[Dell L702X] nvidia-331.38-0ubuntu7.1 prevents system from rebooting

[Matteo Panella]

All reset methods on a fully updated L702X with BIOS A19 (latest available release) fail except for the PCI reset through CF9.
This is a regression from the 12.04 LTS kernel, and other OSes (namely, Windows 7) can reboot without problems.

The problem with writing to CF9 is that one of the disks (or both) perform an emergency head parking before the system resets itself, so while the system reboots it's less than optimal.

I'm attaching both the disassembled DSDT and the fwts result log (which itself is inconsistent, since the CPU is running the latest microcode).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-35.62-generic 3.13.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-35-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.4
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: panella 2843 F.... pulseaudio
                      panella 3347 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Sat Sep 20 14:34:28 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=7f975fef-305d-4bc7-b61f-3c3efe006fca
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-04-28 (874 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Dell System XPS L702X
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-35-generic root=UUID=d914b486-cf0a-465b-9b10-260738eba9a3 ro reboot=p intel_pstate=enable
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-35-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-35-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.6
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-09-19 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 09/07/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A19
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 0XN71K
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: FAB1
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 0.1
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA19:bd09/07/2012:svnDellInc.:pnDellSystemXPSL702X:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0XN71K:rvrFAB1:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1:
dmi.product.name: Dell System XPS L702X
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Matteo Panella, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. Could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from the very top line at the top of the page (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested exactly shown as:
kernel-fixed-upstream-3.17-rc5

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Matteo Panella (mpanella)]

Tested on 3.17-rc5-utopic as instructed, I observed the same behaviour: all reset methods except writing to CF9 result in the system getting stuck after the kernel issues the "Restarting System" message, then the machine powers down suddenly.

Resetting via CF9 still results in disks going into emergency head park before the system restarts, so it's still a reset method I'd *really* wish to avoid.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Matteo Panella, the next step is to fully bisect the kernel in order to identify the offending commit. Could you please do this following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/KernelBisection ?

[Matteo Panella (mpanella)]

Unfortunately, it appears that the culprit is the nvidia binary blob, switching to nouveau made the system reboot without a hitch. I did a bit of housekeeping on the bug and marked the nvidia binary driver as affected.

Sorry for the line noise.