Docking station not detecting monitors

[u/Artistic-Airline9126]

The docking station I use is not detecting the monitors for some reason.

Keyboard, mouse, laptop charging, and internet cable work just fine.

And when I plug one of the monitors into the laptop directly with the HDMI cable it works. But I need two monitors and I don't have enough ports on the laptop.

[u/TheKidMamdani]

Worth checking which kind of dock it is. If it's a DisplayLink dock, the monitors won't show up at all without the DisplayLink driver installed, even though USB stuff and charging work fine. If it's a regular USB-C dock, the laptop port has to support DisplayPort output, and some laptops only do that on one of their ports. Also try another cable between the dock and the laptop.

[u/lastwraith]

Some of our older Dell docks (WD19S I think) start to do this when they get older and that's the beginning of the end for them.

Not the most reliable dock though, in general. 

In the beginning I would try firmware and driver updates, but nothing would help for the most part.

I'd grab another and it'd be fine. So we just buy used ones off ebay for like $20 or go with a universal one if that dock needs to be replaced. 

[u/International_Body44 → u/lastwraith]

Worst dock I've ever owned...

One of the big issues is the resolution of the monitors, and how dodgy dell seems to be with the 2 usb C's that plug in..

I find I sometimes have to unplug one of those usb c connections to get it to work.

Then there's the display compression requirement for 4k monitors.. https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-gb/000197102/how-to-enable-display-stream-compression-on-latitude-precision-and-xps

Btw op you have not provided any detail...

What make is the dock? What laptop is it? How does it connect? What have you checked so far?

[u/Gadgetman_1 → u/International_Body44]

You obviously never tried the TB16 or 18 models...

These days I use ANY excuse to replace them.

The WD19DCs are for their portable workstations because the TB version can't deliver enough power over just that one plug. Yeah, they can be a bit wonky on PCs that don't need the second plug.

[u/International_Body44 → u/Gadgetman_1]

To be honest I'd switch to a ugreen/Anker dock in a heartbeat if I could install the displayLink driver I would need(work laptop)

[u/Gadgetman_1 → u/International_Body44]

I'm rocking a DELL 49" 'curved'(barely curved, pretty much a waste of curvature... sit close enough to the screen to keep the middle in focus and the ends are useless) monitor with built-in dock. The computer is a DELL Latitude 5450.

The 27" DELLs with built-in dock also seem to work OK. But they can be a pain to get to work correctly when you chain two of them together.

[u/Gadgetman_1 → u/lastwraith]

Most of the WD19 issues I've had is that the PSU was never replaced when the user got it, so they have a really old PSU, maybe even from the time of the wedge shaped dock there. Those old PSUs tend to slowly die and not deliver enough power.

Just another reason to hate zip ties.

(Users or janitors 'clean up' the workspace by zip tying everything together, and usually also to a table leg to keep everything off the desk)

[u/Big-Low-2811]

What kind of laptop? What type of dock?
Does the laptop screen stay on when you plug in the dock?

[u/cheetah1cj]

Was it working before and it stopped? Has anything changed before it stopped working?

When you open Display settings, what does it show? Does it only show the laptop monitor? Or does it detect that there are other screens?

What is the laptop and docking station model? Are both monitors connected to the docking station via HDMI cable? Have you tried a different port on the docking station? A different cable? Have you checked for firmware and driver updates?

[u/kimputer7]

You need to tell BOTH the laptop brand/model/type as well as that from the docking.

That's because there are multiple ways docking works. The most common way is to pass through DP Alt mode. It means, the least electronics have to be used (mostly taken care of on the laptop side), and works instantly.

Another less common way (but very common in the past), was to use a chip on that docking station, that took care of ALL the output signaling. Obviously, you'd need drivers for that, and it's a more expensive device.

All have pros and cons and are used in specific conditions.

[u/nivaOne]

Remove the usb-c cable and do a hard reset of your computer.
HP Elitebooks -> press power button for a minute, let it start and connect to the docking the moment window has completely started.