It depends on what you mean by "compatible". No Thunderbolt dock will be able to charge that system because the Area 51m requires way more power than can be delivered by even TWO connections links like the WD19DC offers. So that's probably why the Alienware systems are off the compatibility list. It's possible that they also wouldn't support being powered on and off using the Power button built into the dock. Latitude and Precision systems support that because they have firmware to allow it, but Inspiron and Vostro systems don't seem to support that. There's no industry standard for an external power button, so it requires special firmware support, although I don't know why Dell didn't implement it in all of their own systems even if it couldn't be made to work when pairing Dell and non-Dell equipment. But anyway, if you just want a dock that can run external displays and peripherals and you're fine keeping your system's power adapters also attached, then the TB16 should actually work, although Dell has replaced the TB16 with the WD19TB at this point, and the WD19TB doesn't seem to be generating nearly as many complaints and issues as the TB16 had by this stage, so I'd recommend going that route instead. You would NOT want the WD19DC I mentioned earlier since you only have a single port anyway, and again the main reason for that design was to send extra power to attached systems, but even that wouldn't be enough for the Area-51m.
I already knew that the power on Dock cannot be charging to Alienware but when read that topic I think all of port connector (usb, dp...) in Tb16 are not working with Alienware 51m. After your answer, everything are clear
I bought a Dell Thunderbolt dock WD19TBS to work with my Alienware Area-51m R2. The dock power button LED doesn't come on but the dock works in general.
I have my monitor, keyboard and mouse plugged into it, so as to swap in my work or partners laptop depending on the occasion. The power LED does come on in those cases and powers those devices.
I updated all the drivers and BIOS on the Alienware with the same results, but after reading your article this now makes sense.
Congratulations on finding answer for your dock issue. Please don't hesitate to message jphughan again for any help in the future and thank you for using Dell Community forums.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
3
October 31st, 2019 14:00
It depends on what you mean by "compatible". No Thunderbolt dock will be able to charge that system because the Area 51m requires way more power than can be delivered by even TWO connections links like the WD19DC offers. So that's probably why the Alienware systems are off the compatibility list. It's possible that they also wouldn't support being powered on and off using the Power button built into the dock. Latitude and Precision systems support that because they have firmware to allow it, but Inspiron and Vostro systems don't seem to support that. There's no industry standard for an external power button, so it requires special firmware support, although I don't know why Dell didn't implement it in all of their own systems even if it couldn't be made to work when pairing Dell and non-Dell equipment. But anyway, if you just want a dock that can run external displays and peripherals and you're fine keeping your system's power adapters also attached, then the TB16 should actually work, although Dell has replaced the TB16 with the WD19TB at this point, and the WD19TB doesn't seem to be generating nearly as many complaints and issues as the TB16 had by this stage, so I'd recommend going that route instead. You would NOT want the WD19DC I mentioned earlier since you only have a single port anyway, and again the main reason for that design was to send extra power to attached systems, but even that wouldn't be enough for the Area-51m.
VnDevil
4 Posts
1
November 1st, 2019 01:00
I already knew that the power on Dock cannot be charging to Alienware but when read that topic I think all of port connector (usb, dp...) in Tb16 are not working with Alienware 51m.
After your answer, everything are clear
Thanks so much
Dodomac
6 Posts
1
November 7th, 2022 13:00
I bought a Dell Thunderbolt dock WD19TBS to work with my Alienware Area-51m R2.
The dock power button LED doesn't come on but the dock works in general.
I have my monitor, keyboard and mouse plugged into it, so as to swap in my work or partners laptop depending on the occasion. The power LED does come on in those cases and powers those devices.
I updated all the drivers and BIOS on the Alienware with the same results, but after reading your article this now makes sense.
A51-06
5 Practitioner
•
3.1K Posts
0
November 8th, 2022 16:00
Hi @jphughan ,
Congratulations on a solution! You're still as helpful as ever before.
Hi @VnDevil and @Dodomac ,
Congratulations on finding answer for your dock issue. Please don't hesitate to message jphughan again for any help in the future and thank you for using Dell Community forums.