DELL Precision 7530 crashes with portable hard drive via Thunderbolt

UPDATE

This issue was caused by a recent BIOS update (version 1.7.0). Reverting to version 1.6.0 fixed the issue as shown connecting portable hard drives via thunderbolt ports using an adapter.

https://bit.ly/2VGD9uV

UPDATE May 2019

Issue recurred after hardware replacements and service for a seperate issue of abnormal thermals and fan control (discussed in a seprate post). With the same downgraded BIOS 1.6.0 the workstation crashed when portable hard drives were connected as shown above. This is more than just a BIOS issue and possibly a combination of hardware/firmware issue. DELL has not been able to fix this and I am currently awaiting a product replacement.

looks like each usb-c thunderbolt port can support up to 15W consumption by an external device. 

https://thunderbolttechnology.net/sites/default/files/Thunderbolt3_TechBrief_FINAL.pdf

I think a 2.5 or 3.5 external HD should be OK with respect to power.

I would be very careful about using an external DVD drive, which might exceed the power carrying capability of the connection (may have to use the wall power supply that comes with it).

Thanks for your input. The DVD drive is supposed to be USB (standard) powered (see image link). Thunderbolt technology is supposed to allow 'more speed, more power, more portocols' etc.  Therefore, I should assume that any peripheral that can be powered with standard USB should be easily supported by a Thunderbolt port. I have found a temporary fix as the problem turned out to be a BIOS update (1.7.0). Rolled back to earlier (1.6.0) version and so far no issues with these peripherals. Hope DELL takes the feedback and fixes this on next BIOS update.

I saw from another thread that you were having problems using these drives on your dock. You have to obtain specs on how much current each USB port can handle there, specially if the dock is also powering your 7530. Not all USB ports are created equal. For example, there are "unpowered" and "powered" USB hubs.

Glad you have a configuration that works.

Please post a picture of your configuration and describe the adaptor you used. I have updated my post as the issue recurred even on BIOS downgrade. Have you encountered any changes to your thermal and fan controls? I had this issue as well and wondered if they were related.

My config is: 7530 with Win10-64 1809, connected through a WD15 / TB18 dock (getting rid of the TB18 as it is incredibly buggy). I connect external drives when I'm not connected to the dock through a 4-port Trust USBC-to-USB3.1-Gen1 connector. With BIOS version 1.7, and the USB/Thunderbolt drivers updated to March 2019, even inserting a memory stick into the port extender caused a power failure (instantaneous death as if a short circuit happened; often the dock is also dead; it takes 1-2 minutes before the computer can reboot...). Yesterday I updated my BIOS to 1.8.2, and also updated the USB3.1 drivers (ASMedia USB Extended Host controller) and firmware, and the Thunderbolt drivers. As Dell Command Update did not include these updates, I installed all hardware related drivers and updates directly from the Dell Support website, filtering on a date of April 2019 or May 2019. In total, these were around 16 updates, so I cannot indicate which one was responsible for the repair.

I had issues with the thermal / fan control in the past weeks, but that might have related to a problem in the nVidia driver (nVContainer.exe was continuously taking 17% of CPU). After updating to driver version to 25.21.14.1917.A00 (2 May 2019) the problem went away.

It is difficult to know for certain which driver fixed your workstation. During BIOS upgrades the embedded controller firmware also gets updated. I was having issues with 1.7.0 (latest at the time) and was informed that DELL was working on a fix. The 1.8.2 BIOS update description mentions fixes to embedded controller engine firmware as well as updating the thermal algorithm. However, I found out that downgrading to BIOS 1.6.0 fixed the issue temporarily and it only recurred after a service visit and hardware replacement despite running the same BIOS version. I also suggest you keep a close eye on your thermals and fans as I felt that the power failures may have adversely impacted thermal controls. Bottom line is that DELL has not officially confirmed this issue or fix. I cannot test anything yet as my workstation is bricked and DELL is sending me a replacement. I never encountered the issue with a USB DVD driver or flash drives when using an adapter to connect via the Thunderbolt ports. The fact that you had trouble even with flash drives raises doubts on my original concern that it was due to greater power consumption by the portable hard drive. As for the very expensive DELL docks, the reviews are not reassuring to buy one simply to connect a USB portable hard drive (two right sided USB ports on the workstation is not convenient especially if you use a USB mouse). DELL should test and publish a list of compatible/incompatible devices that can be used via the thunderbolt port. At the moment I don't think this is a very long list.

What is the status of your external harddrive issue?

Has it been fixed?

There are so many issues listed on this forum with the Precision 7530... I'm just not sure what else one could buy.

I had the Lenovo P72, and it was worse than the precision, more problems.

Hi,

Apologies for the delay in responding. I have been using my replacement now for a few months but not had the confidence or reassurance to test any SSDs via the Thunderbolt ports. I have not upgraded BIOS as well and am still on 1.6.0. I use my SSDs via the standard USB-A ports and use the thunderbolt port via adapeter only for USB sticks and DVD drives which work fine. With this compromise I have been very happy with my machine. I would really like to know how the Samsung T5 SSD works with this (via the thunderbolt port) but have not found any user experience yet.

Hi Mark,

I have tried really hard to make DELL recognize and resolve this. However, they are obvioulsy not admiiting a fault on their part. This is obviously a thunderbolt port +/- firmware issue as it comes back after upgrades. They do not want to list any compatible devices for their thundebolt ports. Even if a third party drive is used with a DELL adapter they will direct you to the drive manufacturer.

I have settled to only use the thunderbolt port for the occasional flash drive use. This is unaccpetable for a workstation this expensive. It is also not the thunderbolt technology because even 2017 Macbook pros could connect USB external drives like the Samsung T5 (https://bit.ly/2JT6SwC).

Good luck

I've had the exact same problem. It failed when plugging in a SSD into one of the thunderbolt ports (like a power failure or thermal overload since it took several minutes to recover to boot). Tried a different cable and a HDD - same problem. Tried another HDD and another cable - same problem. Tried to update BIOS etc, but Dell support tool kept blue screening my machine, so I manually installed all firmware to latest. The problem went away - wow hoo I thought!

Then a few months later exactly the same problem - plug a disk into a thunderbolt port and instant power down. This time a fried CPU is reported by POST (two amber flashes then a white flash). Now because of Covid-19 Dell says 12 business days turn around rather than the next business day support that I paid for. I offered to give a deposit / credit card for an "advanced replacement" (they ship me a replacement and I send back original) but no dice.

To put this into context these same disks HDD and SSD's all worked on the USB 3.0 ports on the right and on ThunderBolt port on a Lenovo I have access to.

All this leads me to believe that there is a firmware problem, but diagnosing which combinations of Thunderbolt and BIOS firmware etc are safe vs this fault is too much for me.