Kernel is very unstable on Dell XPS15 (model 2014)

[Benjamin Zeller]

The system is halted on my machine in different scenarios:

1) Running debootstrap, the oops happens when chroot tries to mount a kernel filesystem from the host
2) Running ubuntu-emulator create from the Ubuntu SDK IDE: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/16373613/

3) USB devices are disconnected sometimes, they are immediately reconnected but when a ubuntu phone is attached chances are high the system might hang as well

I will attach more logs as soon as I hit the problem again

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-22-generic 4.4.0-22.39
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-22.39-generic 4.4.8
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-22-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zcommon znvpair zavl
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC3: zbenjamin 3703 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC2: zbenjamin 3703 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: zbenjamin 3703 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: zbenjamin 3703 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Thu May 12 11:36:15 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=ffa1bf0f-220e-4288-9b84-9970818474fc
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-03-15 (57 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Alpha amd64 (20160307)
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS 15 9530
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-22-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=b09b103f-4a2d-4347-8844-6892dcb781ae ro i915.semaphores=0 i915.enable_rc6=0
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-22-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-22-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 07/16/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A06
dmi.board.name: XPS 15 9530
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A06
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA06:bd07/16/2014:svnDellInc.:pnXPS159530:pvrA06:rvnDellInc.:rnXPS159530:rvrA06:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.name: XPS 15 9530
dmi.product.version: A06
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Benjamin Zeller (zeller-benjamin)]

Searching through my logs I found more oopses:

May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441199] BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at (null)
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441229] IP: [<ffffffff813ef54d>] __rb_erase_color+0xdd/0x260
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441251] PGD 0
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441259] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441269] Modules linked in: scsi_transport_iscsi btrfs xor raid6_pq ufs qnx4 hfsplus hfs minix ntfs msdos jfs xfs libcrc32c cpuid kvm_intel veth xt_CHECKSUM iptable_mangle xt_tcpudp ipt_MASQUERADE nf_nat_masquerade_ipv4 iptable_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_defrag_ipv4 nf_nat_ipv4 nf_nat nf_conntrack bridge stp llc iptable_filter ip_tables x_tables nvram msr drbg ansi_cprng ctr ccm rfcomm bnep binfmt_misc zfs(PO) zunicode(PO) zcommon(PO) znvpair(PO) spl(O) zavl(PO) cdc_mbim cdc_wdm cdc_ncm snd_usb_audio usbnet mii snd_usbmidi_lib uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_v4l2 videobuf2_core v4l2_common btusb videodev btrtl btbcm media btintel bluetooth hid_multitouch arc4 pn544_mei mei_phy pn544 hci nfc nls_iso8859_1 intel_rapl dell_wmi x86_pkg_temp_thermal sparse_keymap dell_laptop intel_powerclamp dcdbas coretemp kvm iwlmvm irqbypass mac80211 crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul aesni_intel aes_x86_64 lrw gf128mul glue_helper ablk_helper snd_hda_codec_realtek cryptd snd_hda_codec_generic snd_hda_codec_hdmi joydev input_leds serio_raw iwlwifi snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec cfg80211 rtsx_pci_ms snd_seq_midi memstick lpc_ich snd_hda_core snd_seq_midi_event snd_hwdep snd_rawmidi mei_me snd_pcm mei snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_timer snd soundcore shpchp int3400_thermal processor_thermal_device intel_soc_dts_iosf acpi_als int3403_thermal int3402_thermal acpi_thermal_rel ie31200_edac kfifo_buf industrialio edac_core int340x_thermal_zone dell_smo8800 dell_rbtn mac_hid parport_pc ppdev lp parport autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid nouveau rtsx_pci_sdmmc i915 mxm_wmi ttm i2c_algo_bit drm_kms_helper syscopyarea sysfillrect sysimgblt ahci fb_sys_fops psmouse libahci drm rtsx_pci video wmi fjes [last unloaded: kvm_intel]
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441788] CPU: 4 PID: 16447 Comm: device_wait_for Tainted: P U O 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441812] Hardware name: Dell Inc. XPS 15 9530/XPS 15 9530, BIOS A06 07/16/2014
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441831] task: ffff88013de92940 ti: ffff880210470000 task.ti: ffff880210470000
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441850] RIP: 0010:[<ffffffff813ef54d>] [<ffffffff813ef54d>] __rb_erase_color+0xdd/0x260
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441873] RSP: 0018:ffff880210473ac8 EFLAGS: 00010282
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441887] RAX: ffff8801b2b9ae61 RBX: ffff8801b2b9ae60 RCX: 0000000000000000
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441905] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff880308c3ccc0 RDI: ffff8801b2b9ae60
May 9 14:11:57 zbenjamin-laptop kernel: [116304.441926] RBP: ffff880210473af0 R08: ffff8801b2b9ae6...

[Benjamin Zeller (zeller-benjamin)]

This kern.log also contains a few of them

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v4.6 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'.

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/v4.6-rc7-wily/

[Benjamin Zeller (zeller-benjamin)]

I installed the 4.6rc kernel and did some quick checks. I could not reproduce the issue.
However the ZFS module is missing which might be a part of the problem.
I'm using lxd containers with ZFS enabled and noticed that the crashes seem to happen
more likely when containers are started.

Aside from pulling the upstream zfs sources and building them myself are there other
ways to get the module for the RC kernels?

[Benjamin Zeller (zeller-benjamin)]

Short update, I built the zfs module and tools myself. If I cannot crash the kernel now anymore we can consider it to be fixed in upstream. Will give a update at the end of the week.

[Benjamin Zeller (zeller-benjamin)]

I can not reproduce this anymore on the upstream kernel and a manually compiled zfs module