Dell XPS 13 9310 2-in-1: System firmware 2.8.1 and 2.9.0 missing on LVFS

[paulmenzel]

The latest available version on LVFS is 2.7.0 from January 11th, 2022, while version 2.8.1 from March 14th, 2022 and 2.9.0 from April 26th, 2022 are available.

[CragW]

XPS 9310 2-in-1 doesn't support Ubuntu hence no firmware uploads for fwupd/LVFS. https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-13-9310-2-in-1-laptop/drivers

The latest system firmware for XPS 9310 is 3.6.0: https://fwupd.org/lvfs/devices/com.dell.uefiecfae66b.firmware

Same as Windows' offering: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=10w50&oscode=ubt20&productcode=xps-13-9310-laptop

[paulmenzel]

XPS 9310 2-in-1 doesn't support Ubuntu hence no firmware uploads for fwupd/LVFS. https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-13-9310-2-in-1-laptop/drivers

So, why are some older versions available?

@hughsie, it’d be great, if you could talk to Dell about this.

The latest system firmware for XPS 9310 is 3.6.0: https://fwupd.org/lvfs/devices/com.dell.uefiecfae66b.firmware

Well, that’s a different device.

Same as Windows' offering: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=10w50&oscode=ubt20&productcode=xps-13-9310-laptop

Same different device.

Please re-open this issue.

[Esokrates]

First of all, the XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 is perfectly supports Ubuntu (with exception of the fingerprint reader), it is just not sold with Ubuntu by Dell. Over one year ago I had contact to a Dell Support Engineer because I found a display firmware issue (https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/lj5qak/xps_13_display_issue_affecting_7390_9300_and_9310/). I got to test an experimental fix under NDA that really fixed the issue and was subsequently released to the public. During the encounter with the Support Engineer I brought up the LVFS topic and the engineer agreed that he will talk to colleagues to distribute the firmware via that channel. I don't know whether intervention from this engineer really was responsible, but in the end for quite some time the latest versions were all uploaded to LVFS, see https://fwupd.org/lvfs/devices/com.dell.uefia472a89c.firmware/analytics

I wanted to contact said Support Engineer again because he also promised he would do something regarding me joining Dell Rockstart but it seems he quietly left Dell, at least I can not reach him anymore via his Dell email ever since September 2021, which made me really sad, because I was very happy with the collaboration. Maybe @hughsie could really talk to some guys responsible, all the helpful people I interacted with such as Mario sadly left Dell.

@CragW Please reevaluate this with your colleagues. No matter to which conclusion you come to, please leave a message.

[CragW]

Sorry for the delayed response. The policy for system firmware release is primarily on the compatible systems at launch, for alternative install see if issue #4788 helps but it takes own compatibility risk.

[paulmenzel]

Do you mean issue https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/issues/4788 (install_dell_bios_exe.py)? (If I already downloaded the file, putting it on the EFI System Partition (ESP) and loading that from the system firmware update menu, might be easier.

I do not understand the reasoning behind it. If fwupdmgr would show a warning about the compatibility risk, users have to jump threw hoops to get the latest firmware (with possible security fixes) under GNU/Linux? That cannot be in the interest of Dell and LVFS. As the firmware can be installed using the system firmware firmware update menu too, and no warning is shown there, what “compatibility risk” do you mean?

[pjwelsh]

@CragW - I am also confused by the policy statement.

In fact, there is realistically no "Ubuntu" issue either as I see it. Dell's commitment is to provide BIOS updates for models of systems to fwupd. fwupd's is where the Ubuntu support would be needed, not Dell. @paulmenzel has pointed this out by showing the existing BIOS versions for this model exists.

@dell-client-linux Please continue the commitment to maintain existing Dell "supported" BIOS versions consistent with what the official Dell support website has here on fwupd. This Dell XPS 13 9310 2-in-1 certainly looks to fall into this category.