XPS 15 9570, TB16 Constant Issues

Question

Hello, to start off I am writing this post after searching the forums and reading countless similar posts, attempting the solutions for each of them, with no success:

I have an XPS 9570 and a TB16 240W docking station. All firmware and drivers are up to date, I let the support assistant update drivers, and I also went through the manual process of installing drivers according to the TB16 installation guide. They are DEFINITELY up to date as far as whats been available to download.

The Problem:

Often I come to sit at my computer to find that the light on the thunderbolt cable connecting the docking station to the laptop is turned off. This means that none of the peripherals will work that are connected to the docking station. Usually, the fix for this is to unplug the docking station usb-c cable, then unplug the power from the docking station. Then reboot he laptop, plug power back into the docking station, and connect the usb-c to the laptop. This may not be the 'correct' way to do it, but all other combinations of reconnecting do not work.

I have been able to get passed the annoying an almost constant screen flickering on my external displays, but today is a little different. Today I am unable to get the docking station connected to my laptop. I came into the office this morning, noticed the light was off, so I followed my process that I stated above. This time though, the issue did not fix. I was getting really weird crackling and humming coming from the speakers, the battery was almost completely dead, like it had disconnected hours ago. Anyway, I followed the same process, even charged the laptop for an hour before trying to reconnect because I read that the docking station will power off or disconnect of the laptop has low power.

Other issue I notice today when I plug in the docking station to the laptop, the light may or may not flash on and off. It may or may not make the usb connect/disconnect sound. Either way, none of the peripherals work.. Oddly though, the sleep/power button on the top of the dock does actually make the laptop go to the lock screen. Another thing noticed today, when I plug the docking station in, and it plays no sounds as if it was connected, the laptop keyboard stops working. None of the keystrokes register when its plugged in.

z1haze · Accepted Answer

Bought a new dock from a different manufacturer and the issues are resolved.

grfxguy · Answer

#z1haze I'm having the same problems. What dock did you buy and does it charge the XPS 9570?

rjraier · Answer

The cable for the TB16 is absolutely terrible.  It requires frequent reseating and replacement.  The problem appears to be on the connection on the TB16 side, even though it is held tight with two screws and a bracket, the connection still randomly and often fails.  If you move the docking station at all, you are far more likely to cause the issue.  If you leave your laptop sitting connected to the TB16 without moving anything, it will likely work for a fair while, but eventually even then it will fail.  We are constantly having to replace the cables for these docking stations.

OpenMindedSource · Answer

I consider buying a new product not a solution.
I have this issue with an XPS 13 7390 with the Dell supplied Ubuntu 18.04 installed.

first of all, the dock firmware needs to be upgraded to the latest version. This is pretty much only possible on Windows (thanks Dell!).
Also make sure your BIOS is the latest, both have fixes for this issue, although this did not resolve it for me.

I contacted support and as some community posts suggest, the following BIOS settings have to be set:

- System configuration : enable Thunderbolt Technology support, Thunderbolt adapter boot support, Enable Thunderbolt pre-boot modules.

- Security level should be set to None or User

- POST behaviour - fastboot should be Thorough

- Under performance, disable the C-states

I followed these suggestions at so far I have had no issues.
I think disabling C-states is not a viable suggestion, and the security off is arguable - I remember getting an error when first enabling the dock in Ubuntu - not sure if this is a bug there.

I suggest trying the different options and eliminate which work.
I hope this helps and also that Dell looks further into this.
If this is an Ubuntu bug, it should be reported and perhaps Dell can help fix it.

XPS

XPS 15 9570, TB16 Constant Issues

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