linux-kernel - Re: Dell XPS13: MCE (Hardware Error) reported

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Message-ID: <c326e985-d362-fb2c-2516-1ac8c6c2e9e1@molgen.mpg.de>
Date:   Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:29:51 +0100
From:   Paul Menzel <pmenzel@...gen.mpg.de>
To:     Mario Limonciello <mario.limonciello@...l.com>,
        Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
Cc:     Ashok Raj <ashok.raj@...el.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@...mhuis.info>,
        Len Brown <len.brown@...el.com>,
        Tony Luck <tony.luck@...el.com>
Subject: Re: Dell XPS13: MCE (Hardware Error) reported

Dear Borislav, dear Mario,

On 01/27/17 18:16, Mario.Limonciello@...l.com wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Borislav Petkov [mailto:bp@...en8.de]
>> Sent: Friday, January 27, 2017 11:11 AM
>> To: Paul Menzel <pmenzel@...gen.mpg.de>
>> Cc: Ashok Raj <ashok.raj@...el.com>; Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-
>> kernel@...r.kernel.org>; Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@...mhuis.info>; Len
>> Brown <len.brown@...el.com>; Tony Luck <tony.luck@...el.com>;
>> Limonciello, Mario <Mario_Limonciello@...l.com>
>> Subject: Re: Dell XPS13: MCE (Hardware Error) reported
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 27, 2017 at 02:35:16PM +0100, Paul Menzel wrote:
>>> Thank you very much for your help. After wasting my time with the Dell
>>> support over Twitter [1], where they basically also make you jump
>>> through hoops,
>>
>> Fun read that twitter page. Especially the bit about not supporting Linux but
>> but you did ship this laptop with ubuntu. LOOL.
>>
>> FWIW, this is not the first time I've heard vendors trying to get away from
>> dealing with bugs by playing the "we-dont-support-Linux" card.

I think, in this case it was an honest mistake from the support person, 
which they corrected in a follow-up post.

But the next conversion was a little disappointing as the problem was 
already diagnosed out on the LKML.

As Mario replied, the Twitter people do not seem to know the free 
software world that well, that “normal” people actually are in contact 
with the developers.

What surprises me though is, that the change-log for the firmware seems 
to be incomplete even for the Dell staff.

>> Good to know when I go looking for a new laptop in the future.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options. If you know a good 
vendor, please share.

Dell is one of the view “big” vendors selling laptops with a GNU/Linux 
operating system installed.

There are Google Chromebooks, which even have coreboot. Google’s 
Chromium team does a great job and have a great quality assurance. On 
par, or even better than Apple, I’d say.

Some people need more powerful devices though.

In Germany, I know of TUXEDO [1]. Also, Purism devices have GNU/Linux 
installed [2].

TUXEDO does not build the devices themselves, and gets template 
models(?) from Chinese manufactures. They only seem to start hiring the 
expertise to do Linux kernel and OS work themselves [3]. Currently, it’s 
mostly the stock Ubuntu for desktop with their artwork and some small 
optimizations.

> Sorry you had that experience.  I'll pass that on to get that messaging
> corrected.  The team that does Linux support doesn't use twitter, they
> do phone and email support only.

Thank you that’s good to know.

> I'm glad you got things sorted moving to the next FW version.

Me too.

Mario, there are at least two more firmware bugs [4][5][6]. Having fast 
suspend and resume says something about the quality of a device. If the 
Dell XPS13 9360 is supposed to compete with Apple devices, and Google 
Chromebooks, then this should be improved in my opinion. Do you have a 
suggestion on how to best get this solved? Do you want me to contact the 
support, or are there Dell employees with access to the Linux kernel 
Bugzilla bug tracker?

Kind regards,

Paul

[1] https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/
[2] https://puri.sm/
[3] 
https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/Jobs-Karriere-Stellenausschreibungen.geek?x6a1ec=o8323ih26224vook9uu997r1a5
[4] https://github.molgen.mpg.de/mariux64/dell_xps13/
[5] https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=185611
[6] https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=185621