HP Zbook Thunderbolt 3 Dock USB ports not working

[soccer_dan]

I do agree that the limited Thunderbolt cable length is somewhat limiting. However, there is usually some method to the madness :-). THe USB-C standard provides support for power supply of up to 100W. In order to support this wattage, there is active components on the USB-C connectors that help wok out Voltage levels the system is using for charging. This, along with all the data coming across a TB connection makes these kind of cables limiting, without additional electrical components that could allow extended lengths.

So, here we are... THe electrical engineers developing these accessories have to abide by currently available technology and they understand what cable lenghts can be safely be used

[CIPuyleart]

The length works fine for me.  The ergonomics of the right-angle power connector (from the AC adapter) on the in-board side of the straight-out-the-back dock cable are what bug me.  with a "traditional" dock, it at least sits neatly behind the laptop and then has all the docked connections (power, ethernet, monitors, etc) coming out the back of that in a tidy fashion.  Even most USB3 docks I've used on netbooks at least have the dock in-bound connection on the side of the dock so that when you route the cable out of the netbook and into the dock it allows the dock to sit behind or under the back of the laptop neatly.

On this thing, however, with the short cable and the odd arrangement where the laptop connection is on the RIGHT but the dock cable port on the dock is out the BACK on the LEFT, you are almost forced to have the dock sitting somewhere to the right of the laptop and then bend the dock cable into a contorded way to get it to connect.

I digress though - at the end of the day, if the **bleep** thing is at least finally working (which mine now appears to be, sans Citrix Web Receiver software on my computer), then I'm farther along than I was last week.

[Stuart-]

Sure would have been nice if dock port was out front of dock or you could choose between front or back... Obviously with them already made, we're probably only going to get a slightly better cable vs a whole new dock if anything. Ask for the smalls... Big gets a fast and hard reject.

[aleminium]

Hi iMaxxx

Thanks for the updates - I have logged into your FTP link and got the BIOS, but where can we get the new drivers from you listed? They are not in SDM yet as you mentioned.

Thankyou

[VoltMaster]

Alright ... v1.11 BIOS installed and both USB and monitos have worked flawlessly so far. Unplugged and plugged them in about 10 times so far and everything is looking great. Still early days as I've only been running the BIOS for about an hour but seems a lot more stable than 1.08. I can finally use my keyboard and mouse through the dock rather than plugging them into the laptop.

Unless it falls over again in the next few days, awesome work HP - thank you. In saying tihs, it would be great if your Tier 1 team were made aware of these issues rather than having to show them this forum myself.

[CIPuyleart]

I was able to find all of the updated drivers fit the ZBook 17 G3 in SDM (except the 1.09 BIOS of course).

[redlofredlof]

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@VoltMaster wrote:

Alright ... v1.11 BIOS installed and both USB and monitos have worked flawlessly so far. Unplugged and plugged them in about 10 times so far and everything is looking great. Still early days as I've only been running the BIOS for about an hour but seems a lot more stable than 1.08. I can finally use my keyboard and mouse through the dock rather than plugging them into the laptop.

Unless it falls over again in the next few days, awesome work HP - thank you. In saying tihs, it would be great if your Tier 1 team were made aware of these issues rather than having to show them this forum myself.

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@VoltMaster

Thank you for the confirmation.

I will notify the Front level so that they can guide the customers better.

[redlofredlof]

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@CIPuyleart wrote:
I was able to find all of the updated drivers fit the ZBook 17 G3 in SDM (except the 1.09 BIOS of course).

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I believe the BIOS versions are different for zbook15/17 and zbook 15Studio

[houston_hts]

@iMaxx - happy to say that the 1.11 BIOS you provided for my zBook Studio G3 seems to have addressed the USB issues I had been experiencing.   

For the past 24 hrs I have not had any stuck keys, frozen or non-functional usb keyboard/mouse.

I've not tried to mess around with graphics yet, switching displays etc... haven't had time.  I'm just happy that basics seem to be working well!

[VoltMaster]

A few more days in and still no issues apart from one ... I was using my ZBook Studio over the weekend and the battery died. I didn't charge it again until I got into the office this morning which is where my dock is as well.

I plugged the dock into the laptop (seeing as I don't have another power adapter in the office as the dock supplies the power) and turned it on. After booting up, the laptop did not detect any of the dock attachments - USB or monitors. I unlocked the laptop with my fingerprint and left it for a few minutes, still nothing. Unplugged and re-plugged the dock and it still didn't detect any of the monitors or USB.

Restarted the machine and everything worked straight away.