Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

Hey all,

Has anyone successfully outputted a 4k@60hz signal through HDMI? I have now tried everything I can think of.

Four USB-C adapters (three gave a 60hz option in Windows, but the TVs said no signal)
-Plugable
-Insignia
-Apple (30hz was highest resolution option)
-Dell USB-C to HDMI 2.0

I have tried three cables, two of which stated specifically HDMI 2.0
-AmazonBasics
-Insignia
-Some HDMI cable I was already using

I have tried two laptops
-XPS 9550 (mine)
-XPS 9350 (wife's)

I have tried four TV's
-Visio M43-C1
-Visio 40" E series
-LG 60" curved screen
-Sony

I updated my firmware and thunderbolt drivers to the most current version. I have also tried every BIOS option for Thunderbolt security.

 

HDMI is rated at 30hz ~ 4k, you need a USB-C to HDMI adapter.

 

Hi GoNz0,

First of all thank you for your contributions in this thread.

I have tried four USB-C/TB3 to HDMI adaptors, including Dell's own USB-C to HDMI 2.0.

 

Sorry I only saw the top of your post as I had a few windows open.

TV#1 Visio M43-C1 only HDMI port 5 supports 60hz
TV2 Visio 40" E series declines to say on the specs page so it may not support 60hz?

The last 2 I can't check as I have no model but it shouldn't be hard to find out if like the Vidio they only have 60hz on 1 port if at all?

Maybe to with set '1 and try the port 5 if you haven't?

 

Thanks for taking the time to look into this.

I have the M43-C1. Using HDMI 1 through 4, the Intel control panel only allows 23Hz, 24Hz, 29Hz, and 30Hz. When I connect to HDMI5, 59Hz and 60Hz become available. When I select these resolutions, the TV emits a "pop" sound from the speakers, the screen turns black for about 10 seconds, then "no signal" displays. I thought it was the TV at first until I brought the rig to Best Buy and every set did the same thing when hooking up to the 4k@60Hz port.

A Visio tech support verified that the TV should be displaying a valid signal. Dell tech support was, frankly, useless. The rep said that I would have to pay to talk to a level 2 technician.

I have seen posts where people have achieved 60Hz 3840x2160 through USB-C to Displayport, but only after using certain brands of adaptors. It appears the Thunderbolt 3 support is still in a beta/early adopter stage.

Last FYI to anyone that made it this far: other than the issue I am describing, my first laptop turned out as perfect as one could expect. Solid keyboard, impressive screen, and a solid enough plug design that a drop from 2 feet on the left side did not damage the plug, even on laminate flooring over concrete. The CPU and GPU temps do run a little too close to 90 degrees for my liking, however I am going to repaste with Thermal Grizzly soon.

 

I believe in a previous post ,some one suggested the need for an active adapter like

http://www.uptab.com/usb-c-to-hdmi2-uhd-4k-60hz-active-adapter.html

 

Hmmn... I would imagine Dell's own adapter would work, being $40 and all. That may be the next step to figuring this out.

Believe me, I googled the @%$# out of this issue. Had a couple of people successful with hooking up a displayport monitor, but I could not find a single instance where 4k/60 over hdmi worked, even though I know it should according to everything I have read.

Thanks for the tip of something new to try, anyway. Gotta arrange for some returns to Dell and Amazon for the ones that don't work.

 

Hey guys. Having a new issue here with the laptop crashing every time I resume the laptop from standby. Open the lid, the screen stays black for about 10 seconds, and then Windows reboots. I had this issue about 3-4 months ago on the random occasion but then it just never happened. Then, about a week ago, I started having the issue now every time the computer resumes from standby. If I haven't touched the laptop in a day or more and it is in hibernation, it resumes just fine.

Any tips on this? I feel certain this has been addressed before, but the search on this site doesn't really work well, as you know. I have tried searching in other ways and had no clue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

From an elevated command prompt

sfc /scannow

then

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth


any joy?

 

Do current 9550's still suffer from the ghosting issues that the launch models had? 4k version especially?

 

Not the 4k model. It's not the fastest lcd but it's pretty standard.

 

Question for the group. I have a XPS 15 and Alienware 15 R2 sitting side by side here (I'm returning one of them shortly). I love the size and screen on the XPS, but I'm leaning towards keeping the Alienware simply because the XPS coil whine is LOUD, especially when plugged in. Before I settle on the Alienware, is there such a thing as a XPS 15 without coil whine? I purchased both of them from the Microsoft Store, if I exchange the XPS for a new one, what are the chances it will have the whine as well? I want to love this laptop, but for ~$2000 I can't listen to that all day.

 

My 9550 is silent in my very quiet office...

 

Same here.

 

CPA-XDYGX - CBL,HD,SATA 7MM,9550/5510 is the part number and description for the 2nd HDD adapter you need.BTW, in order for your SSD to fit snugly, you will need two (2) sleeves that slip on either side of the SSD. This part is: 3XYT5 - GRMT,HD,RBR,9550/5510. The part number covers one (1) so you will need to order two (2).

 

Ditto.

 

Hi all,

What's the consensus for USB-C - > Ethernet adapters?

I'm looking at these two:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...904&sr=8-2&keywords=thunderbolt+3+to+ethernet

and

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Ethern...ll_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

 

Currently looking for a new SSD for mine, I currently have a 256 GB model. I am mostly looking for higher capacity, it doesn't have to be top performance.

I know I can get a 512 GB Samsung SM951 at a decent price in Canada, also looked at the PM951 512 GB. Sandisk has the X400 1 TB that is attractive capacity wise, but I'm not sold on it, it's price/capacity seem kinda too good to be true. Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

the 1tb Toshiba OEM drive is cracking 2400/1500 r/w

 

Sounds awesome, do you know the model number for that drive. I'll do some research on my own, but me being in Canada might complicate getting it.

EDIT: Toshiba XG3 I assume. That thing is > 700$ in Canada and rather difficult to find in the first place.

 

yep model I have is THNSN51T02DU7 NV

 

Ok, I'm going to answer my own question. Just picked up usb-c 1Gb ethernet by iogear from our local microcenter: https://www.iogear.com/product/GUC3C01/

Plug-n-play, stress test - downloading about 200Gbs from local synology has passed with flying colors, avg speed for big files was about 100-110 MBytes / sec. The adapter warmed up a little but it wasn't even hot, no connection drops so far. Paid about 18 usd

 

AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS - UPDATE
I did a clean W10 install yet Realtek, MAXX and the Dell Audio Pane somehow reared their ugly heads. Combined with the latest BIOS update, steps in the following link seem to remove most of the awkward audio processing making my headphones much more enjoyable. The speakers are much less irritating

[Edit - I principally listen to audio via a dedicated USB 16/44.1 NOS dac and a superb Japanese headphone amplifier. Sound out of this combo is excellent.]

The following link shows how one guy removed realtek drivers and replaced them with microsoft HD audio drivers. The changes have stuck through a dozen resets for me:

http://www.tenforums.com/drivers-ha...lling-realtek-audio-drivers-2.html#post543458

[EDIT2- after several days those slimeballs from RealTek put their drivers back on my laptop.

I manually removed them again (device manager>sound, video and game controllers>Realtek>Properties>driver>rollback driver. That automatically changes the driver in device manager>audio inputs and outputs>speakers...for now]

DETAILS TO SOLUTION
That guy's system is organized a bit differently than the 9550's (particularly at "A dialouge will appear") but you can bumble through the instructions in a quick few minutes regardless

In the device manager, I see a few instances of realtek audio (view-devices by type)
- Audio inputs and outputs
- Sound, video and game control

IMPORTANT NOTICES
- After this update, you will likely will loose some auto features. For example, you will need to manually change between speaker/headphone output (in sound panel accessible by clicking the speaker icon at the bottom right of the desktop).

- The useless "Dell Audio" pane effectively disappears (although the cortina still shows the item, it is not clickable)

- Be careful with headphones for ear health & safety as you never know what is going on under the hood with audio tweaks

 

Can't wait until the retail version is generally available here in the states.

 

New Intel HD Graphics drivers out

 

I am running it after trying the latest intel Beta, the Beta caused a lot of flicker the Dell doesn't seem to have much at all.

 

Guys, Can you please help me with the issue. I have already called dell support and their technician will come on Thursday, but meanwhile I would love to solve it on my own

Right when I press the power button the light on the button turns on, but the fans don't start up or anything. If I press the button one time the fans turn on really high for a few seconds then the light and fans turn off. If I hold down the D key and press the power it does the lcd test where it cycles through the colors a few times then the screen turns off and the fans turn off, but he power light is still on. If I wait a little the fans will start back up and idle.

I tried plugging in an hdmi monitor and doing all of these steps with no luck. If I press a key on he keyboard the keyboard backlight turns on, t pressing caps lock does not light up the caps lock light. I also have tested this with a mouse connected and the mouse never gets power.

If someone could help me diagnose this problem I would really appreciate it. I have some work that I really need to do.

Also I should mention I removed the harddrive and tried all this stuff again. I also disconnected the battery and held the power for two minutes and redid all the tests. No change.

Thanks in advance

 

My diagnosis: your **** is all ****ed up

Nothing you can do- replace the mobo.

General rule of thumb for me: if it boots to recovery, I can fix it. If it can't get to BIOS, I'll leave it to technicians with the proper tools

 

I've got similar speeds with the 1tb.

Btw: The Toshiba 1tb m.2 is powered by: Samsung. Those are all Samsung chips and controller. It even says Samsung on the chips. I thought it was funny, in a good way. (Samsung>toshiboo)

The 1tb SM961'S should be out very soon.


Powered by: Quad Core Exynos + 6820HK

 

New bios!

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...-15-9550-laptop&languageCode=en&categoryId=BI

Wish me luck.

 

Ditto, going in!!!!!

*edit.

Made it. I still have the odd flicker but I never have it at lowest brightness so I doubt it is related.

I notice no change up to 8 on brightness so I assume the fix was removing the lower levels knowing dell.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/12953588?

I ran the XPS 13's TB3 fw update as it lists the 9550 as well. Hopefully this will increase stability with the razer core.

 

FFS it is flickering 10x more than before the BIOS update!

 

:/

Btw in today's Dell comedy, an tech came to my condo today to replace the keyboard, which had a broken space bar. Naturally, the keyboard he replaced it with had an even worse space bar. I wonder what he'll bring tomorrow, Zika?

 

Just picked the 9550 up today i7/16GB/512GB <- (Toshiba).

First impressions so far are great. Screen is amazing. It's looking and feeling very very fast.

It's going to replace my Macbook Pro as my daily driver.

So far (with very little time actually using it) I'm very impressed.

And unlike my Skylake XPS 13, I can tether my frickin phone via WiFi without it dropping out every 15 seconds. I guess I'll attribute that to the 1830 Wireless card vs the 1820 in the XPS 13.

 

I rolled back to the previous 1.20 BIOS, the brightness ramps normally again and the flickering is once again minimal. I think I will open a ticket to Dell to let them know the BIOS if FUBAR for the 4k panels,

Anyone else who finds this problem can roll back without a problem, if computer says no then pop into the BIOS and enable BIOS downgrade.

And yet again I find myself saying FFS!



Ticket opened to premium support so we will see what comes of this.

Spoiler

Hello this is regarding the following system

XPS 15 9550
Service Tag: ******* | Express Service Code: ************

I have been having issues with mild flickering at low brightness levels on the 4k panel, I am on BIOS XPS_9550_1.2.0 & today upgraded to XPS_9550_1.2.10 as it lists a fix for low brightness flickering.

Even after a BIOS default this new BIOS made the flickering a lot worst to the extent the system was unusable. The screen flickers at anything below 100% brightness every few seconds, this can be reproduced in the BIOS configuration screen so it is not a driver fault.

I have since rolled back to the previous 1.2.0 and the flickering issue is again minimal.


I am not sure why as a BIOS default & fault confirmation in the BIOS setup screen means it isn't anything to do with my windows installation.

Please bring this to the attention of the correct department and consider pulling this bios for 4k panels.

Regards.

 

Which version has longer battery life UHD + 84Whr or FHD + 56Whr?

 

Hey everyone, for the last week I've been having frequent BSODs in Steam or Origin and any games launched by them. Originally it seemed to disappear when I re-installed my Nvidia graphics drivers but it's just returned now.

Tried uninstalling Steam and it left a load of files behind that I was unable to remove because I needed 'administrator permission' despite being the sole admin on my laptop and clicking yes in the prompt. So Steam couldn't be reinstalled and I ended up doing a clean install of Windows 10 yesterday to see if it fixed the issue. Nope...

The only changes I had made recently were updating Nvidia and Intel graphics drivers, so next I tried going back to older versions of them that I knew to be stable before but still get BSODs trying to re-download Steam or Origin games, and I've had a couple BSODs from Chrome. The error is critical process died or unexpected store exception each time. Looking online a lot of suggestions are to try running sfc.exe /scannow from command window to see if Windows has any missing or corrupt files, but this doesn't produce any errors. I also highly doubt this would persist across Windows installs if that were the case. The next suggestion is a problem with the RAM so last night I left it running Memtestx86 and it passed all the tests with no errors.

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to try next, I think it's some hardware issue if a clean install and different driver versions won't fix the issue. I even installed the new BIOS 1.2.10 this morning and it seemed to go longer than usual before BSOD but now it's back to the regular frequency when trying to download games again. The BIOS is set to AHCI mode and I haven't tried RAID in months, so I doubt that changing modes would work when it's been stable for so long and I'd rather not waste another day trying a different mode for it to probably keep crashing. It's also possible that this is some sort of issue with the latest Windows update so the next one could fix it, but again this persists installs and didn't show up for over about 2 weeks after the current update came out.

I'm going to contact Dell tomorrow about replacing the motherboard and maybe the RAM as well, just to be safe, but before I do this does anyone have any suggestions for what to try next?

 

Samastrike, what are your bluescreen errors?
If they are 'critical process died', are you using the Samsung 950 ACHI driver?
My windows10 (with AHCI) started receciving frequent bluescreens after switching to the insider builds, but after installing the 950 driver, they all dissapeared again.

 

New BIOS okay so far on my two FHD machines. No video issues.

 

Critical process died seems to be the most common right now. I'm not using the Samsung NVMe driver right now because it increases restart times so much. I'll give it a try again. Is this a known issue when not using the driver?

 

Yeah I think the fix was aimed at the FHD, totally farked up my 4k though.

 

Hey GoNz0 I have the 4K display as well and I'm on the latest BIOS. How frequent was the flickering for you? I can't see any flickering at all, although at lowest brightness I think I see a tiny change in brightness before it corrects instantly, happens maybe once a minute.

 

I think between 30-60 seconds, very noticeable around the 40% mark, seemed to need more 40% to be the same as 20% on the older BIOS.

 

Apart from that issue you resolved, any comment on how stable the current insider build is? I'm looking forward to trying the Ubuntu Bash shell.

 

Apologies if someone already posted this, but here's the crystal mark scores for the 512GB Toshiba SSD that was shipped with my XPS 9550. It's no slouch.

 

I can confirm your observation. Having the same issues with my 4k machine.

 

Is there someone resolved the issue of audio cracking from speaker?? My XPS has this issue only when no headphone or external DAC are connected.

 

I thought it was not an issue for me until today. I have to have brightness on 60% or so in order to not see the flicker. Driving me crazy.