Thunderbolt Dock 3 display issues

[NickBb]

Nope.  Broadcom NIC is MIA.  I didn't delete it from the Device Manager, just turned of power management.  Now no GB ethernet from the dock.

[Stuart-]

Following... 

I am also having issues with display detection on ZBook dock w/Thunderbolt 3.

(Also had similar issues with ultraslim dock/zbook 14/zbook 14g2... though not as troublesome.)

There are newer bios/video drivers to try apparently, but I don't know if they resolve any of the issues yet.

I agree that the EliteBook/Larger docks seemed to be much more reliable.  I really miss those. 😉

[NickBb]

I've been monitoring the system for a few days and can report some additional observations since disabling the power save mode of the Broadcom NIC.  At this point the monitors are stable but the desired workflow of arrive, plug in the dock, boot, login, get to work, isn't quite there yet.

1. Detection of the Broadcom NIC seems to be intermittent.  Sometimes is there, sometimes not.
2. From a cold boot with everything plugged into the dock (mouse, kb, ethernet) and the WiFi in airplane mode, the USB devices are not detected and there is no network connection.  However the monitors are properly detected and the resoluion is correct on both monitors.
3. While the laptop is still at the logon screen for Windows, unplug then plug in the dock connector cable from the laptop.
4. Monitors come back (still in the proper resolution), mouse and kb now work, ethernet works.

This seems to indicate that the bus enumeration isn't happening from a cold boot but does happen on the hot swap event when the dock is plugged into a running system.

Today's SoftPaq updates shows several drivers that are available for update including the ASMedia eXtensible Host Controller (xHCI) Driver, which SoftPaq shows as not installed.  For sure this was already installed from the "HP Software Setup" program under the "Hardware Enabling Drivers" when I first received the laptop.  

I'll update everything from the SoftPaq and see how the system behaves.

[NickBb]

Well, the updates from SoftPaq borked everything.  The dock now disconnects about every 1/2 hour losing all attached devices.  Have to unplug the dock and plug it back in to get the peripherals back.

[soccer_dan]

It is possible that turning off power management sleep to never may help your situation, at least when plugged in/on a/c, which happens when you are docked and the TB dock is powering the laptop. I suspect you have the sleep setting set to every 1/2 hour. Somehow i believe certain drivers are not coming back up in the right sequence when drivers go into sleep mode. Try that and let us know if it helps

[Stuart-]

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@Stuart- wrote:

Following... 

I am also having issues with display detection on ZBook dock w/Thunderbolt 3.

(Also had similar issues with ultraslim dock/zbook 14/zbook 14g2... though not as troublesome.)

---

Display issues largely resolved here.

I dock at 4 different places and my displays are detecting and coming up at the correct resolution quite reliably now.

Here are the drivers I'm using as of now:

SP76045 - Bios 1.07 (downgraded from 1.08 that appeared/got pulled)

SP73783 - Thunderbolt Secure Connect 15.3.39.250 Rev A.

SP74938 - Thunderbolt Firmware Update 16.1.7.0.6 (Run on every dock... units seem to ship with this version now.)

SP75984 - Intel Video drivers 20.19.15.4444

SP75603 - Nvidia Video drivers 354.86 Rev W.

SP76277 - ASMedia Host Controller 1.16.35.1 Rev C.

SP76026 - Broadcom ethernet 17.2.0.2

SP74876 - Connexant Audio 1.13.36.14

Hope that helps. 

[NickBb]

Sleep settings are always off when on A/C.  While actively using the computer the disconnect chime, like when a USB device is unplugged, is heard then everything connected to the dock is dead.  At that point I unplug the dock from the laptop and wait until another disconnect chime sounds then I can plug the dock back into the laptop at which point I hear 4 or 5 connect chimes as the devices are again discovered/detected.  If I don't wait for that chime the laptop won't detect the dock or anything plugged into it.

I've resorted to plugging ethernet, mouse, and KB into the laptop and only use the dock for the monitors.  Even in this configuraiton the dock still disconnects.

[NickBb]

Found this link 

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=8693763&docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-c05...

And checked everything.  All my drivers are at or above these recommendations.

[NickBb]

Referencing the link I posted yesterday and the information from Stuart every driver is at or above what is outlined.  The system is still unstable.  From a powered off laptop plug Ethernet, KB, and mouse into the laptop.   Plug the laptop into the dock.  Power on the system  using the dock power button.  Monitor 1 has the login screen.  Login.  Both screens get activated but screen 1 blanks every 4 or 5 seconds then comes back.  There is a noticible shift of the screen just before it goes black.  The shift is maybe a pixel or two down -- that is the whole screen image seems to shift down 1 pixel.

[NickBb]

So another angle on this.  Since the BIOS was recently updated I was poking around and see that there is a setting for using hybrid graphics.  The other choices are auto and integrated.  It's currently set to auto.  I read a little about why you'd want hybrid for mulitple monitors. Anyone experiment with these settings or change it from auto to hybrid or integrated?