XPS 15 9550, random sudden turn-off when running on battery, ASF2 Force Off

@RnBeer Hi! I started getting the same problems as you with my Precision 5550. The same BIOS version 1.4.0 (I'm not sure if they identical with XPS 9550 or not). Only one difference in our configurations is that I'm using Fedora linux and you are using Windows.

I've tried to reinstall linux, restored BIOS 2 times, made full diagnostic of the notebook - no errors.

Diagnostic only writes warning that power cable unable to detect after that spontaneous reboot.

In BIOS Log the same message that you wrote: Power Off - ASF2 force off.

I wrote to Dell Support and now I'm waiting what will be next step to fix it.

@RnBeer Hello! The motherboard was replaced and looks like it helped. 3 days in a row without any problems.

Hi All

After 2 years of trying to fix this issue my XPS 15 9550 is now running OK. So far anyway

Strange thing is I wasnt trying to fix it.

All i did was install a realtek audio update (10.0.17134.1) via windows update and then in tidying up my start up programs I decided to disable Realtek HD audio manager

Now it is probably coincidence but before this my XPS wouldnt last more than a few minutes before cutting out and now appears fine

Any thoughts?? 

I am having the same problem but have one small bit to add.  I have an XPS 15 9560 and have recently replaced the battery.  I have no problems while plugged in.  But while on battery, I have one specific scenario that will cause the ASF2 Force Quit.  I am using Home Designer 2021 CAD software.  Normal usage is no problem but when I place a virtual camera in the plan view, it generates a 3D render of the plan.  The render usually completes but as I begin to pan around, it places a load on GPU 1 (NVidia GeForce GTX 1050) and it will inevitably cause the battery cutoff.  

I have verified this with Task Manager.  As the rendering begins I watch the load on the CPU, GPU 0 (Intel HD Graphics 630 - used for driving the display), and GPU 1.  Without fail, as the load on GPU 1 is increased to the 25% range, the battery cuts off.  Note that the GPU temp never exceeds 60 degrees so don't think this is a thermal issue (nor are there any thermal events in the BIOS log).

This may all be a more specific symptom of the general problem, but for me it is reliably reproducible.

One other random thought here is that if this is, indeed, load related, then load is proportional to current flow out of the battery - the harder the electronics are working, the more current the battery has to provide.  If these replacement batteries have a higher internal resistance than the OEM batteries (this could be due to manufacturing differences), then as the current rises quickly, the voltage at the battery will begin to drop.  With higher internal resistance, the voltage will drop faster for a given current draw.  The BIOS / motherboard probably has a voltage monitor and will cut battery power if the voltage drops too low.

If this is the case, then there may very well not be a BIOS / Firmware or even new Motherboard fix.  Only a battery with the OEM internal resistance will solve the problem.  This is best tested by Dell since they will have access to their OEM batteries and can measure the internal resistance compared to the replacement batteries we're all using.

I have the exact same isusses with my XPS 9360 after only about 3 years of use. I have replaced the battery with an dell original according to the information I get using the Dell Power Manager. 

From time to time on battery it just shuts down (turns off without any notice) and won't start unless I plug it into the ac. It starts fine connected to power and then I can remove it from power and it will work just fine. During startup the diagnostics LED blinks orange three times (no white blink) - anyone got an idea?

I was not able to reproduce the shut down consistently. 

Looks Like The Solution work For me two Thanks

YES! I have been having this exact same issue for about a month now, and have been trying to search for answers, on Reddit, youtube, Microsoft Forums, and this dell community page, but have had little to no success. So grateful I stumbled across this page! such a relief to know I'm not the only one.

I am a busy student whose entire life is on this laptop, and so sending in my laptop for a ridiculous amount of time, just for them returning it saying "sorry, no issues were found".... not an option for me. I have the i7-10875H (8cores) with 32Gigs of Ram and a 1Tb SSD, and it's one from the first batch dell produced with the wobbly-as trackpad. Although i picked mine up from Bestbuy for nearly 30% off so not gonna complain too much bout that. I worked hard and saved up all summer then finally placed my order with my desired specs. After some playing around I noticed a bios update was available, and ever since have been having the very problems you described...

> After more than a few hours of power off, I will boot it up, and while the system launches Windows, it abruptly shuts down, as if there was a boot error, but no error codes appear. Then I have to manually power it back on, just for it to abruptly shut off again, This usually happens 2-3 times, but never more than that. 

> Once it finally figures its out, I am able to sign into windows, but immediately am prompted with a notification saying "Your PC isn't Charging", and it doesn't matter which port I put it in, or how many times I unplug, plug back in. it refuses to charge. At first, I thought I may have damaged the charger, as the adapter itself has some black magic going on between the computer and the laptop... but not the case, as I can charge other devices with no problem with the adapter.

>For me, to be able to charge I have to unplug absolutely everything, restart the thing, then it finally works.

Anybody reading this and having the same issue, feel free to reach out, and if somebody finds a solution that does not involve me sending my personal computer to some facility for a BS diagnostics, I would appreciate it more than you'd know!

On a side note, what the  is with the 'Embedded Fan Controller'. The built-in fan-curves are horrible as if dell is TRYING to kill my computer, and although the "Dell Power Manager" software allows for some flexibility, this laptop is not a toy, not designed for amateur users, this needs to be fixed asap!!!, A simple firmware update to disable the Embedded Controller is all it needs.

Very disappointed dell. Very disappointed. 

I had the same problem and Dell replaced the MoBo earlier this year. The issue was intermittent until recently again. I have noticed that it rarely happens while plugged in to my WD19TB dock, but is frequent when I'm on the stock charger that came with the laptop and undocked. I've done everything I can find on the forums/reddit beside disable the high performance boost options in the BIOS, because I don't feel I should have to do that in order to have a functioning laptop. It's my next step, though. I am beyond frustrated with this situation. I had 8 months of perfect performance, then problems started.

After about 6 months of the same issues with zero success, I have a feeling the problem is from one of three reasons, each closely related;

> The stock 130w charger supplies an unreliable, dirty power stream to the system, through a very sensitive USB C port (which btw is only designed to handle 100w), therefore causing the system to protect itself and abruptly power down. Easy solution, buy a 95-100w third-party adapter on amazon or something and just always have it plugged in like a 2007 iPhone 4.

>Second possibility, A while back I grabbed a used monitor (LG 24MK400H) with nearly 3500 hours on it, but the very first time I plugged it in via the included USB C to HDMI 2.0 adapter, the entire system instantly shut off, with no BSOD once again. after opening the error log, a code appeared saying that due to insufficient power supply, the Intel i7 UHD Graphics was forced to shut off. Meaning, there's a driver issue relating to the system's power demand. and what is interesting, is when completely disabling/uninstalling the UHD drivers, all of the issues with the system refusing to charge, and force off no longer occur. 

>Third reason, poorly designed Motherboard. Both driver and physical errors resulting in unhealthy power delivery, causing the system to protect itself unnecessarily.

Still very disappointed in this product, especially with the lack of support. ASUS it is for next time.

same issues no fix yet started for me yesterday looks like this how dell are welcoming me was a macbook user 

having the same issues here started yesterday, and as you i was a macbook user never any issue deep in the hardware to motherboard level this issues is scary and it make me afraid that things might get worse if the issue is at cpu level

if you have any idea in whats wrong exactly please tell us 

just to tell you it happened to me after an update too but 1,9,1 

Same problems here!  Been struggling with this for ~3 months.  From what I'm reading here, a new battery will not help.  I've updated the Bios but no help. Guess I'll try the tip with powering on with no battery.  I've got nothing to lose at this point.

To troubleshoot the problem I've started a watt-meter to see how many watts does my laptop consume. 

I've been running a benchmark while sitting in a park just to warm up my knees with the laptop's heat. 

I confirm that shutdown(or forced suspend/hibernate) occurs with the newly replaced battery when the charge is below 50%, the power consumption shows 45 (!) watts on my Dell Latitude 5401. The stress-test is a simple "stress" command running on all 12 cores on Linux. 

So, it looks like the system is trying to use more power than the battery can provide, the issue depends on the workload you're trying to run on the laptop. Usually, it's not a problem because I'd avoid running such hard workloads on the battery power (unless you're trying to use the laptop as a heater). 

I guess the patch should just limit the overall power consumption to be below 40 watts or so when the charge is below 50%.  

I have a 8 months old XPS 15 9500, having the same issue. MB replace a few weeks ago, but it didn't fix the problem. I have to turn on the laptop without any USB-C connections, login on Windows 10, and then plug in the USB-C connector of my D6000 docking station with 2 monitors, keyboard and mouse. Sometimes the laptop even restarts (with the ASF2 error) after login to Windows 10, but before I connect the USB-C.

Any tips are welcome. Opening a new case with Dell Support. I still have warranty on my laptop.