Major Latitude 7390 problems

Unfortunately I don't have another identical 7390 system or M.2 disk to replace and test. I did clean install about 10 months ago, when I received the laptop. 

I did some more tests and I'm able to reproduce crash while working on battery almost instantaneously when fan turns on with just a little load. I can't do anything that puts too much stress on CPU/GPU unplugged. Now I can run full FurMark stress test when plugged in without any crash. I can't do it on battery though.

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@kadw wrote:

Unfortunately I don't have another identical 7390 system or M.2 disk to replace and test. I did clean install about 10 months ago, when I received the laptop. 

I did some more tests and I'm able to reproduce crash while working on battery almost instantaneously when fan turns on with just a little load. I can't do anything that puts too much stress on CPU/GPU unplugged. Now I can run full FurMark stress test when plugged in without any crash. I can't do it on battery though.

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I have two suggestions here, firstly, have the system running on the battery only and run the extended online diagnostics from the following link - https://www.dell.com/support/home/tw/en/twbsd1/product-support/product/latitude-13-7390-laptop/diagnose Click on full test and let me know if the system freezes during this test or it completes without issue.

My next recommended troubleshooting step would be to go for a clean fresh install of Windows.

Alan

Firstly I did full test on battery from the link you mentioned. Freezed during GPU memory test. I did another test and it freezed a little bit earlier during GPU test. Then after rebooting I could even  boot windows or linux, it freezed when loading OS. I had to wait some time and then plugged charger. This didn't make any difference because I couldn't run any test, it freezed instantaneously after starting browser and going to this page. I had to wait some time (to cool down maybe?) and then make try again but it also freezed just a little bit later. I think there are some issues with power management circuit or overheating. I really don't have more time to do tests as this is my only laptop and I use it everyday (well I'm trying to :P)

Now I'm sure it's not software/driver issue. It' purely hardware and I would like support to replace parts defective parts. Sorry I don't have more time for testing or do a clean install of windows as this will clearly not help (I have clean install of linux mint 19.1 and even on this system I experience this issues). This is my second Dell laptop, the first one was latitude 3440 and it was also a **bleep**, support replaced motherboard 3 times, hdd, charger. 

Also here is a picutre from HWMonitor, some background: I did it after laptop shut down, waited for 10mins and then started it again, immediately after booting into windows I started HWMonitor.

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@kadw wrote:

Last week after about 10 months of using my latitude 7390 I started to experience freezes and BSOD. It occured after I left my laptop unused for about a week, after this time it started to crash. I reinstalled Intel HD drivers and upgraded BIOS firmware to newest version (from 02.05.2019). Unfortunately this didn't helped. Also I tried to run with Basic Microsoft drivers for GPU, no luck.

I have dual boot configuration with Mint 19.1 Cinnamon and Windows 10.I'm experiencing same issues with both OSs during boot process or high load.

I saw his topic about 7480/7490 series https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude/Dell-Latitude-7480-Laptop-that-freezes-up/td-p/6081500 and noticed simialr case of 7480 BSoD/freezes. Seems like BIOS update and Intel HD drivers solved this problem. @Dell-Alan D can you provide any info about 7390? I see a lot of people complaining about this model.

I can reproduce freezes when I unplug charger during Windows 10 boot. It freezes instantaneously. When I'm plugged in it boots normally and freezes when fan goes on and there is a high load. Anyone experiencing same issues and can test if this also causes freeze on this model?

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You'll need to contact dell and get the motherboard replaced.  I had this exact issue.  Mine started to occur about 7 months of ownership.  Spent many days troubleshooting both by myself and with Dell support.  They initially thought it was the HD/SSD so they sent a replacement, had me reload windows.  Issue still occurs after the SSD replacement, so after a few more hours on the phone with them, they agreed to replace the MB.  They sent a tech out with a refub motherboard.  After the MB was replace, the hangs stopped.  I noticed the original system had an A01 rev MB while the replacement was A06 rev.  So they made some changes to the motherboard design.

4 months later, starting having all kinds of strange issues again including a swollen battery.  contacted dell again, they sent a replacement battery (took nearly 2 weeks to arrive), that reduced the random power off frequency but still had other issues.  So after a few more weeks of troubleshooting they decided to send another motherboard.  So another tech came out with yet another refurbished motherboard, this time an A04 revision.  Replacement motherboard didn't fix the issue.  

So I'm on my 3rd motherboard in 1 year and 2 month of ownership. Lost countless hours to troubleshooting.

My boss finally had it and complained to our dell account rep.  They escalated it and now they said they will replace the entire system.  I'm waiting to see if that actually happens.  

We've had many 5x90 and 7x90 systems, all seem to have some strange issue that isn't resolved by software reload or motherboard replacements.  I think there's a fundamental design flaw in the xx90 series.

I just had my mother board replaced and it's the same issue. Fan runs hard and it runs HOT. I turned off turbo in bios and now it runs HOT and fan runs non-stop and it's noticeably slower in day to day usage.

I'll run this thing into the ground but won't be putting out to any end user that's for sure.

@Veliz did you manage to contact support in Spain or do you still require support?

I can organise a service call for you in Spain if required and can provide you the English language support if you prefer.

I'll drop you a private message and we can proceed from there.

Alan

Just wanted to follow up to my post from last year.  We had a good run for a while but this week 2 of our 4 7390's died.  Same symptoms as last year,  the user reports working on the machine,  screens goes dark with burnt plastic smell.  This has happened multiple times on 3 of the 4 7390's we own.  Today while setting up the dispatch for a new system board  the tech indicated they would look into this further and possibly get the engineering team involved.  I gave them the link to this post as well for reference.  If I hear anything I will be sure to post back but I would guess this is a known problem due to so many users seemingly affected.    

I have since switched to XPS line which has proved to be more reliable.  We have 5 of them now.   -Bob  

Hi All, 

I took a pic of the burnt out chip on the system board that was replaced this week on my 7390.  Its look like the same chip shown in post 1 of this thread back in 6/2018.  I am still looking into this overall problem with a Dell tech.  They don;t seem to have any data stating this is a widespread issue but they are researching.    

Hi all,

One of my coworkers shared this forum post regarding the 7390s.  We have a fleet of 126 units, which are replacement units for 5289s.  The 5289s had an extraordinarily high failure rate - more than 85%.  

5289s - Power issues - i.e. doesn't power on at all (all of a sudden), extremely hot, battery issues, not charging, etc.  Most replaced the motherboard.

7390s -

Extremely hot - I think I have potentially narrowed this down a bit.  After running diagnostics on a 7390, it is running between 3047 MHz and 3592 MHz - when the advertised speed is actually 1896 MHz.  This uses the Intel Turbo Boost feature (not called over-clocking /winks).  I think the mechanism that keeps the computer from overheating and uses the "turbo" part is broken.  The Intel Thermal framework hasn't been updated in a while.  What I'm seeing is CPU temperatures between 72 degrees and 90 degrees Celcius (194 degrees F)! 

To resolve this issue, I have turned off Intel Turbo Boost in the BIOS.  This means I'm not capable of taking advantage of the faster speeds but drops the temperature in more than half. 

BSOD - There's a couple different BSOD's and there's also an IAStore error message.  On another forum, I found a post that says sometimes Optane gets installed when it shouldn't.  So far, after uninstalling Optane, the IAstore error and some of the BSODs have gone away.

Other laptop shut-offs and BSODs - I am wondering if it's related to overheating?

WD15 and WD19 Docking Station Issues - For the life of me, I can not get the 7390 to gracefully undock and redock to the docking stations without a full shutdown.  If you pull them off without shutting them down, then sometimes the USB ports (on the laptop) stop responding.  Sometimes the laptop is on but the display is black.  When you redock the laptop, almost 100% of the time, the USB ports on the docking station stop responding - which means keyboard and mouse will not respond.   

Contact our TAM - Yup, done that.  Our rep is awesome and the immediate Dell side rep is trying to get us support but here we are with round 2 laptops and issues with little access to beyond tier one support.  

My last support call was 45 minutes long - hung up on 3 times - and ended in absolutely no resolution, service, etc.  

So, I am happy to have access to other regular Joes who may have other fixes to get things working better.

Test Units - have the latest BIOS, docking station firmware, drivers, etc.  (As of November 2019)

7390 Fleet - While I am seeing issues, I only have one failed unit out of 126 that needs to be repaired by Dell.  I will be looking to see if the chip is burnt out as described.  They have been deployed since June 2019.

One of the chips is damaged - appears to be melted.

Dell Tech Direct Dispatch denied for unknown technical reasons.  45 minutes on the phone to get an onsite technician to repair.

In the past - we have had fantastic service support and reliable units

The last 2 major purchases have had multiple issues as well on our enterprise units Dell 5289 with an unheard fail rate out of the box -so they replaced them with new units - these 7390 units - 9 months and we are still having major issues - so your comment on contacting your rep may be mute.

We get nothing but a runaround when trying to resolve the issue - many wasted hours of time that we should not have to spend

Prior to EMC support - I alway recommended Dell but since then the support has been problematic - and our Tech rep has changed so often - I feel its time to look into other options

Sorry Dell - but I would not recommend these units 

One of my coworkers shared this forum post regarding the 7390s.  We have a fleet of 126 units, which are replacement units for 5289s.  The 5289s had an extraordinarily high failure rate - more than 85%.  

5289s - Power issues - i.e. doesn't power on at all (all of a sudden), extremely hot, battery issues, not charging, etc.  Most replaced the motherboard.

7390s -

Extremely hot - I think I have potentially narrowed this down a bit.  After running diagnostics on a 7390, it is running between 3047 MHz and 3592 MHz - when the advertised speed is actually 1896 MHz.  This uses the Intel Turbo Boost feature (not called over-clocking /winks).  I think the mechanism that keeps the computer from overheating and uses the "turbo" part is broken.  The Intel Thermal framework hasn't been updated in a while.  What I'm seeing is CPU temperatures between 72 degrees and 90 degrees Celcius (194 degrees F)! 

To resolve this issue, I have turned off Intel Turbo Boost in the BIOS.  This means I'm not capable of taking advantage of the faster speeds but drops the temperature in more than half. 

BSOD - There's a couple different BSOD's and there's also an IAStore error message.  On another forum, I found a post that says sometimes Optane gets installed when it shouldn't.  So far, after uninstalling Optane, the IAstore error and some of the BSODs have gone away.

Other laptop shut-offs and BSODs - I am wondering if it's related to overheating?

WD15 and WD19 Docking Station Issues - For the life of me, I can not get the 7390 to gracefully undock and redock to the docking stations without a full shutdown.  If you pull them off without shutting them down, then sometimes the USB ports (on the laptop) stop responding.  Sometimes the laptop is on but the display is black.  When you redock the laptop, almost 100% of the time, the USB ports on the docking station stop responding - which means keyboard and mouse will not respond.   

Contact our TAM - Yup, done that.  Our rep is awesome and the immediate Dell side rep is trying to get us support but here we are with round 2 laptops and issues with little access to beyond tier one support.  

My last support call was 45 minutes long - hung up on 3 times - and ended in absolutely no resolution, service, etc.  

So, I am happy to have access to other regular Joes who may have other fixes to get things working better.

Test Units - have the latest BIOS, docking station firmware, drivers, etc.  (As of November 2019)

7390 Fleet - While I am seeing issues, I only have one failed unit out of 126 that needs to be repaired by Dell.  I will be looking to see if the chip is burnt out as described.  They have been deployed since June 2019.

just had my 4th system board burn this week.. def heat related

to make matters worse, dell's onsite service takes days, doesn't call/show up to replace it... they are getting so bad you can no longer depend on them. next day has become "whenever we get to it"

My battery exploded/bulged so the keyboard popped off about 6 months ago, now it was time for the system board again

WD15 & WD19 - same issues, want to pull my hair out, EVERY day it won't wake or will have nonworking usb ports

This week our 25th Latitude 5590 laptop (out of 60) burned...

That's 41,6%... If only I knew what caused this.