TB15 Dock Linux Support

I would be grateful if someone could post a step-by-step recipe to get my XPS13 9350 to work with my TB15 dock please. I have been trying to follow this forum but I get confused with the number of tweaks that seem to be needed. Experience so far: can run screen (HDMI); no network; no USB.

I am currently running ubuntu 16.04LTS with a 4.8.6 kernel. I have also upgraded BIOS to latest version 1.4.10.

Thanks

I know this is no help, but for me it was plug n play. I received both in September, so it probably already had the right firmware.

I use it with one external FullHD monitor over HDMI.

Network and the USB ports everything works nicely.

I just have to start my laptop without the dock plugged in then plug the dock in after I log into my session, otherwise the dock is not noticed by the 9350. The output sound line in the back is recognized but not configured correctly in pulseaudio for me so only some alsa-oriented sound programs know how to access it. Fortunately, the front sound out works fine out of the box. I switched to the Intel wireless card.

Everything else seems to work. Repeated docking/undocking though does seem to confuse the drivers after awhile but I've not discovered the pattern behind it. I also found it best to sleep via the power button the dock versus the laptop and I unload the wireless drivers before sleeping regardless of whether I am using the dock or not.

Everything else seems to work fine for me, network, USB and outputs for my displays (HDMI and mDP).

The one cable for everything seems to work good enough to get work done.

We do need, however, better user-configurable, high dpi support per monitor in the sessions, but it'll get there.

I still need to see if HDMI on the DA200 adapter ever started working, that's a sore spot.

Latest BIOS update 1.2.18 specifically claims:

5.Improved the DELL ThunderBolt Dock Stability

Does anybody see any improvement?

Hi,

the main issues currently bothering me are not yet resolved.

1) The TB15 still only works after hotplugging, but does not work when plugged in before powering on the computer

2) sshfs still is not working using the TB15 ethernet interface

My System:

A Dell XPS 13 9350, Debian Linux with a Vanilla kernel 4.9.0, latest TB15 firmware and latest Bios version.

Latest XPS 13 9360 1.2.3 BIOS  <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> specifically claims:

2. Fixed Dell Thunderbolt Dock may lost during Cold Boot \ Cold Boot

Does anybody see any improvement?

We (xps 15 9550 owners) just got a new bios version too (1.2.18 A16). Here are the changes listed:

1.Fixed system may drop battery un-expected
2.Improve PCIE NVMe Stability
3.Fixed Panel flick issue
4.Fixed Microsoft Bitlocker issue
5.Improved the DELL ThunderBolt Dock Stability
6.Fixed ST Microelectronics Motion Sensor Driver shows disabled while spindle HDD +mSATA installed

With the update I've noticed that the display backlight flickering issue is now gone (!), but I see no improvement in the dock's operation.

- My dock's USB subsystem is still broken on cold boot into Linux

- High speed Gigabit ethernet transfers through the dock are still broken, giving kernel error messages: xhci_hcd 0000:0e:00.0: ERROR Transfer event TRB DMA ptr not part of current TD ep_index 2 comp_code 13

xhci_hcd 0000:0e:00.0: Looking for event-dma 0000000475ba5010 trb-start 0000000475b87fe0 trb-end 0000000475b87fe0 seg-start 0000000475b87000 seg-end 0000000475b87ff0

- A HDMI display connected to the dock is still "randomly" disconnected (my best guess here is that this is caused by some poor internal dock thermal design)

This forum is probably setup by the same guys who worked on the TB15.

No improvements with the new vanilla kernel 4.9.1 of today on my (waste-of-time-and-money)-setup Dell XPS 13 9350 with latest Bios 1.4.12 and latest firmware on the TB 15 dock.

No sshfs via ethernet card, no coldboot.

After writing quite a few posts, and after creating an account and after logging in, THE I AM NOT A ROBOT THINGY IS JUST SUPER ANNOYING.

Any one make TB15 usb ports works with a Presicion M5510?

A former colleague said he got it working under the 4.9 kernel.

Is there any dock available that would allow me to connect XPS 9360 Ubuntu 16.04, to external monitor, ethernet port and bluetooth mouse/keyboard and speakers?

Sorry for this long post - but I have reviewed the currently available docks (though I am aware that the TB15 is no longer available and is to be replaced by the TB16.

I have tried four DELL provided docks/dongle for my XPS13 (9350) core-i5 running Linux (Ubuntu 16.04LTS).

Linux XPS13laptop 4.4.0-38-generic #57-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 6 15:42:33 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Note: I have dual boot and have updated the BIOS on the laptop to 1.4.4

DA200 – USB-C/Display-port dongle. Provides VGA, HDMI graphics, network and USB-3 port.

I have used VGA rather than HDMI port (this is known to have problems unless set at very low resolution) plus the USB-3 and network ports. It plugs into the USB-C/Thunderbolt3 port on laptop. It is small and light. Powered from the laptop so is a drain on battery. Issue are: about one time in ten when the DA200 is plugged in the laptop does not recover from suspend state, commonly a blank or non-responsive screen, the only fix is a hard reboot; when hot plugged it sometimes fails to link to network and/or external screen. Good for travel but not as a Dock as the facilities offered are too limited.

D3100 – USB-3 dock. Provides 2 HDMI and one ultra 4K Display ports, network, 3 USB-3, 2 USB-2, headset socket and speaker socket; with own power supply. Before use need to download driver from www.displaylink.com (provides driver for windows/linux/mac). First time did not install and I had to download the DKMS package from Ubuntu repository, once this was done the install of driver was fine. Operationally good as far as I have tested (HDMI (single screen), network, USB-2 & USB-3 and headset ports). Works both if plugged in prior to boot and as hot-plug. Laptop seems to take longer to boot when the D3100 was attached but I suspect this maybe the setting in my BIOS to first try to boot from external USB CD. Power supply to dock does not charge laptop, not a big issue. Though I have not tried, the 65W power supply plug is the same size and gender as the 45W laptop power supply so could probably double to charge laptop if necessary. Main criticism is the dock uses one of the 2 USB ports on the laptop. I have a wireless mouse in the other. Yes, there are lots of ports on the dock but sometimes I just want to quickly access a pen drive which is just seems easier when plugging into the laptop itself. Very occasional issues (once during 5-days use) when awakening from suspend state the laptop screen failed to come back, cured by using Screen Display under System Settings to turn the screen off then on.

New kernel installed now running:

Linux XPS13laptop 4.4.0-42-generic #62-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 7 23:11:45 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

WD15 – USB-C/Display-port dock. Provides VGA, HDMI, mini-Display port, network, 3 USB-3, 2 USB-2, headset socket and speaker socket; with own power supply which also charges laptop, note the power connection plug is completely different to that of the laptop so the dock’s power supply cannot be used to charge the laptop directly. It plugs into the USB-C/Thunderbolt3 port on laptop. Can turn laptop on/off using external button on dock, this works with the laptop lid closed so output is directed to the external screen only. Dock works both if plugged in prior to boot and as hot-plug. As far as I have tested the dock is functional (HDMI, VGA, network, USB-2 & USB-3 and headset ports). Display is better with HDMI, there are some, albeit minor, colour fringes on text with VGA. System recovers from suspend state, once during the 5 day trail, the external screen did not recover and need to be turned off and on using Screen Display under System Settings.

Similar functionality to the D3100 dock but it charges the laptop and uses the USB-C port rather than one of the two USB-3 ports on the laptop.

The 4.4 linux kernel does not recognise Thunderbolt3. Explicit codes in pci_ids.h  for Thunderbolt3 are added in the 4.7 kernel (www.kernelnewbies.org).

New kernel installed now running:

Linux XPS13hobbs 4.8.15-040815-generic #201612151231 SMP Thu Dec 15 17:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Also updated BIOS to 1.4.12 released December 2016 and set all Thunderbolt functions in BIOS except pre-boot option and set minimum security level. Updates from Dell support have also been applied to TB15 dock.

TB15 – prior to recent upgrades (above) this dock had limited/no functionality, post upgrades it now works but it is still fragile. Dock provides VGA, HDMI, one ultra 4K display port and one mini-Display port, network, 3 USB-3, 2 USB-2, a Thunderbolt3 daisy chain port, and a headset socket; with own power supply which also charges laptop, note the power connection plug is completely different to that of the laptop so the dock’s power supply cannot be used to charge the laptop directly. It plugs into the USB-C/Thunderbolt3 port on laptop. Can turn laptop off using external button on dock. Dock only works both if plugged in after boot so cannot use external dock switch to power up laptop.  Hot-plug response is very fragile, in most instances TB15 does not recover and locks up the network, USB ports and laptop requiring a complete power down of dock and laptop to reset. When working, the dock is functional (HDMI, VGA, network, USB-2 & USB-3 and headset port (only tested sound out)). Problems with simultaneous use of wired network through dock and wireless on laptop after a period of time, typically 30 mins, the network will freeze and laptop becomes slow, requires hard boot to recover. Display is better with HDMI, there are some, albeit minor blurring with VGA. System recovers from suspend state. Similar functionality to the WD15 dock but fragility is a major problem as once dock has locked up full power down results in lost unsaved work.