Thunderbolt Dock 3 display issues

[bethe1]

Did you got a later firmware for the Dock3 as the one available on the web? The one I found on the HP support site is: 131025.10.11.23 Rev.A, 2 Jun 2016.

You post only the link to the HPRC, but credentials are needed to log-in.

Best, Bernd

[soccer_dan]

The Tunderbolt dock requires for either ZBook 15, 17, Studio G3 requires the following BIOS/firmware/driver updates to ensure best operation

NOTE: the AsMedia driver and dock f/w is available on the web at

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/readIndex?sp4ts.oid=9822170&swLangOid=8&swEnvOid=4192

		Zbook 15/17 G3	Zbook Studio G3
Component Name	Category on Product Support Page on hp.com	Softpaq #	Version	Softpaq #	Version	Where to Verify
Thunderbolt Host specific
BIOS	(BIOS)	SP78257	1.12	SP78231	1.15	Bios F10 Setup à System Information
Intel Thunderbolt Secure Connect Driver	(Driver - Controller)	SP76771	16.1.47.275	`==>	`==>	Right click Thunderbolt Tray Icon à Settings à Details.
Intel® Thunderbolt™ Firmware Update Utility	(Firmware)	SP74935	16.1.7.0.6	`==>	`==>	D/L & unpack Softpaq, with Admin Rights, enter "ThunderboltUpdaterCmd.exe -d" in a command window
Intel Graphics Driver	(Driver - Graphics)	SP78116(7)/SP77559(10)	15.40.4483	`==>	`==>	Right click on desktop à Graphics Properties (intel icon) à Options & Support à Information Center.
NVIDIA Graphics Driver	(Driver - Graphics - Nvidia)	SP78067(7)/SP78066(10)	373.06(7)/373.06(10)	`==>	`==>	Right click on desktop à NVIDIA control panel à System Information
AMD Graphics Driver	(Driver - Graphics)	SP77984	16.30 Rev F17	n/a	n/a	Right click on desktop à Graphics Properties (at top) à Information à Software.
Thunderbolt Dock specific
ASMedia eXtensible Host Controller Driver	(Driver - Chipset)	SP77518	1.16.38.1	`==>	`==>	Programs & Features, or Device Manager, Universal Serial Bus Controllers (Requires Dock to be plugged in).
Broadcom Ethernet Controller Driver	(Driver - Network)	SP76080	17.4.0.1	`==>	`==>	Device Manager, Network adaptors (Requires Dock to be plugged in).
Conexant Audio USB Driver for Docks	(Driver - Audio)	SP74876	1.31.36.14	`==>	`==>	Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers - HP Dock Audio (Requires Dock to be plugged in).
ASMedia Firmware Update for the Dock	(Firmware)	SP76208	131025.10.11.23	`==>	`==>	*** (see below)
*** D/L & run Softpaq with Admin Rights. At the License window, press Cancel. Proceed to the TEMP folder created by the softpaq < C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp\~sfx006C856A43 >. Run "ASM104FWUpdate.exe /o /r /s".  See ASM104xVersion.txt for details

[dangineer]

Unfortunately, no such luck. Following is the text of my email to support under the ticket I have open in the hopes that it may be of help to someone else.

I have literally 2 pages of notes covering all 4 combinations of dock and cable tried in my home office with monitors connected via DP to DVI cables. Since you would never be able to read my writing, I’ll summarize.

For the combinations of Dock O (Office) with Cable O, Dock O with Cable H (home), and Dock H with Cable H, each booted and got thru the login screen normally. At times ranging between 30 seconds and 5 minutes, the connection with the dock was lost – sometimes with and sometimes without a “disconnect” sound. The dock would reconnect (with “connect” sound) on its own within a few seconds, but the monitors would not come back until I unplugged/replugged the connector. Within a minute, the connection would be lost again, but even the replugging of the connector would not bring the monitors back.

For the combination of Dock H and Cable O, I had much more success, but still unacceptable. It lasted 40 minutes from boot before losing connection with the dock, but I was away from the computer for at least 15 of those minutes. I then went thru 4 cycles of lost connection and replug (which DID bring the monitors back) over a 15 minute period. 10 minutes later, I lost connection again. After the 3rd replug, the monitors came back, but they were very flaky. Subsequent replugs did not bring them back at all.

Today at the office connected to native DP monitors, it was much more stable, but still would lose connection to the dock every 30 minutes on average. At least there, the monitors almost always came back up upon reconnect without having to physically replug the cable. I could almost live with that behavior if it didn’t play havoc with my window sizes and locations.

I really need to make this work. In the interim, is there any way to drive 2 external monitors from the computer itself? It only has the 1 HDMI port. Can the Thunderbolt ports also output video?

[soccer_dan]

dangineer, i assume that all drivers and firmware are up to date based on the information supplied. The Thunderbolt is pretty stable now for most customers that we deal with so it is hard to tell what might be causing the interruptions. It seems, however, that it is related to power management and components going to sleep and not coming back correctly. Perhaps try to disable sleep states when on a/c?

to answer your question about dual monitor support with the ZBook, yes, you can use a usb-c to dp or hdmi adapter cable and have a 2nd display

Another note: you may want to run HP's ImageDiags diagnostics tool (ftp.hp.com/pub/idr) and provide the logs to the HP support team for elevation of your issue. Version 1 is more comprehensive (especially in regards to logging power states) but version 2 is faster. i recommend version 1, which takes several minutes to run and capture information on the state of your mobile workstation. You can read the logs yourself as well to see what it reports on

[NickBb]

For me, the system has been stable for a few months now.  I'm even to the point where leaving the keyboard and mouse plugged into the dock is the norm.

At this point I'm not changing anything.  I don't remember which version of drivers I have installed but if anyone has a procedure for collecting the list above, I can do that and provide the combination of drivers/firmware that is working for me.

During my investigation I found that SoftPaq didn't always show the SP that I needed/wanted.  An alternative is to download them from the FTP site.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq//

[soccer_dan]

i developed a powershell script that will show all needed drivers installed on an hp device supporting thunderbolt (x2 1012 tablet, elitebook golio g1, zbook g3 mobile workstations). to use, type/copy the following lines into a file with .ps1 extension (tbcheck.ps1, for example)

run powershell, and execute the script. you will get a small text file with all drivers associated with thunderbolt listed. you can then compare with the latest info available to see if your system is up to date

copy all following lines to the script file:

# Powershell examples for accessing H/W, BIOS information through WMI

# Developed by
#   soccer_dan/  HP
#
# run this script as 'powershell -f <path>\tbcheck.ps1 [> outfile.txt]'

$computer = $env:COMPUTERNAME

# NOTE: when calling gwmi (or get-wmiobject), '-computername localhost' is an optional parameter, and defaults to the current computer

# Write-output "This script is running from ""$($PSScriptRoot)"", as user '$($env:userdomain)\$($env:username)'`n"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# PowerShell variable '$PSScriptRoot' holds PS's folder where the script is run from
# ... we will create a file with this computer's S/N in the name to output to

$oFileName = (get-ciminstance win32_bios).SerialNumber + '_TBCheck.txt'
$OutFile = $PSScriptRoot + '' + '\' + $OfILEnAME

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

##########################
# Find this computer model
##########################

$namespace = 'root/cimv2'
$classname = 'Win32_Computersystem'

$this = Get-WmiObject -Namespace root/cimv2 -Class $classname
write-output "This computer: `t$($this.Model)" > $OutFile

##########################
# Let's get some BIOS info
##########################
     
$namespace = 'root/cimv2'
$win32bios = 'Win32_BIOS'

$thisbios = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $namespace -class $win32bios
write-output "This BIOS: `t$($thisbios.SMBIOSBIOSVersion)" >> $OutFile

####################################################################
# Is there a Thunderbolt controller on this computer?
# ... Intel namespace is only available if Thunderbolt is in the m/b
# ... NOTE: WMI namespace appears once a TB controller is detected
####################################################################

$namespace = "ROOT\Intel\Thunderbolt"
$classname = "TbtControllerDetails"

$tb = Get-WmiObject -Class $classname -ComputerName $computer -Namespace $namespace -ErrorAction:ignore
$TBSecLevel = ''

if ( $tb ) {

    switch ( $tb.SecurityLevel ) {
        0 { $TBSecLevel = 'PCIe and DisplayPort - No Scurity' }    # Setting data from Elite x2 1012/Folio G1 BIOS. Could vary on diff models)
        1 { $TBSecLevel = 'PCIe and DisplayPort - User Authorization' }
        2 { $TBSecLevel = 'PCIe and DisplayPort - Secure Connect' }
        3 { $TBSecLevel = 'DisplayPort and USB' }
        default { $TBSecLevel = 'Unknown security setting' }
    }  # switch ()

    Write-Output "ThunderBolt: Gen $($tb.Generation), NVMVersion $($tb.NVMVersion), PDVersion $($tb.PDVersion), Security Level: $($tb.SecurityLevel) ($TBSecLevel)`n" >> $OutFile

} else {

    write-output "ThunderBolt port not available, or dock not connected" >> $OutFile
    exit

}

# Now, the Thunderbolt dock was detected on this computer

# and dinally display applicable driver versions

write-output `n,"`nDriver versions..." >> $OutFile

##################################################
# find Thunderbolt associated drivers and versions
##################################################

$namespace = 'root/cimv2'
$classname = 'Win32_PnPSignedDriver'

#Get-WmiObject -Namespace root/cimv2 -Class $classname | select Manufacturer, devicename, driverversion | where {$_.devicename -like "*intel*"} |
#    Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap

Get-WmiObject -Namespace root/cimv2 -Class $classname |  
    where {
        $_.devicename -like "*thunderb*" -or
        $_.devicename -like "*extensible*" -or
        $_.devicename -like "*broadco*" -or
        $_.devicename -like "*graphics*"-or
        $_.devicename -like "*nvidia*"-or
        $_.devicename -like "*dock audio*"
    } |
    Format-Table -AutoSize Manufacturer, devicename, driverversion >> $OutFile

# Finally, change location back to script folder

set-location $PSScriptRoot

[NickBb]

This computer: HP ZBook 15 G3
This BIOS: N81 Ver. 01.11
ThunderBolt: Gen 3, NVMVersion 22, PDVersion 1.07.03, Security Level: 1 (PCIe and DisplayPort - User Authorization)

Driver versions...

Manufacturer devicename driverversion
------------ ---------- -------------
Broadcom Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet 17.4.0.1
Conexant HP Dock Audio 1.31.36.13
ASMedia Technology Inc ASMedia USB3.0 eXtensible Host Controller 1.16.38.1
Intel(R) Corporation Thunderbolt(TM) Controller - 1577 16.1.47.2
Intel Corporation Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 20.19.15.4483
NVIDIA NVIDIA Quadro M1000M 21.21.13.7306

[soccer_dan]

NickBb, other than the bios (1.12 is the latest) your system seems to be up to date

BIOS 1.12 (not critical for thunderbolt except for security, but important):

ENHANCEMENTS:
- Provides improved security of UEFI code and variables. HP strongly recommends
transitioning promptly to this updated BIOS version which supersede all previous
releases. NOTE: Due to security changes, after this BIOS update is installed,
previous versions cannot be reinstalled.
- Adds the Launch Hotkeys without function key press option in the F10 BIOS
setup menu.
- Adds the DriveLock password on restart option to the F10 BIOS setup menu.
- Removes the feature where the BIOS emits a sound (beeps) throughout the BIOS
update.
- Provides the DGPU (dedicated graphics) VBIOS to support an additional graphics
memory model.

FIXES:
- Fixes an issue where the Windows activation key is erased when the real-time
clock (RTC) battery in the system is completely discharged.
- Fixes an issue where the USB Type-C Power Delivery (PD) firmware update
procedure does not run properly.
- Fixed an issue where the graphics and video memory size options are
unexpectedly displayed in the BIOS setup menu after defaults are applied for
discrete only mode.

[MSLEEE]

The Synaptics firmware v 3.10.005 for the dock will be released soon.  This fw will be fixing an issue with DP-DVI dongle configuration. Please check the driver site next week.

I work for HP. All opinions and comments are my own.

[NickBb]

Thank you for the script and the recommendation. I'll look into getting the BIOS updated soon.