XPS 13 9310, Ubuntu, deep sleep missing

Interesting - I guess you're right in that a process is keeping the OS awake (or waking it up) because it isn't forced into deep sleep.

If I run into that then I will look into setting up hibernation as it will eliminate the problem. Depending on the distro you are on, it should be fairly easy for you to setup, if it isn't already?

If s3 sleep isn't available in the firmware then adding that kernel option does nothing

In the case of the 9310, if you check /sys/power/mem_sleep you will only see s2idle, whereas on the 9300 and most other laptops, you will see s2idle as well as deep. By adding the kernel option, you are changing the default option which the kernel uses (indicated by the [ ] around the option. If you run the below, you should see both options with deep being the default.

$ cat /sys/power/mem_sleep 
 [s2idle]

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@bmd0 wrote:

If s3 sleep isn't available in the firmware then adding that kernel option does nothing

In the case of the 9310, if you check /sys/power/mem_sleep you will only see s2idle, whereas on the 9300 and most other laptops, you will see s2idle as well as deep. By adding the kernel option, you are changing the default option which the kernel uses (indicated by the [ ] around the option. If you run the below, you should see both options with deep being the default.

$ cat /sys/power/mem_sleep 
 [s2idle]

 

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That's right. Is that the case for all 9310 and recent kernels? If yes, thread closed: bummer

I'm not sure it is kernel related, my understanding is Dell have removed s3 from the firmware itself.

This seems to stem from Microsoft pushing for S0 "modern standby" which enables the background refresh etc. while the system is in standby so that you get super quick wake from sleep and a mobile like experience from your laptop. Maybe linked to the "evo" certification also, which is the same type of thing.

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@bmd0 wrote:

I'm not sure it is kernel related, my understanding is Dell have removed s3 from the firmware itself.

My understanding is that it should be supported both by the firmware and the kernel (being able to communicate with the particular firmware/hardware). So if Dell decided to purge s3 sleep altogether on the firmware level, it's indeed a sad finale. I guess in another ten or so years all laptops will slowly turn into the likes of chromebooks/ipads anyways, we just have to accept the inevitable

By the way, talking about kernels and firmware: this discussion stimulated me to enable mem_sleep_default=deep again (when I tried it a few months ago, it somehow messed up poweroff, so I did not use it in the end) Now, a few firmware and kernel versions later, it seems like everything works as intended. This makes me happy! (mine is 9300 laptop, however, not 9310)

I am interested though: for those who don't see the "deep" option in /sys/power/mem_sleep -- are you using a generic kernel (which version), or Dell's kernel? (If such thing exists.)

I'm using the "certified" Ubuntu that Dell shipped with my 9310.

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@rjl-csun wrote:

I'm using the "certified" Ubuntu that Dell shipped with my 9310.

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I see, out of curiosity: what does

$uname -rs

produce?

In my case I'm getting

$uname -rs
Linux 5.6.0-1052-oem

This is mine:

$ uname -rs
Linux 5.6.0-1050-oem

What are you looking for?

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@rjl-csun wrote:

This is mine:

$ uname -rs
Linux 5.6.0-1050-oem

What are you looking for?

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Yeah... So you have Dell's custom kernel and deep sleep support might have been simply compiled out of it for all we know. (It might also have been disabled entirely on the firmware level, as @bmd0 suggested).

You can try using a different kernel to check if it would help, but to tell the truth, even on a year old 9300 that I have (with generic gorilla 5.8.0-48 kernel) deep sleep is still buggy: I posted just shortly ago that it seemed to start working properly after recent firmware updates, but after additional testing, I discovered that it's not so and after a cycle, the laptop fails to power off properly. So I still disabled it after all... (Maybe I should try the more recent kernel versions, but I don't have enough motivation to experiment with all that right now.)

@blob007 it's not a kernel thing, unfortunately.

I have tested Fedora 33 on 5.8 and 5.10/11/12 (I forget which now, sorry) and arch on 5.11 & 12. All stock kernels and its still not available. 

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@bmd0 wrote:

@blob007 it's not a kernel thing, unfortunately.

I have tested Fedora 33 on 5.8 and 5.10/11/12 (I forget which now, sorry) and arch on 5.11 & 12. All stock kernels and its still not available. 

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Then I guess there's not much to do except hope that Dell will at some point release firmware which allows user to initiate deep sleep. I am sure they have an entire team working on that!

I experience the same in a dell "certified" laptop with ubuntu oem version. I actually bought it because it would have deep integration with the hardware so I don't have to worry for exacly this kind of very annoying issue. I have to completely turn off my laptop if I have to move around, otherwise it will burn inside my bag.

As the option for "deep" sleep is not in my system either, so there is no other option than to wait?

That is pretty much your only option, if Dell ever introduce it at all...

I have the 9310 and S2 sleep isn't causing me any problems. I don't have excessive battery drain when sleeping, so I wouldn't worry too much.