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Thunderbolt 3 Dock doesn't work if connected during boot (Manjaro)

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kev.lin
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:56 pm
Location: Germany

Thunderbolt 3 Dock doesn't work if connected during boot (Manjaro)

#1 Post by kev.lin » Tue Nov 03, 2020 7:33 am

Hello,

I’m using Manjaro (next to Windows 10) on my Thinkpad X280. In Windows 10 the Thunderbolt 3 Dock (40AC) and the Thinkpad work flawlessly. In Manjaro and without the Thunderbolt 3 dock connected everything works just fine as well. When I connect the dock while I’m already logged in into Manjaro, the dock is recognized and (after I told the OS to trust the device) I can use two external monitors, external keyboard, mouse and the ethernet port on the dock.

But when I boot with the dock already connected, the following happens:
  • the Thinkpad boots and I see the red “Lenovo”-splash screen
  • the GRUB loader shows me the options to boot Manjaro or Windows 10
  • selecting Windows 10 boots into Windows and everything works
  • selecting Manjaro all screens (two external and the internal LCD) turn black and stay like that
I’ve tried various settings / steps:
  • set the "Security level" under Thunderbolt settings in the BIOS, and set it to "Secure"
  • set the "Security level" under Thunderbolt settings in the BIOS, and set it to "none / Insecure"
  • enable the "Support in pre boot environment" (something called ACL or similar)
  • updated the Thinkpad via “Lenovo Vantage” in Windows: Everything updated fine (BIOS, etc.) except the “Thunderbolt Firmware Update Utility” (N20TF21W)
I assume the behavior is created by Manjaro since the dock works just fine with Windows. Somehow the dock needs to communicate to a running Manjaro and cannot communicate while Manjaro boots up. When I connect the dock while Manjaro prompts for my password (after booting) USB devices (keyboard and mouse) are recognized. But the external screens aren’t.

My problem is described here as well (Ubuntu): https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1697395

and here it says, that the issue is solved with kernel 4.14: https://github.com/intel/thunderbolt-so ... -327865033 I use kernel “Linux 5.8.16-2-MANJARO“ so this should already be fixed in my kernel version I assume.

Anyone any ideas how to get the dock working when attached while booting Manjaro?

kev.lin
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Thunderbolt 3 Dock doesn't work if connected during boot (Manjaro)

#2 Post by kev.lin » Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:40 pm

I now manually installed the “Thunderbolt Firmware Update Utility” (N20TF21W)
Now the soft- and firmware versions are all up to date:
  • Driver Package Version: 17.4.80.550 (via Powershell "(Get-WmiObject Win32_PnPSignedDriver| where {$_.DeviceName -eq "Thunderbolt(TM) Controller - 15BF"}).driverversion"
  • NVM Firmware Version: 20.00 (via Thunderbolt Application Center)
  • Device Driver Version 17.4.80.94 (via Thunderbolt Application Center)
Still, this doesn't chagne anything on the problem with the dock itself.

atagunov
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Posts: 921
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:11 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Thunderbolt 3 Dock doesn't work if connected during boot (Manjaro)

#3 Post by atagunov » Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:40 pm

Hi there, sorry to hear about your trouble.. I realise I'm basically advising the same thing to everybody.. But do you happen to have SSD to spare for playing with Ubuntu? My logic is: Ubuntu is as far as I can see the most polished and user-friendly distribution of them all.. if I'd expect the dock to work in any of the Linux distros it would be in Ubuntu
X220, 2 *T520

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