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55 Posts
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7971
XPS 13 9365 2-in-1, coil whine, #2
Hi all,
I bought a XPS 13 2-in-1 9365 in October and was super happy with it until... the wifi started to drop out all the time and I had to restart to bring up the wifi card again. After days of driver troubleshooting - although I told Dell that it also happens under Linux - Dell finally swapped the main board and all was good for some weeks.
Then on the second main board the left USB-C port died (as soon as you plug in any device the system interrupts went crazy and the system was unresponsive until the USB device was removed, again same behavior under Linux) and Dell again changed the main board.
On this 3rd main board I have horrible coil whine. It is acceptable when the unit is running on battery (or I run the Better battery or Better Performance option) and I'm just working on Word, Excel or reading simple webpages. Then we have a small buzz here or there (especially scrolling on a website), but very tolerable. But reproducible, as soon as I open and start some video on Youtube (or load any other page with embedded videos) the coil whine is horrible. Sounds like having a 3.5" mechanical hard disk running berserk during random access seek.
I'm pretty sure I did not had that issue on the first two main boards. At least I never noticed... and as I'm really a bit sensitive to noisy laptops (that's why I bought a fanless computer....) I would have noticed for sure.
I wonder if this last mainboard is just an old revision (got A00) or if I'm just unlucky with this one. Honestly, I don't want to call in and complain again but the coil whine is driving me nuts and has a severe impact on my productivity. For a $1500 device just not acceptable.
So, two questions:
1) Is there a newer main board revision for the 9365 addressing the coil whining issue? Or is the A02 only for 9360?
2) If there is not a new revision, do other 9365 users have massive coil whining? I only see people complain about the 9350 and 9360.
Thanks,
fassy
fassy
55 Posts
0
May 17th, 2018 00:00
So, after a few more days I'm still okay with the replacement. It still got coil whine, particular when accessing the SSD. But all in all it is bearable for the normal day to day use.
Customer Service and the whole experience was so bad, I will not buy another Dell machine for my company in a long time. I guess I'll give Lenovo or HP (perhaps Apple) another try when I need to buy a new computer.
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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February 8th, 2018 16:00
As far as I know, the 9365 has not had a problem with "coil whine". My system has made a sound which sounds like an alarm a couple of times but hasn't happened in months.
The system does not seem to have been tested with Linux. Possibly because it is a modern standby system and I do not know if Linux can deal with that configuration. I have seen systems where after using Linux, the drivers for Windows are messed up.
I have also seen some static in audio even when moving the mouse around. But again that situation only seems to be intermittent.
If you are running Linux, you must have set your SATA controller to AHCI or disabled? I run mine in disabled but I do not run Linux..
Sorry you are having problems.
fassy
55 Posts
0
February 9th, 2018 02:00
Thanks for your reply.
First, I used Linux from a pen drive just to rule out driver issues. Works like a charme. So, I don't load any drivers to access the SSD and don't even touch the Windows installation. Therefore I cannot think of any issue this might cause to Windows drivers. I 'm having 20 years experience running Linux and Windows systems in parallel and never had any issue.
But apart from that:
Yes, this laptop has coil whine issues! The sound emits from somewhere at the "s-d-f" key region and seems to be related to usage of the GPU. Updating the Intel HD 615 driver made some difference... the real bad mechanical-hard-disk sound has disappeared mostly (but not at all). Here is a short video (44mb) show casing the issue:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/19i83f3370inn2p/File%2009.02.18%2C%2009%2059%2044.mov?dl=0 (Audio is poor but the noise is really loud!)
As said before, I'm quite sure I didn't had the issue on the first two board so probably I was unlucky getting a bad replacement?
Thanks,
fassy
fassy
55 Posts
0
February 9th, 2018 03:00
great... hours later double post appear... sorry
fassy
55 Posts
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February 9th, 2018 03:00
...
fassy
55 Posts
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February 9th, 2018 03:00
as above :(
fassy
55 Posts
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February 9th, 2018 06:00
and the last one...
fassy
55 Posts
0
February 13th, 2018 07:00
Just spoke to the local Dell support. They recommended to disable C-state support in the BIOS. It reduces the coil whining slightly - at the expense of power saving modes which reduces my battery life - but not really to a point where I would say "great!".
I'm really frustrated here. I buy a computer without any issues and no audible coil whining issue. I get's repaired - twice. And now I have coil whine and should live with disappointing work around?
fassy
55 Posts
0
February 14th, 2018 07:00
Hmmm, not much activity around here? not from the community and not from Dell?
fassy
55 Posts
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February 16th, 2018 07:00
Although I'm not sure anybody follows here, I'll just send in the updates.
Disabling C-state support is NOT a viable solution
1) Battery runtime is drastical decreased
2) The system runs hot. The Package temp never drops below ~60°C and even a bit of load will have the temp spike to over 90°C. The whole left side of the keyboard gets uncomfortable warm... With enabled C-state the package temps hovers around 45°C and here and there spikes to 75°C. Huge difference (which you can feel in the fingers...)
3) Closing the lid to put the computer to sleep shows serious power drain. Closed the computer with 100% in the evening, woke up in the morning with 9% charge. Next day, closed the computer with 100% in the eveing and it woke up with 31%. Some testing later I found out that without the C-state enabled, the computer drains about 5 to 8% battery ever hour while being in modern standby mode. Just to verify, I enabled C-state support again, charged the computer to 100% and closed the lid. This morning I still have 95% battery.
Talked to another Dell support agent and he offered to book another service and get he main-board replaced. He said "the 9365 should not have coil whining issue", while "we know the 9350/9360 hare known for it". I decided to send the computer in this time and hopefully get a fixed and problem free device back.
Paul St
12 Posts
1
February 16th, 2018 08:00
Been there, seen that! Try disabling Intel's TurboBoost. That helped me to minimize the coil whine but at around 40% of performance cost.
I am on my third XPS 13 in the past 2 months. Every one of them had multiple issues. First one was 9360 with FHD screen and had a horrible coil whine, loose screen with a play of an inch. Second one was 4K 9370, again with coil whine, battery came with 9% wear on arrival and with minimum brightness and recommended battery settings battery would only last approximately 5hrs. Got a FHD 9370 now. Biggest coil whine of them all, battery wear at 7% on arrival, there is a gap at the right hinge, CPU gets up to 80C when watching videos on Youtube, popping sounds from the speakers. Returning this one as well. I am done with Dell.
fxg86
1 Message
0
February 24th, 2018 08:00
Big coil whine issue here too. More audible when scrolling or when an external monitor is plugged in. Very disappointed with my new XPS13 9365 2-in-1.
fassy
55 Posts
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February 27th, 2018 04:00
Still waiting to get my machine back.... in repair for a week now. Let's see what they say.
fassy
55 Posts
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March 2nd, 2018 03:00
Just checked the status in the customer portal of the service contractor - and it says they haven't even received the computer. Tracking the shipment via DHL link it shows that some intermediate service center received it 10 days ago - and looks like they are just sitting on it.
This is just so disappointing. I always had quite good experience with Dell support and that was a purchasing decision when I bought the new machine. But this time, it seems what can go wrong goes wrong and Dell delivering a very poor service. And it seems, nobody even cares.
Getting really angry while I'm working on my 4 years old worn down Surface tablet.
fassy
55 Posts
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March 12th, 2018 03:00
Another update: Unit is still under repair...
I can see:
This is really frustrating...