Thunderbolt Power Delivery from Docking Station

[MikeA1942]

Hello all you IT gurus out there!

I just purchased an HP Omen 16-k0033dx. Specs says it has 2 USB Type -C ports, Thunderbolt 4.0, which it does.

I have a Targus Docking Station (model: DOCK180SUZ-52). It used to charge, connect 1 DP++ external monitor, 1 HDMI external monitor, and an external Targus keyboard and mouse (and occasionally a USB headset with a phone call answer/reject button, and an ethernet cable) to my now-retired HP Pavilion, through its Thunderbolt (USB-Type C) port, that I'm not sure of its version but I'm guessing it must have been a "Thunderbolt 3.0".

The same Docking Station worked flawlessly with a Dell Latitude and a Dell Inspiron in other occasions, providing excellent connectivity to the same set of devices at once (plug and play) without need for further configuration or tinkering. Again, my guess is that these laptops had Thunderbolt 3.0 ports.

However, when I connected the new HP Omen to said Docking Station, I received a repeating error message that said "the AC adapter is not compatible with this system". My guess is that Omen's charging subsystem interpreted the Power Delivery from the Docking Stations Thunderbolt 3.0 upstream as a USB-C AC Adapter input.

When I plugged in the AC Adapter brick that came with the Omen to the power input, the repeating error messages stopped. Now the Docking Station is working as it should. After about 30 minutes, with battery sufficiently charged, I unplugged the AC brick and I could see that the laptop is running on battery (no charging symbol). Albeit, no more error messages. After another 45 minutes of using the laptop, battery is still at 100%, no charging symbol, but the repeating error messages came back. When I plugged in the AC brick, the messages stopped.

From the DOCK180USZ-52 manual: 

System Requirements: .... Charging support requires host computer support Power Delivery 2.0 charging (up to 60W max)

The DOCK180USZ-52 specs indicate that all USB ports on it are USB 3.0 (regardless of upstream PD capability)

My question is:

Do you know if I may continue using this docking station with the Omen or if I should upgrade to a Thunderbolt 4.0 docking station , as I'm afraid I may ruin the Omen's battery/charging subsystem; having 2 power inputs simultaneously: (1) proper power input from the AC brick, and (2) suboptimal power delivery (using PD 2.0 protocol at 60W max) from the docking station?

OR, do you KNOW that when both the AC brick AND the docking station are connected to the Omen, the Omen will ONLY use the power from the AC brick and disregard the PD 2.0 input from the docking station? In which case I can assume it is safe to continue using the docking station.

Unfortunately, the only USB Type C and Type A ports to connect this Docking Station to any laptop are the ones that are PD 2.0 equipped. I'm mentioning this preemptively before someone suggests that I connect the Omen to the docking station using a non-PD port. It is simply not possible. If you think of it, it's by design any docking station will want to connect to a laptop only through ports that are PD equipped regardless if the host computer is going to make use of the power delivery protocol or not.

My research online landed me on these statements:

"Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 are much more likely to support the latest USB PD 3.1 standard that allows for maximum charging of 240W compared to USB PD 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3's 100W. Remember that you need the correct type of cable for the higher charging rates. (MacWorld, Sep 12, 2023)" (BTW, I don't use Macs)

"What is the charging requirement for Thunderbolt 4? Charging Power: Provide up to 100W charging power from a single port. (Anker.com)" <<< My Docking Station Thunderbolt 3.0 is capable of 60W Power Delivery (PD 2.0) max 

Any input is highly appreciated. Thank you for your help!

[banhien]

@MikeA1942 

Is this your dock ?     https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-dv4k-docking-station-with-60w-power-dock180usz

It only  delivers 60W of power,  And your machine uses a 280W AC adapter. You can see huge difference.

Simple answer: the dock does note have enough power to run your machine. HP has 280W dock.

Hope this makes sense.

Regards.

[MikeA1942]

Hi BH,

Thank you for your reply! Yes, the link points to my Dock. And yes, I figured as much as it does not have enough power to run my Omen.

That said, do you know if Omen will disregard the power input from the dock when it's plugged in?

I will upgrade my dock, eventually. I just need sometime to recover from the recent damage 😉

Have a great day!

Mike