Well, i received the card and changed it yesterday.
Very easy to do.
Wifi seems to connect very quickly now, i've to test the 9350 to see the stability.

Jiaan · 2016-09-23 19:10:26

Hello again. I just noticed a strange effect with linux-nvme kernel. In battery mode, my machine will make crackling noise whenever GPU is trying to render something. I have actually experience the same noise under Windows 10, but not with stock linux kernel. Any one with the same issue?
By the way, as a feedback, with patched linux-4.8.0rc5, my power consumption is really reduced by about 1W, but not with rc6.

coconutoil · 2016-09-24 12:53:34

Jiaan wrote:

Hello again. I just noticed a strange effect with linux-nvme kernel. In battery mode, my machine will make crackling noise whenever GPU is trying to render something. I have actually experience the same noise under Windows 10, but not with stock linux kernel. Any one with the same issue?
By the way, as a feedback, with patched linux-4.8.0rc5, my power consumption is really reduced by about 1W, but not with rc6.

There are many posts on Dell's forums about the noises, but no official responses afaik.
I believe it's a hardware issue.

set92 · 2016-09-24 22:08:02

It will be this https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-nvme/ applied in linux 4.8? I tried to search on Internet but I dont know if is better to use it or if they will put that patch in linux 4.8 and then I can wait.

damige · 2016-09-24 22:37:18

Jiaan wrote:

Hello again. I just noticed a strange effect with linux-nvme kernel. In battery mode, my machine will make crackling noise whenever GPU is trying to render something. I have actually experience the same noise under Windows 10, but not with stock linux kernel. Any one with the same issue?
By the way, as a feedback, with patched linux-4.8.0rc5, my power consumption is really reduced by about 1W, but not with rc6.

Strange! this is the same patchset, im currently running on 4.8rc7-2 (-2 adds the V4 patchset) For me this seems to work. Maybe try it?
If you want to try binary: https://github.com/damige/linux-nvme/tr … g/4.8rc7-2

Also the crackling could be due to the device going in and out of lower powerstates. (the transitioning between states making the noise, maybe some dependency on nvme to reach a lower cpupowerstate?) Just making some wild guesses here.
strange enough i seem to remember hearing some crackling before but now i cannot reproduce..

set92 wrote:

It will be this https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linux-nvme/ applied in linux 4.8? I tried to search on Internet but I dont know if is better to use it or if they will put that patch in linux 4.8 and then I can wait.

4.8 wont happen, from what i can read on the mailing list 4.9 just might , but even this is unlikely. If in the future i read any news on this i will report back here.
You can use the binary to speed up the install, you could look into Modprobed-db as the PKGBUILD is compatible with it. (Set value "_localmodcfg=1"), or just compile it completely.

edit: i have also ordered the intel 8260.
Im done with broadcom, and will not recommend it until they either provide the support we need in linux or even better: opensource their drivers.

Last edited by damige (2016-09-25 00:22:32)

frank604 · 2016-09-25 03:16:21

The sound might be one of our long standing bugs. I should write a bug report on this. Can you tell me the levels of 'Headphone Mic Boost' in alsamixer?

Thanks @damige for updating us about V4. Looks like he tweaked the scaling factor a little? And some naming changes.

PS. I have the opportunity to buy a new laptop (no limits on $) but I really love this laptop. Small form size, battery life (although could be better), tb3, usbc. I've been thinking of a thinkpad but sadly they have the onelink instead of the tb3 over usbc so my wd15 dock would go to waste. Nothing really comes to mind to replace my xps!!

computoruzer · 2016-09-28 00:42:31

frank604 wrote:

PS. I have the opportunity to buy a new laptop (no limits on $) but I really love this laptop. Small form size, battery life (although could be better), tb3, usbc. I've been thinking of a thinkpad but sadly they have the onelink instead of the tb3 over usbc so my wd15 dock would go to waste. Nothing really comes to mind to replace my xps!!

Kaby Lake XPS 13 or Razer Blade Stealth? The HP Spectre 13 has 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports .

Last edited by computoruzer (2016-09-28 00:43:00)

OdinEidolon · 2016-09-28 09:15:31

OdinEidolon wrote:

projectgus wrote:
OdinEidolon wrote:
pm_async link is gone. can you find it again?
Oh, right. Linked fixed -I'd typo'd a few extra characters into it.
You may have to enable PM_DEBUG in your kernel config before you have pm_async in sysfs, I'm not sure.
OdinEidolon wrote:
Also, do you think that option negatively impacts power management?
I wouldn't expect so. Disabling pm_async means that devices are suspend/resumed one at a time, instead of multiple devices simultaneously (within constraints of inter-device dependencies). So if a dependency is missing between two devices, pm_async prevents them from sometimes being suspended/resumed in the wrong order. The downside is that it takes a bit longer to get in/out of suspend (although like I said, the difference is small enough on this laptop that I haven't really noticed it.)
Not having to hold down the power button to force reboots all the time has definitely improved my power management!
OdinEidolon wrote:
Also (2), do you think that that it necessary due to the PCI-e SSD or also for standard models on the same platform without PCI-e SSD (typing from an XPS15 here)? Thanks.
I'm not sure what you mean by (2), but I'm not aware of any connection between any problems I've seen and the NVME SSD. But I also don't know what is really causing the problems, so who knows?! Very interested to hear if you're having crashes on suspend/resume on your XPS 15 and pm_async = 0 fixes those as well.
I will experiment!
EDIT: testing. Did not have to enable PM_DEBUG

I still get random freezes, both when working and when unsuspending, so I am reverting this.

Anyone else getting random freezes? Weirdly, it seems to happen more often when I am moving the laptop here and there.

frank604 · 2016-09-28 14:51:34

I have zero random freezes for past few months. However, your device is a little different as it has an nvidia chip. Some things that definitely helped as I had freezes before.

Native modesetting and removing xf86 video Intel. Creating a 2g swap file.

OdinEidolon · 2016-09-28 14:56:47

frank604 wrote:

I have zero random freezes for past few months. However, your device is a little different as it has an nvidia chip. Some things that definitely helped as I had freezes before.
Native modesetting and removing xf86 video Intel. Creating a 2g swap file.

Thanks, can you elaborate on the native modesetting part? What do you use if you don't use xf86-video-intel?

As for the swap file, why would I need one? I do not hibernate and I never run out of RAM.

halka · 2016-09-28 15:13:35

Is anybody else experiencing random 'lockups' with 4.8 kernel? The system is not completely dead - the screen stops responding, can't (for example) see CapsLock LED turn on/off, but music keeps playing - at least until end of track. Nothing I can do but power cycle. I've tried cutting back on passed kernel options to just the bare bones - "quiet splash i915.enable_rc6=7" - but that didn't seemed to be the issue.

Doesn't seem to be happening under 4.7.

zetxx · 2016-09-28 15:57:28

halka wrote:

Is anybody else experiencing random 'lockups' with 4.8 kernel? The system is not completely dead - the screen stops responding, can't (for example) see CapsLock LED turn on/off, but music keeps playing - at least until end of track. Nothing I can do but power cycle. I've tried cutting back on passed kernel options to just the bare bones - "quiet splash i915.enable_rc6=7" - but that didn't seemed to be the issue.
Doesn't seem to be happening under 4.7.

nope, no such issue.
im with rc8 and nvme patches

Arch Linux

#976 2016-09-18 03:28:11

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#977 2016-09-18 06:27:47

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#978 2016-09-18 07:59:55

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#979 2016-09-18 09:59:59

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#980 2016-09-18 11:20:32

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#981 2016-09-18 12:15:53

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#982 2016-09-18 12:26:27

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#983 2016-09-18 16:04:45

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#984 2016-09-18 17:22:20

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#985 2016-09-18 17:29:41

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#986 2016-09-18 22:00:28

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#987 2016-09-19 01:56:57

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#988 2016-09-20 20:55:21

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#989 2016-09-22 08:04:46

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#990 2016-09-23 19:10:26

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#991 2016-09-24 12:53:34

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Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#994 2016-09-25 03:16:21

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#995 2016-09-28 00:42:31

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#996 2016-09-28 09:15:31

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#997 2016-09-28 14:51:34

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#998 2016-09-28 14:56:47

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

#999 2016-09-28 15:13:35

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#1000 2016-09-28 15:57:28

Re: Dell XPS 13 9350 Late 2015

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