HP USB-C/A Universal Dockingstation G2 and M1 MacBook Air - no display signal

[ScompX]

Hi guys,

I just received my HP USB-C/A Universal Dockingstation G2. To it is connected a Dell S2721QS via the HDMI-Port.

My HP Elite X2, which I got for from my firm, works perfectly fine. Power over USB, the display, ethernet, the USB-A ports,... no troubles.

I would like to also use the dockingstation on my privately owned baseline M1 Macbook Air. Unfortunately, the display won't get a signal, albeit everything else (power over USB, ethernet etc.) working fine.

The manual of the dockingstation says that the HDMI-Port supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode, so I would have assumed that a display conntected via the HDMI-port could be run without using the DisplayLink drivers.

Could anyone confirm that this is possible?

If so, what am I doing wrong that my display won't get a signal from my Macbook? Is there some settings option, that I am missing?

Some side notes:

• DisplayLink:

Now, I do realize that the G2 Dockingstation is equipped with DisplayLink and if I install the DisplayLink-driver on my Macbook, the display works. However, I have only one display connted, and there are, some downsides to using DisplayLink (i.e. not being able to use  Nightshift and certain resolution settings, drawing on CPU etc.). I would therefore really prefer not to use DisplayLink and instead the Display Port Alternate Mode capabilities of the dockingstation.

• Firmware:

Yes, I have updated the dockingstation to the latest firmware, just yesterday, it did not change anything.

• Other Docks/Dongles:

If I use my Satechi USB-C-dongle on my Macbook, the display works like a charm (according to the system preferences the Macbook is even outputting 5K@60Hz,  although the Dell display only supports 4k). 

Thank you 

Stephan

[banhien]

@ScompX 

No, the docking station is NOT compatible with your machine. You can see a list of compatible computers on a list of the following document (page 39):

          https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04168358

Regards.

[ScompX]

Thank you for your quick reply, but the list you provided does not seem to be exhaustive. 

In this pdf, it even says that MacBooks are supported.

https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA7-5549ENW.pdf

[ScompX · Accepted solution]

I found the solution!

The docking statoin's activates the HDMI port's DisplayPort Alternate Mode only, when the two DisplayPort ports of the docking station are populated, which confirms a reddit post I read yesterday.

Since I only run one display currently, I populated the DisplayPort ports with dummy plugs. 

So, it is possible to run a display on a M1 MacBook via the dock natively without using the DisplayLink drivers. 

Albeit the help here received was not the answer to my problem, I really hope someone else is able to utilize this knowledge.

Best wishes!