Dell Docks Don’t Work

The following is a documentation of my (continuing) nightmare experiences with Dell’s docking station TB15 and it’s 4-in-1 adapter DA200 (USB-C to HDMI/VGA/Ethernet/USB3.0) – neither of which works.

The conclusions, up front:

* Dell does not offer an office solution via docking station. (At least not with the TB15 or the DA200).

* Dell technical support is hopeless (and ultimately unresponsive).

A two-minute video of one of the more harmless TB15 black-outs is here (black-out occurs at 1:34min, 264MB file).

The details:

I bought the Dell the XPS13 for ease while traveling and then as centerpiece of my office setup. (Two 27” external monitors”(one 2560xx1440, one 1920x1080), printer, Ethernet, external keyboard/mouse, external HD, backup HD.) Dell’s TB15 and DA200 promised to make it simple but so far have destroyed days of work. The best solution might yet be to trash all of my Dell equipment and start anew with a laptop and docking station of a computer manufacturer that doesn’t sells solutions that work. – In the meantime, here are the details of my Dell experience.

The initial problems with TB15:

Video cuts out (and arrangement of icons gets messed up)

When it cuts out, the XPS13 goes black for seconds

Second monitor doesn’t work

Second monitor: No video input (but TB15 is providing the internet connection to my XPS 13, so it’s on)

F8, chose “Extend”

“Display Settings” shows two monitors (XPS13 and first external monitor; second external monitor is daisy-chained to first one because that sometimes works, whereas attaching the second external monitor to the TB15 never works))

Front USB ports don’t work on TB15 (even though Ethernet comes through TB15).

After pressing the on/off button on the TB15 the XPS13 goes black (the two external monitors are already black). Then press power button on XPS13 and it awakens from sleep. The first external monitor comes on, but TB15 no longer provides the Ethernet connection.

Then the first external monitor goes black, too, at which TB15 provides no support to the XPS 13. Then the XPS13 screen goes on and off (black) about three times per minute for about 5 minutes, towards the end alternating between on 2 seconds and off 30 seconds. After 5 minutes, the first external monitor comes on, then starts a game of on/off in second-intervals, before returning to “No video input” and “Entering sleep mode” and going black, only to restart the flashing pattern. At which point I shut down the XPS13 and disconnect the TB15.

I connect the DA200 with the first external monitor and the Ethernet attached, then restart the XPS13. It doesn’t start. It gets to the Dell symbol and then stops. After ten minutes, I press the on/off button on the XPS13 to shut it down, then restart it. This time it restarts. When the desktop loads all the icons are messed up again. The Ethernet is connected, the first external monitor isn’t. F8 shows that the XPS13 monitor is extended – I conclude that the HDMI port on the DA200 doesn’t work. I can’t attach the second external monitor to the DA200 simultaneously, because the HDMI and VGA ports are too close together on the DA200. When I disconnect the first external monitor (HDMI port) and attach the second external monitor (VGA port), the second external monitor works.

When I connect the DA200 to the XPS13, I get (every time!):

“USB device not recognized. The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.”

Icons may move to the first external monitor when I switch on the computer (second external monitor is black). And stay there even though my XPS13 is my “main display.

1 August 2016

I start with the TB15 connected to the XPS13. The first external monitor is attached to the TB15. The second external monitor is daisy-chained to the first external monitor, and has a second cable running to the DA200 which is not connected to the XPS13. Only the first external monitor works. All icons appear on the first external monitor, even though the XPS13 monitor is set as primary monitor. When I disconnect the second cable from the (disconnected!) DA200, the first external monitor goes black, all icons appear on the XPS13 in messed-up order. I connect the second external monitor to the TB15. Both the first and second external monitor remain black. F8 -> Extend (double-click, or Enter): nothing happens. Both external monitors are now black, even though both are connected to the TB15. This also remains the case when I reverse the process and re-connect the second cable of the second external monitor to the (disconnected!) DA200. When I then shut down and restart the XPS13, I get the usual message “Dell Dock Update: Update Complete” (which appears every second time that I switch on the XPS13) and the first external monitor works and has all the icons, in proper order. When I then shut down the XPS13 a second time and while it is off connect the second external monitor to the TB15, and then switch on the XPS13, it takes a long time to start and once it’s on both external monitors work! And then after an hour they go black.

An aside moral of the story: I can’t rearrange cables attached to anything that is remotely attached (even via another monitor) to the TB15 while the computer is on.

2 August 2016

When I switch on the XPS13, with the TB15 connected, both external monitors and the Ethernet connection work. During a skype call, both external monitors go black and the screen of the XPS13 switches between on and off for a few seconds, Ethernet is gone and thereby the skype call is gone, until after about 15 seconds everything goes back to normal. Twice.

Later in the day both screens go black and the XPS13 screen goes on/off at rapid intervals until 15 seconds later everything returns to normal. About half a dozen times within about 3 hours. Then, at another instance, the two external screens do not re-appear. After switching off the XPS13 and restarting it, the message “Dell Dock Update: Update Complete” appears.

Yet later in the day TB15 begins a game of cat and mouse whereby the first external monitor goes black, then the second monitor goes black, all open windows shift to the XPS13 screen, which then also goes black, comes back for a second, goes black again, flipping back and forth for 10 seconds and remaining increasingly longer black, and then after half a minute to a minute the first external monitor might come on again, and 10 seconds later the second external monitor, or not, in which case hitting F8 reveals that TB15 cancelled the screen extension. All my Windows are now reverted to the XPS13 monitor. Clicking on extend brings the external monitors back to life, in due time. I’ll have to shift the open windows back to the external monitors manually. After 3 minutes, the same game begins again. For about 10 rounds. Until it doesn’t and both external monitors remain dead even if I click on “extend.” The Ethernet connection continues to work. I restart the computer and everything works for five minutes, before the game begins again.

If the message “Dell Dock Update: Update Complete” appears upon restarting, I may be able to use the computer normally for half an hour before the game begins again, but not always. If it doesn’t appear, the game begins again right away, consuming on the order of 80% of my time on the computer, mostly waiting for the black-out show to run its course, and then moving the windows back to the external monitors.

In the course of the evening, TB15 also throws in a further variation, when it switches to ‘Duplicate’ rather than ‘Extend’ as part of the Black-out show.

3 August 2016

When I switch on the computer, Dell’s TB15 greets me with an immediate beginning of its game. Early on, the game is spaced at 5 minute intervals, but it soon picks up to a continuous game of external screens going black, XPS13 monitor going black, then coming on again, then going black again. For half an hour, I type in notes while TB15 keeps playing its game (apparently it can’t interfere with the typing, which happens on an external keyboard directly connected to the XPS13). Eventually, the TB15 just goes out; both external monitors are dead, the Ethernet connection is gone. When I restart the computer, I get a one-minute run of normality before the TB15 quits again (at which point I spend the rest of the day on the XPS13 screen only).

4 August 2016

When I start the computer, the Ethernet is connected and I have not yet extended the screen to the two external monitors. I connect an external HD to the TB15 and the Ethernet goes dead – the TB15 has just passed out. I connect the DA200 and get the usual message. “USB device not recognized. The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.” None of the two external monitors works on the DA200. Since I need to get work done, I just work on the XPS13. Later, after several restarts, both external monitors come on. Then they start going on/off several times per minute, and that game also includes the XPS13. I decide to restore a Windows image of four months ago when I purchased the XPS13, and to start anew.

Hours later, I make my way through the troubleshoot TB15 webpage of Dell, http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN301969. The fourth step is to “Install the Intel Thunderbolt Controller Driver available for the system. This is posted under the "Docks & Stands" section.” – There is no such driver in the Docks and Stands section! After clicking around opportunistically I actually find such a driver in the section “Chipsets.” I complete all steps. The Intel HD Graphics Driver installation promptly messes up my icons again (haven’t had that in the last 24 hours!). Asmedia firmware requires 3 attempts before it installs, but in the end everything installs. This is probably the fourth time that I go through all the fix-TB15 steps (and they take time!). The rest of the evening is spent watching ever more frantic TB15 games.

5 Aug. 2016

Off to a new day with messed up icons three times in a row (after restarting the computer), predominantly black external monitors, and an XPS13 screen which now practices blackness for half-minutes at a time, even when the external monitors are just plain black. Today, the wifi on the XPS13 chooses not to work, either. I notice that the always-on USB charging on the XPS13 is not working -- neither for cell phone nor for tablet.

29 Aug. 2016

Returning to the TB15 after a period of absence, it right away starts its game of switching external monitors on/off, shifting windows to the XPS13, freezing the XPS13, restarting the external monitors (but not moving Windows back to them).

I again follow the instructions provided at http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN301969.

After the BIOS download and installation, the Dell XPS 13 spends an hour in startup, little dotted circle turning. I shut it down, then restart it, and it spends another few minutes actually updating the XPS13.

After that, all driver updating works fine up to step 8. The file does not install. (The subsequent files all install.)

The driver comes with the sentence “This file will automatically self-install after downloading.” which is not true. After downloading, Windows Explorer window opens up with a file setup.exe. Double-clicking the setup.exe file starts an installation process that ends in “Your Host Device is not ready, Firmware Upgrade Failed!!!, Please reboot your PC tnen[sic!] try again.” I did that three times. I did it with TB15 connected and disconnected (http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN301969 does not say anything about connecting/disconnecting TB15). I try it in safe mode. Same result. At some point the failure notice starts coming in a new version: “C:\Users\CARSTE~1\AppData\Local\Temp\~sfx00149EB223\Asmlo64.sys The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.” Nothing is running on my computer except this setup.exe process. No other program is open.

After following all the installation instructions at http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN301969 (except that step 8 is not possible), TB15 continues with its game of cycling through external monitors on/off with XPS 13 screen blacking out/freezing for periods of time in now 30-second cycles.

And, of course, all the icons on my monitor are messed up again, repeatedly.

Separately, I tried to update the wifi driver, since I’ve been having lots of problems with it while traveling, and 5 of the 6 drivers install, but one doesn’t: 9350_Network_Driver_5FF1P_WN32_18.32.0_A02.EXE (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 Driver v18.32.0 (A02) January 20, 2016), nor does it in Safe Mode. I get “This software package cannot be installed on your system. Please resolve these errors and retry installation.

When I try the DA200, the HDMI port still does not work.

The Dell System Launcher doesn’t do anything. (I tried it repeatedly.)

When I disconnect the VGA external monitor, the higher-resolution monitor now becomes a lower-resolution one (with huge letters), and my desktop monitor gets duplicated, even though “Extend” is chosen (and I click “Extend” repeatedly, to no avail).

30 August 2016

For the first few hours the external monitors are black, though the Ethernet connection via the TB15 works. After switching the XPS13 off and back on the TB15 begins the usual game, now in 5 minute intervals. At some point the external monitors go black and stay black, and the XPS13 refuses me the choice of “Extend” (I can click on Extend as much as I want, and it doesn’t allow itself to be clicked).

31 August 2016

Today the TB15 is on strike. It’s connected to power and to my XPS13 (with the connector to the XPS13 lighting up), and neither the external monitors nor the Ethernet connection via the TB15 work. The TB15, while connected to the XPS13, simply does not exist as far as the XPS13 is concerned, except as a power supply.

1 September 2016

Same as yesterday. Until the computer starts crashing, repeatedly: “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you. If you’d like to know more, you can search online later for this error____.” The error varied. One time it was something with the word “Kernel” in it, and when I looked that up, it suggested to let Windows update (which I did, and it didn’t find an update) and otherwise said something about driver problems. Another time the error was “Bad_Pool_Caller” (and I didn’t catch the error of the first couple of times, because the XPS13 restarted before I reached the error terms. When I used the XPS13 without the TB15, I didn’t have a problem.

2 September 2016

The morning starts with another XPS13 crash. This time the error is (approximately, hard to copy quickly) “Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL(iaStaAYs).” After the restart, the TB15 starts the usual cycling through monitors on/off, today in a 3-min rhythm. I notice that the Ethernet goes out, too, since my internet banking session is severely disrupted every 3 minutes (on top of the XPS13 screen participating in the black-out cycle). The icons on the desktop get messed up, as usual.

4 September 2016

The usual problems.

And a crash with the error message BAD_POOL_HEADER.

Crashes only occur with the TB15 attached.

I stop using the TB15.

7 September 2016

I follow once again all procedures laid out at http://www.dell.com/support/article/hk/en/hkdhs1/SLN301969

(BIOS update and 7 further, driver installations specifically to get TB15 to work).

Item 8, “ASMedia USB 3.0 Extended Host Firmware Utility” does not install. I get the message

“C:\Users/CARSTE~1\AppData\Local\Temp\~sfx00149EB223\Asmio64.sys

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.”

This is after I restarted the computer, opened Windows Explorer to double-click the installation file for this driver (which leads to an unzip and opens a window with a setup.exe file), then I closed Windows Explorer, then got the installation file to start. I.e., no other program was running.

I also tried to do the installation in Safe Mode. The installation seemed to start (though no agreement window opened up) and then nothing happened

I then dropped Safe Mode, disabled the anti-virus software, and tried installation. I am prompted for license acceptance, and once I accept, I get the same message as above, can’t access the file.

I disconnect TB15 and do the installation, to no effect.

I skip this one item and install the remaining drivers without problem.

Restarting the computer (and disconnecting and reconnecting TB15) leads to both external monitors and Ethernet working – for about two minutes, before the same old game of cutting out every minute or two restarts.

18 September 2016

In the meantime I have emailed repeatedly with Dell support in Hong Kong. In the most recent instance, on 14 September, I sent them two short videos documenting the performance of the TB15 with two external monitors attached (one time using MS Word, the other time using music programs); I also provided scans of the invoices that they requested, and my report of what happens if I use the TB15 with only one external item attached at a time (the TB15 still doesn’t work).

Dell support has endless time… An office worker not being able to work because the TB15 isn’t working is no concern to them…

These are the details of my response to Dell support:

DA200: it’s only the HDMI port that does not work (with my 2560x1440 external Philips monitor), all other ports work, alone or in combination.

TB15: same problems as before if I only attach one external monitor at a time, or even if I just attach Ethernet (and use one USB port) – the TB15 cuts out frequently, or may even go dead except for the power supply

(i) If I use only the DP port to connect one external monitor (the 2560x1440 external Philips monitor), the external monitor goes black after a while and recovers quickly, without affecting the XPS13, and then it goes black after a while and *stays* black. When I check F8 on the XPS13, it says “Extend” – even though the external monitor is black. Also attached to the TB15 is Ethernet, and I am using one USB port on the TB15 for my wired keyboard and mouse; these continue to work most of the time, with the USB port experiencing frequent two-second interruptions.

(ii) If I use only the VGA port to connect my Acer 1920x1080 monitor, it goes black a minute after startup, the XPS13 also goes black (and Ethernet and USB port stop working), and then both monitors recover. After a longer break, the black-outs happen every couple of minutes but the XPS 13 does not go black, nor do Ethernet and USB port stop working. But there is still the same problem with the USB port experiencing two-second interruptions, now even when the external monitor is working.

(iii) If I only use the TB15 for Ethernet and USB port (and connect the Acer 1920x1080 external monitor to the XPS13 via a USB 3 port, with an external video card), i.e., when I do not have any external monitor connected to the TB15, the TB15 Ethernet cuts out repeatedly (my one Skype call was dropped because Ethernet cut out 3 times). The USB port cuts out, too, but not necessarily at the same time as the Ethernet.

And because Dell support has endless time, on 13 Sept. I went back to the store where I bought all my Dell equipment. (Email communications with Dell support about two months ago ended in their staff telling me to take the TB15 back to the shop. When I pointed out that it was rather late since I bought the TB15, the Dell staff only repeated their instruction.) They experienced the same problems using my DA200 and my TB15 with their computer and monitors. When I pointed out that one of the Dell drivers from the Dell website doesn’t install on my XPS13, they tried it themselves and had the same result and couldn’t do anything. They then installed a particular driver (not on the Dell website) from their flash drive onto my XPS13. My DA200 then worked on my XPS13 (though automatically lowering the resolution of the external 2560x1440 monitor). The TB15 also suddenly worked on my XPS13.

Then at home, the same problem occurred as before, neither the TB15 nor the DA200 work. With the TB15, the external monitors cut out, then the XPS13 cuts out, and then they gradually recover. After a few such cycles the external monitors stay dead, the USB ports on the TB15 stay dead, and the Ethernet on the TB15 stays dead. Using the XPS13 keyboard, I can’t type into MS Word and I shut down the XPS13. I restart with the DA200 connected: the Ethernet and the USB port on the DA200 work, but the HDMI port doesn’t (even though it did when connected to the Dell monitor in the shop yesterday); my 2560x1440 external monitor stays dead (pressing “Extend” on the XPS13 (F8) has no effect, “Extend” cannot be pressed), and the external monitor does not show up in Display settings. The VGA port on the DA200 works.

The shop had one other suggestion: do a system restore on the XPS13. – After I bought the XPS13, I installed all the software over one or two days, adjusted it the way I wanted it, and then created an image. About a month ago, with the TB15 and the DA200 never working, I reinstalled that image. The TB15 and the DA200 still didn’t work. Nor did they work after all the driver updates, most recently of 7 Sep. 2016. – If I have to spend two days re-installing software and adjusting it, with, in my view, *little* chance of success, then I rather buy a computer from a company that may be more reliable in selling office solutions that work. (My previous hp notebook over the past five years had no problem whatsoever running my two external monitors off its docking station. My Toshiba notebook of ten years before that never had any problem.)

When I later reported to the shop, by email, if I could bring the TB15 back for a refund, or for an exchange, they responded that it’s too late for a refund, and for an exchange we have to prove hardware failure. End of email/story.

3 October 2016

After updating all the drivers that had a more recent date on the Dell website (and a few days ago running the 40min Dell Diagnostics full test – all good), I attached the TB15 one more time today. A never-ending beeping cacophony ensued (has done this before, at times, too). After half an hour the VGA monitor went out. Then the XPS 13 crashed (had that before, too, and only with the TB15 connected): “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you.” (In the past, once it got into the crashing habit, it just kept crashing.)

-- This is probably my final posting as I am planning to send Michael Dell’s paperweight back to him.

In retrospect, I wasted an insane amount of time trying to fix what cannot be fixed. – Lesson learnt: don’t spend more than 2 hours on things that don’t work, return them if you can (can’t in Hong Kong), and budget the costs for two computers so you can just throw the whole thing away if it doesn’t work and switch to another company.

For the time being, I am using the DA200 for internet, and with a newly purchased HDMI cable I managed to get the 2560x1440 external monitor to run off the DA200 at a reduced resolution of 1920x1080. The second external monitor I connected to a USB port with an external video card. So not great, but manageable for the time being.

Apart from all the docking station problems, I spent tens of hours with XPS13 wifi connectivity problems on the road this past spring; not documented. It also turns out that the XPS13 Bluetooth connection reports “paired” but does not allow me to play itunes on Bluetooth UE Boom loudspeakers (another long story about audio playback non-functioning). Since I am not traveling much in the next few months I’ll wait for the Kaby Lake editions of Lenovo and hp and once they have something I like, get every aspect of Dell out of my sight.