XPS 9550 + 4K panel screen flicker thread.

#2 is not a FIX lol!!!

 

Dell must think so, amazed it didn't get called a "feature"!!!!

 

Hi guys,

I just received a notification from Dell. They have released a new BIOS: http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03906323M/1/XPS_9550_1.2.14.exe

I have installed it and so far so good. I haven't noticed any flickering and my battery charges past 60% again.

Let me know how you get on.

 

Set the brightness to 20% and wait a minute.

 

Yeah, it still seems to be flickering with the latest BIOS :-(

 

Maybe its TMI but on the other side good for the records.
Here's the detailed information about my XPS 9950 Monitor which has still the flickering with the latest BIOS 1.2.14 A13

Code:

  [ Sharp LQ156D1 (Dell 7PHPT) ]

    Monitor Properties:
      Monitor Name                       Sharp LQ156D1 (Dell 7PHPT)
      Monitor ID                         SHP143E
      Manufacturer                       7PHPT_LQ156D1
      Monitor Type                       15.6" LCD (4K QFHD)
      Manufacture Date                   Week 40 / 2015
      Serial Number                      None
      Max. Visible Display Size          346 mm x 194 mm (15.6")
      Picture Aspect Ratio               16:9
      Maximum Resolution                 3840 x 2160
      Gamma                              2.20
      DPMS Mode Support                  None

    Supported Video Modes:
      3840 x 2160                        Pixel Clock: 533.25 MHz

 

I put the newest Bios on and even at 70% brightness noticed it. Not as frequent as when this issue first surfaced, when it appeared to be doing it every minute or so, but no less annoying for it.

Suppose I'll have to rollback to 1.2.0 *again*

 

Just out of curiosity I disabled the "Touch Function" in the BIOS. The flickering remains.

 

Do I dare say it? I installed .14 and haven't *noticed* any flickering yet. I thought this was the silver bullet. I'm disappointed to read this hasn't worked for everyone. I'm on 20% right now and just staring and waiting.... (and squinting)....

EDIT: Damn. There it is. Back with a vengeance. Took some time??? Now my flickering seems worse than before. Sigh...

 

There's an option in the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel called "Panel Self-Refresh".

If that is disabled, does it help people's screen flicker? I turned it off, and haven't noticed any flicker yet, but it might just be by chance.

 

I turned that off, but still flickering.

 

Try to disable the HyperThreading control in Bios and see if there is any change.

 

would this affect performance in anyway?

 

Of course if you used a CPU intensive multithreading enabled program/game

 

There is no change, the flickering is still present.
BTW, are we sure Dell knows about this problem? Maybe they sold all the "4k-9550"-s and they don't have one to reproduce

 

Phone them up. They seem to default to rolling back the BIOS to 1.1.15 form the cheat sheet they use on the phone, I told them it is unacceptable and still have an open ticket I am about to reply to as it's been a frigging week.

 

I have raised a ticket will Dell in relation to this.....

 

can confirm screen flickers on a13, cant believe dell has not fixed this yet, been happening since the a10 update. keep having to roll back my bios to a06. I know this is nothing new you guys dont know, however I thought I would chime in for documentation purposes of another person having the same problem.

 

I can categorically say they are aware of the issue, and as well as being offered a full refund which I declined, and to use f.lux in the meantime in conjunction with setting the brightness in the BIOS to 80%, they say to look out for a new BIOS version in the works. All straight from the horses mouth!

 

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason to update from bios 1.2.0? Because I have not updated since this version. I was mucking around so much just to get everything stable, that I am extremely hesitant to flash it. And i do not have a screen flicker issue, only very rarely and then a reboot fixes it

 

Suit yourself if you think you need any of the fixes, if it works leave it

 

Yes, if you use USB-C / Thunderbolt peripherals.

 

OK, so then I will stay on 1.2.0 because I don't use usb c. Pretty stupid though, this laptop is out for almost a year and a key feature is still having issues.

 

anyone hear back from dell on this issue? The hope is a new bios version coming out soon ...

 

Still nothing, I have been firing mails to Dell over this.

 

1.2.14 and see it a few times a minute. Driving me nuts. I was on an older BIOS without seeing the issue (not sure what) but they had me update when I called about my battery sitting at 65% not charging. ugh.

submitted a case just so their is more exposure.

 

My case got closed 'no ETA on new BIOS' even after I specifically asked for it to be left open...

 

Do you have dell service on the laptop? Abuse the crap out of it, I would. Say you want replacements... and replacements... and replacements... until the product is fixed or FULL refund.

 

Is rolling back as simple as "installing" over the current bios?

 

Yes, it is. Make sure, you have the roll back funktion enabled in your BIOS settings

 

Oh hell yeah, I started with a 9530 and got through 4 of them before I was happy, the 5th played up after a year and in 6 months I had 3 callouts, this resulted in them wanting to rip it to bits and swap out the motherboard, I kicked off about the quality of service from the engineers and got a new 9550 out of them, this came with a screen defect so they sent a further 2 new laptops that both had a new and identical stain under the panel, at this stage they wanted to give up and refund me so I went to resolutions and bagged an upgraded RAM and SSD 9550 that was spot on.

Fek em, keep chipping away until you are happy.

It is on by default so try flashing the older BIOS and if it fails you need to go change the BIOS setting.

 

Gix, would you care to elaborate a bit?

When I upgraded to the most recent version of BIOS (1.2.14 - A13) I got the flickering so I downgraded (to 1.2 - A06). I just got a Thunderbolt 3 hub (AKiTiO Thunder3 Duo Pro) that doesn’t work right out of the box. When I tried upgrading the TB3 firmware from Dell’s website (2.16.01.003 - A04) it said that I had to upgrade the BIOS first.

Are you saying that my choices are to
1) upgrade the BIOS in order to use my TB3 device and live with an annoying, flickering, unusable screen
OR
2) not upgrade BIOS in order to have a normal screen but not be able use my TB3 device?

Thanks in advance.

 

+1 I bought this laptop beginning of the year. I barely used it until now. I figured, "This is good. They probably worked out all the issues now so I'll just update the drivers and everything's going to work fine." NOPE. this is absurd. Anyone know if they ever figure things out in these types of scenarios?

I also waited patiently for the TB15 dock to come out (delays), then waited more as they consistently failed to work out major issues. They pulled the product off. Did they give up?

 

The 1.2.0 BIOS has this bug that was corrected in later versions: "Fixed Dell Thunderbolt Dock (TB15) device will lost after S3 resume". This is not corrected by the TB firmware, but is a main BIOS issue,
I am using 1.2.0 because the screen is stable (also the brightness can be dimmed more when working at night) but I have the above bug: I am using a Dell DA-200 USB-C adapter and it is not seen after waking from standby (even if I have the latest TB firmware). So I simply restart the computer and make it work.
But I am also mad that after 1 year this computer is still having big issues and I cannot imagine how Dell is doing quality tests, most probably they don't...

 

GoNz0,

This thread is informative and helped me troubleshoot my flickering issue. Thank you. Additionally, I've been using your Clean Install Guide as a reference on where to download drivers and plan on implementing the guide when my new SSD arrives.

1) Can you point me in the right direction for me to "open up a ticket" with Dell regarding this flickering issue? I tried to talk to them via Live Chat a few times but it’s always down (without listing their hours). Do I have to call them?

My warranty is good until February 2017. Does this mean I have “Dell Service.” Do I need to reinstall Dell’s SupportAssist program in order to reach Dell and bring up issues more effectively? I uninstalled it after reading that I should uninstall ALL Dell software in the known issues thread (which the OP admits is outdated). It’s sad that I can’t just trust and install drivers/software from the manufacture website because it puts my computer into an unusable state (e.g. flickering).

2) I want to ask them for a replacement spacebar (damaged trying to fix mushy spacebar issue) and a new battery (disappointing, not as advertised). Will they make me ship my computer in so that it’s out of commission for weeks? Or will they just send me the parts and return box for me to return the old/defective part? Is the channel by which I do this different from bringing up an issue (i.e. opening up a ticket)?

Thanks Again!

 

Gix - Thank you for your prompt reply. Just to clarify, you were able to update your Dell 9550 Laptop's TB firmware to the most recent version (Version 2.16.01.003, A04) whilst on BIOS version 1.2.0?

I'm trying to do the above on BIOS version 1.2.0 but when I run the firmware update it's saying I have to upgrade my BIOS. Did you upgrade the firmware on a higher BIOS version and then, perhaps downgrade back to 1.2.0? Is it okay to do this?

I heard good things about the DA-200 (i.e. that the ports work reliably as advertised). Having to reboot every time my computer sleeps to use my TB3 port will annoy me to no end. However, it's better than the flickering. Looking fwd to your reply. Thanks!

 

Google "phone dell support" and it will tell you your countries number.

They wont ship a spacebar, they just don't have them, for gods sake don't tell them you broke it or your SOOL, they will send an engineer with a new keyboard or ask you to send the laptop in depending on your cover. This is a full stripdown.

Battery? what's up with the battery???

 

Yes, the latest FW update app needs a newer BIOS version, you can update the BIOS then downgrade to 1.2.0.
However, it is possible you already have the most recent TB firmware. Dell published several updates to the FW update application but not to the FW itself. You can verify the TB version by launching the Thunderbolt application then right click on the tray icon and launch settings/details and you can read the NVM firmware and the PD firmware versions, currently being 16 and 1.02.06 (this one seems old comparing to other vendors).

 

Oh ffs, had Dell on the phone asking why I never replied to his last email, can't be arsed to keep repeating myself was the answer. So currently he is wittering on about November for a BIOS update, I told him again I don't believe they will fix it due to the monitor switching to PWM at 25% and less and this seems to be the issue. Oh well I will simply push for whatever model comes next if they can't fix it.

 

I followed your directions and it says I'm on...
NVM firmware version 12
PD firmware version 1.01.09
I'll go ahead and upgrade my BIOS (yay, flickering), then update TB firmware. Then perhaps downgrade the BIOS back down to 1.2.0 (A06) if the flickering is unbearable.
Thank you.

 

I see. One of the tiny teeth broke on the spacebar. It's okay now, but I'd like a little more spring/bounce (like the other keys). I'd feel more comfortable trying to fix it some more if I have a new spacebar to install. I had a key consistently fall off on my older laptop and it was so annoying (wouldn't want it to happen to my space bar).

Re: battery - I feel like I got a lemon. Microsoft store site says "up to" 10 hrs for my model. Dell’s website says, “The battery lasts up to 17 hours with FHD, 84WHr battery and SSD. Add additional 9 hours with the optional Dell Power Companion.” So FHD = 1080p so 4K should get less battery life. SSD usually only ships out with i7’s but I’m assuming no mention of processor could indicate i5 (longer battery life)? There’s obviously a ton of factors/variables that affect battery life.

The other day I went to the library with a fully charged 9550 (4K, i7, SSD) and a fully charged Dell Power Companion (18000 mAh) PW7015L. I ran out of juice and had to come home after about 6-7hrs, maybe 8 hrs at the most but I really don’t think I was there that long. I was reading/browsing/typing on Word and Firefox, which I’m assuming counts as “light use”? I probably had my brightness a little higher than normal but it got dark towards the end of my stay. Plus, I don’t like my screen that bright in general. I get maybe 4 hours on the laptop if I’m just browsing and typing. I was expecting a little more, especially given that some of the sites that reviewed my model were stating they get more (6hrs, 7.5hrs with light use). I haven’t done any troubleshooting regarding this, yet. Also, I just updated some of my drivers (it’s been a while) so maybe I’ll see an improvement.

Maybe it’s just the Dell Power Companion. Sometimes when I plug in the power bar I get this pop-up that says something like, “you plugged in an adapter that’s not 130w, please plug in the right adapter”. I usually ignore it and it charges the laptop but perhaps it messes with my battery life. The majority of the time I’ve had this laptop it’s been daisy-chain plugged-in via the Dell Power Companion (adapter to power companion to laptop).

I’m not sure how using the Dell Power Companion affects the flickerbility of the laptop. I’m not sure what kind of intelligent mechanisms the laptop has to convey a consistent, clean source of power. Nor do I know if it affects PWM. As others have pointed out my flickering was definitely a lot worse unplugged (on battery), but this could have been secondary to the brightness settings being lowered (e.g. <25%) when unplugged, or perhaps because I just happen to lower the brightness coincidentally after unplugging the laptop.

Anyway, I was hoping that they’d just mail me a new spacebar and battery in a box with a return label for the old parts but I guess they don’t do that. Dell website for my product says, “1 Year Ltd Hware Warranty: Mail-in; Customer supplies box, Dell pays shipping.”

I did buy the laptop at a Microsoft Store, and it came with their Microsoft Answer Desk which is their premium service. I don’t have any experience dealing with them but some of their sales people I wouldn’t trust with my laptop. Maybe their tech people are different?

 

MS have passed the hardware warranty direct to Dell afaik.

Oh yes

Not tested my arse. Skylake is supported on the mobile platform.

Sent from my SM-G920F

 

It seems someone found some sort of fix : https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/57d7tw/xps_15_9550_4k_flicker_fix/

 

Anyone else confirm this?

 

Seeing the positive feedback on reddit I'll try this fix. I'll keep you updated on my results.

 

@GoNz0 Still seeing some flickering. Maybe less but definitely still there.

 

This would not make sense, as you can see it in BIOS, right?

 

I just wiped my 9550, and started from scratch with a vanilla Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update USB stick.

Let Windows install all drivers and run the 1670 update.

My flicker is gone. Intel GFX version 20.19.15.4331 is currently installed on my machine. And lo and behold, I just came back to this thread to post about my experience with a re-image and to let you guys know, and am reading just now about this post on Reddit, which also refers to the same driver version!

I guess I am now here corroborating this post on Reddit. Go for it guys, it (fingers crossed, touch wood, etc) seems to be doing the trick.

 

Just installed the 4331 intel GPU driver. Flicker seems to be GONE! (I'm on Bios 1.2.14)

 

Seems to work here too with the 4331 Intel Driver!! No flicker yet!