Dell XPS 13 - Bios upgrade not working - Always ask for power supply

[Dash]

Each time the notebook starts I'm advised that a new bios upgrade is out: XPS 13 7390 System Update 0.1.3.1 => 0.1.4.0

Problem is that when I ask for update, I always get this message (traduction from french):

Not possible to upgrade "XPS 13 7390 System Update": connect power supply.

Battery can be full, notebook connected on power supply, doesn't matter, will not upgrade.

Daniel

Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: ubuntu-software 3.28.1-0ubuntu4.18.04.14
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-1066.76-oem 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-1066-oem x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Fri Jan 24 09:15:31 2020
DistributionChannelDescriptor:
 # This is the distribution channel descriptor for the OEM CDs
 # For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor
 canonical-oem-somerville-bionic-amd64-20180608-47+beaver-three-eyed-raven+X92
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-12-07 (47 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04 "Bionic" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20180608-09:38
InstalledPlugins:
 gnome-software-plugin-flatpak N/A
 gnome-software-plugin-limba N/A
 gnome-software-plugin-snap 3.28.1-0ubuntu4.18.04.14
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-software
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report. Can you add the info from those command after trying the update while being on a/c?
$ upower -d
$ journalctl -b 0

[Dash (devel-tootai)]

Hi Sebastien. While rebooting to have a clear journalctl output to send you, the updates work and I found why.

Battery has to be 100% charged. While still on power, reboot the machine, do the upgrade, reboot and finally the BIOS gets upgraded. After last reboot you can remove the power supply.

Should this be the correct behavior ?

Daniel

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your reply, the 100% charged doesn't make much sense though, it you are on A/C it should be enough... without the debug informations hard to tell what the issue is though

[Dash (devel-tootai)]

Well, have to wait for next bios update. If it help, attached you will find upower when discharging and charging, around 15 seconds between the 2 output

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for gnome-software (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Dash (devel-tootai)]

A bios update is not always available in a 60 days time life!

[Pierre-Antoine Champin (pchampin)]

I have had the same problem since I got my XPS 7390, and I have the same problem. I just found this report and will try Daniel's fix ASAP (actually, my laptop has been charging all night, so I hope it will work). However, just before I do, here is the output of the two commands required by Sebastien.

$ upower -d
Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_AC
  native-path: AC
  power supply: yes
  updated: mar. 07 avril 2020 06:49:37 CEST (59 seconds ago)
  has history: no
  has statistics: no
  line-power
    warning-level: none
    online: yes
    icon-name: 'ac-adapter-symbolic'

Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0
  native-path: BAT0
  vendor: SMP
  model: DELL G8VCF6C
  serial: 1225
  power supply: yes
  updated: mar. 07 avril 2020 06:49:37 CEST (59 seconds ago)
  has history: yes
  has statistics: yes
  battery
    present: yes
    rechargeable: yes
    state: fully-charged
    warning-level: none
    energy: 48,8832 Wh
    energy-empty: 0 Wh
    energy-full: 49,4 Wh
    energy-full-design: 51,9992 Wh
    energy-rate: 4,104 W
    voltage: 8,637 V
    percentage: 98%
    capacity: 95,0015%
    technology: lithium-polymer
    icon-name: 'battery-full-charged-symbolic'
  History (charge):
    1586234977 98,000 discharging
  History (rate):
    1586234977 4,104 fully-charged
    1586234977 6,492 discharging

Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/DisplayDevice
  power supply: yes
  updated: mar. 07 avril 2020 06:49:37 CEST (59 seconds ago)
  has history: no
  has statistics: no
  battery
    present: yes
    state: fully-charged
    warning-level: none
    energy: 48,8832 Wh
    energy-full: 49,4 Wh
    energy-rate: 4,104 W
    percentage: 98%
    icon-name: 'battery-full-charged-symbolic'

Daemon:
  daemon-version: 0.99.11
  on-battery: no
  lid-is-closed: no
  lid-is-present: yes
  critical-action: PowerOff

$ journalctl -b 0 >/tmp/journalctl.out
(see attached file)

[Pierre-Antoine Champin (pchampin)]

FTR, I tried as Daniel described, and it didn't work.

My configuration is slightly different, though:

* using Ubuntu 19.04
* my current firmware is 1.1.3

When I click on the update with AC plugged in, I get a "Software is up to date" message,*
with no indication to reboot.
When I reboot, I see (very quickly) 4 lines at the top-left of the initial "Dell" screen,
saying something about a firmware update found... Does not look like an error message.

Still, after the reboot, the firmware is still 1.1.3 :-/