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WD15/K17A Dock with HDMI-DVI adapter
Are there any known issues with using a WD15 (K17A001) dock with an HDMI-to-DVI adapter and a KVM switch?
My laptop is a Dell Precision 5520. The display adapters are nVidia Quadro M1200 and Intel HD Graphics 630.
My current setup is to go from the HDMI port on the laptop to the DVI input port (using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter) on an IOGear GCS1102 KVM switch (DVI is the only option on this switch, which is connected to a Dell E2414H monitor). This option works, and allows me to use my external monitor with the KVM switch and switch back and forth between my laptop and my desktop.
However, this setup requires that I connect the HDMI cable directly to the laptop. I would prefer to use a docking station that requires only the single USB-C connection. To that end, I have a Dell WD15/K17A dock. If I move the HMDI cable from the laptop to the dock, the laptop no longer detects an external display. In other respects, the dock is working fine. Power, ethernet, and USB peripherals (keyboard, mouse, and webcam passed through the KVM switch) have no issues.
Before I do a whole bunch of time-consuming experiments with swapping HDMI for VGA and swapping connections to temporarily remove the KVM between the laptop and the monitor, I'm wondering whether there are known issues with making the WD15 dock work with a DVI connection.
sloppyedwards
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December 22nd, 2021 04:00
In case anyone else reads this, it turns out that the "solution" was to temporarily bypass the KVM switch and make an initial connection directly from the dock to the monitor (with the DVI-to-HDMI adapter on the dock-end of the DVI cable). Once the laptop (and dock) detected the monitor using the direct connection, I was able to move the monitor connection back to the KVM switch and now it works.
Not sure how/why this fixed it, but it's working the way I want now!
jphughan
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December 16th, 2021 11:00
@sloppyedwards There shouldn't be issues moving between HDMI and DVI in general since up to 1920x1200 resolution, they are at least supposed to be identical signals even down to the electrical level. But I remember discovering through multiple complaints by multiple owners that the HDMI output on the XPS 15 9570 never worked with DVI displays, no matter what cables/adapters or displays were tested. So I guess it's possible the WD15 has a similar issue. If you haven't already, try updating the firmware of the WD15 in case that's been fixed. Otherwise, you may be able to work around it with a DisplayPort to DVI cable/adapter. That's technically a slightly more complex setup because in that case, you'll either use a passive cable/adapter that will require the DisplayPort output to switch to native HDMI/DVI signalling, or else you'd be using an active cable/adapter that allows the source port to continue using DisplayPort protocol because a chip within the adapter/cable will switch it to HDMI/DVI. Both of those should work, but of course I would have expected your existing setup to work too, so I can't say for certain whether those alternatives WILL work.
sloppyedwards
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December 16th, 2021 12:00
Thanks! Interesting about the XPS 15 9570. As far as I know the WD15 firmware is up-to-date (neither Dell Command Update or Dell SupportAssist show any updates available). I suppose at this point, my next step is to go directly from the dock to the monitor to rule out issues with the KVM. If that still doesn't work, then I'll have to see about obtaining some other cables and/or adapters to try. I guess I decided that I didn't need any VGA cables anymore, as I can't find one! (I know I used to have several.) I know I have a DP cable at the office (where I use 2 external monitors: 1 DP and 1 HDMI), but I'm not sure about DP-to-DVI.