Soon to be released new Dell Docks may require BIOS and driver updates on your laptop before use!

Similar problems with the Dell Thunderbolt Dock 240w with an XPS 15 9550, though it's working right now temporarily!  Intermittent Ethernet connection.  External displays will cycle on and off, as well as laptop monitor.  I've barely tried using the USB ports on the dock, but had issues with wired Logitech trackball at one point yesterday.  Per the support page I do have the most current BIOS, it is A04 (XPS 9550 A04 01.01.15 BIOS) however, not A05 as was mentioned in a previous post.  I have performed the 4 firmware updates Colin linked to and all other drivers are all up to date.  Spent the better part of yesterday afternoon on a chat with support without much success...Disappointing!  I was looking forward to the convenience of this product, but will return it if problems aren't resolved soon.  Hard to get work done when your troubleshooting this stuff!

Yes, I installed the chipset driver.  The problem is that the USB controller inside the dock stops or hangs after 30-60 seconds, causing the USB ports and the ethernet adapter to drop offline. 

I installed a non-Dell supplied driver for the USB controller, and that appears to have resolved a majority of the issues.  However, I am still experiencing some issues with the laptop display not coming up after undocking - it seems to come up after a while, unsure of the time on that, all I know is that it locked when I stuck it in my back to come home, and when I opened it, it responded nearly immediately. 

Hey Colin,

Is there an update on the fixes that need to happen on Dell's end to get the drivers working? The only solutions I am finding out there is to install ASmedia USB controller driver. I'm not interested in the workaround to change the power settings to get the docking station to work. I spend a while already installing all updated drivers for the dock and dell laptop. Ethernet dropout is the biggest issue I'm running into at the moment.

In addition to all these buggy problems anyone else agree that the ergonomics with regard to the placement of the permanent TB3 connector was not well thought out? It is on the wrong side to connect to the laptop unless this unit is meant for the Precision 7510 and 7710 but the power requirements of those laptops is much greater than the 100W max over TB3 and their connectors are on the left hand side.. It seems that the placement was decided by the engineers and that was the most convenient place to put it because of the internal components and not by someone who will be using it on a day to day basis.

This dock is a really big strike out for Dell.

Is it for every kind of laptop or just some of?

and how can we get it?

...and one more annoyance, the service tag on the bottom of the TB15 is not recognized by the Dell website so it is currently not possible to email technical support about these issue!

Yes, the ergonomics are very poor. The biggest issue, other than the fact that at this point it really doesn't work, is the very short TB cable that is permanently installed. Yes, you apparently can take the unit apart and put on your own but really? It should have just had a TB port so that you can use whatever length of TB cable fits your installation requirement...and the port should be on the back, not the side.

Biggest problem right now though is functionality, it just doesn't work. USB and network seem to be stable for me but video (I'm using the HDMI port) cuts in and out. Also, coming out of sleep or a reboot and nothing reconnects.Yes, I have applied all updates to the drivers and bios. At this point this product is unusable. 

Hey Dell, how about at least a support page for the TB15 and some clear communication to those of us that are apparently your beta testers?????

Have to dissent. IMHO the dock ergonomics are pretty good and well thought out.

I placed the dock right behind the laptop and the external monitors with the TB3 cable in front and connecting straight to the left of the laptop. That puts all the dock back connectors to the left (DisplayPort, Ethernet, audio, power, power brick all hidden by the external monitors) and the front USB connector to the right where I can easily reach them with my right arm. Overall, a very neat setup.

About the permanently connected TB3 cable: given the super high bandwidth of 40Gb/sec, specs call for a maximum 0.5m length (1m for the USB-C 10Gb/sec standard).
So I'm guessing Dell engineers didn't have many choices here, and decided to go for a fixed 0.5m cable to prevent people from doing silly things (like using 6ft USB 2.0 type C cables).

Agreed, the most pressing issue is to get this thing to actually work as it is intended. 

The ergonomics is apparently fine for some but certainly not for others. I guess we could argue that back and forth forever. But it makes no difference if the thing doesn't work.

So Dell, when can we expect some answers/help? 

Sure ergonomics are not ideal, but really the main point is functionality.  So let's please stay on topic here so those of us who are having issues can hopefully get them resolved.

My main problem seems to be network connection coming and going.  Before leaving work last night I had 2 external monitors, USB speakers, and a wired mouse connected and they all worked fine.  The network connection though!  Fix it please!

Don't know what all that nonsense is but the link works OK.

I've been using one of these for a while now and once everything is set up, it works great for me.   Make sure you've updated system BIOS, updated firmware and installed all device drivers.   You may need to remove and replug the connector after doing this to get everything to enumerate properly.

If you are still seeing problems, please be as specific as possible when posting (system type, BIOS and driver versions, etc) so that it is easier to troubleshoot and root-cause.

Thanks.

A new patch was just released to help with the USB audio/mouse/etc lag.   You can download the patch here (applies to all systems) -> http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03471411M/6/Dell_Dock_USB_TYPE-C_PATCH_2K0JJ_A00_SETUP_ZPE.exe

I've applied the patch based on your link above and will give the TB15 another try. As a starting point I am running a stock XPS15 9550. Right now I am running, as I normally do at home, with the lid closed. using a Logitech USB backlit keyboard and wired ethernet connection both running thru an Anker 3 port USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet hub. I'm using a Dell SX2210 display connected thru the HDMI port and stock laptop power adapter. Also using a Logitech M557 Bluetooth mouse. All of this runs perfectly and I have no issues with the system waking up from sleep, rebooting, or power on from a power off state. All drivers and bios are up-to-date based on the driver list for my system service tag at Dell.com. I have verified that all Thunderbolt drivers are latest and updated as of this morning. 

Test plan is to completely power off the system. Remove all cables and power adapter and reboot the system as a stand alone laptop. I will then connect the TB15 to its power adapter and connect the TB15 Thunderbolt cable to the laptop. Once that is working I will, one at a time, connect the Ethernet, USB keyboard, Bluetooth mouse, and then finally the external display using the HDMI output on the TB15. I will test between each device attachment and post detailed results.

The last time I attempted this everything worked fine until I attached the external display. As others have experienced, it worked for a bit and then began to go off and on. Also, when I put the system to sleep and then brought it back out of sleep none of the devices connected to the TB15 reattached. I will see what happens this time and post results. Thanks.

OK, down to 3 problems now (in order of importance):

1. If you are using an external monitor you can't close the laptop. As long as you keep it slightly open everything works fine. As soon as you close the lid after a short period of time the external display shuts off and any devices connected to the TB15 are disconnected. When you open the lid after a bit the screen comes on but none of the devices attached to the TB15 reattach. You have to reboot to get everything back. This is a significant issue.

2. Using the TB15 causes severe issues with my Logitech M557 Bluetooth mouse making it unusable. It works fine as long as it stays a few inches from the laptop. Anything past six inches and it stops working. Works fine several feet away when not using the TB15.

3. Fan noise. When not using the TB15 the fan is basically off (can't hear it). Using the TB15 the fan is always on, and somewhat loud.

I'm currently just using my monitor as a USB hub (mouse,keyboard,speakers) and then running the out directly to my XPS bypassing the dock for USB purposes. 

Power and Display for me seem to be the only thing working....partially.

My issues remain with:

1) When undocking from TB15 the cursor on my trackpad slows down to like 25%

2) Ethernet toggles cuts in/out.  Very unstable and toggles from wifi to Ethernet.

3) USB still unusable and having to go directly into XPS.

Is it a dream that a bundled updated driver will be released that fixes everything?  Killing too much time and resources waiting for these partial driver fixes that aren't actually fixing the problem.

Note: BIOS has been upgraded to 1.2.3 and all TB drivers and controllers have been installed.  No luck