Business Notebooks

Hi,

I have had this setup for about 2 months now. An Elietbook X360 1030 G2 with the 230w Thunderbolt G2 dock. No speaker, just the standard top.

The laptop and dock bios/firmware are up to date. The latest drivers are installed. I'm running Windows 10 Pro 64bit 1803 with the latest updates.

I have 2 displayport monitors connected in addition to a USB C displayport to HDMI adapter going to a 3rd monitor. The usb c adapter supports Displayport Alternate Mode. So a total of 3 HD monitors connected to it. The laptop lid is closed.

I have a USB keyboard, mouse, a plantronics savi w740-m, a usb hub and a usb cable for my cell phone. My phone isn't plugged into it very much at all. I also have my speakrs plugged into it.

In the laptop bios I have set to power on when AC is connected. The result of this is when I plug in the Thunderbolt dock the laptop turns on.

I had a very similar setup with an Elitebook 8460p with a dock. 3 monitors, same peripherals for the past 5-6 years. It worked nearly flawlessly. I also had it set to power on when AC was connected. So I could come in, dock it and go to work.

Here is my problem. About 1 out of every 10 boot attempts with the new laptop is flawless and successful. The number of boots with problems is rediculous. This is when plugging in the thunderbolt dock with the lid closed. Either the fan will start spinning full speed with no display and no boot. Or it will power on with no display and no boot. Or it will power on no display but not activate the external monitors.

When it has no display and doesn't boot I have to open the lid then hold the power button in to get it to turn off. Sometimes when I press the power button it turns off immediately then turning it back on results in no display and no boot. When this happens I have to power it off and press the power button then quickly press it again and hold it in for 10 seconds. It's almost like it did boot and is going into sleep mode when you press the power button. Opening the lid and powering it off and back on it will boot. Sometimes it won't boot at all no matter how many times you turn it off and back on. I have to unplug the dock to get it to boot, then plug the dock in.

Sometimes when it boots correctly one of the monitors will not turn on. I have to power the monitor off and back on. Windows does show 3 monitors connected but the same one is off when this happens. It just happened where the same 3rd monitor wouldn't come on at all and I will have to reboot the system. This even after unplugging the display cable from the monitor and plugging it back in. It does turn out it is the displayport over USB C connected monitor. I'm not sure if unplugging the adapter from the dock and plugging it back in will fix it. Most of the time just turning the monitor off and back on is enough to fix it.

Ok, what else. Before the first boot of the day sometimes after plugging in the dock I will have no external video, but if I open the lid the preboot login prompt comes up. I authenticate and close the lid. WIndows boots and everything is fine.

Am I the only one using my laptop in this setup, where I have everything plugged into the dock and just want to come into the office, plug my 1 USB C Thunderbolt cable in and go to work?

Why is this setup so flakey? I am really furstrated at this point.

Finally, rarely can I simply come in, plug the cable in with the lid closed and have external video and can use the usb keyboard to complete the preboot authentication. It does work like this sometimes, I just want it to work like this all the time.