Good evening, SF. I'm struggling this evening, trying to get a friend's laptop to work with his dock.

I think I'm handicapped to begin with, given that the laptop is an HP product and the dock is a Dell product. Am I correct? Should I just quit now?

Or maybe it's a different issue. I tried good ol' support.dell.com, looking for a driver for this dock. No dice. Evidently there's not a specific driver for it.

The intent for using the dock is so that he can put to use the sweet, matching dual-monitor setup on his desk.

At the moment, I can successfully connect an external monitor to the port on the side of the PC.


Hardware specifics:
The dock PN is WD22TB4.
The laptop PN is 15-fc0066nr.

General symptom: No Worky.

More specific symptoms: the PC just doesn't seem to recognize the dock.
We notice that there's a light in the cable between the dock and the PC, at the PC (USB-C) end -- it never glows. We've tried three different docks, and this condition exists with all three. We know the dock is powered up and running (three-blink on its own LED, as described in the manual), and we get the usual Windows "da-DINK!" when plugging the dock into the PC. That seems to at least indicate the USB port is functional, right? I have a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter I could plug in there as a second test, but I don't have a DisplayPort cable with me.

Banging further on Dell's web site, we downloaded Dell Support Assist, which won't load and gives us an error code of 9505. Looking up that code, we find the description, "Cannot install Support Assist consumer version on this platform or model." I'm guessing that's because Dell doesn't support HP... right? (I picture the gnomes and bots in Dell's basement laughing and dancing, shouting, "Hey, boys, look at this guy! Trying to use our goodies to support an HP computer!")

As I lean back in the chair and stare at it for a moment, though, I think... aren't these docks sort of universal? Or perhaps I'm wrong there, too, and we're just boneheads for trying to use a Dell dock with an HP computer.

Gurus of the Geekiness, what's the deal here?
Are we a) boneheads, or b) just doing it all wrong, or c) something else entirely?

Thanks, all.

I can't speak to your hardware configuration but I did own a Lenovo T-16 laptop (business class) and Lenovo "Thunderbolt Dock" which supposedly was made for the T-16. When paired the laptop was flaky as hell. One of the two monitors would just go dead, sound would randomly stop making noise, even the wireless (had nothing to do with the dock) would just go dead. I'd reboot the laptop and everything would be find for a week or so then start flaking out. My buddy told me to buy a new third party dock so I gave it a shot. I think it was an Anker??? It wasn't cheap but when I replaced the Lenovo dock I got flawless operation for months on end. My GUESS is your dock is giving you a problem if the laptop works fine without it. Amazon is pretty good for returns if you order a dock station from them and it doesn't fix your problem. You might try ordering one that fits your needs from them and return it if it doesn't fix the problem.

Thank you, Bytes.

I'm downloading a pile of updates from HP right now... maybe one of those, in tandem with the Dell dock updates I've just done, will help.

If not, then I'll look at Amazon and Anker. I've had good luck with Anker products before, and I appreciate your recommendation.

- - - - -

Additional observation:
There's no mention of Dock in the list under Device Manager at all.

- - - - -

As I wait for the HP updates to install, I'm surfing Amazon. I see the Anker 553 dock, for a mere $50. That's mighty tempting, as a try-and-see option. Heck, if it doesn't work for this HP, I think I'd use it with my own work-issued Lenovo. ---> Update: that Anker will be here Thursday.

I was a former designer of desktop and laptop motherboards for Intel.

One big problem with docking stations is the networks physical electrical design. The docking station adds physical length to the motherboards networking electrical traces on the Printed Circuit board. This changes the electrical characteristics of these traces (i.e. bad network connectivity).

Bottom line... it's a crap shoot out there if the dock actually works with its laptop.

Thank you for the additional information, Lunasee.


Here's a neat twist: I found a USB-C to HDMI adapter and plugged it into the laptop, heard the "da-DINK," and connected a monitor.

I'm like Yukon Cornelius, man... "Nothin'!"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vthoky,

quote:

Originally posted by Lunasee:
Bottom line... it's a crap shoot out there if the dock actually works with its laptop.

Dang, what you say makes perfect sense... now I was pissed off to say the least when my Lenovo dock was having issues with my Lenovo laptop. I guess I rolled the dice and lost with that combination.

My wife was able to use my Dell dock with her work HP laptop. I don't know the model numbers though.

I did see that the HP computer you listed is dock compatible, so that's a start. My replacement computer from Dell is not dock compatible (even with the Dell dock).

I might see if the USB-c port is dirty, or try an adapter in one of the USB3.0 ports before giving up.

Follow the Dell procedure to reboot the dock itself.

This involves unplugging all items, mashing the dock power button, etc.

Fairly simple.

I use a Dell dock on Apple computers all the time. It is not that the Dell brand wants a Dell laptop. It is that the dock has lost its mind. Rebooting can sometimes fix this.

How many USB-C ports do you have on the laptop? Have you tried plugging the dock into all of them? Have you tried the dock on any other laptops to see if it works at all?

I'm just trying to help with your intent of putting up dual monitors. I've been on this journey. As you can see below, I have three portable monitors plus my laptop screen so I have 4 monitors. As far I could figure out, the problems I had was that the graphic controller on my laptop before did not have enough power. That's why I always get laptops with a separate video controller rather than just the onboard graphics processor.

I have two monitors that are USB-A type connections. I plug the two into a " triple display docking station for windows " currently $67 on Amazon. That's on the second pic.

The third monitor has a USB-C connection and plugging it into the docking station didn't work. So I bought a Cable Adapter with USB C Power Cable,Uni-Directional HDMI (source) to Type C 3.1 (display) . The monitor plugs into the USB-C input of the converter, the HDMI plugs into the HDMI of the laptop, and there's a USB plug on the side to power the converter. That's on the 3rd pic.

Depending on the monitors that you have, like if they're all USB-A types, you may be able to just use the first docking station that I used myself. Again, I think from my uninformed opinion, it's a matter of video processing power.

I highly recommend this Anker doc. My work pc is an HP and my monitors are Dell leftovers from my last employer.

https://a.co/d/ad7dd8W

I have an HP laptop and using the Dell deck - I have the same dock model.

There is a blue light at the end of the power supply cable that plugs into the dock. It lights on upon power to the power supply. If that's not on, then perhaps either the light is dead or the power supply is not working.

I think I did have to update various drivers (component and dock drivers) but it's been awhile. Note that this is on both the HP laptop side and the Dell dock side. The docks are universal but the drivers need to be updated (at least at the time I purchased mine - 2 years ago?). Also, I think I had to update BIOS.

Have you checked for any yellow bangs in device manager?

Summary: update BIOS and any drivers related to the TCSS dock (including drivers on the laptop side for the same type of component - display, network, PCIe, USB, etc). If the power cord light isn't coming on, check for power too? And for any yellow bangs in device manager.

It was frustrating at first but once set up and running, it's been great.

Also, assume that both the laptop and the dock are Thunderbolt 4 compliant?

Thanks for the replies, all.

Gibb: I don't see crud in the port (though I can look again). I do have a keyboard/mouse gadget plugged into the USB3 port successfully.

4MUL8R: Thank you for the reminder about a full-on dock reboot. The one I'm using is brand-new, right out of the box, but I can certainly put it through the reboot process. I did download and run a batch of updates last night.

Paten: I think there's just the one USB-C port. I'll look again shortly. I did bring home the work laptop this evening; I'll see if it will work with the dock.

Rey: Thank you for links and info. I can plug an external monitor right into the HDMI port on the side, and it'll be good and functional. No luck yet with the Dell dock; I'm looking forward to the Anker dock getting here tomorrow.

Konata: I haven't yet seen the light on the power cable; will look again momentarily. Lots of HP and Dell downloads installed last night. I haven't updated BIOS yet, though. I'll look into that. I don't know yet whether both dock and PC are Thunderbolt 4 compliant. Nothing yellow in Device Manager, and no listing of the dock there either.

- - - - -

I've got to do some of the domestic chores next, but I'm planning to bang on this setup some more before finally conking out tonight.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
assume that both the laptop and the dock are Thunderbolt 4 compliant?

This may be the key, I'm not sure.
The cable that goes from the dock to the laptop has the lightning bolt symbol on it, but the mating port on the laptop does not. It only has the USB symbol and the characters "SS" beside it. Perhaps the laptop isn't dock compatible at all?

I did receive the little Anker dock today. Plug it into the USB-C port and get the "da-DINK" as expected. But plug a monitor into the dock, and I'm Yukon Cornelius again: "got nothin'."

And to answer some previous questions/tasks:
- I did a full-on dock reboot. No change.
- I didn't yet connect the Dell dock to my work laptop. I'll try that tomorrow evening (didn't bring it home today).
- There's not a light on the power cable that connects to the dock.
- Still no yellow bangs in Device Manager.
- BIOS appears up-to-date. Windows 11 v 24H2 is available, but I'm not messing with that yet.

Well, y'all, I may have just found my answer.


Fudge.

Bummer.

Since you have an HDMI output on the laptop, do you really need a dock? You might not be able to support multiple monitors but you can get one of those big curved 49" monitors for all the screen you might need.


Then get a USB-C hub to get more USB-C ports.



Of course, don't buy the big monitor if your laptop won't support it but I don't know why it wouldn't.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Bummer.

Indeed. Naturally, I wish I'd found that info before putting so much time into it. But, I've learned from it so the time isn't entirely wasted. And the laptop has a bunch of updates now, so perhaps that'll help in other ways.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
Since you have an HDMI output on the laptop, do you really need a dock? You might not be able to support multiple monitors but you can get one of those big curved 49" monitors for all the screen you might need.


Then get a USB-C hub to get more USB-C ports.

My friend's intent in using the dock was to make use of the matching-dual-monitor setup he's got. Certainly, he can use the laptop as one monitor and one of the externals as the second. This laptop definitely needs more USB ports!

Thanks, all, for your help. And thanks, konata, for prodding me to ask if the computer was even dock-compatible to begin with.
I do appreciate it.