Arch Linux

hoome

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2013-07-18

Posts: 46

XPS 9300 + WD19TB Issues

Hello Friends,

I'm having some issues with a Dell dock and my Arch Linux setup. I have a WD19TB dock station from Dell and a XPS 9300 laptop. The first problem is not that big deal, i cannot plug the dock with the laptop on. If i do that all my monitors wont work, i still manage to find them on `xrandr` but the displays doesn't show anything, so i have a screen that has no signal but its recognized by the OS, sometimes unplugging the dock and plugging it back again works, but sometimes i have to do a reboot. That is not a big issue since i can just plug the dock and reboot the computer, minor inconvenient.

But things get worse, sometimes, at random my screens get blank, i have a recognized screen on the OS but no signal on the actual displays and i need to do a reboot to get back and sometimes a reboot doesn't work, i need to reboot, disable screen, enable screen, reboot again, unplug dock, plug dock, reboot and keep trying until the dock randomly accepts a video signal.

I've followed the WD16 guide (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dell_TB16) and out of the way disabled thunderbolt security and enable thunderbolt on boot, if i didn't do that even authorizing on boltctl i got no signal on screens, i have to enable thunderbolt at boot and disable security to get any display at all on my monitors.

This is the result of botlctl:

● Dell WD19TB Thunderbolt Dock
├─ type:          peripheral
├─ name:          WD19TB Thunderbolt Dock
├─ vendor:        Dell
├─ uuid:          0015910c-fbb3-d400-ffff-ffffffffffff
├─ generation:    Thunderbolt 3
├─ status:        authorized
│  ├─ domain:     311a7683-a7f2-8680-ffff-ffffffffffff
│  ├─ rx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
│  ├─ tx speed:   40 Gb/s = 2 lanes * 20 Gb/s
│  └─ authflags:  none
├─ authorized:    Sat 19 Sep 2020 05:22:01 PM UTC
├─ connected:     Sat 19 Sep 2020 05:22:01 PM UTC
└─ stored:        Thu 03 Sep 2020 09:16:16 PM UTC
├─ policy:     iommu
└─ key:        no

I have two screens plugged in plus the laptop screen, one on HDMI and one on Display Port. Everything else, from USB to the power button works perfectly fine, even after an unplug, except the screens.

As i'm aware there's no Always Allow Dell Docks option in my BIOS. I'm on latest BIOS (1.20) and latest dock firmware.

Last edited by hoome (2020-09-19 17:52:50)

bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 653

Re: XPS 9300 + WD19TB Issues

Some of us also with an XPS 13 9300 and the WD19TB dock have discussed the issues here. In short, I have researched all over the place and tried many things but the dock connection is just flaky.  Sometimes my DP connected screens just randomly disconnect (with nothing in the journal), sometimes the entire dock randomly disconnects, sometimes (although rarely thankfully) the wired network connection drops out and can not be restored until I reboot the laptop (and it requires a hard reset because the laptop locks up in shutdown when this happens regardless of whether I disconnect the dock before or after). When my screens go into screen-saver blank then 90% of the time I have to stuff around and disconnect/reconnect the dock to get them to turn back on. However, if the laptop suspends, then 90% of the time I can just press the dock button and they will come back on (although it always takes >8 secs or so).

There are so many quirky, inconsistent, and seemingly different issues that I doubt they will all ever get fixed.

The worst problem is the random screen blackouts but they definitely have become less frequent. I am not sure what recent changes have improved that, from all the recent kernel updates, BIOS updates, and/or the kernel boot options I am currently using.

Last edited by bulletmark (2020-09-19 22:44:13)

kubrick

Member

Registered: 2016-10-07

Posts: 29

Re: XPS 9300 + WD19TB Issues

Same thing happens on the TB16 version, this laptop also has many issues with TB to display port/HDMI, basically, the thunderbolt thing in it is a lemon (and/or the BIOS).