XPS 13 9300 and WD19TB linux problem

I have similar issues with the same hardware on Ubuntu 20.04. The external monitors occasionally go blank without any apparent reason. Sometimes they come back immediately. Sometimes unplugging the dock helps. Sometimes I need to reboot. This is really annoying. I mean, this is high-end hardware running on an OS it should actually be designed for. Please, DELL, help us.

Dell support also asked me to test in on Windows because this was the pre-installed system. I'm not even sure how to respond to that, as I had previously made it clear that I specifically bought the XPS 13 due to its compatibility with Linux and that I would have bought the DE with pre-installed Ubuntu if it had been available in my country.

Has anyone else made any progress on this subject?

No progress in spite of researching all over the place about XPS 13 9300 and WD19TB issues.

I am hanging out for the new BIOS 1.2.0 which is supposed to be released on 04-Sep as per other discussions around here. Hopefully that may fix at least some of the problems.

Ok, thanks for the info on the BIOS release!

Yeah getting somewhat the same.

I appreciate that I installed Linux on the laptop, however you (Dell) do also provide a "developer" edition of the Dell XPS-13 which comes with Ubuntu, which I assume would have exactly the same issue - so you (Dell) should be interested in when your product(s) have issues working with each other.

*IF* the Dock does work with your Developer Edition of the XPS-13 is there any specific way you got it working?  If not, helping to resolve our issue here will save you time when trying to support those developer editions later.

Well, the engineer has just come back and said; "With the displays working fine in Windows, I am afraid that I would not be able to do much on the Linux platform".

So it looks like there is no support for Linux users with the WD19TB dock, at least from an official standpoint.

Disappointed in that to say the least.

I'm having the same issue. I've updated to today's 1.20 BIOS, lets see if the situation improves. If i unplug and plug the dock again all monitors stop working but at least if the random disconnect stops its something.

I bought the laptop recently and already regretting since Dell basically neglect to give users any support, even if they are on a DE edition which comes with Ubuntu, i should've gone with a MacBook...

Currently trying the new BIOS version. Will give an update on my experiences in a few days.

I updated to BIOS 1.2.0 about 2.5 days ago. I have been optimistic until now as the dock has appeared to work more reliably but I am sad to say I just got 2 blackouts within a minute when my machine was under load (running Virtualbox in this case). It did not recover after the second blackout so I had to unplug/replug the dock, as I have experienced plenty of times before. I am on Arch Linux with kernel 5.8.7 and had also patched my CPU microcode to 0x9e (BIOS 1.2.0 patches it from 0x78 to 0x96).

I borrowed an additional WD19TB dock to see if it was something funny hardware-wise. The second dock behaved exactly the same: blinking, monitors disconnecting, not seeing display source without reboot, freezing.

I told a co-worker about this and he suggested I use a OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock. 2 days now and it hasn't blinked, not yet anyway (​Using Ubuntu Linux 20.04 with BIOS 1.2.0); so far I'm cautiously optimistic.

Needless to say, Dell docks are a bit of a bad word at my workplace. We've encountered chronic issues with them regardless of whether one uses Windows or Linux.

I also have to report that updating the BIOS didn't improve anything

Hello guys, I have an intriguing discovery to share.

I've just did the most basic simple stuff, unplugged one of my monitors and guess what? Now the dock is working perfectly. And that is where things get weird.

If I try to use my Dell 1440p on DisplayPort I have all the same issues, but if I try to use ONLY my Alienware 1080p on HDMI it does work flawless, i've put the computer to sleep, plugged, unplugged, tuned the dock off and on again, leave it for 20 minutes, put the laptop to sleep, everything. I didn't break it, it just worked fine.

Somehow i think the issue is related to the DP ports on the back, I don't know for sure because i've only have two monitor and those cables are a mess, I cannot try my Alienware on HDMI or my Dell on DP.

I want to try a Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter on the TB port on the dock for the other screen because it would use another TB lane and another converter (not the one inside the dock), maybe that is a workaround. I'll keep you guys updated.

Interesting. I am also experiencing the problems with two monitors plugged to the DP of the dock. If this turns out to be true, maybe Dell engineers could even fix the problem in the next firmware update ... ?