[Dell Latitude D420] Faulty laptop battery or AC throws system cache for a loop

[Alan Pater]

After a random period of time after a fresh boot, the system cache gets corrupted. This is shown by hdparm -T.

Before system cache corruption:
 Timing cached reads: 1804 MB in 2.00 seconds = 902.88 MB/sec

After system cache corruption:
 Timing cached reads: 258 MB in 2.00 seconds = 129.10 MB/sec

Either the system battery or the AC adaptor is not functioning correctly, the Dell bios at times indicates that the AC adaptor is not a valid Dell product, though it is. In any case, the battery does not charge, but remains at 0%.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: linux-image-3.11.0-12-generic 3.11.0-12.19
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-12.19-generic 3.11.3
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-12-generic i686
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: asp 1931 F.... pulseaudio
Date: Fri Dec 6 18:45:58 2013
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=08003f81-dc4b-4697-adb9-c4f28291be17
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-12-06 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release i386 (20131016.1)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Latitude D420
MarkForUpload: True
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-12-generic root=UUID=ecd26c7d-0cb5-446e-a2ca-e4fefc0c0fd0 ro quiet splash processor.ignore_ppc=1 vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-12-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-12-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.116
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 02/02/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A06
dmi.board.name: 0TJ984
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA06:bd02/02/2008:svnDellInc.:pnLatitudeD420:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0TJ984:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Latitude D420
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Did this issue occur in a previous version of Ubuntu, or is this a new issue?

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.12 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.13-rc3-trusty/

[Alan Pater (alan-pater)]

Yes it occurred in the previous version and yes, I have tried about a dozen other kernels.

I would rather do some triage to actully identify the issue instead of getting in an endless loop of trying different kernels in the hope that some unrelated patch will have an affect.

[Alan Pater (alan-pater)]

Looking though the FWTS results, I see that the most recent microcode is not being loaded.
Attempting to fix that runs me into https://bugs.launchpad.net/initramfs-tools/+bug/1194370