Dell XPS 13 9380 flickering (Whiskey Lake)

[Paulo Matos]

A brand new Dell XPS 13 9380 preinstalled with Ubuntu 18.04 flickers to the point of being totally unusable.

I have upgraded since to 18.10 and 19.04 with no changes. I have tried several combinations of the i915 parameters fastboot, enable_rc6 and enable_fbc to no avail.

Examples of flickering are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1PkL2HrjMBP41aML9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CMzmMwrCPH5wh8aw6
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.10-0ubuntu27
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: gdm 1430 F.... pulseaudio
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+italia-whl+X31
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-04-13 (10 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04 "Bionic" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20180608-09:38
MachineType: Dell Inc. XPS 13 9380
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.15.0-1035-oem root=UUID=252898e9-6e96-4705-a709-2db930b7c4c7 ro quiet splash i915.fastboot=1 i915.enable_rc6=0 vt.handoff=1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-1035.40-oem 4.15.18
PulseList:
 Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: Home directory not accessible: Permission denied
 No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.15.0-1035-oem N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.15.0-1035-oem N/A
 linux-firmware 1.178
Tags: disco
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-1035-oem x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to disco on 2019-04-24 (0 days ago)
UserGroups:

_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 02/14/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.2.1
dmi.board.name: 0KTW76
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.2.1:bd02/14/2019:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139380:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0KTW76:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct10:cvr:
dmi.product.family: XPS
dmi.product.name: XPS 13 9380
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Having problems posting apport data due to:
```
$ ubuntu-bug -c cartsheel.apport -u 1826125
Usage: ubuntu-bug [options] [symptom|pid|package|program path|.apport/.crash file]

ubuntu-bug: error: -u/--update-bug option cannot be used together with options for a new report
```

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1826125/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1826125

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

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[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Does the drm-intel-nightly help?

https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/drm-intel-nightly/2019-04-23/

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I will give it a try. Is this just a matter of adding the ppa and `apt-get install drm-intel-nightly`?

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Download linux-image-unsigned-5.1.0-994-generic_5.1.0-994.201904222200_amd64.deb and linux-modules-5.1.0-994-generic_5.1.0-994.201904222200_amd64.deb then install them.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Thanks Kai. Unfortunately it's still not ok. Interestingly now there is no flickering per-se. What I see is display corruption and flickering when refresh occurs - for example by moving the mouse or typing something.

Is there anything else I can try at this point? Or any further information I can provide?

pmatos@cartwheel:~$ dmesg
[ 0.000000] Linux version 5.1.0-994-generic (kernel@gloin) (gcc version 8.3.0 (Ubuntu 8.3.0-6ubuntu1)) #201904222200 SMP Tue Apr 23 02:04:43 UTC 2019
[ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.1.0-994-generic root=UUID=252898e9-6e96-4705-a709-2db930b7c4c7 ro quiet splash i915.fastboot=1 i915.enable_rc6=0 vt.handoff=1
[ 0.000000] KERNEL supported cpus:
[ 0.000000] Intel GenuineIntel
[ 0.000000] AMD AuthenticAMD
[ 0.000000] Hygon HygonGenuine
[ 0.000000] Centaur CentaurHauls
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x001: 'x87 floating point registers'
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x002: 'SSE registers'
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x004: 'AVX registers'
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x008: 'MPX bounds registers'
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x010: 'MPX CSR'
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[2]: 576, xstate_sizes[2]: 256
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[3]: 832, xstate_sizes[3]: 64
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[4]: 896, xstate_sizes[4]: 64
[ 0.000000] x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0x1f, context size is 960 bytes, using 'compacted' format.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Removed the i915 boot params : i915.fastboot=1 i915.enable_rc6=0
No changes.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Can you boot with kernel parameter "drm.debug=0xe" and attach full dmesg after boot?

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Sure. Results are attached next.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Does "i915.enable_psr=0" help?

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Unfortunately not. It actually makes the flickering more like in the pre-5 kernel where it flickers constantly as opposed to only when the move is moved. Posting new dmesg with i915.enable_psr=0 in case its useful.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I have upgraded the BIOS to 1.2.1 but not changed its settings. Could it be that there's something there that I could try?

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Sounds like you should contact the upstream developers and file a bug at bugs.freedesktop.org

It seems that the panel has been changed to another device since XPS13 was enabled by Canonical, wouldn't be the first time. Are you able to test windows on it? (to rule out the machine itself being faulty)

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Hummm, I have almost zero experience with windows. Is there a windows version that I can install for free - windows 10 maybe?

Also, if the machine is faulty wouldn't it flicker during BIOS setup as well?

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

maybe it would, yes..

anyway, best to file a bug upstream and link it here

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Created attachment 144092
dmesg from boot

This was previously reported here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1826125

Brand new XPS 13 9380 arrived a couple of days ago from Dell with Ubuntu 18.04 preinstalled.

Flickering started immediatelly post boot and it was constant.
I updated BIOS from 1.1.1 to 1.2.1, tried i915.fastboot and i915.enable_rc6 combinations to no avail.

Updated to Ubuntu 19.04 and kernel-5 to no avail. However flickering changed from constant to only if there's a screen refresh.

Videos pre kernel 5:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1PkL2HrjMBP41aML9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CMzmMwrCPH5wh8aw6

Videos post kernel 5:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tpmTGWVJXpChoERz6

I attach dmesg from boot.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Timo, opened upstream as suggested: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=110511

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Timo, it seems I can install windows 10 on a usb flash for installation. Will try that.
Ref: https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I am however betting this is not a hw bug due to the way the flickering changed with the kernel upgrade. Compare the first video posted in this report and now:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tpmTGWVJXpChoERz6

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

and happens with current nightly too

[Lakshminarayana-vudum (lakshminarayana-vudum)]

Stan, any help here? I see hotplug events in dmesg.

[Tiffany (hsiaoting)]

Hi Paulo Matos,

Could you please help go through Dell Diagnostics tool by pressing F12 when booting.

We need hardware information & test result to triage and troubleshoot.

Thank you.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Tiffany, apologies for the delay on this. I have been on holidays. Running the tests now.

[Ville-syrjala-e (ville-syrjala-e)]

Can we get a test with just 'git revert f11cb1c19ad0' ?

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

kernel -10 with the revert availabe behind the same url

but reverting it would reopen 109959

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Paulo, please test kernel build -10

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Apologies, I dropped the ball on this one. I will do that today.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I can confirm that the kernel with the reverted commit works. Apologies for the delay.

[Josh Miltz (miltzi)]

Hi all,

I have been following this bug report for a while - I just wanted to check in on status. Will the fix be rolled out now that Paulo has confirmed the working kernel version?

[Ville-syrjala-e (ville-syrjala-e)]

Created attachment 144765
[PATCH] drm/i915: Try to use fast+narrow link on eDP again and fall back to the old max strategy on failure

Here's an attempt at fixing this without horribly breaking a bunch of other eDP panels. Would appreciate if people can test this.

Also available here in git form:
git://github.com/vsyrjala/linux.git dp_retry_max_vs_optim

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Timo isn't around, please test this kernel:
https://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/bfo110511/

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I will take a look a this later. Apologies but I am on and off summer holidays these days.

[Thomas SIMON (dev.uhuru)]

Hello, I would like to note that I think that I also have something related to this bug - although with the normal 1920x1024 panel (on XPS 13 9380) with a fresh Ubuntu 19.04 install (so kernel 5+) - I did not test the OEM Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

The screen "flickers" from time to time (perhaps linked to refresh?) barely noticeable during the day but a lot more often at night with redshift / gnome night light enabled.

[Daniel C (djcater)]

Hi Thomas, that sounds very similar to what we are seeing over in bug 1827790.

[Thomas SIMON (dev.uhuru)]

Many thanks, you are right, I'll post there!

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

According to
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-settings-daemon/+bug/1827790/comments/19

This issue is fixed by "dp_retry_max_vs_optim" branch.

[Lakshminarayana-vudum (lakshminarayana-vudum)]

(In reply to Paulo J. Matos from comment #26)
> I will take a look a this later. Apologies but I am on and off summer
> holidays these days.

Paulo, is this issue still reproducible? any updates here?

[VictorB (victorbo)]

Hi guys,

I confirm the patch Ville-syrjala-e created works well.

My setup is a DELL XPS 13 9380 with Xubuntu 19.04.

It was working well for a couple of weeks and then this morning when I've powered on is started flickering.

This is really weird because I didn't upgrade or changed anything. However I kept the laptop always connected to a DELL docking station and only yesterday I took the laptop at home. I don't know if this make sense but this is the only think that changed from yesterday.

Cheers and thank you for the great job you are doing.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Depends on which kernel we are talking about here.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

(In reply to Kai-Heng Feng from comment #25)
> Timo isn't around, please test this kernel:
> https://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/bfo110511/

This kernel works.

[Lakshminarayana-vudum (lakshminarayana-vudum)]

(In reply to Paulo J. Matos from comment #29)
> (In reply to Kai-Heng Feng from comment #25)
> > Timo isn't around, please test this kernel:
> > https://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/bfo110511/
>
> This kernel works.

Can we close this bug?

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Created attachment 145270
attachment-3420-0.html

It depends if the fix in the kernel I tested is upstream, I guess. Kai?

On 5 September 2019 19:58:19 CEST, <email address hidden> wrote:
>https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=110511
>
>--- Comment #30 from Lakshmi <email address hidden> ---
>(In reply to Paulo J. Matos from comment #29)
>> (In reply to Kai-Heng Feng from comment #25)
>> > Timo isn't around, please test this kernel:
>> > https://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/bfo110511/
>>
>> This kernel works.
>
>Can we close this bug?
>
>--
>You are receiving this mail because:
>You reported the bug.

[Ville-syrjala-e (ville-syrjala-e)]

The fix is nowhere yet. And judging from the ubuntu bug it may not even work :(

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Just updated my ubuntu to 19.10 with kernel 5.3.0-19-generic and the problem is still here - so not fixed upstream. Will attempt to recompile this kernel using branch from https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1826125/comments/91

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Updated only launchpad:

Just updated my ubuntu to 19.10 with kernel 5.3.0-19-generic and the problem is still here - so not fixed upstream. Will attempt to recompile this kernel using branch from https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1826125/comments/91

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Attempting to rebase
git://github.com/vsyrjala/linux.git dp_retry_max_vs_optim
onto v5.3 upstream seems to be a world of pain. :)

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I am back to a working monitor after installing https://people.canonical.com/~khfeng/bfo110511/

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

no need to rebase anything, just cherry-pick the patch on top of 5.3..

I've applied it on top of the eoan kernel and built it:
https://aaltoset.kapsi.fi/lp1826125

please test

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Paulo/Victor: please test the kernel here

 https://aaltoset.kapsi.fi/lp1826125

[VictorB (victorbo)]

So with the kernel from: https://aaltoset.kapsi.fi/lp1826125 everything seems to work fine. However I am still on 19.04

Linux victor-XPS-13-9380 5.3.0-19-generic #20+lp1826125 SMP Wed Oct 23 14:56:56 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I'll get back to you, once I upgrade to 19.10 and re-apply the patch.

Thank's for the good work!

Victor

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

thanks for testing! it doesn't really matter which userspace you're on, this is purely a kernel bug

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

I've built a kernel here based on 5.3 plus the patch:

https://aaltoset.kapsi.fi/lp1826125

and it was tested on the LP bug and found to be working

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

I can confirm this is working on Ubuntu 19.10.
Are we going to see the fix upstream at some point?

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

Oh no! I just noticed some flickering in the monitor during work. Is there a way to understand what could be going on?

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

This by the way, was literally just a couple of flickers for no apparent reason during an hours work under this kernel.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

OK, let me add I haven't seen this flickering anymore. It might have been just an artifact of something. I would say this is fixed unless someone else sees any other issue.

[VictorB (victorbo)]

I saw a flickering maybe once.. with the new kernel, but I can confirm it's not happening often.

[VictorB (victorbo)]

Correction, I just got a flicker, don't know why exactly what is triggering it, but it's not often.

[Martin-peres-n (martin-peres-n)]

-- GitLab Migration Automatic Message --

This bug has been migrated to freedesktop.org's GitLab instance and has been closed from further activity.

You can subscribe and participate further through the new bug through this link to our GitLab instance: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/intel/issues/272.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

As mentioned in freedesktop's gitlab, this issue re-occurred after the upgrade to 20.04

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

So this is not fixed yet with kernel 5.4.0-37 on ubuntu 20.04.
I have only been using this machine through ssh since it's unusable otherwise.

@Timo, should I go upstream with this or is this something you guys can help with? I never quite understood if the patch we used for the drm last year ever made it upstream - I assume not given the current situation.

[Paulo Matos (pmatos)]

My bad - I just noticed the discussion has moved upstream. Sorry for the noise here. Continuing discussion here:
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/intel/-/issues/272

[Executenor (nicktelindert)]

I use the same laptop also preinstalled with ubuntu. Not to be an asshole. But i expected a preinstalled system to just work. Regressions like this are very unacceptable and it points to very bad quality management. I switched to linux 15 years ago because its stability. But nowadays it seems to get less stable every month.