XPS 13 9300 and WD19TB linux problem

FYI, BIOS update 1.3.0 has helped stabilise my system considerably.

I was curious @bulletmark if you were testing with lip open or closed? My configuration is 2 external monitors and 90% of time I have lid closed, I did notice powering monitor on and off usually recovered after a couple of attempts.

Note the changelog specifics in 1.3.0 : -

- Fixed the issue where the external monitor does not get detected when the system resumes from sleep mode.
- Fixed the issue where the system fails to display on an external monitor when powered on using the Dell Dock WD19. This issue occurs when the system lid is closed.
- Fixed the issue where the external monitor cannot be detected when it is connected to the thunderbolt port of the Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD19TB.

I suspect there was an issue introduced with a recent Windows10 update, or it is possible we have slightly different hardware revisions.

Ubuntu wise, I have retained the disabled dp_mst and TB to display port for second monitor, so far seems quite stable.

I test with the lid open and closed but 95% of the time I work with my 2 external screens on the dock with the lid closed. I also use all of the dock USB ports (keyboard, mouse, webcam etc), ethernet port, and 3.5 mm audio port. There is nothing plugged in to the laptop except for the TB3/USB-C dock port.

You say "or it is possible we have slightly different hardware revisions". By "we", do you mean you and me, or do you mean Windows and Ubuntu purchasers? Note, as in my previous posts here, I use Arch Linux on my XPS 13 9300. I purchased it with Windows on it but installed Arch from first boot i.e. I never booted to Windows even once.

@bulletmark yep, "we" as in you and I...

I am dual-booting windows which may very well have something to do with the alternate experience, possibly more so than any potential hardware variation. Also, Arch vs Ubuntu means you are definitely a more seasoned Linux expert than I, hehe.

Regardless, Dell definitely fixed issues in the latest bios update from my perspective. While it is not perfect, when coupled with the dp-mst fix it is now usable.

Hi guys ! I just purchased a XPS 13 9300 and the famous WD19TB. I'm surprised to see that new BIOS release with last version of  WD19TB firmware solved all of yours problems. Personally, I use my laptop lid closed with external monitor plugged in DP through the dock. I have a dual boot with W10 and PopOS 20.04 (close to Ubuntu). If I power on my laptop with lid closed (thanks to dock button), my external screen never turns on. I know that new release of BIOS should have resolved this issue but it is not the case for me. I'm really interested if you have some news about this issue.

Thanks a lot !

@ForTwisted to clarify your post, are you saying that the dock button does not turn on your laptop when you are running Linux, or also running Windows? Do you have the dock button power setting on in your BIOS? When you press the button, does the button light come on, or stay dark?

Note to all, I still get screen blackouts (but no dock disconnects) running 1.3.0 even using my  `i915.enable_dp_mst=0` solution so I have gone back to 1.2.0 where they never occur (with that option).

Note that without the `i915.enable_dp_mst=0` option, I get screen blackouts and dock disconnects on both 1.2.0 and 1.3.0.

@bulletmark, yes laptop right turn on but I c'ant see anything on my external screen especially Grub menu. If I unplug the dock and open lid, I see that I'm on my Linux desktop (first choice of my Grub menu). So my computer well boot.
In the BIOS, I disabled option "Wake on Dell USB-C Dock" cause I want to use dock button to turn on laptop.

I also activate following option but I dont't know exactly what they do : "Enable Thunderbolt Boot Support" and "Enable Thunderbolt (and PCIe behind TBT) pre-boot modules".

I will test to disable dp_mst option and let you know..

Edit: Can you tell me what file I need to modify regarding "i915.enable_dp_mst=0" option ?

Thank you

You say "In the BIOS, I disabled option "Wake on Dell USB-C Dock" cause I want to use dock button to turn on laptop." That sentence does not make sense? You must enable that option if you want the dock button to work as you want.  I wake my laptop (from shutdown or sleep) using the WD19TB button all the time and it works fine.

Note the `i915.enable_dp_mst=0` has nothing to do with the dock button and is only relevant to screen blackouts and dock disconnects some of us have been experiencing. See my post https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-13-9300-and-WD19TB-linux-problem/m-p/7723066/highlight/true#M72030. It is a Linux kernel boot option. Where you add it depends on the boot-loader you are using. Likely it is grub for you if similar to Ubuntu. Plenty of guides around how to add that.

I understood that option "Wake on Dell USB-C Dock" in BIOS allow to turn on laptop when you plug it at the dock. I disabled it because I don't want my computer start when I plug it to the dock but when I push the button. For me, I have no problem with this and computer start correctly. But, screen is not deported on my external screen and like lid is closed, it's a problem..

Thanks for explanation about "enable_dp_mst", I will check it your link

Thanks a lot @bulletmark ! Enable "i915.enable_dp_mst=0" works very well since computer boot on Linux. But OS selection in GRUB menu is not deported on my external screen. So, my computer boot automatically on Linux which is my default choice... It's OK because I boot 99% of time on Linux

For people using Ubuntu with GRUB, I modify file /etc/default/grub and modify line :
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
by
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_dp_mst=0"
and update grub : sudo update-grub

Just to add my experience to the mix. XPS 13 9300 & WD19TB running Manjaro although tested basically every bloody distro there is in the last week or two.

Can confirm that Enabling "i915.enable_dp_mst=0" fixes random flickering and screen distortion and I think by using HDMI and TB to HDMI (active adaptor) has helped a lot to make sure the displays actually show up.

I spoke to a service tech after quite a bit of pointless back and forth over online chat and twitter. The guy I spoke to was upfront to me about not knowing Linux even though they knew my issues were surrounding using Linux. He told me that from his research he had found Linux was unable to physically turn off the built in display and so problems occurring were due to pushing so many pixels when external monitors were added to the mix, which doesn't make much sense to me.

I have been offered a refund though I am unsure whether to take it now that I seem to have gotten the dock to a stable setup. Does anyone know if these problems are unique to Dell docks or if I get another dock I will have similar problems?

By the way @ForTwisted, the XPS 13 does not output a pre-boot display unless the external display matches the resolution of the internal. So for example my 4k xps will not output on pre-boot to either of my external monitors because one is 1440p and the other 1080p. I have not tested whether changing the resolution of the grub boot loader itself to match that of the external display forces grub to be shown.

Cheers all and thanks to everyone who helped figure out fixes to these problems.

@kablammo , did you challenge him on his statement that "from his research he had found Linux was unable to physically turn off the built in display". Just view it from an angle and you can see it definitely turns off, then back on, when you close and open the lid (at least on my Arch Linux + GNOME). It also disappears and then reappears on the displays control settings. Check yours.

As I said earlier here, I am back to using BIOS 1.2.0 with the `i915.enable_dp_mst=0` option. However, I just got another set of blackouts occur, just like I had on 1.3.0. I used to get blackouts every day but after discovering the kernel option I ran on BIOS 1.2.0 and the kernel option for 3 weeks without any issue. I use the laptop frequently every day and my usage has not changed so I just can't explain that. Either the upgrade to BIOS 1.3.0 has somehow left my system corrupted, or one of the recent Arch package updates has affected it.

Thanks @kablammo it's exactly what I think... I will live without this !

Unfortunately, I still have some troubles as you describe @bulletmark. I hope Dell works on BIOS version 1.4.0 to definitely solved all theses issues.

Have a good day guys !

@bulletmark, yeah I did mention that I didn't understand how that was the case because I could see the internal display turns to black if I take a peak and it does not show on any software within linux that I could tell. I asked him if he had any software or commands that could show me otherwise and he went back to telling me that he wasn't a linux expert.

If anyone is curious, my initial grievances were less the flickering/cutting out (although that did happen) and more that when I closed the lid to my xps I was never guaranteed a display output. I think some of you have had the same. Even after a cold boot, booting using the dock button, connecting thunderbolt after boot, it seemed like luck if I got one or both of my displays to play nice and I never got a login screen displayed on an external display.

These problems didn't go away after updating firmware or bios to latest versions.

After finding this thread I saw the post mentioning enabling early kms and the mst fix. So I added those to /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf and things really improved. I have made other system changes but pretty sure only those mentioned in the arch wiki for the xps 9300. Tested the mst thing by removing that line and I started to get the black screens, shifted output, fuzzy/distorted output so put that line back in and it's all good now.

Currently I can cold boot using the dock's power button, get a login screen (it takes noticeable time for the monitors to come to life but any excuse to make a coffee ey?), when I login the monitors refresh again but come back every time. If I connect the dock after boot the monitors come on and if I close the lid after connecting they come back, had a couple of time yesterday where they didn't but my laptop also seemed to crash so right now putting that down to the fact I was building an android app on 3 different emulators at once while messing with things. 

I haven't had an update on the refund yet as Dell have to go through their back channels to the supplier I bought the dock from. I am undecided yet if I will return it as things are working but I've been left feeling very bitter after dealing with the worst customer service I think I have ever dealt with.

You guys here that followed my advice to add the `i915.enable_dp_mst=0` may want to consider adding the other 2 options I have been using. One option makes the laptop sleep efficiently. Without that option you will find that the laptop can chew through your battery while sleeping. Other is to offload some graphics processing to the micro-controller (see here and here ). That can be unreliable on some systems but works fine on XPS 13 9300 model. So add all these to grub: `mem_sleep_default=deep i915.enable_guc=2 i915.enable_dp_mst=0`.

Using suggestions above, I still have trouble with the external monitor lighting up correctly when the system is woken from being suspended.  Most of the time I need to re-do the display arrangement.  Many times it wakes with the displays mirrored (not my choice), other times the external display is dark, occasionally the display resolutions have been reduced.  Sometimes logging out and then logging in seems to be the only way to reset the display arrangement to my choices.

My setup is an XPS 13 9300 and WD19TB with an external monitor, Dell S2319HS, connected with an HDMI cable.  I purchased the laptop from Dell with Ubuntu 20.04 installed (no Windows), switched to the XFCE desktop environment, installed BIOS version 1.3, and installed WD19FirmwareUpdateLinux_01.00.14.cab. 

The currently running kernel is "5.6.0-1034-oem #36-Ubuntu SMP". 

As suggested above, the file "/etc/default/grub" has:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash mem_sleep_default=deep i915.enable_guc=2 i915.enable_dp_mst=0"

Each one of the firmware updates and grub suggestions above (thank you) has helped but not cured things completely.

Any suggestions?  Regards