Kernel requirements for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 on Dell Precision laptops with Kaby Lake CPU

Solution In Progress - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3
  • Dell Precision Mobile Workstation laptops with Kaby Lake CPUs (3520, 5520, 7520, and 7720).

Issue

  • What kernel parameters are needed at install time for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 on Kaby Lake based Dell Precision 3520, 5520, 7520, and 7720
  • After installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3, what kernel version is the minimum version needed for full support.

Resolution

If this solution is attached to a certification that system was certified without using accelerated graphics drivers during install. The discrete GPU (if equipped) was disabled with the relevant kernel argument. For Nvidia GPUs that is "nouveau.modeset=0" for AMD GPUs that is "radeon.modeset=0" . Since the i915 modesetting driver does not claim the device without the 'preliminary_hw_support' flag, this is functionally equivalent to installing with "Basic Graphics" or passing the "nomodeset" kernel parameter.

It is recommended to install 7.3 on these systems with the "basic graphics" option in the installer, (Which passes the 'nomodeset' parameter to the kernel on boot).
Or you can install using the i915 accelerated video, and disabling the discrete graphics by passing one of the the mentioned kernel parameters on install. e.g. "nouveau.modeset=0 i915.preliminary_hw_support=1"

Once the system is installed, you must upgrade to kernel 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7 (7.3 Batch Update 3 "z-stream"). This kernel requires no kernel parameters for accelerated i915 video, and also fixes an issue where systems fail to resume from S3 (Suspend to RAM).

Root Cause

The i915 driver in the 7.3 GA kernel does not support KabyLake graphics by default.
In some rare instances the nouveau driver has caused lockups during install.

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