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I have an HP USB-C G5 dock

USB-C docks (as in USB and DP-Alt mode over USB-C) and dongles are a world of hurt. We had a bunch of them (including from reputable vendors like Lenovo and Anker) and we always had issues, needing to replug the cable because charging wouldn't work, crappy network adapters, suspend-wake issues, BlueTooth/WiFi interference, etc. The only adapter that worked well were the Apple Digital Multiport AV adapter, but it is overpriced and only has a measly 2 ports (plus power passthrough).

My wife and I both switched to Thunderbolt 3 docks both at home and at the office and the problems are gone. Everything always comes up, including after sleep-wake cycles. If often have my private MBP stationary and hooked up for days.

I really love Thunderbolt docks, just plug one cable and you have everything hooked up.




Well, I daily drive a Linux box, and I've been using a USB-C monitor with integrated hub for years without any issue. Both the HP and the cheap Chinese dock work perfectly with Linux. No sleep/interference/missing devices issues. I only noticed this because I was recently trying a few things on Windows at work. Hence, my suspicion that the OS is somehow involved.

Another issue is that thunderbolt only recently has become more common on PCs. My late 2021 AMD laptop doesn't have TB, for example. Only the higher-end HP laptops at work had it, but they had other issues which made them unusable for me (soldered RAM, under-powered CPUs and shiny screens), so I chose lower-end models.


I only noticed this because I was recently trying a few things on Windows at work. Hence, my suspicion that the OS is somehow involved.

I used a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 Dock with a Linux-certified Lenovo laptop. 4k@60Hz didn't work (the lanes got misconfigured, worked fine on Windows), charging wouldn't work 25% of the times, the network interface would often not come up. Sleep/resume was hit and miss.

I didn't have a lemon, since we had two of these docks.




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