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

May I ask how to do that? Obviously the settings are probably at default right now since I just installed the update.

Or is there a 'list' of default settings that I can go through and verify are still set?

 

Please follow below steps after BIOS flash finished: (One time Job)
1. Shut Down the system then press Power button again
2. Press F2 to enter BIOS Setup menu
3. Click the "Restore settings" in right bottom side
4. Chose the BIOS Defaults then Click OK
5. Click Yes to Load BIOS Default
6. Click Exit in in right bottom side

 

I found this was triggered by unsuccessful automatic switchover from Sleep to Hibernation. Subsequently the nonsleep etc issue would occur. The workaround was to set the "Hibernate after" option in Advanced power settings to Never.

Another sleep related bug was fixed by reflashing BIOS (the second time it was to the same last version, so it is probably just a matter of resetting something).

 

For reflashing the BIOS, do you just run the same installer over again? Will it allow you to do that?

 

You can update with same BIOS version repeatedly and even rollback to previous one.

 

Yes, no complaints

 

i have the oem version of the toshiba xg3 512gb installed, but i cannot get the speed past 1200/1200 r/w when benching with diskmark.
im on ahci with the latest intel ahci drivers linked in the first page.
also installed the toshiba nvme driver, but no change..
anyone an idea?

 

try another benchmark?

It sounds like it may be stuck at 2x not 4x pcie speed, something like aida64 should be able to confirm this.

 

This is 100% a hardware issue after resolving this with Dell Premium Support (AU), it's got nothing to do with Windows.

The beep code for 2 amber, 4 white on the XPS 15 9550 is a defective memory slot and/or defective memory module.

To fix this:
- power down the unit
- unplug the power and remove the back panel
- un-seat both memory modules remembering where each was originally placed
- put the left memory module back in it's left memory slot and power on; still nothing?
- take the left memory module out and put the right memory module in the left slot; still nothing?
- take the right memory module out from the left memory slot and put it back in the right memory slot; still nothing?
- take the right memory module out from the right memory slot and put the left memory module in the right memory slot; still nothing?
- either both memory slots are defective or both memory modules are detective, if you're in warranty Dell will replace both the main board and memory modules, if you're out of warranty purchase a single DDR4 memory module from Amazon or a seller with a decent refund policy and try both memory slots again; still nothing?
- get a refurbished replacement main board or get a new laptop

Hope this helps

(in my case the left memory slot was defective, both memory modules were fine, Dell's sending out a replacement main board in the next few days; remember to back up incase the replacement main board goes awry and if you have BitLocker activated keep a note of your recovery key)

 

To you lot who have the option to replace main board or return the unit: I'd recommend return and getting a replacement laptop because main board replacement in small XPS chassis is no easy feat and could start NEW issues after replacement. I'm typing through experience here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Same if it is a keyboard swap, the mainboard has to come out to get to it.

 

Hi all,

You wouldn't believe me!
After I updated my XPS 9550 laptop to Windows 10 Creators Update aka Redstone 2 and installed latest Samsung NVMe Driver v2.1 it works perfectly fine without any crashes for several days already. Seems like a magic.

 

Hello peeps, I have searched this thread as much as possible (171 pages was a bit much... )

Over the weekend I was needing to restart in Safe Mode (nothing wrong with PC, was troubleshooting a failed update of a connected SatNav via USB)...

Well I got to Windows 10 recovery screen and then restart... and instead of the options to choose Safe Mode with Networking (for example) screen went black and PC seemed to just switch off...

I have tried every key sequence known to man (I think), Fn and Power, all the keys almost, and Power.... hold Power down for 10 secs', one minute, re-press.... etc.

I don't get a POST, fan starts lightly then stops....

HELP!

PS: I am aware of the remove battery and hold power down, remove RAM and re-seat etc. - tried all that and no luck

 

You have done what you can if you removed the battery, better call service.
Last things to try before that are stripping out drives and ram, see if you get a power light and some fault code from the charging light

 

I had a situation where the screen stopped working. All details are in my posts from spring/summer 2016; do a search.

* The 9550 can run a prelim self-diagnosis and LEDs may blink with codes. See my posts for instructions and decoding of LED blinks

* On my laptop the screen cable unseated itself. I removed the silver cover with a special screwdriver (JIS - very important not to use normal screwdriver). carefully removed cable and carefully reinserted.

* You can try connecting a TV to the HDMI port. Since you already hit a bunch of buttons blindly this may not work (as HDMI port needs to start)

* There is some sequence of buttons involving a Function key that seems to brick this laptop but I can't recall what it is. Do a search and don't use that popular sequence lol

 

F8 used to kill them, I think with fn pressed.

 

Yes, that was the sequence that killed it. Unbelievable for a £2000 laptop !

 

I thought I read that some people found a way to recover from that. Take a search on the forums. No guarantee.

 

Ermm, that's why I'm on this forum thread. I have searched through hundreds of replies and haven't found the magical recovery technique... It must exist... I hope

 

I think you have to take the bios battery out, unfortunately you need to remove the motherboard to get to it.

 

Ping this guy as he said he revocered f8 brick on a 9550

 

Hi, thanks, I did remove it, still no fix unfortunately

 

Thanks, will do

 

Hi @Bommel87, could you please point me to the steps to the fix. I have searched this forum, nothing worked. Even took it apart and disconnected CMOS battery... Appreciate your experience, cheers

 

I am not sure if you are facing the same problem I had with the laptop.

Here is what I applied:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...oftware-problems.784691/page-26#post-10195442

 

Hi @Bommel87, thanks

Different problem I think, you seem to be able to get into your BIOS, I don't get that far....

Tried the disconnect CMOS as well (took laptop apart), no luck, pressed power for 1+ minute with main battery disconnected too...

I think this is a call DELL problem, PITA !

 

I tried again yesterday the Samsung's NVMe driver version 2.1 with Windows 10 RS2, but there was the same behaviour with system becoming unresponsive (with PM951). Meanwhile I've noticed Samsung updated the NVMe driver to 2.2. I'm trying it right now and will come back with results.

 

Remember Samsung only support the 950 pro, 960 evo/pro with the driver so they wont help anyone with a OEM drive as they push the blame back onto the OEM manufacturer, and Dell say the driver should be used if you have any issues. Catch22!

 

Several months ago I've sent an email to Hanaro Europe describing the NVMe 2.1 driver problem with PM951 (and, very likely, with 950 Pro). They said of course they are only supporting retail drives, but they also said that they will forward the information to the HQ. Whether this issue reached Samsung or not, it seems the new 2.2 driver is good. I've never experienced the problems until now (one day of moderate usage). And the battery life seems slightly improved (4 hours more to go with a 50% battery).

 

Ok then, Samsung NVMe Driver 2.0 is still the only one stable driver for Samsung PM951 SSD :'(

 

M8 I still have an active engineers login with Samsung support team and spent some time bouncing emails back and forth , they passed me through to Hanaro and they really couldn't give a toss!

I got told to use the windows driver or call Dell, thanks a bunch LOL

This was way back when the 1st release came out and caused windows to sit at a black screen during a reboot for at least 60 seconds.

 

Not only 2.0. Versions 1.1 and 2.2 seem to work fine also. Only 2.1 was unstable (with PM951).

 

Freezing still happens using 2.2. Got the first one in 15 mins

 

Recently, for an unknown reason, when windows starts up, my screen flickers (not like the subtle flicker that is commonly seen, these are more intense) sometimes goes black for a couple seconds, and eventually stabilizes. However, the flickering has intermittently returned and has resulted in multiple BSOD this week. Updated drivers but unfortunately still having this problem...

Here's my crashdump:

Spoiler

Computer name: MIKE-XPS
Windows version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 14393
Windows dir: C:\Windows
Hardware: XPS 15 9550, Dell Inc., 0N7TVV
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz Intel586, level: 6
8 logical processors, active mask: 255
RAM: 16996335616 bytes total



Crash Dump Analysis
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

On Wed 2017-04-12 2:22:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\041117-7921-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: igdkmd64.sys (igdkmd64+0x12FE0)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFAB8D11A414A0, 0xFFFFF80B8F682FE0, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ki120637.inf_amd64_edd2419f06af898d\igdkmd64.sys
product: Intel HD Graphics Drivers for Windows(R)
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: igdkmd64.sys (Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: Intel Corporation VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Wed 2017-04-12 2:22:12 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: igdkmd64.sys (0xFFFFF80B8F682FE0)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFAB8D11A414A0, 0xFFFFF80B8F682FE0, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ki120637.inf_amd64_edd2419f06af898d\igdkmd64.sys
product: Intel HD Graphics Drivers for Windows(R)
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: igdkmd64.sys (Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: Intel Corporation VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Wed 2017-04-12 1:47:57 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\041117-10203-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: igdkmd64.sys (igdkmd64+0x12FE0)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFC9090C069400, 0xFFFFF80D67F82FE0, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ki120637.inf_amd64_edd2419f06af898d\igdkmd64.sys
product: Intel HD Graphics Drivers for Windows(R)
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: igdkmd64.sys (Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: Intel Corporation VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Sun 2017-04-09 7:29:41 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\040917-11062-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: igdkmd64.sys (igdkmd64+0x12FE0)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFD20E86D2A4A0, 0xFFFFF80004012FE0, 0x0, 0xD)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ki120637.inf_amd64_edd2419f06af898d\igdkmd64.sys
product: Intel HD Graphics Drivers for Windows(R)
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: igdkmd64.sys (Intel Graphics Kernel Mode Driver, Intel Corporation).
Google query: Intel Corporation VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Tue 2016-11-01 12:41:33 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\103116-8140-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x14A3B0)
Bugcheck code: 0x133 (0x0, 0x501, 0x500, 0x0)
Error: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: The DPC watchdog detected a prolonged run time at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This problem might also be caused because of overheating (thermal issue).
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

**UPDATE**

Wow, as per http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/t/20009538
the culprit was the latest dell intel graphics display drivers. Rolled back to an earlier driver, 20.19.15.4483 and my system seems to be stable again.

Dammit Dell! Giving me a heart attack. For anyone else, don't use the driver: 21.20.16.4590

 

We all already know, that is last weeks news

 

Update: Sorry guys found the post referred to by GoNzO, rolled back the driver and prevented updating.. waiting for a working driver for now. Seems to work fine for now.

I'm suffering the same issues, not seen a post as GoNzO refers to as last weeks news. I have reinstalled older versions but can't seem to get rid of the issue. Which version of the Nvidia driver do you have? This is turning me mad grr... Help is very much appreciated!!

 

Damn, after four days with no problems, today I experienced the first freeze with the 2.2 version. Before coming back to Samsung's 2.0, I will try the Windows' native driver.

 

Hi,
I just got the time to reinstall my XPS 9550. I put on a new Windows 10 1703 Enterprise MSDN image. After installation, I started to install all the newest drivers from Dells Support site. Everything went well but after I updated Toshiba XG3 Solid State Drive Firmware Update version 57DC4102 I started getting bluescreens 5-10 min after I booted my computer. I tested with both RAID and AHCI. I also reset the BIOS and installed factory image from Dell. Same problem.
I found this topic from today:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/20009868
So I'm not the only one with the problem. I made a response but Dell needs to approve.

DON'T install Toshiba XG3 Solid State Drive Firmware Update version 57DC4102 and if you already have please let me know if you got problems.

 

Before anyone replies with advice he has a dedicated thread going so point replies there

 

Hi,

I've got problems with my often enough freshly installed XPS 15 9550.

1. Windows 10 x64 1703
2. Drives configuration: M.2 Only (512GB Stock SSD)
3. Latest BIOS (1.2.21)
4. BIOS mode: AHCI, but now turned off SATA entirely
5. not installed Samsung NVMe Drivers

I have some random Bugs with the System, for example the Keyboard stops working (But rest is working) or the whole PC gets incredibely slow or almost unresponsive, even when CPU/RAM/SSD Loads are at 0%. Then, for example, i can't press "Windows+D" or the Shortcut in the Taskbar to Show the Desktop doesn't work.
Do I have a defective machine or are those "normal" Problems? I will try again with installed Samsung Drivers, but i don't have any hope to get this Laptop to work flawessly anytime soon.
Sorry for my bad english, i'm from Germany.

 

I think disabling sata in bios caused weird issues like the keyboard not working. I would do the 2.0 samsung drivers and see what happens. XPS 9560s are having issues like you describe where the laptop runs at a snails pace, putting new intel drivers fixed that.

 

Thank you! So i will re-enable SATA and perform a new clean install. Do you really mean the 2.0 Samsung Drivers? Not the newest 2.2?
Which Intel Driver do you mean?

 

Many users have issues with samsung drivers newer than 2.0 on the PM951/SM951/950 Pro.

I use the latest ones listed on Intel's website, I think they are from 3/27 or something like that without issue. It's not likely your problem, but I'd try it.

You don't have to do a clean install if you enable sata, your drive will still be in AHCI mode.

 

Is this when you are using chrome or have chrome open?

 

Ok, but do you mean the Intel graphics Driver or the chipset Driver? the graphics Driver won't let install it on this on the machine because of System incompatibilty (it says i have a custom Laptop and have to use the Dell Driver?

If you meant me: I don't use Chrome, only use Edge.

 

You have to manually install them, I won't beat a dead horse so see GoNz0's post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/xps-15-9560-owners-thread.800611/page-188#post-10506878

 

Hey, I have XPS 15 9550, it has a nonsense issue, when you use it for a while, whatever the battery is in charging or not, the battery will swell, and swell will jack up the touchpad, then the touchpad will be useless. I contact with Dell service. they gave me that answer is as a customer, I am beyond the service. sucks. it makes me more disappointed ever.

 

One way or the other you will need a new battery. Ask for Dell resolutions yet team, if you are out of warranty it will be hard work.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

A swelling lipo battery can be dangerous so you want to get that sorted ASAP.

I assume you understand the gravity of the situation but if not, this video might provide you a sense of urgency:

 

I had the same problem a few weeks ago. Even though the laptop was out of warranty, in less than 24 hours, a Dell technician came to my address to replace the battery at no cost. I was told it was a problem recognized by Dell