Same issues with the Dell TB16 as with the TB15???

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble.   I assume that the technician walked you through all of the required updates but just in case, please refer to this article.   If you are still using downrev BIOS, chipset, firmware or drivers, this could be the source of the problem with the new TB16.   If you continue to see issues after updating and receiving the replacement dock, please reach out to me via PM with service tag and contact information so that we can get you up and running.

www.dell.com/.../SLN304347

Brian,

I just received my 2 TB16 replacement docks. When I entered the Service Tags and Express Service Codes on Dell's update website, it says "no match found". Why is that?

Hi Brian,

I have a XPS 9550 that I purchased along with a WD15 dock in Nov 2016. Contrary to the WD15 page on the Dell site, the WD15 dock did not charge my XPS. The battery icon indicated it was charging but the battery % slowly dropped over time. Support then told me that the WD15 did not charge a XPS but assured me that the TB16 would. Purchased this and installed the drivers as per your link above.

The TB16 sort of works, in that it allows access to the USB ports and audio ports on the doc. But... the TB16 does not charge the XPS. The battery icon in the notifications area indicates that it is charging but the minutes to full charge keeps increasing. Not putting a lot of load on the XPS. 15mins of watching Youtube took it from 19 min to full charge to 28 min to full charge.

The other problem that I am having with the TB16 is that it will not connect to my Apple Thunderbolt display. I have the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adaptor and I can run the display from my Macbook Pro but when I connect it to the TB16 I get a message saying "Try improving the USB connection". No sign of life on the display.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

The tags aren't currently enabled in that tool - this is something that we're working on.   If you need to call for help, please provide the service tag from your system instead.   Support will be able to determine warranty on your dock from the PPID code on the bottom.

For the XPS 9550, you will need to have a 240w AC adapter plugged into the dock in order for it to charge the PC.   Dell offers two different dock kits - one with a 180w and the other with the 240w.   Can you check to see which one you have?

I'm not familiar with the Apple display.   Which port(s) are you connecting to on the TB16?

Thanks for the reply. I have the 240W version of the TB16. The Apple Thunderbolt display uses a Thunderbolt 2 connection. I have this connected to a Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter.  This is plugged into the Thunderbolt 3 port on the Dock. Under the "Safely remove hardware" icon in the notifications area I see "Eject Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter" option but there is no mention of this adapter or the Thunderbolt display itself in the Thunderbolt software.

Hi Brian. unfortunately the replacement TB16 has issues as well, although not exactly the same as the initial TB16. The new one charges my XPS15 but nothing else works at all. No Ethernet, No external screens, no USB, so in short no F*%^ng use to me at all. Your support team in India have logged on to my XPS and seen the different issue on the older TB16 and replacement device. I need a system that works together for home use and the XPS and TB16 isn't the solution. I can see DELL's reputation been dragged through the brown smelly stuff on the TB16 issue as with the TB15 of last year.

I've asked the support team to refund me for TB16 and XPS15 as these are about as compatible as me and the ex wife.

David,

I just got a call from Dell telling me their upgrading my TB15 to a TB16 for free. I've have had all the issues everyone else has had, but I've seemed to be able to stabilize things to the monitor occasionally flickering, which I can fix by resetting the display adapter. Annoying, but I've been living with it.

Anyway, Dell mentioned that in addition to replacing the TB16 they may need to do a logic board replacement depending on my specific build of 9550. They didn't provide details over the phone (the person was obviously reading a script), but I thought this worth mentioning that they seem to be acknowledging that their could be hardware issues with the laptop as well.

I was assuming that the hardware replacement might be around the Broadcomm chipset, which is known to have issues with the docs, but maybe it's something else.

Thanks for the intel Dan, I have passed this along to the offshore support centre who are looking into the matter for me. Beggars belief that a simple thing like Dell to Dell hardware compatibility can cause so much frustration and lost productivity.

Hi Brian,

Have you made any progress on where this issue is coming from? I bought the TB16 so that I could charge my XPS and connect to an external monitor, ethernet, and speakers. This should not be rocket science.

I also am in the same boat, purchased my fully loaded XPS 15 (9550) last January 2016 followed by the TB15 dock.  I have had nonstop issues on this setup:  external monitor via HDMI, bluetooth keyboard and mouse with dongle plugged, ethernet into TB15.

The HUGELY frustrating problem occurring throughout the day is the external monitor disconnecting.  Some of the time the internet connection and the keyboard and mouse also disconnect at the same time.  This "mostly" happens when the laptop is closed and happens "slightly" less often when the laptop is open, but still occurs all the time!  

I just received a TB16 dock as a warranty replacement for the TB15, but I am experiencing the exact same problems with no improvement.  

The note above about possible faulty logic boards on the XPS 9550 has be thinking that may be my problem.  I stay up to date (checking for new drivers, etc. constantly) and I now believe the issue is either hardware or software on the XPS 9550.

*Has anyone tried uninstalling all of the various drivers, firmware, etc., rebooting and then reinstalling them?  If so, can anyone confirm exactly which ones should be uninstalled and reinstalled?

Hi Tyler-

In my experience, the TB15s can be made to work, by first updating all the drivers using Dell SupportAssist:

www.dell.com/.../support-center)

And then (this is important) tweaking the power settings of the wireless card on your laptop. On my XPS13, the techs in hyderabad remotely logged into my computer and made the following changes to my wireless card's properties (go to Device Manager: Network Adapters: Your Network Adapter):

First:

Go to Advanced: wireless properties turned off Bluetooth collaboration and

Second:

from power option unchecked the option allow the computer to turn of the device.  

SupportAssist is really worth it, since it handles all the driver stuff for you automatically. And I have no idea why those two tweaks to my wireless card's settings instantly stopped the displayport output from blinking on and off, but combined with the updated drivers, they did it.

Brain can you please confirm how I PM on the site as I don't see an option to allow me to reachout to you with my XPS and TB16 service tag details.

Also I have followed the new TB16 configuration manual and reloaded all the drivers in the correct order and this has not resolved any of the issues

I am waiting for the Dell level 3 technical team to come up with a solution other than providing me with a URL to the manual PDF referred to above (Which btw I also had and followed to the letter previously)

I can forward all of the correspondences between the Dell offshore support centre and myself if that will be of any help to give you an idea of the issues I am experiencing every time I plug the TB16 into my XPS15.  

I would strongly advise anybody considering purchasing a Dell XPS laptop and TB16 port replicator to hold off or consider an alternative with a proven system that actually works

@Mattolejack thanks, I did the two settings changes that were recommended to you and it seems to have made the system more stable (but only with the laptop opened up "screen lifted").  The video and internet connection don't seem to cut out.

However, if I leave the laptop (XPS 15, 9550) closed, connect to the dock and turn on with the dock button, the computer is unusable with the external monitor, internet and bluetooth keyboard & mouse cutting off and turning on constantly.

With either setup listed above, my bluetooth keyboard and mouse have been quite choppy a lot of the time, but not all the time.

I also have SupportAssist and have used it for downloads and updates.  I separately have done the manual route as well by going to the Dell website.