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May 21st, 2020 17:00

XPS 9300 Developer Edition + WD19TB: Dual monitors detected, no signal

Unboxed my new XPS 9300 (Ubuntu 18.04, i7, 32GB) and WD19TB dock today. I purchased this specifically for its ability to drive multiple external monitors.

After going through setup, I connected the dock and 2 x 4K monitors via DisplayPort. Only one monitor displayed video. The other is detected, appears in the “Displays” settings area, but I can’t activate it.

Occasionally, it will show as active, I can move the pointer through it, but there is no video output. Other times, both external monitors will show as detected and active, but I get no video to either of them...

  • Tried updating all Ubuntu packages and kernel, no change.
  • Tried multiple reboots, cycling Thunderbolt connection, no change
  • Verified both DisplayPort outputs are working - they both drive a monitor without issue when connected individually.
  • Tried connecting Thunderbolt to other side of machine, no change (other forum posts indicate only the right-side port offers full capabilities)
  • Tried updating the bios to 1.0.10, no change 
  • Tried Using DP to HDMI adapters in various permutations, no change
  • Tried running monitors at lower resolutions, no change
  • Tried attaching 1080p max native monitors instead of 4K, no change 
  • Tried reloading the factory image fresh, no change
  • Tried booting into Pop_OS! Intel 20.04 liveUSB, no change

Not sure how to troubleshoot from here. Any suggestions welcome! I’m very disappointed by external video problems right out the gate on a $2500 system that’s supposed to be Ubuntu-certified, and is running a Dell-supplied distro build.

Thanks,
Dave

2 Posts

May 22nd, 2020 12:00

Interesting additional troubleshooting: I found another Thunderbolt 3 dock in our office. This one only has a single DisplayPort output, but when I daisy-chain it after the WD19TB, all 3 monitor outputs work as expected.

Switching back to both external monitors connected to the WD19TB, the behavior reverts to only (1) external monitor working.

1 Message

July 30th, 2020 07:00

hi, I cant help but I am wondering how you have been getting on?

I am nervously considering buying the exact same setup for the same reasons, except I want to run 3 external displays!

This vid seems to show it working with a Latitude laptop

https://youtu.be/daBYckcxh8A

But Im thinking that the situation is still pretty flakey with linux laptops and multiple displays over thunderbolt/usb3.1

If you did find a way to get 3 external displays working with your setup Id be very glad to hear about it.

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