Dell XPS 13 Issues. Need Advice.

FenFox

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 20, 2016
Messages
292
1.) Audio crackling. Happens at random and sometimes it doesn't occur for days or weeks and sometimes it'll happen multiple times in one day. I'm not able to reproduce it. I notice it when playing videos via VLC/Chrome/YouTube (I'm sure it'll happen with any audio source). It goes away when I close down the media player or close down the YouTube video and reload etc. Sometimes I have no choice but to reboot the computer to address this issue.

2.) Whenever I close the laptop lid for about 6-8 hours, 95% of the time when I open the lid back up I have to manually reconnect my Wi-Fi. Never used to do this.

3.) Left USB port ejects external hard drives after a certain period of time. The right port is fine. Again, this never used to happen.

So, what do you guys think? I was considering a reinstall to see if It's a Windows issue, but haven't got around to it yet. Told Dell about #1 and #2, but they were pretty useless and just told me to reinstall the audio/network drivers, which I did and it didn't fix anything. I still have this laptop covered under warranty so if this is a hardware issue, I could have the component(s) replaced.
 
Call Dell and tell 'em to send you a replacement and be done with it. If you decide to come hold on to it you run a little program called DPC Latency Checker to see if you're having issues with drivers. You may need to leave it running for a significant, but in my experience it usually picks up issues within a couple of minutes especially if they're related to Wi-Fi. For some reason Wi-Fi drivers, because of how they hook into the kernel, tend to cause significant latency issues if their shitty drivers that may need to be updated.

As for the Wi-Fi needing to reconnect, unless you have it set for some other purpose closing the lid typically puts a laptop in sleep mode and they only laptops I'm aware of that can go into sleep or standby mode and still keep the Wi-Fi connection active are some of the newest Lenovo ThinkPads because it's a power issue. It's a drain on the battery even a small one to keep to keep the Wi-Fi circuit enabled but they are the only laptops I've ever seen that can do that kind of functionality.

As for the issue with the USB port it's usually a power problem so yeah just another reason to call Dell and tell them to send you a replacement. And when I say replacement I don't mean send a technician out with a new motherboard to swap that out for several reasons, I mean tell them that you want to return your laptop and get a replacement because of the issues that you're having.
 
Im dealing with dell warranty now and ill tell ya... 2 failed repairs and now awaiting replacement approval. Very frustrating knowing itll take like 90 days now to get any sort of replacement.
 
Call Dell and tell 'em to send you a replacement and be done with it. If you decide to come hold on to it you run a little program called DPC Latency Checker to see if you're having issues with drivers. You may need to leave it running for a significant, but in my experience it usually picks up issues within a couple of minutes especially if they're related to Wi-Fi. For some reason Wi-Fi drivers, because of how they hook into the kernel, tend to cause significant latency issues if their shitty drivers that may need to be updated.

As for the Wi-Fi needing to reconnect, unless you have it set for some other purpose closing the lid typically puts a laptop in sleep mode and they only laptops I'm aware of that can go into sleep or standby mode and still keep the Wi-Fi connection active are some of the newest Lenovo ThinkPads because it's a power issue. It's a drain on the battery even a small one to keep to keep the Wi-Fi circuit enabled but they are the only laptops I've ever seen that can do that kind of functionality.

As for the issue with the USB port it's usually a power problem so yeah just another reason to call Dell and tell them to send you a replacement. And when I say replacement I don't mean send a technician out with a new motherboard to swap that out for several reasons, I mean tell them that you want to return your laptop and get a replacement because of the issues that you're having.


Hmm, so you don't think a reinstall of Windows will fix these problems?
Well, I've been closing the lid on my Dell for the first two years I've owned it and it always auto-reconnected to Wi-Fi when I opened the lid back up. So It's unusual that it isn't doing that anymore. Maybe a power setting in Windows somehow changed?

What's wrong with a motherboard/component replacement etc? I mean, that's probably what they would offer to do.
What are the reasons that I want a complete replacement? Appreciate the feedback.
 
Im dealing with dell warranty now and ill tell ya... 2 failed repairs and now awaiting replacement approval. Very frustrating knowing itll take like 90 days now to get any sort of replacement.

How were they "failed repairs" ?
You didn't ask for a complete replacement to begin with?
 
i first initiated support for dead rj-45 so they sent a tech to my house to replace mobo .. new board had dead gpu. then they sent me a box to send them the laptop for repair in houston, came back with different dead gpu. gtx 1070
 
their policy is to 3 repair attempts before a replacement can be considered.

after second attempt the support rep tried to waive 3rd repair and submitted replacement for approval ..no dice. gotta send it back in . i have on site but I cant take off work
 
their policy is to 3 repair attempts before a replacement can be considered.

after second attempt the support rep tried to waive 3rd repair and submitted replacement for approval ..no dice. gotta send it back in . i have on site but I cant take off work

I'm confused. Is this a laptop or desktop?

Kinda sounds like my experience with Alienware (Dell) from several years ago. I had multiple components die and pretty much almost everything in the laptop had to be replaced numerous times except for the screen and HDD. And of course, even after I extended the warranty, the HDD died like a month after the extended warranty ended.
Not sure why I bought a Dell XPS 13 after that experience, but I've had problems with Lenovo as well so I dunno what to do anymore as far as laptops go.
 
update your chipset/usb and audio drivers to the newest from the maker not dell. then turn off selective usb and "allow to turn off" in device manager and power profiles.
 
update your chipset/usb and audio drivers to the newest from the maker not dell. then turn off selective usb and "allow to turn off" in device manager and power profiles.

Hmm, why would using the chipset/usb/audio drivers from the maker and not Dell be advisable?
No idea what selective USB is.
 
Hmm, why would using the chipset/usb/audio drivers from the maker and not Dell be advisable?
No idea what selective USB is.
because they make the hardware that dell puts in its systems?! dell drags ass on driver updates so go to the device manufacturers site and get the newest up to date drivers. selective suspend allows usb ports to be turned off when not in use and may malfunction.

upload_2018-7-17_19-5-47.png
 
because they make the hardware that dell puts in its systems?! dell drags ass on driver updates so go to the device manufacturers site and get the newest up to date drivers. selective suspend allows usb ports to be turned off when not in use and may malfunction.

View attachment 89681

Ok, thanks, I'll take a look. Except the USB port does disconnect when the HDD is being used.
 
So looking at device manager:

My processor is: Intel Core i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz
Sound and video game controllers: Intel Smart Sound Technology / Realtek HW Audio Codec
Universal Serial Bus Controllers: Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller 1.0 / USB Composite Device / USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)

So I'm just downloading non-Dell drivers for the Intel Chipset, Intel Smart Sound Technology / Realtek HW Audio Codec and I'm not sure what to download for the USB?

As for selective suspend I've found it in "Power Options > Advanced Settings" from enabled to disabled. And under Device Manager I assume I want to go into "Power Management" for "USB Root Hub (USB 3.0) Properties" and disable "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" ?
 
So looking at device manager:

My processor is: Intel Core i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz
Sound and video game controllers: Intel Smart Sound Technology / Realtek HW Audio Codec
Universal Serial Bus Controllers: Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller 1.0 / USB Composite Device / USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)

So I'm just downloading non-Dell drivers for the Intel Chipset, Intel Smart Sound Technology / Realtek HW Audio Codec and I'm not sure what to download for the USB?

As for selective suspend I've found it in "Power Options > Advanced Settings" from enabled to disabled. And under Device Manager I assume I want to go into "Power Management" for "USB Root Hub (USB 3.0) Properties" and disable "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" ?
usb will be in the chipset drivers. and yes you want to turn that off for all usb devices.
 
Back
Top