I've had nothing but trouble with dell docks over the years.. sorry nothing helpful to add other than avoid at all costs
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DP-alt-mode, datarates, cabling are all vastly more complicated than you’d think. (I’ve spent easily 500 hours of my life, buying dozens of products and specific cables, running debugging hardware and software … getting Pro Display XDR’s (6k displays) working at longer distances, behind Thunderbolt docks, on multiple OSes, etc — it’s it’s never intuitive.)
Some absurd things that may actually help:
- flip the dock-to-display cable around (not even shitting you)
- if the dock is a DP-alt consumer itself, plug an unterminated HDMI cable into it (and into nothing else),
- change the order in which you plug various things into eachother post-boot (ideally, nothing plugged into anything other than that C-D-M chain of three items; then try C-D-first/D-M-second, and try D-M-first/C-D-second.)
Failing various fixes with existing equipment, the cheapest next steps will be cabling — despite the high promises of USB-C, all cables are absolutely not created equal when it comes to high-pixelclock-DP-alt-mode:
- Shortest possible cables. Get shorter USB-C cables from reputable vendors. Make sure they’re maximum-data-rate certified.
- This is counterintuitive as fuck, but do not use “better” Thunderbolt cables to substitute USB-C cables for USB-C-capable-displays. (They can work plenty often; but they can also be problematic with some EDID/OS combinations.)
- If your display has other inputs, you may have more luck with a USB-C-to-DisplayPort-proper cable, than a traditional USB-C-to-USB-C cable.
- Worst case, look into a cable with an active repeater. I’ve had luck with CableMatters’ Cable Matters Active USB C Cable... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PPVMYRV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
tl;dr good luck this might be gon suuuuuck. )=
that's one hell of an effort, thanks a bunch! will take me some time to try some of those things... the dock has a normal DP 1.2 connector, I'm using the same cable my desktop (RX 570) is using and has no issues getting 60 Hz. haven't tried Dock USB Type-C - DP.
the dock has an integrated USB Type-C PD cable that I use for the laptop, so that's not replaceable. charges fine, can take up to 65 W (it doesn't use even a third of that).
I was guessing this has something to do with cables. sadly, I can't afford to buy & try out different cables but I'll do my best with this new info, much appreciated.