Dell Laptop partially freezes sometimes, audio and double key press stops working

As the title suggests, the laptop partially freezes randomly. By partially freezes, I mean that some functionality stops or glitches. The glitches I have identified so far are:

1. audio stops working

2. most importantly, multiple key-presses do not work. i.e. if I press any key twice, only one of them is registered, the next keypress is ignored. Other keys would respond, but the same key does not.

3. on trying to shut it down, it goes to the purple shutdown page (the standard ubuntu shutdown screen), and is stuck there indefinitely.

4. On unplugging my charger, the system stops and powers down immediately. (My battery is very poor, so I have to leave my laptop plugged in always, battery lasts for about 5-10 mins max)

5. On powering the system up again, the fan runs at max speed with a loud sound for a few seconds, almost like it's clearing off something that's stuck, though there is nothing stuck in my fan.

The system continues working in this glitchy manner until I unplug the charger.

I'm not entirely convinced that this is an OS issue, since I have encountered this on Windows and Ubuntu, and occasionally even on the grub menu on powering on (multiple down arrow to navigate to a different OS does not work sometimes)

Also, completely formatted my hard drive recently, installing only windows. Encountered this problem in the fresh setup as well.

There is no fixed time period after which this glitch occurs, it is completely random, and I cannot really identify any trigger as well.

Is this a fairly common problem, has anyone come across this? Any solutions? Not entirely sure, but it seems to be a hardware issue. But don't know which hardware is causing this issue, if it is a hardware one. How can I diagnose this issue further?

Solution 1:

Things to try:

1. If the laptop is still under warranty I'd call Dell. If you can get it to happen IN the Windows setup do advise that. See if it happens in the BIOS or F12 Diagnostics, if so that's an easy way to prove to them its a HW issue instead of SW
2. Try a power discharge: while PC off, disconnect battery & power cord, hold power button 10-20sec
3. Have you run F12 diagnostics and/or specifically a RAM diagnostic? Please do as I agree its a HW issue if it happens IN WINDOWS SETUP
4. Have you tried resetting or updating BIOS?

Regarding your issues:

1. Audio stops working, I'd think either CPU or RAM is maxed out from my experience
2. Keys not working, do the problematic keys start working after a bit? Was anything spilled on the KB? Can you plug in a USB keyboard WHILE issue is happening & experience the same problematic keys on USB keyboard?
3. Not enough experience to speak to that issue
4. Unplugging charger shuts off immediately, this would be normal/expected if your battery is poor so I don't consider this abnormal, simply indicative of a bad battery
5. Fan running at max after connecting power to a Dell system that DIDN'T have power before is normal. I don't know why, but I speculate its either confirming the fans work or to disrupt dust before POST so it can beep if there is an issue since you really NEED your CPU fan

Solution 2:

A post dedicated to the problem is found at Inspiron 15-7577 keep freezing.

I summarize below the workarounds that worked for some (but perhaps not for others).

1. Unplugging and replugging the AC adapter

2. Uninstall the Dell Support Assist software

3. Start Dell Power Management Lite, under "Battery setting" if you see "Adaptive", switch it to "Primarily AC use". The default "Advanced charge" is left as Off.

4. Run "Power Options" and click "Change plan settings" for your power plan. Change "Turn off Display" & "Put the Computer to Sleep" to "Never".

5. Run "Power Options" and click "Change plan settings" for your power plan. Click "Change advanced power settings" and in the dialog under "PCI Express" set "Plugged in" and "Battery" both to "Off" and Apply the changes.

6. Pull out the battery and restart windows. Later put the battery back and check if everything is now working well.

If nothing works to improve the problem, this might be a hardware problem.