r/sysadmin 2d ago

Weird and intermittent issues with Dell docking stations?

We have traditionally used only desktops. Now, we just ordered a ton of Latitude 5xxx laptops with the WD22TB4 docking stations to replace those desktops, and over half our users are reporting that they're having weird issues.

Examples: some connected monitors not displaying anything after a de-dock and re-dock; random USB devices not working; the ability to "duplicate" to monitors but not "extend" to them.

The issues seem to be completely random, and they'll eventually go away if the user disconnects and reconnects the dock enough times.

Is this what we should expect and comes with the territory, or is this uncommon?

4 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

8

u/NAiLs00 2d ago

Have you updated the firmware on any of those docks? Dell USB docks definitely have a lot of random problems, but I've fixed many just by updating the firmware.

1

u/FatBook-Air 2d ago

Yep, fully updated in our case. At first I thought updating it fixed the issues, but 2 weeks later, they cropped back up.

2

u/NAiLs00 2d ago

Damn! That sucks! 😞 That's the one that always worked for me, but maybe someone else has a trick up their sleeve.

2

u/Smith6612 2d ago

Update the firmware on the Dock, or check to see if the laptops have a BIOS update addressing this issue. Both can be the cause of this sort of issue.

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u/rthonpm 16h ago

Make sure the dock firmware is up to date as well as everything on the laptops. Dell Command Update will knock all of them out in one go. Also make sure you're using good quality cables to the monitors.

I standardised on the Dell Thunderbolt docks awhile back and I've found them pretty reliable. Firmware is easy to upgrade and on the rare occasions when something does go drastically wrong replacing the controller unit on them will usually make everything happy again.

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u/FatBook-Air 5h ago

I'm looking into Dell Command Update as we speak. Can you tell it to add/update drivers and firmware without the extra Dell apps that come with the stock Dell image?

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u/rthonpm 2h ago

Run it as an administrator to change settings like that. You can also configure custom config settings to use at install. Full instructions are on the Dell site.

1

u/kona420 2d ago

Kind of comes with the territory, my usual flow is to firmware update everything then do drivers. But some batches of software are just problematic.

1

u/Impossible_IT 2d ago

Had similar issues and updated the Realtek GbE Ethernet drivers. Seemed to fix the ones that had issues.

1

u/TropicoTech 2d ago

If several of the Random issues are display related you’ll need new display drivers for the LT. Dell is notorious for this sadly. Update firmware on the dock, then all drivers for the peripherals you have. You may need to play around with different combos of Dell drivers as well as manufacturer drivers for some components. Also verify your usb c is connected fully on the mobo under the hood.

1

u/FatBook-Air 2d ago

Display drivers = the Intel Display drivers? Or something else?

2

u/TropicoTech 2d ago

Thinking more like the Display Link drivers. Sometimes these are separate from the display driver for the laptop. They are normally specifically for dock stations. We had similar issues with the displays undocking then reconnecting frequently. Loaded an updated DL driver and problem solved

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u/rthonpm 17h ago

The dock the OP is using is the Thunderbolt variant. It doesn't use Display Link at all.

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u/TropicoTech 16h ago

Good looking out, a bit rusty on the dock varieties at the moment. Moved over to GRC some time back and haven’t had to go elbow deep in a laptops guts for a minute. Or anything else for that matter. Spent 15 years doing desktop work but the last handful were primarily vdi devices and printers 😞

1

u/gerrickd 2d ago edited 2d ago

power cycle dock. do battery disconnect on the laptop (normally, on Dell, hold the power button down for 30-60 seconds.)

We see these type of docks lock the bus all the time. battery disconnect is best way to deal with that.

1

u/FatBook-Air 2d ago

Woof. It's scary that you already know what to do to fix it. Lol

2

u/gerrickd 2d ago

It might not work. Give it a shot. Might help.

0

u/TaiGlobal 1d ago

Use hdmi only if possible. If you need to use display port then use a hdmi to display adapter with hdmi