Dell Inspiron 7559 fans do not shut off once started, even when cool

Bug #1602888 reported by Occams Beard
146
This bug affects 30 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Incomplete
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Running Ubuntu 16.04 on a Dell Inspiron 7559 laptop there appears to be an issue with the fan control. When I first boot up the machine the fans are off. However, after the laptop warms up under normal usage, the fans kick on and then never shut off again. Even when the CPU cools down to below 35c, the fans will continue to run.

If I suspend the the laptop, and then immediately wake it up again then fans are once again off, until it warms up again. So essentially, once the fans start they don't seem to ever shut off.

Fans seem to work normally under Windows 10. They turn on as needed, and then turn off once the laptop cools down.

I've tried the various BIOS updates that Dell has released, without success. I am currently running Dell's latest BIOS for this laptop (v1.1.8)

Below is the output of lm-sensors showing the fans running when the CPU is at a cool 35c

dell_smm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Processor Fan: 1925 RPM
Processor Fan: 2143 RPM
CPU: +35.0°C
GPU: +1.0°C
SODIMM: +49.0°C

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-28-generic 4.4.0-28.47
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-28.47-generic 4.4.13
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-28-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: bob 1709 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Jul 13 19:18:45 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=14de580b-76f3-47e4-9850-fe7637f9ff77
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-07-13 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 7559
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-28-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=0b3dbcf3-0bdb-4c35-9200-7bb303055a81 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-28-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-28-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157.2
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 04/17/2016
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.1.8
dmi.board.name: 0H0CC0
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.1.8:bd04/17/2016:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron7559:pvr1.1.8:rvnDellInc.:rn0H0CC0:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 7559
dmi.product.version: 1.1.8
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Brad Figg (brad-figg) wrote : Status changed to Confirmed

This change was made by a bot.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Max (splokow) wrote :

A lot of Dell Inspiron 7559 users are facing this annoying bug.
It doesn't matter if we're using the Intel Graphic card or the Nvidia one.
I have the problem under Linux Mint and Kubuntu.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Occams Beard, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

In order to allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue, at your earliest convenience, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D ? Please keep in mind the following:
1) The one to test is at the very top line at the top of the page (not the daily folder).
2) The release names are irrelevant.
3) The folder time stamps aren't indicative of when the kernel actually was released upstream.
4) Install instructions are available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds .

If testing on your main install would be inconvenient, one may:
1) Install Ubuntu to a different partition and then test this there.
2) Backup, or clone the primary install.

If the latest kernel did not allow you to test to the issue (ex. you couldn't boot into the OS) please make a comment in your report about this, and continue to test the next most recent kernel version until you can test to the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this issue is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon, next to the word Tags, located at the bottom of the report description:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Where X, and Y are the first two numbers of the kernel version, and Z is the release candidate number if it exists.

If the mainline kernel does not fix the issue, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Please note, an error to install the kernel does not fit the criteria of kernel-bug-exists-upstream.

Also, you don't need to apport-collect further unless specifically requested to do so.

Once testing of the latest upstream kernel is complete, please mark this report Status Confirmed. Please let us know your results.

Thank you for your understanding.

tags: added: latest-bios-1.1.8
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

After installing the v4.7-rc7 mainline build kernel I can confirm that this bug still exists.

I installed the following 3 debs with sudo dpkg -i *.deb:

linux-headers-4.7.0-040700rc7_4.7.0-040700rc7.201607110032_all.deb
linux-headers-4.7.0-040700rc7-generic_4.7.0-040700rc7.201607110032_amd64.deb
linux-image-4.7.0-040700rc7-generic_4.7.0-040700rc7.201607110032_amd64.deb

Next, I rebooted the laptop and confirmed I was running on 4.7 with uname -r:
4.7.0-040700rc7-generic

I used the laptop for a few minutes until the fans came on. The fans continued to run, and are still running 30 minutes later. Here's the output of lm-sensors showing that the cpu is cool, yet the fans are spinning away.

dell_smm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Processor Fan: 1935 RPM
Processor Fan: 2134 RPM
CPU: +33.0°C
GPU: +1.0°C
SODIMM: +45.0°C

Other thoughts - I don't know if this is relevant to the fan issue, but in powertop under the "idle stats" tab, the CPU package never gets past C2. This is the case with all kernels I've tried. Perhaps the fan issue is related to the screwy skylake power management? I've attached a text file of the powertop idle stats with the 4.7 kernel.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Confirmed
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.7-rc7
penalvch (penalvch)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Guys, by installing kernel 4.8-RC2 I've noticed (until I've rebooted) that fans were working fine, once the CPU was heated up they started to spin and then once cooled down to about 41C they stopped. Only one thing I've noticed in psensor utility was that the GPU temperature min/current/max was still 1C! I was running on Intel GPU and powertop package state was only C2.

So there pops up the question:

Is there a possibility that the fans problem is related to sensor from Intel/nVidia GPU? Unfortunately I am not able to reproduce this again so I would take at least a screenshot.
Because after reboot the issue is presented on Kernel 4.8.0-040800rc2 and PSensor shows correct GPU temperature again.

http://imgur.com/pCSfqUi

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

I've noticed that without the nvidia driver installed the GPU temp sensor always reads 1c. After the nvidia driver is installed it reports the correct temp. I think probably not related to the fan issue. Also it seems strange that the fans stopping didn't survive a reboot. I've noticed that if the laptop is cool sometimes the fans will stop on their own. But this happens very very rarely, and only if the ambient temp is cool as well.

The best explanation/theory I've heard for the fan issue is #14 on this thread:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-certification/+question/293705

In any case I think this bug needs to be reported upstream to the Linux kernel team. I'm not sure where or to which maintainer though. I've had to resort to using Windows 10 with cygwin (Yuck) and unfortunately had to remove Ubuntu to free up drive space :(

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

I've created a bug for kernel (hopefully correctly)
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153281

Revision history for this message
Z.H. (zeehaa) wrote :

Perhaps a workaround: try to install i8kutils!
It worked for me, but I'm not sure if it is a real solution.
(after installing that package, both fans stopped, but they not started when CPU's temperature were over 60C...)

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Already tried the i8kutils, but this is just workaround, not a real solution for this problem. Also I see that however the CPU is on kernel 4.8 quite effective with power management the whole package can't reach lower than C3 state.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Dell has introduced a successor of Inspiron 7559 - Inspiron 7566 at the end of October 2016 - http://www.dell.com/sg/p/inspiron-15-7566-laptop/pd?oc=w51755724sgw10 .It has got the same CPU, GPU and display but comes with DDR4 RAM and SSD disk. It also has a new look, much uglier than 7559 in my opinion ☺, but in the end something I can probably live with ... Since it has been around for only a few days, there is virtually no information on how it works with linux, so I guess I can only extrapolate whether it's going to have the same issues as the 7559 and potetially higher risks since it has not been tested. Nevertheless, I welcome all your inputs and tips ...

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

A friend of mine he has i5 model and he claims that the fans are shutting off, but not as good (often) as on Windows. On the other hand, the i7 model has this fans problem, see my bug I've created on bugzilla. Also battery lasts less on Linux than on Windows. From mine point of view, buying this model was a big mistake for Linux usage.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Disabling nvidia with bbswitch makes no difference for me. Fans keep on spinning. I have an i7.

I am not convinced the fan issue even has anything to do with the graphics.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

> Dell has introduced a successor of Inspiron 7559 - Inspiron 7566

Stay far away from it if you are a Linux user. It probably has the same crappy Dell bios/ACPI. Also Dell is no help and is generally clueless about everything.

Actually, I would advise staying away from any nvidia optimus laptop. Linux support is a kludge at best.

Revision history for this message
Cuate (enayunas) wrote :

Has anyone tried changing the EFI .aml files to try and fix some of the issues in ubuntu?

I saw a hackingtosh tutorial for el capital (which is an os that was not made for skylake) on 7559 i7 UHD where they modify efi .aml files to make it work. The result was a i7 7559 uhd laptop running macos with the same battery time as windows and also with the same fan behaviour as windows.

In the tutorial they disabled the nvidia card (which I don't need in linux) and they also made some patches to for the power management and procesor turbo modes all in the .aml files.

I understabd it is posible to downlaod the efi files from the bios, uncompile them and modify them in linux, and to test you can use the e option in grub to indicate wehre the new file that has the modified aml is located.

Unfortunately I have no time to play with this setting to see if I can get battery life and the fan under control, but if anyone can it would be great.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

cat /proc/acpi/bbswitch says the discrete nvidia card is OFF.

Fans are still running.

I do not use bumblebee/optirun, only bbswitch. I will try bumblebee when i get some free time and see if that makes any difference.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Thank you so much for your inputs, everyone ...

> If Nvidia is properly shutted down, the only big issue lasted is a bad Skylake power management in Linux (going no deeper than package c-state 3), but then almost any Skylake laptop is not the best choice.

Wasn't Skylake bad power management supposed to be fixed with kernel 4.8? I'm not saying it is, but I saw the announcement by the mighty Linus himself quoted and reposted everywhere ...

> Stay far away from it if you are a Linux user. It probably has the same crappy Dell bios/ACPI. Also Dell is no help and is generally clueless about everything.

Well, that's my dilema - I've read about the issues and the shitty Dell support, on the other hand 7566 is a real price breaker - i7 with 8 threads, nVidia 960 4gb,8gb ddr4, 1920x1080 display and 128 gb ssd + another 500gb hdd for the price of 1100$, you won't find much competion there, at least not where I live, and I want to also use it for occasional Win gaming, although I can't stand Win for more than game launching. I could get the same configuration Linux certified, but it's about extra 200$, and I would have to ship it from Germany as there is only a few shops that sell Linux certified laptops around Europe, I live in Prague, and it's not exactly a manufacturer with a shop around the corner, so in case of warranty repair it's going back to Germany. With the Dell, I can buy in my favorite internet computer store. Then some people say it sucks with Linux, others say it actually works pretty fine for them, especially with the latest kernel version. Most of the issues looks solvable, more or less, except of the fan issue, but again, some people don't experience it, one guy was actually claimimg the other day that 7559 worked for him almost out of the box with Debian-testing, no issues whatsoever, so I'm kind off being torn appart. In the end, it's a little gamble, I guess ...

Alex, how is your battery life?

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

> one guy was actually claimimg the other day that 7559 worked for him almost out of the box with Debian-testing

"Working" can be very subjective depending on who you ask. This bug report and the kernel bugzilla report show that many users are having the fan issue.

In any case, let's not clutter up this bug report with issues/opinions/etc not related to the fan bug.

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

i'm also experiencing this issue
 - only running on integrated graphics

getting 3.5-4 hrs. average battery life and hoping to get more if and when this issue is fixed.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Occams Beard, have you tested the fan issue with kernel 4.8? Here, you only mention kernel 4.7, but 4.8 was supposed to fix Skylake power management issues. I have noticed people having fan issues on other laptop models with Skylake, mostly i7 6700hq, (Asus, Lenovo), as well in Linux, so this points to the fans problem being a broader issue. On the other hand I see people here and the other kernel thread reporting that 4.8 alone has not fixed the problem for them (I have seen 2 so far). It would be nice to have more data in order to be able to clearly distinguish whether the 7759 fan issue is a Skylake problem alone, or if there is something else in play. I haven't found any reports from those other folks outside the 7759 linux community who previously had fan issues too, to see whether the 4.8 has had any improvement for them yet. 4.8 has only been out for about a month, so I guess there is not enough data ...

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Correction, I mean 7559,not 7759 ... sorry

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

I've read (but I do not remember where) that Lenovo had the same problem with the fans on some models with 6700HQ CPU, but they released BIOS update which resolved this problem, so it seems like a problem of ACPI/BIOS (maybe I am just wrong and the problem is really somewhere else). On the other hand XPS 15 models seems working correctly so I'd blame DELL incompetency (or lack of willing) to fix this problem.

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

additional info:

running on integrated graphics HD 530
with 16.04 LTS + 4.4 kernel

I just updated to BIOS version: 1.2.0 [released: 31 Oct 2016]

issue persists.
[I will install and test 16.10+4.8 next week and post results]

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Fan issue persists on 4.8.6 and 4.9-RC3 with BIOS 1.2.0.

Revision history for this message
filsd (filsdd) wrote :

Hi!

I have this Laptop (i5 model) and I bought it from Dell (Brazil) already with Ubuntu (14.04) certified.
Using the Dell tools I can make an ISO of this version.

I have been using this version of Ubuntu for months now and it doesn't have any problems. ANY. (I even updated the Nvidia drivers using a PPA, it works!).

Are any of you interested in this ISO? I can upload it for you to download (using wetransfer or something). It could help to find the real issues.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

count me in for the iso!

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Count me in as well, I likely won't have time this week to try it, but I would be very interested to know what Dell does differently with their version of Ubuntu

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Just to clarify this for me, because I'm getting kind of lost in reading all the posts, both Ubuntu developers in this thread, and kernel developers in the kernel thread where this issue is reported are more or less blaming this on Dell firmware, am I getting this correctly?

Concerning the Dell certified version of Ubuntu - Dell does not allow other users whose machine did not originally come with it to download, i.e. making it public to download, am I correct?

I also have a question about the i8kutils - does it remedy the issue completely without side effects and is it dangerous to use it? I mean, it's not vendor certified software and it meddles with temperature settings for the fans, so if I really screw up the settings, can I potentially fry my CPU?

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Petr:
ad 1: Possibly yes
ad 2: yes (I haven't seen anywhere the ISO for download)
ad 3: i8kutils seems working, I've tried that. But yes, in case of wrong temp. setting you can damage your CPU/GPU, I'm using it as workaround but I am not satisfied (not sleeping very well) by using that.

Revision history for this message
filsd (filsdd) wrote :

Would it be illegal to release it??
Its open source anyway. :/

I imagined that Dell wound not "guarantee" that would work or give any support to those other users. (But we know it works)

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

peter-biely, could you share your i8kutils settings?

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

This is what I am using, but I am not taking any responsibility of damage caused on your laptop. :) Also you can play with the temps to get the fan speeds to you satisfaction...

# /etc/i8kmon.conf
# Run as daemon, override with --daemon option
set config(daemon) 0

# Automatic fan control, override with --auto option
set config(auto) 1

# Report status on stdout, override with --verbose option
set config(verbose) 1

# Status check timeout (seconds), override with --timeout option
set config(timeout) 20

# For computer with 2 fans, use a variant of this instead:
# Temperature thresholds: {fan_speeds low_ac high_ac low_batt high_batt}
set config(0) {{0 0} -1 55 -1 55}
set config(1) {{1 1} 36 65 36 65}
set config(2) {{1 1} 50 75 50 75}
set config(3) {{2 2} 70 128 70 128}

# end of file

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

thanks, I'm still determined to try a few more things.

If nothing works, I have no choice but to try i8kutils anyway. And I feel better having a reference config that works from someone with the same machine.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Peter, thank for clarifying things for me, I appreciate it.
Also, have you tried the http://linux.dell.com/ ? It's kind of unofficial dell Linux support site. Or so they say ...

>> Would it be illegal to release it?? Its open source anyway. :/
Sure, Ubuntu is open source, not sure if you can take parts of Ubuntu, change it and claim it proprietary. After all, I never read the license ... :) Anyway, I don't think they would make much fuss about it. So, just give it to us, please ... ;)

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

Oh, and I have found this: http://linux.dell.com/files/ubuntu/precise/12.04-OSP1/ but it is Ubuntu 12.04, probably good for study purposes, not sure I would want using 4-years old OS ...

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Occams Beard, to keep this relevant to upstream, one would want check for, and test the latest mainline kernel (now 4.9-rc4) as it is released.

Could you please advise?

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@penalvch: I can confirm the problem still exists on 4.9.0-040900rc4-generic

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

I have just tried simply removing the bottom cover and holding the laptop against an electric fan. And the fans stopped spinning.

I had to run several applications and execute a heavy task to re-trigger the fans. Fans start at max speed for a few seconds and then settle down at typical low speed.
I was able to repeat and confirm this fan response.

It seems the fans are configured to stop only at very very low temperatures.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@lpturoyo: have you tried to run psensor or sensors to get temp. value which shuts the fans off?
You should also post your finding here (with the fans off temp.):
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153281

Revision history for this message
filsd (filsdd) wrote :

Ok guys, I'm gonna send it.

I ask you guys to not make it public. I'm only giving this to help find the bug that plagues this awesome laptop.

Thanks. :]

PS: @gnidorah I didnt sent you the download. I dont have access to your email.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

@penalvch: I can confirm the problem still exists on 4.9.0-040900rc4-generic

I also can confirm that taking the bottom of the laptop off and blowing cool air in there shuts off the fans. Monitoring CPU temp while doing this, it's around 25c - but it seems to vary, sometimes 26c, sometimes 24c. It's strange. Once I stop blowing cool air into it, the fans eventually start again.

However, under Windows using HWInfo, another temp sensor shows up - PCH (platform controller hub). Under Windows this usually seems to run warmer than the CPU. Under Linux, I've never found a way to report the temp for the PCH. I wonder if this could actually be heating up under Linux (due to poor power management) thereby causing the BIOS to run the fans. Just something I noticed so thought i'd throw it out there...

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Installed Ubuntu 14.04 from filsd (thank you for sharing that btw) on my i7 Inspiron and:
- in powertop cpu lowest level is C3 as the kernel 3.19 does not fully support Skylake power management
- psensor shows that fan were spinning crazy at 5k rpm but cpu/gpu temp was about +28C even after hour of idle system
Maybe there are some drivers need to be installed (list of drivers is pretty huge) but I didn't know what to install, I'll try to play with that, but I'm getting pretty skeptic.
Overall I am wondering how this distro can work smoothly with such old kernel which does not fully support Skylake powermanagement on such new HW, but as I've mentioned somewhere: a friend of mine he has this laptop with i5 and even newer kernels work just fine and fans are switching off, although not as often as on windows so it might be really something with i7 vs i5 cpu.

Revision history for this message
filsd (filsdd) wrote :

@gnidorah done. :]

@peter-biely Your welcome. My fans also spin like crazy "when" they spin. My CPU temp is hi because i'm on Brazil (38C avg).
But just for consideration, I only use the nvidia card with optimus and my battery life is really good, like 3h to 4h good (only needing to lower the brightness). And I work with game dev and heavy digital illustration!

I think it might be related to i7, but Dell also sells that here with Ubuntu. Maybe they use a ISO a bit different for that?

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

@peter-biely, I'll recheck during this weekend.

In the meantime, as I previously indicated, I tried 16.10, and unfortunately:
problem persists. fans keep spinning even when idle.

I have also tried i8kutils while on 16.10, and find that it works fine.
 - turns off fans properly according to config threshholds
 - turns on proper fan speed according to proper threshhold
 - when daemon is turned off at idle, BIOS automatically kicks in and runs the fans

and I've also tried i8kutils on my working system (16.04) and it works alright
 - the difference I notice is that BIOS doesn't seem to automatically turn on fans
when I turn off i8kmon ( unlike in 16.10 ), however I tested the BIOS' ability to run
the fans by running a heavy task and it does start the fans at some point

 * this is the only observeable difference I see between i8kutils on 16.10 vs 16.04

as observed in other posts, despite this solution via i8kutils, windows is still able to better optimize idle state on skylake.

in the meantime, i8kutils is nice to have, battery improved from ~3.5 to ~3.75 on my typical load:
2 ides, 1 container + additional services.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

>> battery life is really good, like 3h to 4h good (only needing to lower the brightness)
3-4 hours isn´t that great. Have you compared it with Win under the same load?

Revision history for this message
filsd (filsdd) wrote :

No. I dont have Windows installed.

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

I have similar battery-life as filsd on full workload ( but my setup is very difficult to replicate on windows - different IDEs, and so on ).

However, on relatively idle load, min brightness with wifi on.
windows reads 5+, even 6+ hours on ( on first 10+ min. )
while ubuntu reads 4.75 hrs. max ( on first 10+ min. )

* I note first 10+ min. because once the fans start on ubuntu, even when idle, battery estimate goes down dramatically at less than 4 hrs.

* also added a psensor reading at https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153281

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

no further notes here, is this issue fixed for everyone else?

for those who have the dell/ubuntu distro, could you share your output for lsmod please?

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@Alex: I have SSD in M.2 so far primary used with Windows and original SSHD with Linux, I've installed it without any issue from USB key on my HDD without any modification of ISO. It started with the nice dell logo on boot and I could also see Dell repositories/drivers in Driver manager, but the problem was that the Fan was spinning crazy (about 3k rpm) also on powertop I could see the CPU did not get over C3 state because of old kernel (3.19). I am wondering that Dell did not release 16.04 LTS based update yet.
But anyway I've replaced it back to Mint 18.1 because on kernel 4.8.x fans are spinning permanently but significantly slower (2k rpm) and also after fresh boot the are turning off correctly for a while, but they start to spin forever after some time of usage.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@Alex: unfortunately not. The only 2 bugs may have to influence Fans:
- your ASPM bug and
- very possibly my - fans bug (powertop maybe since package does not reach lower than C3 state)
on kernel bug tracker.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Could you anybody please test and confirm whether this setup with 6700HQ cpu works?

- BIOS 1.2.0
- Kernel 4.8.11-040811-generic
- installed nvidia binary driver 375.20 - switched to intel gpu using prime select
- boot with additional grub parameter acpi_osi="!Windows 2015"
(yes use doubleqoutes)

I do not want to make premature conclusions, but so far it seems that CPU temperatures on idle are about 40C and fans seems working correctly (they are switching off), at least I am noticing correct fans behavior for the last 2 days.
btw I am running my laptop on Mint 18 Sarah

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :
Download full text (3.3 KiB)

One more thing I've forgot to my previous post, here's my powertop - Tunables setting
I could get package state to C3
   Bad NMI watchdog should be turned off
   Bad Autosuspend for unknown USB device 1-5 (8087:0a2a)
   Bad Autosuspend for USB device USB Device [Areson Corp.]
   Bad Autosuspend for unknown USB device 1-2 (04f3:0103)
   Good Enable SATA link power management for host0
   Good Enable SATA link power management for host1
   Good Enable Audio codec power management
   Good Bluetooth device interface status
   Good Autosuspend for USB device xHCI Host Controller [usb2]
   Good Runtime PM for I2C Adapter i2c-1 (i915 gmbus dpb)
   Good Autosuspend for USB device Integrated_Webcam_HD [SunplusIT Inc]
   Good Autosuspend for USB device xHCI Host Controller [usb1]
   Good Runtime PM for I2C Adapter i2c-4 (Synopsys DesignWare I2C adapter)
   Good I2C Device i2c-ELAN1010:00 has no runtime power management
   Good Runtime PM for I2C Adapter i2c-2 (i915 gmbus dpd)
   Good Runtime PM for I2C Adapter i2c-0 (i915 gmbus dpc)
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H CSME HECI #1
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H LPSS I2C Controller #0
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sky Lake PCIe Controller (x8)
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Wireless 3165
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #7
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H Thermal subsystem
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #5
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Skylake Integrated Graphics
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SMBus
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PMC
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #1
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS522A PCI Express Card Reader
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sky Lake PCIe Controller (x16)
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device NVIDIA Corporation GM107M [GeForce GTX 960M]
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Skylake Processor Thermal Subsystem
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #6
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sky Lake Host Bridge/DRAM Registers
   Good Runtime PM for PCI Device Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD ...

Read more...

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

@peter-biely, if you could provide exact steps to replicate the setup, I can test this setup in the coming week.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@lpturoyo:

- I have BIOS 1.2.0
- Installed Kernel 4.8.11-040811-generic or later
- I have installed nvidia binary driver 375.20 - switched to intel gpu in NVIDIA X Server setting - Prime profiles
- reboot and boot with grub parameter acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" (i've replaced quiet splash)
Then after boot install powertop, run it and in Tunables section set all tunables to good - except the USB ones (see my powertop attachment)

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@Alex:
yes after using those 2 commands I could get PC3 package state, but it seems that this didn't help with the fans problem. I had to set more tunables to good to get them working (I'm trying to investigate which are really needed to be set to Good, but it would take some time). Btw, I do not even know if it is possible to get deeper state than PC3 on this laptop.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@All:
This is a current script for powertop tunables which I am running after reboot.

All commands above the line # FANS OFF!!! are so far needed to get the fans working (including setup I've mentioned in my post #64)
You can play and sort out which are really needed to get the fans working as they are supposed to work.

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

>> I do not want to make premature conclusions, but so far it seems that CPU temperatures on idle are about 40C
- This looks like good news after so many months of frustration, good work! I still have not decided upon buying the 7566 (7559 is becoming harder to come by), but this could give me some incentive ...

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

Have anybody tried my setup? Could anybody confirm whether it works? For me it seems fine, also with Kernel 4.9 temperatures are almost comparable to Windows.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Just tried with Ubuntu 16.04

Updated to latest dell BIOS
Installed kernel 4.8.11
Installed nvidia 375.20 (From PPA)
Added !Windows 2015 grub boot parameter
Installed powertop and set tunables all to good

Fans still spinning away after 20 minutes :(

A couple questions. Can you show the line in the grub config where you added the !Windows 2015 line. You mentioned use double quotes, but did you escape the quotes? e.g \"!Windows 2015\"

I do not have these two items in my powertop tunables
   Bad Autosuspend for USB device USB Device [Areson Corp.]
   Bad Autosuspend for unknown USB device 1-2 (04f3:0103)

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@d-bob-1:
- Those USB things in powertop are just my external keyboard and mouse.
- on grub I did not escape the doublequotes.
- Did you switched GPU to Intel in NVIDIA X Settings manager?
My fans are spinning like 20 minutes too but then they are turned off, please see my attachment here
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=246921

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Thanks, Peter.

Yes, switched to Intel using prime-select. All other settings are pretty much the same as yours according to the screenshot, but I'm really not seeing much difference. I do notice the fans eventually shut of after a long time, and stay off for a short period, but then they start back up again. So -maybe- it's a little better than before. But can't be sure because the ambient room temp is a lot cooler since last time I tried.

Either way still not even close to Windows. Under Windows the fans hardly ever turn on - only when I stress the CPU, and then they're off again as soon as CPU load decreases.

One difference I do notice is that for /cat/proc/cmdline you have vt.handoff=7. I don't have this parameter, but I think this just has something to do with the boot up display - so probably doesn't mean anything.

Another difference is that you are using Mint and I have Ubuntu.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Just an update - i've left the laptop sit idle for a while and the fans haven't turned on for the last hour or so.

If I use the laptop, like web browsing, etc. The fans eventually start back up then run for a while then turn back off.

So, it seems like something has improved but still not working as well as under Windows 10.

I bet if we could figure out how to get the CPU package lower then C3, there would be even more improvement.

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

Update from my test with ubuntu xenial:
 - installed 16.04.1
 - updated to 4.8.12
  [my test may not be as useful because of this, but I did not have a lot of time, and decided to proceed with latest release]
 - installed nvidia 375.20 and switched to intel graphics
 - replaced grub parameter quiet splash with acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" as suggested
 - installed powertop and set tunables to good as suggested

results are the same as my normal setup
 - fans start to run at ~15 min. after boot ( on practically idle ), fans kept running until ~1 hr. uptime. ( checked twice, both cases essentially idle )

on the upside, powertop is one additional tool that I can no use to maybe squeeze out additional couple minutes of battery runtime.

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

After longer observing of the system it seems that fans are turning off in my case only in case of leaving system idle for about 20+ minutes when the CPU temp drops down to ~30C, that means problem with fans still exist, however it is an improvement.
Anyway I have to say that with 4.9 kernel, CPU temperatures are comparable to Windows when the fans are off.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Occams Beard, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1602888/comments/73 regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

tags: added: bios-outdated-1.2.0
removed: latest-bios-1.1.8
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance: Medium → Undecided
status: Incomplete → Invalid
Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

@penalvch , I have to ask why the issue is closed, since this was reported for 16.04 LTS.
and the recommended solution requires kernel 4.9, which is not even scheduled for next point release [16.04.2 - 4.8].

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Invalid → Confirmed
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Invalid
Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

turoyo dee / Luan Silas, so your issue may be tracked, it will help immensely if you filed a new report with the Ubuntu repository kernel (not mainline/upstream) via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

For more on why this is helpful, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

@penalvch, yes, I was planning to rebuild my previous setup ( that had multiple issues ~4.4.0-51 or 53 ) for your suggested reporting

However, I just checked 4.4.0-57 during the week and noticed that my fans have been able to stop ( without any manual fixes )

For reference, the history of my current machine is:
 - 16.04.1 installation
 - enable intel-microcode
 - blacklist nouveau
 - $ sudo update-initramfs -u [everything working ok after this, except relentless fan issue]

 - accidental install of 4.4.0.53 [creates soft lockup boot issue not related to this report]
 - move back to 4.4.0-31, uninstall 4.4.0-53

 - install 4.4.0-57 for testing [fans now turning off]

summary it really looks like the fan issue is fixed in latest update

additional observation:
this is the first time I see psensor report the GPU temp as 1 C, as it should since I'm only using Intel HD Graphics

Revision history for this message
turoyo dee (lpturoyo) wrote :

* apologies for misleading observation above, the change in GPU temp was caused by un-blacklisting nouveau

Revision history for this message
Petr Soukup (soukup77) wrote :

After much consideration I have finally decided to buy Dell 7566 - a Skylake 6700hq version (a successor of 7559 model).

I am running Debian testing (Stretch) with kernel 4.8.0.2 with nouveau driver. After testing it for while I can now confidently say that in this configuration the 7566 model is not plagued by the fan issue - out of the box, lm-sensors show CPU operating temperature between 35 and 45 C with 0 RPM for fans on normal "office" workload. Fans only kick in when CPU temp exceeds 60 C and stop almost immediately once temperature drops below 50 - 55 C. Originally I suspected CPU fan sensor was not working correctly as it was constantly showing 0 rpm. I had to actually run some Android studio application build which taxes CPU fairly, to get the fans running. They ran for about 1 minute between 1500 - 2500 rpm and stopped almost immediately after the build had finished. The battery life is about the same in Win10 and Linux - approximately 6 hours on normal workload.

I even have the sleep function working out of the box and install works without any problems (with the safe boot turned off).

I don't know if this helps anyone, but if there are any potential buyers around here seeking information, I believe it is safe to say that 7566 is a safe bet with Linux.

Revision history for this message
Ionescu Daniel (daniel.ionescu2016) wrote :

It's not from Kernel or Bios. It's tied with browsers (chrome or firefox, any of theme). and especialy with open tabs containing a lot of garbage (like commercials/adds on news sites).
dell vostro 3568 i3 7100, ihdg 620, 4 GB ddr4, 128GB+120GB ssd

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@Daniel: Not true!
1. I'm using adblock and do not have flash installed anyway
2. Same web browsing on Windows keeps laptop much cooler and battery lasts about 70minutes longer
3. Read the bug thread on kernel bug tracker, I've created
4. This also happens when leaving laptop idle and with kernel 4.9 and newer the fans behavior has improoved a bit
5. I'm done with this bloody model and dell brand anyway
:)

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

@daniel.ionescu2016

Please do not make assumptions. Dell vostro 3568 i3 7100 is not the model mentioned in this bug report. Quirky fan behavior happens even if you do not have a browser open.

Revision history for this message
Ionescu Daniel (daniel.ionescu2016) wrote :

@d-bob-1 and @Peter

Well, you are right!

I omitted to say that I returned at the beginning of the year a Dell 7559 (with Win10) after only 24 hours of use!!!
The reason was that, after I made an video driver update for nvidia gc, video was suddenly freeze watching on youtube !!!, and fans went crazy. It was also posting a message like NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver stopped responding - bla bla
Ofcourse, Dell utilities were saying that everything is ok.
With Nvidia driver disabled, running only on Intel HD Graphics, everything was ok.
My assumption was that they put on the market an insufficiently tested model in terms of interaction between Intel HD graphics and Nvidia video platforms, but this is not all.

Regarding my Vostro 3568 (Ubuntu 16.04), with only Intel HDG 620, sensors command output:

acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1: +25.0°C (crit = +107.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0: +36.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0: +33.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1: +34.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

dell_smm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Processor Fan: 2826 RPM
CPU: +36.0°C
Ambient: +34.0°C

with a lot of tasks running.

After couple of minutes, with same tasks running:

acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1: +25.0°C (crit = +107.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0: +36.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0: +33.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1: +34.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

dell_smm-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
Processor Fan: 0 RPM
CPU: +36.0°C
Ambient: +34.0°C

It looks like Dell and Intel joined hands for a processor warming prevention policy. Unfortunately dell use loud (cheap?:))fans.

I have the latest bios installed, also the Kabylake GT video driver and i'm Using Intel microcode firmware under Additional drivers.

Revision history for this message
Evandro Pinheiro Campos (evandr1) wrote :

Yes, I have this bug.

penalvch (penalvch)
no longer affects: linux (Ubuntu)
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
penalvch (penalvch)
affects: linux → linux (Ubuntu)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Fix Released
Occams Beard (d-bob-1)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Released → Fix Committed
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

How Do I get the fix? I'd like to give it a chance before I'll the laptop away.

Revision history for this message
oguz kagan (oguzkagan) wrote :

What do I need to do to get the fixed?

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

I've installed Ubuntu 17.04 beta and problem still persists, so what the hell is the fix!?

Revision history for this message
Brano (branob) wrote :

I've 16.04 on i7559 with all possible updates and the problem still persist. Any pointers for workaround or how to fix manually without going to beta versions?

Revision history for this message
Taulant Y (taulant01) wrote :

I have dell 7559, and I am having the same issue as the others. How to get the fix?

Revision history for this message
Taulant Y (taulant01) wrote :

Anybody???

Revision history for this message
Peter (peter-biely) wrote :

@Taulant: nobody knows, nobody answers. I do not even know why the thread was marked as resolved. Maybe you should spam Dell until they fix it in BIOS. Actually I was so pissed off by this bug that I get rid of this laptop. Now I'm just curious whether it will be solved at all.

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

How do I get the fix? My Inspiron 7559 suffers with this issue.

Revision history for this message
Wei Sun (562241377-6) wrote :

same issue. Annoying

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

I do not understand why the bug is closed. I have Ubuntu 17.04 with the latest updates on my Dell Inspiron 7559 with the latest BIOS 1.2.2 and the problem still persists. Fans are still on, but the CPU temperature is about 30deg. Celsius. If others having the same problem, we should reopen this bug.

Occams Beard (d-bob-1)
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Released → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

I've changed the status of the bug to "Confirmed". It lets me change the status for some reason. I guess because I originally submitted the bug.

A while back someone from canonical set it as "Fix Released," but like everyone else, I still have the bug with latest versions of everything. So I have no idea what the supposed fix is, or even if there is one.

For everyone else with this bug, the better bug report is probably here on the Linux Kernel bug tracker: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153281

Revision history for this message
Davi Dagostin (zankuro) wrote :

I'm on Kubuntu 17.04 and this bug persists on my Dell 7759 with bios 1.2.2. When fan is turned on never more is turned off.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Occams Beard, as per your comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1602888/comments/73 the issue "fans do not shut off once started, even when cool" was resolved. Did you reopen this report because it stopped happening after an update? If so, it's best to file a new report targetting a regression after a fix, versus reopen a closed report.

tags: added: bios-outdated-1.2.2 needs-upstream-testing
removed: bios-outdated-1.2.0 kernel-bug-exists-upstream
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Low
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

I do not consider it resolved. In my comment I said there was *some* improvement after making many archaic tweaks. However it's still not working right even after making those tweaks. I'm not sure why the status was set to "Fix Released" as I do not think there ever was a "fix"

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

I can confirm, the bug still persists even with the most recent kernel 4.11.0-041100 and the most recent BIOS 1.2.2. It's pretty annoying since it reduces my battery life a lot compared to Windows and also the fan noise disturbs during the evenings when I am leaving my laptop idle.

Revision history for this message
Taulant Y (taulant01) wrote :

Guys, I erased the old Ubuntu (16.04) and installed Ubuntu 17.10. I am currently setting up the environment, installing many things, and until now there isnt any fan noise. I think they fixed the bug.... I will report later again if the problem with the fan noise appears.

Revision history for this message
Minas Karamanis (minaskar) wrote :

Good to hear that. How is your battery life?

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

I'm also interested in hearing if the fan issue is solved on 17.10. Please keep us updated.

I think I've found the reason the fans turn on, and I believe I found a work-around under Arch Linux.

After a good bit of research, I think the issue is caused by the CPU package not being able to get to lower power states. Under powertop, you'll notice that this laptop never gets below C3. Thereby causing increased CPU heat and poor battery life.

However, I've found the reason for this is the realtek network card driver not enabling Active State Power Management (ASPM). Setting most tunables to GOOD under powertop and replacing r8169 kernel module with this patched one https://github.com/KastB/r8169 allows the CPU package to reach C7 low power state. This -appears- to solve the fan problem. The fan still runs, but much less frequently. The laptop also seems to run cooler and improved battery life (Although still not as good as under Windows).

Arch Linux users can install this patched module from the AUR https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/r8169aspm-dkms/

I'd still be interested to know if this is fixed on Ubuntu.

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

No change with fans on Ubuntu 17.10 for me. By default lowest state for package is C2. After setting all tunables to good C3, but does not solve the issue though.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Give the patched r8169 driver a try:
https://github.com/KastB/r8169

You should be able to reach C7, and the fan issue should be improved.

Revision history for this message
Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Hopefully the author will send patch to upstream.

https://github.com/KastB/r8169/issues/5

Revision history for this message
Minas Karamanis (minaskar) wrote :

Does the patch work in your case Kai-Heng Feng?

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: bios-outdated-1.2.4
removed: bios-outdated-1.2.2
Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

Please update the bug as the bios was updated but it did not resolve the issue.
Also I've tried to compile patched driver according the suggested how to from Occams Beard, but it did not help - maybe I did something wrong.

Revision history for this message
Taulant Y (taulant01) wrote :

I apologize for before. I thought it was fixed.... but its not fixed :(. The fans didn't turn on for a while, but today the problem occurred again :(

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Julo Petko,

Strange, the patched driver works perfectly for me. I'm on kernel 4.13.8, maybe that has something to do with it.

Also, even with the patched driver you MUST set the tunables to GOOD in powertop, otherwise the CPU package won't get to C7.

Another thing to check - did you do a cold boot after you installed the patched driver? E.g power off the laptop completely, and then power it back on? Apparently, this must be done according to the github page (If I understand it correctly)

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

Even shutdown of laptop didn't help after compiling the driver. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Tunables set all to good but the package lowest state is C3. I'll wait for the upstream patch. I could wait for almost 2 year anyway, so couple of months I can survive.

Revision history for this message
Bryce Frank (bfrank70) wrote :

A tentative success story:

Using the patched r8169 driver & powertop tunables set to "GOOD", my CPU was able to reach the C7 package state. I noticed C7 is only reached when the laptop is unplugged, otherwise only C3 is reached. I am not sure if this behavior is expected, but may be leading to the confusion above.

CPU temperatures seem to idle around 40-60 degrees celsius. This is slightly higher than Windows 10 (where I checked it at about 40-50 degrees celsius). The fan kicks on every once in a while, but goes away as expected ~30 seconds later.

I am using Ubuntu 17.10 with the 4.13.0-16-generic kernel.

Revision history for this message
Minas Karamanis (minaskar) wrote :

Bryce Frank,

How was your power consumption when idle and how is your battery life?

Julo Petko, I guess you also need to upgrade to 17.10.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

I'm able to reach C7 even if the laptop is plugged in.

Although I'm running arch linux here. I also have the acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" boot parameter as mentioned earlier. Not sure if that matters.

Revision history for this message
Bryce Frank (bfrank70) wrote :

Minas,

Idle power consumption seems a little higher than Windows 10. After idling for 5 minutes on a full charge, the laptop reports temperatures < 50 degrees celsius, and a projected battery life of 3 hours and 25 minutes w/screen brightness of about 70%. This seems a little low, but not unreasonable.

Admittedly, I don't pay attention much to my battery life on Windows 10, but I can perform a similar test later this weekend for something to compare to.

At idle, powertop reports (under Package):
C2 - ~20%
C7 - ~40%

All others at 0.

In conclusion, power consumption seems normal at idle.

Revision history for this message
Bryce Frank (bfrank70) wrote :

After some more experimentation it is clear that I cannot reach C7 power states when plugged in (the lowest I reach is C3), even with tunables set to good. I tried the acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" boot parameter with no luck.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

With the patched r8169 driver Everything seems to be working properly on Arch when plugged in, so it must be something Ubuntu specific.

I am using bumblebee/bbswitch to disable the nvidia gpu. Where as Ubuntu uses something called "prime-select" to switch between GPUs.

I am using kernel 4.13.11. Not sure what kernel Ubuntu includes.

I think Ubuntu has some sort of "laptop mode tools," maybe this affects power management some how?

Revision history for this message
Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Please try the kernel, I enabled ALDPS and ASPM for r8169.

http://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/lp1602888/

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

@Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng): tried your kernel and no change, even with all tunables set to good I got only PCakage C7 state. This machine seems to be enchanted or something.

Revision history for this message
Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Package C7 is the best I can achive as well with the patched r8169 driver & all tunables set to GOOD. But the fan issue seems to be solved for me with it. The fan rarely even comes on, when it does, it shuts off a few seconds later, as expected.

Revision history for this message
Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Before I resend the patch to reinstate ALDPS and ASPM for r8169, I want to make sure the change bits I make can work.
The C7 status is exactly what I was looking for.

Revision history for this message
Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Hi, can you guys try the kernel [1] and attach dmesg here?

[1] http://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/lp1602888-8168g-aspm/

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

Here is the dmesg, fans are running even with tunables all set to good.
Also I had to set i915.modeset=1 and nouveau.modeset=0 to be able to boot this kernel.

Revision history for this message
Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

Update: fans were switched off after a while, but powertop tunables still says package sate only C3

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Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

So the old one can achieve C7 but not the new one? They are pretty much the same.

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Bryce Frank (bfrank70) wrote :

I was not able to achieve C7 (pc7) with your old kernel either (I just tried a few days ago). The new kernel does not achieve C7 (pc7) either. It gets down to C3 at best

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Occams Beard (d-bob-1) wrote :

Happy to supply any info that might help. On Arch based Antergos with the patched realtek driver, and powertop tunables set to good, CPU package reaches C7 and fan issue is resolved.

Only other difference I can think of is that I have acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" as a kernel boot parameter.

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Julo Petko (julo.petko) wrote :

Boot with acpi_osi="!Windows 2015" and all tunables set manually to good, powertop still shows lowest package state C3 but fans turned off properly. Attached new dmesg output anyway, but problem seems to be "workarounded" (not resolved) as I have to set tunables to good manually or via script.

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Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Occams,

Can you try if the Linux source tree here works for you?
https://github.com/khfeng/linux/tree/r8169

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Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng) wrote :

Tried APSM enable r8169, the deepest package C state is C3.

The good news is, out-of-tree r8168-dkms can make it to C7.

Before Realtek folks put ASPM back to mainline's r8169, I think use r8168-dkms is the best compromise here.

Just do `sudo apt install r8168-dkms`.

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Bryce Frank (bfrank70) wrote :

Installing r8168 gets me to C7 package state. Thanks for the help kaihengfeng, hopefully a more proper solution is on its way!

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oguz kagan (oguzkagan) wrote :

I use Manjaro. Two days ago, I installed kernel 4.16. The fan is more stable on the kernel, almost like on windows 10.

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Minas Karamanis (minaskar) wrote :

Sounds great! Does your package reach C7 when idle?

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