WD19TB not powering up

@DJ238769  I don't have a WD19TB in front of me right now, but I remember that being the standard behavior.  You don't "power on" the dock.  You just keep the dock connected to wall power, then when you plug a system into the dock, the dock wakes up.  The Power button on the dock is meant to serve as an external Power button for the attached system, replicating the system's own built-in Power button, thereby allowing you to do things like power on or wake up the system while its lid is closed.  However, that only works when the system you're using actually has firmware-level support for an external Power button (since there's no industry-wide specification for an external power button), and unfortunately thus far all the reports I've seen from people using Inspiron systems with Dell docks have said that the external Power button doesn't work with those systems.  It works with XPS, Latitude, and Precision systems that are designed more for business users and therefore more with docking stations in mind, but apparently not Inspirons, although I don't know why Dell would choose not to add support for that feature in their own products.

In any case, at the very least you should be able to simply connect the dock while the system is running and have it start working.  You can connect and disconnect the system at will, no need to have it powered off when doing so.

I have the same problem with HP Elitebook which has Thunderbolt capability. The "answers" provided are not answers to the above problem. 

Hello - I have the exact same problem. Were you able to resolve it? Very much appreciate if can share the solution if yes. Thanks, Kiran

I am having the same problem with a two month old WD19, it was connected to a two month old XPS17

So there may be an issue with both docks.

...or the issue may not be with any specific dock model.  As other posts state, instead of pushing the power button unplug your computer from the dock, turn it on and get to at least a login screen or log in, then plug it into the dock.  This worked for me, will update if I have any further trouble.

If you are having issues they may be due to peripheral hardware connected to the dock - bad display cables, a monitor switch between the dock and monitor...

If you detach the Docking Station( DS) from PC and connect immediately, the docking station will fail to initialize and will not function properly. The same issue happens when there’s a loss of power from the docking station while the laptop is still connected.

Solution:

1) Disconnect all external device connected from the DS. 
2) unplug DS from outlet 

3) wait 10 sec then connect the socket back to the outlet without pressing the power button wait for 10 sec

4) after waiting for 10 sec, connect the external device/s back to the DS. 
5) you’re welcome

Was working fine latitude connected to docking station, message that a Dell update was ready to install, accepted that and then monitors went blank, other connections stopped as well.  When I unplug and replug I get the three blinks on the docking station and the fan goes on for a second.  Then nothing.  Have tried the recommendations offered to the first post but those haven't worked.

It seems like there may be a compatibility issue or a faulty connection with your WD19TB dock causing the power light to blink and the dock to shut down when connecting to your laptop; consider checking the compatibility requirements and troubleshooting steps, or reaching out to the manufacturer for assistance.