Dell XPS 15 (9550) list of hardware and software problems

Hey guys, reading through existing threads I noticed a lot of users are mentioning several problems with their new XPS. To keep track of all issues, and to know which ones are already solved/fixed or how to solve them, I decided to create this thread.

Please leave a comment if you come across new issue or a solution to the existing ones.

Everyone please when reporting a problem/suggestion please mention obligatory:

1. OS version
2. Drives configuration (M.2 only vs M.2 + SSD vs M.2 + HDD vs SSD only vs HDD only)
3. BIOS version
4. BIOS mode: AHCI vs RAID
5. Installed/not installed Samsung NVMe drivers

Software/drivers issues:

1. Device doesn't go into deep sleep correctly. [not confirmed]
2. Trackpad Scrolling issue - system doesn't record very short moves. [not confirmed]
3. Display driver crashes. [confirmed] [solved - link]
4. eDellRoot certificate. [confirmed]
5. NVMe related SSD Sleep bug - performance decrease after sleep. [confirmed] [solved - Look for solution in "General recommendations" section below]
6. Installed Intel RST drivers causing various issues. [confirmed] [solved - Look for solution in "General recommendations" section below]
7. SSD performance problems. [confirmed] [solved - Look for solution in "General recommendations" section below]
8. CPU performance decrease after when you connect AC power after being on battery power, the CPU frequency gets capped at 1.69 GHz (details: link) [confirmed] [fixing in progress - link]
9. Screen flickering, most probably related to the MS HyperV. [confirmed]

Hardware issues:

• Space Bar sticky resistance tight defect
  - Solution: Dell XPS 13 9343 2015 - Fix Space Bar sticky resistance tight defect problem DIY & disassembly
• Around the front edge where the aluminium bottom and the carbon fibre effect join there is a slight misalignment and it running your finger down the side it catches the aluminium slighty.
• Slight light bleed where the trackpad light is on the side where the glue holding the 2 parts together is coming away.
• The delete key is also stuck down so doesn't press in properly.
• Gap between the panel and the bezel, making the backlight bleed. Sometimes it seems not properly sealed.
• Crackle/popping sound from the internal speakers.
• CPU throttling.

Unidentified issues:

• Coil Whine while on AC power. This squeaking noise is most pronounced while cold booting the computer, and is less audible on battery power.
• Fan while charging: While charging the battery and until it reaches around 90%, the fans run at high speed that is very audible. I do not have express charge enabled in BIOS or Dell Power Command, and have optimal as the fan setting. This has been reported by other, but not all, XPS 15 owners
• USB-C Powershare: it does not charge when the laptop is off as when using the type-A USB ports. Powershare is enabled in the BIOS, and the phone does charges after logging into Windows. The latest Dell Thunderbolt 3 firmware was installed with no resolution.

General recommendations:

• Install latest BIOS update from the DELL site.
• If you don't use 32GB SSD cache drive or RAID, switch drive mode from RAID to AHCI in BIOS. [This will fix the issue number 5]
  
• If you don't use 32GB SSD cache drive or RAID, remove the Intel Rapid Storage Technology in Control Panel and install only AHCI drivers: 1) download latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology in a "f6flpy-x64.zip" variant 2) Extract the .zip package 3) Using system Device Manager manually update AHCI drivers only (iaAHCIC.inf and iaahcic.cat) under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers in the Device Manager. [This will fix the issue number 6 and 7]
• Don't install any DELL applications.
• Look for the latest drivers on each manufacturer site (nVidia, Realtek, Intel, etc) instead of the DELL site.
• Perform a clean Windows installation, don't use pre-installed DELL recovery systems as it contains old drivers and all sort of DELL bloatware.
• Keep your OS up to date with the latest system updates.

 

Hi,

IMHO it's also worth mentioning that there is no turbo boost on battery, so you'll see a maximum of 2,6 GHz for the i7 (compared to 3+ GHz on AC).
For my unit, I can confirm:

• the CPU throttling after AC -> battery -> AC
• the "NVMe related SSD Sleep bug - performance seems to be cut in half after Sleep" -> happens only in RAID mode, not in AHCI
  
• Display driver crashes here as well (easy to reproduce using "http://speedof.me" speedtest site). The fix doesn't seem to work here.
• RAID to AHCI mode in BIOS -> this actually caused a performance decrease (CDM 4K reads where at about 20-25MB/s) for the already poor performing Notebook - might be specific to my unit, see additions

In addition, I see:

• After standby, Screen brightness setting is on minimum
• There is a Diagnostic tool when pressing "F12" during start. Using it, I see:
  - being in AHCI mode -> HDD error
  - switched to RAID mode -> no HDD installed
  -> could be a defect SSD
• Color is changing while scrolling websites -> seems to be related to Dell's color management software

Gerhard

 

@g.achrainer

What's your drives configuration? M.2 cache + HDD or M.2 SSD + SSD?

 

512 GB SSD, i7/4k/84Wh
Trying to get a return or repair since nearly two weeks now, not really sure if my unit has defects.

 

Driver support for the keyboard Fn keys and touchpad is also pretty crap ... My previous Dells always had third party drivers where you could customize 3- and 4-finger gestures, but not anymore here

 

Ok, thanks for the info. Also, do you have latest BIOS installed?

What's the HDD error you're getting when running Diagnostic Tool (F12)? I guess it can't check the drives in RAID mode as you have just a single drive installed. The RST contains AHCI drivers but it doesn't change the fact that RAID needs more then one drive.

 

Yes, 1.0.7 BIOS. RAID mode just means to use the Intel drivers basically. This is the default configuration by Dell, even for the single-SSD units.
The error is kind of generic, just failure sending some command. Would need to test again tomorrow to see the exact phrase.
Thanks and best regards from austria,
Gerhard

 

Is it possible to use non-Intel drivers? AHCI is also part of the Intel RST driver. After changing RAID/AHCI in BIOS do you see any changes in the device manager under Windows?

RAID mode = Enables use of AHCI option ROM and AHCI features, but also makes use of RAID functionality if you want it. My theory is that if you have it set to RAID but have no RAID drives configured, it'll fall back to AHCI automatically. One benefit in manually selecting AHCI is you save a few seconds in a cold boot as it skips the RAID setup screen.

I believe that DELL is using RAID mode by default to support 32GB cache + 1TB HDD drives configuration with Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT). For SRT to function, your system must have a compatible chipset, the system's storage controller must be configured for RAID mode, and you must install the proper Rapid Storage Technology drivers.

 

@g.achrainer

Can we test something? Please switch to AHCI mode in BIOS and boot the OS. You said the performance of your SSD decreased... that's suspicious. Now after OS is booted, in the Windows Device Manager please check the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers and make sure that the Intel controller (whatever name it'll have, but should be something with SATA AHCI) is the latest 14.6.0.1029. If it's not, please update it manually by downloading Intel Rapid Storage Technology floppyx64 version. Extract the ZIP and manually update the drive via Device Manager by pointing the path to the extracted zip. From the list, pick the Intel 100 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller.

Let me know if it worked and if it increased your SSD performance.

 

I created a thread on the Dell Community forums to report some of these issues to Dell as I was very pleased with their response to the CPU throttling issue. Please see the link below. I listed my personal issues with the model as those are the ones I am best able to describe, but everyone please add any other issues you would like to see addressed

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19662879?rfsh=1448921878757

 

I can confirm that f6flpy-x64.zip increase SSD speed in AHCI, so does BIOS v01.00.07.
But I still got BSOD (critical process died) in AHCI, I've tried everything (clean Windows 10 Pro install, stock windows driver / iaAHCIC.inf & iaahcic.cat. I've the 1TB SSD (PM961) and need AHCI mode because I need ubuntu for developpement.

Maybe you can add some more :

• BIOS takes about 5-10 seconds to load on cold boot (a little faster when hibernating, but that is not a fix as it prevent the use of partitions under linux)
• Wake up from sleep takes 5-10 seconds (fixed when hybrid sleep is enabled in the power management settings, but it will shorten the ssd life span so need a better fix)
• Keyboard backlight timeout of 10 seconds : fix
• Weight distribution issue (wobble under the corner with the sticker) : fix
• Precision touchpad issue, small movement not registered : fix
  
• Display driver not responding (looks like this) : fix
• Screen flickering if you set your brightness setting to the dimmest possible option
• As you already said : IPS glow

 

Hi,
tried to test your ideas, but failed totally (Bluescreen CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED multiple times, now completely frozen while booting). Used AHCI without any drivers, not even WLAN before the first Bluescreen.
But, I noticed a few things:
- SSD performance is NOT lower on AHCI, but it is lower on Battery (4K reads 40MB/s -> 25MB/s)
- your recommended fix for the Intel graphics driver enhances the issue, but does NOT completely fix it (still seeing a crash in edge browser when using http://speedof.me a few times)
Giving up now, thanks for your help.
Gerhard

 

My XPS is a fresh install now (though it shows lots of bluescreens).

To test it's real life performance, I decided to setup a SQL Server 2014 instance with a 1.2 GB Database. Then I started a reindex (more CPU usage) and a shrink database (more SSD usage).
Results are much worse than I hoped, takes almost exactly 2x longer than my old HP Elitebook 850 G1 (i7-4600 / Samsung 840 Pro SSD). Aside from that, the HP is faster in any aspect that I tested so far (2 secs to resume from sleep, about 12 secs for a cold boot to desktop).
I cannot believe that the XPS is that slow, so did anyone compare an i7-class notebook to the current XPS for real-life performance?

Thanks in advance
Gerhard

 

Tried that now. Performance is nearly identical between AHCI/Windows default driver and AHCI/Intel driver.
Gerhard

 

If you set the BIOS mode to ACHI and you have the m.2 slot populated. The system will not use the intel drivers at all. It will use either the default Windows nvme driver or you can install the Samsung Nvme driver. In this mode you can't use the m.2 slot as a cache drive.

If raid mode is set in BIOS you will use the RST driver for both Single Drive ACHI, the caching solution and for NVMe.

My reasoning for removing the RST drivers and setting to ACHI is that it removes an unnecessary driver stack. Which could help with speed and stability.

I have only had a single BSOD in the month I have been using this laptop. That was while watching videos in the Edge Browser.

In the f12 Diagnostics screen I get "unable to send DST" as an error message when testing the drive in ACHI mode, and no drive found in RAID mode.

 

Where can I get the proper touchpad driver? The Dell driver on my previous 9530 provides me with customized multi-finger gestures. If I install the Synaptics driver directly I'll lose them right?

 

In case drivers are customized by DELL for a specific features you should download one from the DELL site. But as far as I can see Synaptic support multi-finger gestures - http://www.synaptics.com/en/gesture-suite-windows.php#info_content

 

Ok so let's summarise stuff to make it clear:

Drives configuration 1: M.2 SSD (NVMe) + SATA SSD/HDD ( example: Samsung SSD M.2 SM951 256GB + Samsung SSD 850 PRO 512GB)
1) In BIOS select "RAID" mode = both AHCI and RAID are enabled.
2) It's recommended to remove the Intel RST software and install/leave only AHCI drivers.

Drives configuration 2: M.2 SSD (cache) + SATA SSD/HDD ( example: 32GB M.2 cache drive + Samsung SSD 850 PRO 512GB)
1) In BIOS select "RAID" mode = both AHCI and RAID are enabled.
2) Latest Intel RST software should be installed.

Drives configuration 3: SATA SSD/HDD only ( Samsung SSD 850 PRO 512GB)
1) In BIOS select "AHCI" mod =, the M.2 slot will be disabled.
2) It's recommended to remove the Intel RST software and install/leave only AHCI drivers.

Drives configuration 4: M.2 SSD (NVMe) only ( example: Samsung SSD 950 PRO M.2 512GB)
1) In BIOS select "RAID" mode = both AHCI and RAID are enabled.
2) There is no need to keep either AHCI drivers or Intel RST software.

Does it sound right?

 

Got it. Thanks!
BTW did you uninstall Dell Premiem Color? Deleting it will make the screen running under full gamut all the time right? Or is there any other way to controll the gamut?

 

Im guessing no new update on cpu throttle?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...report-serious-bios-bug-to-dell.783715/page-5

 

Can you please describe what [Confirmed] and [Not-Confirmed] means in the first post? Does Confirmed indicate Dell has acknowledged it or that you personally experienced it? And does [Not Confirmed] indicate a stranger mentioned it and no body else?

This is not a criticism, but wanting to understand.

Credit to forum users who identifying particular issues (and maybe a forum post #) or Source links would be great as it might help researching the issue deeper for those also experiencing it.

Thanks

 

Yes I have all that in mind, I'm still improving the first post and will soon re-organize it, so that it will be easier to read it.

 

I was wondering if anyone has had the issue where if you physically move the laptop screen back and forward it turns the screen black and cuts out, you have to move it again to make the screen come back on.

Surely you should be able to move the screen back and forward without the screen cutting out???

We have the latest drivers installed, is this a hardware issue?

What drivers are you all using and how were they installed? Windows update?

 

I have added a 500GB SSD and taken out the 1TB HDD and how to I re-create the RAID with the 32GB m.2 Sata drive??

There is no instructions of how to do this.

 

Why do you want to use 500GB SSD with 32GB cache drive? It makes no sense. Just take out the 32GB drive and use AHCI mode.

 

So I have it currently setup under Legacy Mode under the Bios.

When I press F12 to boot into the Bios menu I have two options

Legacy boot
m.2 Sata
Internal HDD - This is where the OS is installed onto

If I select the Internal HDD it displays no OS is installed.....

The OS is installed as when I let the laptop just boot up it works.

Since I have the 500GB SSD, there is no point in having the 32GB Cache m.2 drive in RAID0 correct?

 

If RAID mode is enabled you won't be using native NVMe drivers in windows. The drive is operates on NVMe but there is no additional controller listed in Device Manager.
In ACHI mode there is a separate NVMe controller listed in device manager.

If you are in RAID mode then RST drivers should give the best performance.
If you have no need for RAID or caching, which are both provided by the RST drivers then ACHI should be faster.

 

In this case both drives use AHCI?

In AHCI mode the M.2 drive should be disabled, how comes NVMe is listed in device manager?

Having M.2 SSD + 2.5 SSD (configuration number 1 from my list) is neither for RAID or caching but still it needs RAID mode in BIOS.

Correct me if I'm wrong, would be best to make the corrections based on the drives configuration here http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...software-problems.784691/page-2#post-10148705

 

In ACHI mode the m.2 drive is in native NVMe mode. I only have the 512GB NVMe drive and in order to use the native NVMe controller I have to keep ACHI mode enabled.

If I switch to RAID, I have to install the RST drivers.

I'm assuming the RST drivers handle the NVMe as well as no NVMe controller shows up in Device Manager with them enabled.

I believe that if you are using both a M.2 SSD and a 2.5 SSD you could enable ACHI mode and allow Windows to install the NVMe Driver. Then you could install the RST driver for the 2.5 drive.

If you install RST with RAID enabled that driver manages both.

 

Anyone having harder time picking up wifi signal?
Compared to my iphone/other computer it seems like the RANGE on my dell xps 15 picking up the WIFI is less? Anyone have a resolution for this or is it the way it is? ty

 

Getting a **** ton of ghosting. God damn.

 

Just had my first orange screen (wtf ?), now I'm getting tired of unstable NVMe SSD driver.



I've the PM951 1TB SSD XPS version, without other drive, my BIOS is set to AHCI mode and I am using native Windows driver.
I've tested Intel driver, same BSOD.
I cannot switch to RAID Mode since I need ubuntu, and ubuntu does not detect NVMe SSD in RAID Mode.
Never issued any crash under ubuntu, so it is definitely a driver issue.
I don't have BSOD in RAID On with RST Driver thought...
Haven't tried 950 Pro driver in AHCI mode but I don't think it is a good idea, unless someone report that it fix CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD.

 

AFAIK, NVME is a separate protocol. It is strange why we need to select ahci or raid, both are different protocols themselves

 

I'm having an issue with extreme black crush on this display. Posted here http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/extreme-black-level-clipping-on-xps-15-9550.785043/

Long story short it looks like the wrong video level is being output to the laptop display but I see no way of changing it.

 

After switching from RAID to AHCI I was blue screening once every couple hours with CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. I tried the Intel drivers recommended in this thread but the BSOD's continued. I went searching for the Samsung NVME drivers and found these: http://ssd.samsungsemi.com/ecomobile/ssd/update15.do?fname=/Samsung_NVMExpress_Driver_rev10.zip. So far(1 day of use) it seems to have solved the crashing problem and I haven't had any new issues up to this point.

If only I could find a way to fix the flickering problem. It's pretty bad for me, even with the latest Intel drivers as pulled through the device manager. The only thing that helps is to disable the Intel display adapter in the device manager. But even then I still have some amount periodic flickering. About to give up on it.
One thing I can say is that I did have the Hyper-V flickering problem, and that does seem to be resolved with the latest drivers(pulled by updating the Intel adapter through the device manager). The Hyper-V related flickering kind of flickered pink-ish lines for me. My flickering now is just more or less flickering to black and it occurs whether or not I have Hyper-V added or removed.

 

Same for me, AHCI + Samsung NVMe driver for now two days, no more BSOD

 

What drives you have?

 

Only a PM951. The only issue I have with this driver is that if I reboot I will get "no boot device detected", but it is fine with cold boot.

 

You're on M.2 SSD only too?

 

Yep, the 512GB PM951 that it came with. I have been able to reboot and cold boot without issue, I'm not sure what might be different for me. Still no BSODs, or any other new issues since switching to that driver. The only remaining significant issue for me is the screen flickering.

 

I've been able to reboot without having the problem too. Happens like 1/20 of the time I think. Don't know why thought...

 

mike_nbr

Thanks so much for consolidating this list! Excellent way to track possible issues.

I just received my XPS15 yesterday - can confirm #8 on mine, and good to hear that Dell will fix in next BIOS.

A few other issues I think i have

Screen - red shift issue when viewing certain colors at "extreme" angles and some minor backlight bleed in two locations along the bottom of the screen panel. Hardly visible when brightness is set under 50% - and generally only noticeable on bootup.

Fit and Finish - the charging led does bleed through what appears to be small gaps on the front of the unit.

I had been using an XPS13 (9350) before trading that in for an XPS15. The XPS13 had no issues for screen or fit and finish - so in that sense, I'm a little let down by this pricier XPS15. But I'm not sure my issues warrant and exchange just yet. We will see.

While I'm not a fan of early adopter beta tester status - I also didn't want to wait another couple months to resolve all these bugs. The reality is, if you want a windows computer, especially a notebook, to be bug free, you need to get gen 2 devices AND wait 1 year post major new Operating system release (Win 10). I wish Windows world were different, but it is vastly better than it used to be.

 

So I switched to AHCI and installed the samsung nvme driver.

However now I can't reboot at all, everytime it says "no hard drive detected" its fine however on cold boot.

I've downloaded the intel drivers and I'm trying to switch to those but Windows won't actually install them (via device manager > update driver) because it thinks the samsung ones I have are the best drivers. I tried to uninstall the samsung driver then install the intel one but of course once I uninstall them the device no longer appears in device manager until I reboot. At which point it seems the Samsung nvme driver gets loaded back on.

If I run the setup.exe from intel it says no device detected.

Any ideas how I can get these samsung drivers off?

EDIT: Gah been having issues all night, I think I'll just restore it from the factory backup. I assume to use the recovery partition I just need to use the "Reset" button in Windows 10 settings?

 

One more: with external display connected fans go to high (same speed as when viewing the bios) for no good reason, cpu temps at 27C, looking at trends from Intel XTU nothing changes on iGPU, Nvidia inactive. I don't know what drives them high. And the display is only 1920x1200.

 

To get back to the default Microsoft NVMe / AHCI controller I think I uninstalled the Samsung NVMe / AHCI drivers and then did a Safe Boot (without changing the BIOS).

I tested the Intel NVMe / AHCI driver (for 750, etc.) with the PM951. It seemed to drop my 4K / 4K Q32T1 performance EVEN AFTER I UNINSTALLED IT. If you still want to mess with it you need to do a manual install from Device Manager as you were, but do the "have disk" thing. I always did this from the standard NVMe driver that comes with Windows 10.

 

I posted some extensive PM951 Samsung SSD performance and Sleep/Battery bug testing I did of RAID driver and 3 different AHCI/NVMe drivers here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/trying-ahci-mode-xps-15-9550.785081/#post-10154646

Summary Crystal Disk Mark chart from the link above (see link for full details and caveats):



These issues (reduced performance on battery, wake from sleep and once A/C is reconnected) are still unresolved.

 

Yeah at this point I just want to go back to factory state.

I don't really have time for the hassle lol. Now the laptop doesn't do anything on cold boot - music won't play, games won't start, cortana/search features don't work once I do a restart everything starts working again. It's just baffling I have no idea what's causing it, I've actually gone back to the standard RAID/RST config.

So yeah just looking for a way to use the Recovery partition I can see it on device manager but can't boot from it for whatever reason.

 

I've been wondering if anyone actually owns Samsung SSD 950 PRO M.2 + NVMe drivers and still has all these problems?

 

Maybe this would be helpful https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990941

Also, everyone please when reporting a problem/suggestion please mention obligatory:

1. OS version
2. Drives configuration (M.2 only vs M.2 + SSD vs M.2 + HDD vs SSD only vs HDD only)
3. BIOS version
4. BIOS mode: AHCI vs RAID
5. Installed/not installed Samsung NVMe drivers