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Thunderbolt docking station and BIOS power warning
I have several Dell 5510 Precision series with the Thunderbolt USB-C adaptor. Each 5510 is plugged into a Dell K17A docking station powered by a Dell 130W power supply. When I connect the docking station via its USB-C connection to the 5510 laptop, I get a BIOS warning that it only sees 95W of the 130W. But the battery charges and the laptop runs. I can turn off the power warning in the BIOS (which is current) but I worry about powering the 5510's Nvidia video card and other components if the BIOS is not seeing all 130 watts.
Plugging in the 130W psu supplied with the laptop has no such BIOS error.
Why does the Dell docking station K17A not see the Dell power supply? Is it throttling it?
jphughan
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August 8th, 2017 18:00
The dock uses some of the AC adapter's capacity to power its own internal electronics. I'm not clear which dock model the K17A moniker refers to and it doesn't help that you're using Thunderbolt and USB-C interchangeably, but if you're using the TB16 Thunderbolt Dock, that model is sold only with 180W and 240W adapters precisely because of the dock's power requirements. A Precision 5000 Series requires a TB16 powered by a 240W adapter to run properly. If you're using the WD15 Dock, which is just USB-C and not Thunderbolt, that model is sold with 130W and 180W adapters, and again the Precision 5000 Series requires the higher 180W adapter.
(edited)
jphughan
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
1
August 8th, 2017 18:00
The dock uses some of the AC adapter's capacity to power its own internal electronics. I'm not clear which dock model the K17A moniker refers to and it doesn't help that you're using Thunderbolt and USB-C interchangeably, but if you're using the TB16 Thunderbolt Dock, that model is sold only with 180W and 240W adapters precisely because of the dock's power requirements. A Precision 5000 Series requires a TB16 powered by a 240W adapter to run properly. If you're using the WD15 Dock, which is just USB-C and not Thunderbolt, that model is sold with 130W and 180W adapters, and again the Precision 5000 Series requires the higher 180W adapter.
(edited)