Docking station doesn't work with two external monitors

Support Graphics & Display
1

Hello everyone,

after several attempts with 3 different USB-C docking stations under Manjaro KDE and Cinnamon, I have now ended up with XFCE. However, the Lenovo docking station I am using, type ThinkPad 40AY0090EU, Universal USB-C Dock, does not work reliably and I want to ask if you have any more tips before I slowly give up! The problem is that although the docking station recognizes my two external monitors, after restarting the notebook Lenvor X1 Crabon 6th. Gen. the external monitors remain black. This happens sporadically, so I can say that the monitors are regularly recognized. I have now also saved a profile for the display settings. However, in 70% of cases the external monitors are not recognized (they are shown in the display settings, but have no resolution to select). Is there anything else I can consider? I use a docking station because I connect a work notebook with Windows in my home office in the same way.

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Specifications for ThinkPad 40AY0090EU, Universal USB-C Dock show the dock can have 2 different power inputs from power supply and power outputs to peripherals

  • Input Power: 90W or 135W
  • Output Power: 65W with 90W power adapter connected;100W with 135W power adapter connected

Do you know how much power each monitor requires?

Have you tried plugging in one monitor at a time to see if either one has an issue?

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The BenQ GL2760H and GW2760 monitors consume 29W and 27W respectively. With one monitor, the problem only occurs once in 7 starts of the notebook. The power supply of the Lenovo dock only has 90W.
With another docking station from Selore SEDK 1401, which I am now using to help me, the notebook is still being discharged despite a 100W power supply. Perhaps this indicates a problem with an undersized power supply?
Should I use a 135W power supply for the Lenovo docking station?

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I received a 135W Lenovo power supply and installed it. Everything seems to be working great with it! I have already reinstalled my beloved KDE. The two external monitors now work with the notebook, so I can even use three screens!
I still have to see if it works in the long term! By the way, I plugged the docking cable with video into the Thunderbolt port for the notebook!

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Specifications from Benq website are incomplete, but suggest that 65 watts of power from the dock might not supply enough power to initialise both monitors and charge the notebook

Comparison between: 27" BenQ GW2760, 27" BenQ GL2760H

 GW2760  GL2760H
Power consumption (sleep) ≈ 0.5 W ≈ 0.3 W
Power consumption (eco) - ≈ 18 W
Power consumption (average) ≈ 27 W ≈ 29 W
Power consumption (maximum) ≈ 44 W -

the problem only occurs once in 7 starts of the notebook

Thinking that the dock might be failing when the laptop battery is low and is drawing more power from the dock to fast-charge the battery

Upgrading to a 135W power supply for the dock should provide enough power for all 3 devices

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Thank you very much for your support! :pray:
The explanations are completely understandable to me. Now everything works perfectly! I almost gave up because I worked on the problem for several weeks, only to finally be recommended a suitable docking station via the AI, which then also didn’t work properly at first.

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