Soon to be released new Dell Docks may require BIOS and driver updates on your laptop before use!

Good afternoon.  I just received my 2nd TB15 Dock.  I believe I have achieved some level of stability.  However, it seems as if my XPS15 does not believe that it is being charged.  I am using a 2nd monitor with the laptop closed.  I have checked the "do nothing" to the display when plugged in.  However, i need to check the same box when not plugged in to get the 2nd display to stay connected.  Does that have to do with the warning re not enough power to charge the XPS 15?  Which by the way is crazy considering the two items are marketed together.  

Redwing - I'm curious as to when you received your first TB15 dock and when you ordered the dock you just received. I received mine on Feb 1 and sent it back the next day and reordered on Feb 3 ( over the phone - the docks had already been deleted from the Dell website) and have been given a delivery date of March 3. Did you order your 2nd dock when they were still on the website or over phone/chat?

Good afternoon.  I just received my 2nd TB15 Dock.  I believe I have achieved some level of stability.  However, it seems as if my XPS15 does not believe that it is being charged.  I am using a 2nd monitor with the laptop closed.  I have checked the "do nothing" to the display when plugged in.  However, i need to check the same box when not plugged in to get the 2nd display to stay connected.  Does that have to do with the warning re not enough power to charge the XPS 15?  Which by the way is crazy considering the two items are marketed together.

"I did notice today that the light on the thunderbolt connector is no longer on.  I assume because computer fully charged?"

That is weird. Mine is always on when connected, even when the laptop is fully charged or when is off or sleeping.
Is the dock of a new hardware revision?
Are the laptop fans still constantly spinning when the light on the connector is off (presumably not charging)?

My first dock arrived on Feb 1st, my second on the 9th, which was ordered via tech support on 5th.  Ethernet still goes out and I have lost the stability I bragged about earlier.  As far as drivers, I installed all in no particular order, but I believe I have them ALL (which is ridiculous that a brand new $2,000 computer does not work out of the box).  I have a LG 34" monitor, connected to the dock via HDMI.  I have a logitech bluetooth keyboard (which has a bit of a lag) and a logitech bluetooth mouse, both connected with the installed bluetooth (as opposed to the logitech receiver).  The only items connected to the dock are the ethernet cable, the HDMI and the power source.  I did notice today that the light on the thunderbolt connector is no longer on.  I assume because computer fully charged?

Sounds like you are no better off than you were February 1 (Ethernet instability etc.) and now you have access to all new drivers, BIOS, patches etc.etc..

When I got mine on February 1, I uploaded no new drivers, had the .15 BIOS hadn't even done the Thuderbolt Software - Thunderbolt Controller bit (didn't read the white card before plugging the unit in). - I connected the Dell 32"4K monitor thru mini dp port, a 3.0 External HDD, a USB-C 3.1 external SSD, Logitech Bluetooth keyboard (through the laptop) and actually everything worked fine - then I plugged in the Ethernet Cable and all H... broke loose - constant dinging sounds of Ethernet, hard drives all dismounting and remounting. After that, I reflashed the BIOS and did the Thunderbolt Firmware/Controller drivers but absolutely nothing changed. Then unit was sent back to Dell.

I'm really wondering if there is a basic flaw in the hardware design having to do with the Ethernet since many people have reported the same problems. It may not be fixable with just more and more drivers/patches/BIOS. Perhaps the reason Dell pulled these units so quickly was to do a hardware revision so that the newer units coming out in another 2-3 weeks will be stable? Sure hope so.

My latest...Every 2 hours, I lose the ethernet connection.  Here is the description from the Windows System Log: Miniport Realtek USB GbE Family Controller, {334e43e6-709f-4d9f-b707-1a02397b9d42}, had event Fatal error: The miniport has detected an internal error.

The event ID is 10317.  Interestingly, it is the very same error/event that occurred with my first dock.  That error occurred every 30 seconds.  

 Something very strange happened when I turned on my XPS 15 last night. When I shut the laptop down now, I always use a "shutdown /s" desktop shortcut to shut it down completely.Last nigh when I opened the lid and had not yet hit the power button, immediately the keyboard lit up and it was attempting to start up. After a several seconds, nothing appeared on the screen. The laptop not coming up completely happened once before. To get it going, I did a power shutdown by holding down the laptop's power button for several seconds until it shut down again. I thought that maybe a had accidentally left it on the previous day so after starting it up, I shut it down again with the shutdown shortcut, closed the lid, and waited a few minutes. I opened the lid again and the keyboard lit up and the computer resumed to displaying the desktop. I had no idea what was going on. After installing the TB15, I had played with the TB15's top button which I thought was the power button. Dell still has not released any User Manual for the TB15. The only thing that came with the dock was a "Quick Start" sheet that had very little information about it. There was a diagram indicating the ports in diagrams with tiny little icons. There were two icons associated with the button on top of the TB15, a crescent moon and a clock. There was no explanation of what this meant. Does this act as a timer for shutting down the laptop? So I played with the button again, but I think I made things worse. All of a sudden I lost my network connection. After playing with the button some more, I apparently reset things and I got the network connection back and I was able to shut the laptop down without it starting up after opening the lid.

Dell, we really need more information on the function of the top button and a better explanation of the ports of this dock. Also, should we leave the dock on all the time, or shut it down when the laptop is not in use?

Other than that issue, I have had few problems with the TB15. I am able to run the screen output via the HDMI port to a full HD monitor without any problem. I do have the higher fan reading (about 3200rpms) but I have to put my ear up close to the laptop to really hear anything. It seems like others have had a worse experience with that problem. I was able to connect to an external USB hard drive to create backups and that worked fine. Hopefully Dell will soon resolve the outstanding issues with this dock.

Thanks,

  JohnD

Dell really dropped the ball on this dock - looks like the sort of situation that occurs with little or no beta testing. I would much rather they had delayed the launch for another couple of months with more real world testing.

After days of testing, I was able to achieve a stable solution by taking USB completely out of the equation, having the dock handle only my two external 4K monitors and running a USB cable from the laptop straight to a USB 3 hub with ethernet, audio, mouse, keyboard, scanner & HD cam connected to it.

The system has been running all day now with zero problems.

I don't mind having three cables (power, USB & TB) connected to the left side of the laptop when I'm in desktop mode, so at this point it just makes sense to return the TB15 and buy something like the StarTech Thunderbolt™ 3 to Dual DisplayPort Adapter for a cheaper, more flexible and less bulky solution.

Thank you for the info

 I have noticed another issue. I am not sure where the problem is. When using Mozilla Firefox as the browser, sometimes when scrolling through my rather extensive bookmarks list to select a site or right clicking on some items to bring up a context list, part or all of the list is temporarily blacked out. I have tried connecting to two different external monitors with the TB15, one via the HDMI connection and the other via the mini-DisplayPort connection with a mDP to DVI cable. At one point the DVI monitor blanked out completely for a few seconds before coming back. I am not sure if this is a Firefox issue, a video driver issue, or an TB15 issue. It will need a little more investigation. I need to see if the issue persists without any external monitors or using the XPS-15 built-in HDMI connection. I don't notice this with IE because it presents bookmarks a little differently, one column at a time, while Firefox can display multiple rows at once, major list and associated sublists. I will report back.

JohnD

Edit:

  I am currently using the FullHD DVI monitor (mDSP to DVI through the TB15) and while I was typing a reply here the monitor just blanked out for about 29 seconds and then came back. I also notice that the TB15 has gotten rather hot which is not a good thing.

I was searching around on Precision 5510 forum and found posts on people using s simple USB-C ethernet dongle and getting the same dropouts of ethernet as TB 15 owners have (even with all the latest drivers.

Here is a sample from Notebook Review Forum under Precision 5510 owners thread:

"About to get a usb-c to ethernet adapter, could you post your models and advice?

So i'm still having the same issue after mobo has been replaced. Although i note that most people haven't had the same issue or haven't reported it on win 10, but i've seen some similar reports with the ethernet port on the thunderbolt dock.
I'm using Win 7 on a Precision 5510, 950 pro. Fresh enterprise install, and installed all drivers from dell website.
As a note i bought a seperate usb c to ethernet + 3 usb hub. and has the same chipset in it. hub works fine, but the ethernet also crashes and drops out. Original one is the Dell USB C to gBE ethernet.
So i'm thinking its the usb c port cant handle ethernet properly. Maybe get a normal usb 3.0 type A to ethernet."

All this is just with a single dongle not the TB15 dock but very similar behavious. Driver issue? Basic hardware flaw?

For those of you still having problems with Intermittent ethernet etc. with the TB 15 dock there are some recent updates:

Realtek USB GBE Ethernet Controller Driver for Dell Thunderbolt Dock and Dell Dock View details

A follow up on my issues with the Firefox bookmarks. I was able to reproduce the partially black bookmark list issue when I had no USB-C device connected so I suspect it is a video driver issue.  I never had this problem on my Win8.1 desktop.


JohnD

I have the XPS 9550 Signature Edition bought from the Microsoft Store, and have had the TB15 Dell Thunderbold dock for since February 4th or so.  I've downloaded every single update on the Dell support website current to today, followed the install order from the previous Dell tech post, etc.  Uninstalled, reinstalled in different orders, etc.  Although it is behaving about 80% better with the recent updates, It will still sporadically lose connectivity and I must do the unplug and replug-in dance with both the thunderbolt cable to the laptop and the power supply to the dock to get it to revive itself.  The dock also appears to behave better (not sporadically disconnect) with the laptop lid open as opposed to closed, but I made sure "Do Nothing" was checked on lid closure in windows settings.  

Dell support recently claimed it was a firmware update issue with my Dell P2715Q monitor, but I also lose connectivity to my keyboard and mouse connected to the dock also - so it's obviously just not a monitor issue.  I will definitely be sending the dock back if this isn't resolved within the next few days.