Lots of issues with my XPS 15: help me troubleshoot them!

Hello there.

I need you help in troubleshooting my laptop. I will try to be as brief but as precise as possible.

THE PATIENT: Dell XPS 15 9500

  • i7 10750H
  • GTX 1650Ti 4GB
  • 2x16GB DDR4
  • 2x1TB SSDs (one aftermarket)
  • FHD IPS matte non-touch 16:10 screen
  • Running Windows 10 Pro + Ubuntu 22.04 LTS in dual-boot (one on each SSD)
  • Up to date drivers and firmware as provided by Dell tools in Windows

THE USE CASES

  • Coding
  • Computation for physics, especially gravitational waves and astrophysical population analyses
  • Music production
  • Photo editing
  • Some gaming on the side when I have time (very rarely, then)

THE SYMPTOMS

  • Random reboots in Windows 10 while using it (briefly shows the “Restarting/Shutting down” Windows screen)

  • Shutdowns after boot in Windows 10 and sometimes RE mode is triggered at next boot

  • Some coloured stripes and artifacts on the screen (hasn’t been happening for some weeks, happened especially in Windows, in IDLE, but sometimes in Ubuntu too)

  • Frequent Windows Blue Screens with different error codes



  • Black screens in Ubuntu while using it, especially in IDLE or light use

  • Sometimes wi-fi or Bluetooth do not show up in Windows, like if the wireless card drivers weren’ t loaded up correctly, malfunctioned or the hardware module itself stopped working. One or two system reboots make it work again.

  • Sometimes it stops charging while in Windows. More rarely it doesn’ t charge while turned off (very rare). I only use the original USB-C 130W charger provided by Dell to charge it

  • Sometimes gets stuck in GRUB “select the OS” screen. I cannot load any OS, neither can I move the cursor when it happens. Hard reboot is needed when it happens

THE CLINICAL HYSTORY OF THE PATIENT

  • Battery changed within one week from purchase due to poor battery life from the get go
  • Screen changed 2/3 times due to damage to the panel, likely caused by pressure points in the backpack
  • Palmrest changed 3/4 times, always when other components were already been serviced
  • Motherboard changed 2 times. One time after the laptop completely stopped charging (unlike now that charging stops only sometimes and is fixed after some reboots)

Note: all the components were serviced by authorized Dell technicians under Pro Support on-site 4-year warranty. Warranty is now expired (was no longer extendable)

THE TESTS

  • Run 5 h of Memtest86+ full test in loop. No memory errors at the time
  • Run 3 h of Uningine Heave, and some runs of 3D Mark in Windows: no crashes or coloured lines on screen
  • Run 2 h of Cinebench R24 on loop: no crashes

I wanted to change this computer only when entering a PhD program or a new job, knowing the actual needs I will have at the time and having the first salaries to spend on the device. If I were to change it now, I will have less liquidity and I will only be able to guess my future needs.
Hence, before upgrading to a new device, I wanted to extend the life of this still decent (on paper…) XPS, and I therefore want to do some troubleshooting to see if there’s any way to save this laptop or mitigate the issues.
I’m currently using this as my main device, and I have a couple of projects I’m actively work on, so I’d really prefer not to have to wipe the device.

Thank you very much for your patience and help :slight_smile:

1 Like

Could be a couple of issues but I suggest you start with the windows bug check files to see what failed. According to the screenshot the issue is Bug Check 0x10D WDF_VIOLATION - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn

you can use this WinDbg - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store to load analyse the blue screen debug files

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Thank you very much for the answer.
I was able to get the WinDbg tool up and running and I managed to open a crash report thanks to some instructions I’ve found on Dell site itself. I have like a dozen of crash reports, all recent though (maybe automatic dump after x amount of time).
Now I need to understand what to look for in the reports and how to interpret them.

Try this BSOD - Using WinDbg (Windows Debugger) and !analyze -v - Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support first reply to find what crashed

you can upload also some files in zip and I can have a look

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