Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB15 & 17R3

Does anyone know if the 17R3 supports the Dell Thunderbolt Dock?

I just bought the 17R3, primarily for work purposes, as I use a 3D imaging software that requires a fairly powerful graphics card. I'd really like to be able to dock this laptop at work like I did with my previous machine. Although I couldn't find any info, I took a leap and ordered the Dell TB15 dock with the 240W power supply to see what would happen. I installed all the driver updates for both the machine and the dock, then plugged in the dock.

Nothing happened. The dock doesn't register to Windows at all. The port itself works, as I am able to plug in my Nexus 6P.

I'm guessing that a BIOS update is required. Just wondering if anyone has heard if the 17R3 will support the dock in the future. I do realize that I'm not the target audience for this type of machine (being used primarily for work and not gaming), but I hope to get this working.

Thanks.

 

Should just have to install the drivers and be good to go.

 

I've installed the drivers in the order listed in the manual with no success.

 

I have a 13 R2 and can't get the dock to work.

In my case, the thunderbolt cable that plugs into the computer won't even light up.

Lots of issues with these, check the Dell forum.

Kenny

 

This is really odd, I would figure that it would and should work no problem out of the box. I was also looking to get one of these docks in the very near future and now it seems like I will have to wait.

Did you make sure your "thunderbolt" driver was updated. I know intel has been pushing drivers pretty steadily these past few weeks.

 

I've been using my C port to charge and transfer files with my nexus 6P. It's very handy.

 

Ive got an Alienware 13 R2, purchased Last month.

Before using the TB15 dock, I had to update the BIOS (this is required in order to use the Dock). There are also 6 driver and firmware files.

You must install the drivers in a specific order (Intel driver then reboot, Thunderbolt firmware, then reboot), then the rest of the drivers. The order is listed on page 12 of the User Guide that you'll need to download.

After doing all that, my Dock doesn't work. The light on the cable never comes on however, Windows does seem to recognize it since it registers a USB Hub when the cable is plugged in. But, the dock itself is simply dead.

The Thunderbolt port seems to be working since I can plug USB-C devices into it and they work (hard drives, Display Port adapter). I don't know if that necessarily means the Thunderbolt part of the port is working. As far as I know, there are only 2 Thunderbolt 3 devices on the market right now. The TB15 dock and the Akitio Thunder3 Duo Pro Hard Drive enclosure.

I'm sending the TB15 back and have purchased the Akitio enclosure since it more closely fits my needs.

When thinking about it, the TB15 dock only supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB 3.0), and HDMI 1.4 rather than 2.0. So, even though it is brand new, it seems outdated. So, to me it is just a severely overpriced USB 3.0 hub.

Kenny

 

@Rojam - I would argue that you (and I) are part of the target audience since with the TB3 interface, the biggest distinction between business and gamer laptops (the big ungainly docking port) just went away freeing us up to use a common (and much smaller) Docking mechanism - Thunderbolt3. I went with an Alienware 17R3 for my work laptop for the same reason. So far no luck on the TB15 dock yet for me either, and I followed the driver updates, but never could get the TB15's firmware to install. Going to reboot back into Windows and try to diagnose some more from there.

Here's Dell's current support link for steps in case anyone stumbling into the thread needs it
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19677047

 

I can confirm that the TB15 (450-AEVM) is working with my Alienware 17 R3 with the latest thunderbolt drivers from the dell support site. I installed the thunderbolt firmware and power firmware along with the ASMedia USB 3.0 extended host driver from the XPS 15 9550 support page. Plugged in the thunderbolt 3 cable from the dock and everything worked as expected. I have two 4k Dell monitors working at 60Hz, ethernet, USB keyboard, mouse, audio and usb hard drive all connected and working.

You still need to power the laptop with the regular power connector as power from the dock does not work, but given the power requirements of the 17 R3 this is not a surprise. So now I connect two cables into my 17 R3 rather than the normal six, pretty cool What is even cooler is I can now switch from my Alienware for gaming to my work XPS 15 9550 by just unplugging a couple of cables from the Alienware and plugging in thunderbolt cable to my XPS.

 

Just used the same files as Firedog and so far, my WD15 Dell Dock works flawlessly with my Alienware 15 R2; it's the smaller of the thunderbolt docks. The light doesn't light up on the cable, but I believe this is because it doesn't provide power. As he said, you'll still need to use your AC Adapter, but I'll be using this until I upgrade with a Graphic Amplifier with a desktop GPU.

 

The specs say systems requiring more than 130watt's must use their own adapter.

I don't see mention of official support for the aw 13r2 or any AW machines for that matter.

 

Hi, would like to ask a few questions on TH15 + Alienware. Dell put an article on 19th Sept 2016 about TB15 with alienware installation, not sure came along with new firmware or not.

1) Can the power-on button on TB15 be used to switch on alienware laptop with lid closed?
2) Can the Nvidia displayport pass-through TB15 for Gsync external monitor with maximum refresh rate? the 60Hz specification mentioned by Dell is for intel HD graphic only.

Thanks.

 

Trying opening Thunderbolt software and see if "Allow only compatible product to use TB3" in Settings page.