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Hardware Issue or Incompatible with Ubuntu - Inspiron 3020
Hi all,
I have had a Inspiron 3020 for around 3 weeks but had a few odd issues. On occasions the PC goes into sleep mode and just refuses to wake up again which means I have no choice but unplug. I set the PC up to dual boot with Ubuntu 23.10 but noticed afterwards the PC would not always power on when I switch on at the main wall plug. The tower would power on with the usual initial white light then go to several flashes of yellow and then refuse to power on unless I pull the plug. I displayed Fastboot etc. before setting up Linux.
I have done a full rest and removed Linux and so far everything is okay. Do you think itsa hardware or Linux issue?
Thanks
RoHe
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March 25th, 2024 19:19
Inspiron 3020 Desktop or Inspiron 3020 Small Desktop?
Dell doesn't support Linux on either Desktop or Small Desktop, so that might be an issue. How did you set up the dual boot? Did you count the amber blinks when it wouldn't boot with Linux installed? That might have been a Dell error code.
As for waking from sleep...
Reboot PC and tap F2 when you see Dell screen to open BIOS setup.
Make sure USB Wake Support option is enabled. (Don't change anything else in BIOS.) Save the change, if any and exit setup. PC will boot automatically.
At desktop, open Device Manager.
Expand list under USB.
Double-click each USB entry and if it has a Power Management tab, make sure box to "Allow PC to turn off..." is not checked and box to "Allow wake..." is checked. (Note: Not every USB entry will have Power Management tab and may/not have boxes to allow PC to turn off and/or to wake, or the boxes may be greyed out.)
Expand list under Human Interface Devices in Device Manager and look for those same boxes for any HID entry with a Power Management tab and confirm settings.
Close Device Manager when done.
Open Windows Power & Sleep screen.
Identify active Power plan and navigate to its Advanced settings options screen.
Disable Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend and PCI Express Link State Management.
Save changes to Power plan and reboot
See if that allows mouse and keyboard to wake from sleep.
(edited)
linuxdan18b96e
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March 25th, 2024 20:34
@RoHe Thanks for such a prompt reply. I made space on the Windows drive for Linux, disable Fastboot and let Ubuntu install as normal. Everything seemed to work but can't work out if the Power / Booting issue happened as a result of the install.
For the lights it only happens the first time you turn the wall socket on, I get a white light, then three yellows and then back to several white flashes and the three yellows until I pull the plug.
So far this has not happened since I rest the computer on Saturday.
RoHe
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March 25th, 2024 22:50
Never installed dual boot Win 11/Ubuntu but this seems to show that additional steps maybe needed...
linuxdan18b96e
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March 26th, 2024 17:42
Seems the issue is the PC as I just had to power off at the wall several times and then drain the power from the PC to get it to turn on. Will have to call Dell to discuss.
RoHe
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March 26th, 2024 19:18
Run the PSU BIST test, following instructions for a PC without a PSU test button.
Also, open BIOS setup and see how AC Recovery is set. You probably want it disabled.
Post back and let us know what's done to fix this problem, which could help other users...
linuxdan18b96e
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April 12th, 2024 16:42
So the nightmare continues!
I was having constant BIOS firmware issues where most days it would download a new version because it was reporting the current version was corrupt. After lots of calls to tech support then sent an engineer who replaced the motherboard. After this was replaced I lost access to the system recovery tool (Dell supportassist) when pressing F12. I had to to a reinstall using the Windows USB key that I created when I first brought the PC but this took 3 hours.
Is there anyway of restoring the Dell Recovery option when I press F12? it was much quicker to restore this way.
The worse thing is I still have old Linux entries EFI partition and have no idea how I will ever remove them.
RoHe
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April 12th, 2024 20:20
You could have told the Windows Installer to delete all partitions during the clean install, but you wouldn't have been able save any personal files on the boot drive if you did that. The Linux partition(s) would have been removed, and any required EFI partitions required by Windows would have been recreated.
Besides, now that the board has been replaced, you might be tempted to install Linux again, so those partitions could be available for use...
Do you really need the Dell Recovery option? The OS it installs is likely way out of date, compared to the one you can get directly from Microsoft (free) if/when you need it again.
Once you get things fully installed and running again, use imaging software (eg, Acronis, Macrium, etc) to create a complete backup image of the boot drive. Save that image on external media (eg USB HDD). That way you'd be able to do a re-install in a much shorter time. Just remember, an image will only be up-to-date on the date you created it. So get in habit of creating a new image on regular basis...
linuxdan18b96e
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April 13th, 2024 08:50
@RoHe I never used the full Windows 11 Media to reinstall. I used the Windows recovery USB that I made. I assume this is just an image that is copied across to the USB. There was no options to delete / set up drives. There were two options remove files / clean drive ( I used clean Drive).
I guess I don't need the Dell Recovery option but was just curious to what the technician had done for this to vanish. He never even logged into Windows as he never got passed the Grub menu.
If I was to download a full copy of Windows 11 would I be able to delete the whole hard drive and start again? Would Windows be able to create a new EFI partition? I was under the impression this was something that was part of the hard drive that was impossible to change / delete.
Thanks
RoHe
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April 13th, 2024 20:22
If you performed a clean install, the EFI partition was likely re-created during the install and is required for Windows to boot the PC. Read this for why/how to delete an EFI partition.
BTW: Do you have the Dell OS Recovery plug-in installed?
linuxdan18b96e
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April 15th, 2024 19:23
@RoHe I did a full reinstall using the recovery USB on Friday. After the new Motherboard was fitted I noticed Dell Recovery was missing when I press F12. I have The Dell Update / Support Assist installed when booting into Windows.
I wanted to do a full reinstall using Windows Media Creation but as soon as I started the install process my SDD driver is not seen and it needs drivers. But oddly everything is working normally on the PC as I am using it now.
My biggest concern at the moment is I have no back up system. Windows Recovery will not make a USB key it jut hangs at 50 %.
Everything just seems worse since the Motherboard was changed. I was doing a clean install as I was advised it is best to do this after a new board is fitted and assume using the media creation tool would be quicker than using the recovery key which took 2- 3 hours.
Thanks
RoHe
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April 15th, 2024 22:03
Did you install the Dell OS Recovery plug-in? You can have SupportAssist running without that extra plug-in, which is a separate installation.
What BIOS is installed on the new motherboard? Is SATA Operation set to RAID or AHCI in BIOS? Don't change that setting! If it's set to RAID that might explain some of the issues you're seeing.
You may be better off just using imaging software and making a full image of each drive in this PC rather than Dell OS Recovery. You can save images on an external HDD.
Lots of different choices for imaging software, eg Macrium, Acronis etc. Imaging software should also be able to create the bootable USB stick you'd need to restore an image saved on an external drive. So be sure to create one with whichever software you get, if you go this route.
Using imaging software means you can revert to an image, including all your installed apps in a relatively short time, if something goes wrong. Keep in mind the image will only be up-to-date on the day you created it, so get in habit of creating new images on a regular basis.
(edited)