XPS 13 (9350) and DA200 purchased a couple of weeks ago. VGA and USB 3 (not tried Ethernet as yet) works fine, HDMI doesn't.
Seems to be a common problem, with some claiming that driver updates fixed the problem for them. I've updated the BIOS, installed a bunch of Thunderbolt 3 related drivers and firmware updates, but still no HDMI...
How come no updates or fixes have not been released? How do I lodge a formal service request and complaint. I spent $100 for an adaptor that frankly doesn't work. I had to buy another adaptor ($5 lukcily) to go from HDMI to VGA. Just the cables going into the laptop look ugly. I should have gotten a yoga 3.
Same problem. Just bought an XPS13 and the da200 dongle. The HDMI output to the monitor does not work. Additionally, the ethernet port doesn't work well, it is constantly dropping the network connection. I even bought a second dongle, assuming that I had a bad one and I have the same problem, so I'm guessing it is the laptop, not the dongle(s).
After contacting Dell support about the problem, they suggested driver and firmware updates, which I'd already tried and didn't fix the problem. They've just sent me a replacement DA200 under warranty. The replacement unit didn't work either, when connected to my Dell U2711 monitor. However, when I connect to the HDMI input of a TV set, it works just fine! I can also connect just about anything else to the HDMI input of the U2711 and they work just fine too.
So it seems that Dell products don't like to communicate to each other...
I've sent my findings to Dell tech support, I'll see what they come up with.
Coconnel_ox, try connecting to a TV, see if that works, especially if you've only tried connecting to a Dell monitor so far.
I'm having exactly the same problem. After an hour with support, a BIOS upgrade stopped the "Try improving USB connection" error so I am now able to use the ethernet connection, but the HDMI is still not recognizing the monitor (same cable, monitor and laptop do work with an Apple HDMI adaptor). Support tells me it's the adaptor but given everyone else's stories that's not encouraging! And yes, $80 for something that doesn't work and I'm now past the return date for the adaptor. Any success stories would be great to hear!
I struggled with this issue for a while now. I wish dell spent a portion of their exuberant marketing spend on getting this laptop to work right. This will be the last dell product I ever purchase.
With that off my chest, my third try with tech support directed me to the following drivers to 'enable' UBS-C to HDMI use with their overpriced dongle.
Those 4 drivers should do the trick. Though no where on their help and support site do they mention this.
Brands like Asus provide adaptors/dongles for essential use that work out of the box at no additional cost.
I was unable to test it as I requested IT to provide me with a downgraded monitor with a vga cable. The Widescreen monitor I had that went from HDMI/VGA/DA200 dongle gave me poor quality so I discontinued the use.
I updated all the drivers and bios to 1.4.4 on a new XPS13 after failing to get the Dell WD15 docking station to work with resulting HDMI screen flickering and USB 3.0 devices intermittently failling (on the docking station).
I started to suspect USB-C problems as the USB 3.0 on the host computer worked well and HDMI and USB 3.0 were iratic on the docking stations.
I personally tested FOUR brands of USB-C docking stations/slash adapters, the first being Dell, and they all exhibited the same behavior of interemittent operation.
I called dell...the Dell tech reverted the Windows10 instance to its factory default and worked for four hours to no avail. They missed the follow up support call.
I'm a software delvelopment guy so I knew what I was looking at. The Windows device manager for the Plugable DisplayLink display device can be seen loading and unloading, seemingly happy then failing. DisplayLink is included in Windows10 now. This behavior mimics the syptoms of the display flickering and USB 3.0 faillures. The Plugable DisplayLink was replaced with one that had worked with an XPS13 they had and it still failed similarly. The models I tried were:
Dell WDF15 shipped from Dell with the new XPS13
StartTech USB-C Dual Monitor (MST30C2DPPD)
Pluggable USB-C Triple display (DisplayLink Driver included with Windows 10)
Pluggable USB-C Triple display #2 (bench tested successfully by Plugable on an XPS13)
Mokin USB-C to HDMI/USB 3.0 adapter
My research of the literature on the Internet suggests some models having problems with associated wifi cards (either adjusting the power to 75% which did not work for me or completely replacing the card with an alternative brand). My guess would be that there could be a particular subcomponent (like wifi or usb) that interfers with the USB-C components and causing the driver to fail. If Dell did the research on support cases they may find the correlation but that requires something to think about it. I'm waiting to see what Dell does.
MartinK28
5 Posts
1
April 14th, 2016 08:00
Yep, same problem.
XPS 13 (9350) and DA200 purchased a couple of weeks ago. VGA and USB 3 (not tried Ethernet as yet) works fine, HDMI doesn't.
Seems to be a common problem, with some claiming that driver updates fixed the problem for them. I've updated the BIOS, installed a bunch of Thunderbolt 3 related drivers and firmware updates, but still no HDMI...
TJ2010
10 Posts
0
April 14th, 2016 16:00
How come no updates or fixes have not been released? How do I lodge a formal service request and complaint. I spent $100 for an adaptor that frankly doesn't work. I had to buy another adaptor ($5 lukcily) to go from HDMI to VGA. Just the cables going into the laptop look ugly. I should have gotten a yoga 3.
coconnell_ox
1 Message
0
April 26th, 2016 14:00
Same problem. Just bought an XPS13 and the da200 dongle. The HDMI output to the monitor does not work. Additionally, the ethernet port doesn't work well, it is constantly dropping the network connection. I even bought a second dongle, assuming that I had a bad one and I have the same problem, so I'm guessing it is the laptop, not the dongle(s).
MartinK28
5 Posts
0
April 28th, 2016 08:00
After contacting Dell support about the problem, they suggested driver and firmware updates, which I'd already tried and didn't fix the problem. They've just sent me a replacement DA200 under warranty. The replacement unit didn't work either, when connected to my Dell U2711 monitor. However, when I connect to the HDMI input of a TV set, it works just fine! I can also connect just about anything else to the HDMI input of the U2711 and they work just fine too.
So it seems that Dell products don't like to communicate to each other...
I've sent my findings to Dell tech support, I'll see what they come up with.
Coconnel_ox, try connecting to a TV, see if that works, especially if you've only tried connecting to a Dell monitor so far.
jlslater
6 Posts
0
July 1st, 2016 17:00
I'm having exactly the same problem. After an hour with support, a BIOS upgrade stopped the "Try improving USB connection" error so I am now able to use the ethernet connection, but the HDMI is still not recognizing the monitor (same cable, monitor and laptop do work with an Apple HDMI adaptor). Support tells me it's the adaptor but given everyone else's stories that's not encouraging! And yes, $80 for something that doesn't work and I'm now past the return date for the adaptor. Any success stories would be great to hear!
TJ2010
10 Posts
0
July 4th, 2016 02:00
Hi JLSlater,
I struggled with this issue for a while now. I wish dell spent a portion of their exuberant marketing spend on getting this laptop to work right. This will be the last dell product I ever purchase.
With that off my chest, my third try with tech support directed me to the following drivers to 'enable' UBS-C to HDMI use with their overpriced dongle.
Thunderbolt 2: Driver
http://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en/aubsdt1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverID=7P7G7
Thunderbolt 3 firmware driver:
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
Thunderbolt controller driver:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en/aubsdt1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=2V6DD
USB-C Driver:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en/aubsdt1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=6Y1X2
Those 4 drivers should do the trick. Though no where on their help and support site do they mention this.
Brands like Asus provide adaptors/dongles for essential use that work out of the box at no additional cost.
I was unable to test it as I requested IT to provide me with a downgraded monitor with a vga cable. The Widescreen monitor I had that went from HDMI/VGA/DA200 dongle gave me poor quality so I discontinued the use.
Do let me know if it works.
cayossarian
7 Posts
2
October 25th, 2016 14:00
I updated all the drivers and bios to 1.4.4 on a new XPS13 after failing to get the Dell WD15 docking station to work with resulting HDMI screen flickering and USB 3.0 devices intermittently failling (on the docking station).
I started to suspect USB-C problems as the USB 3.0 on the host computer worked well and HDMI and USB 3.0 were iratic on the docking stations.
I personally tested FOUR brands of USB-C docking stations/slash adapters, the first being Dell, and they all exhibited the same behavior of interemittent operation.
I called dell...the Dell tech reverted the Windows10 instance to its factory default and worked for four hours to no avail. They missed the follow up support call.
I'm a software delvelopment guy so I knew what I was looking at. The Windows device manager for the Plugable DisplayLink display device can be seen loading and unloading, seemingly happy then failing. DisplayLink is included in Windows10 now. This behavior mimics the syptoms of the display flickering and USB 3.0 faillures. The Plugable DisplayLink was replaced with one that had worked with an XPS13 they had and it still failed similarly. The models I tried were:
My research of the literature on the Internet suggests some models having problems with associated wifi cards (either adjusting the power to 75% which did not work for me or completely replacing the card with an alternative brand). My guess would be that there could be a particular subcomponent (like wifi or usb) that interfers with the USB-C components and causing the driver to fail. If Dell did the research on support cases they may find the correlation but that requires something to think about it. I'm waiting to see what Dell does.