Dear Lazyweb: docks, USB, and ethernet?

[cellio]

I am using an HP docking station (I think it's this one) with my laptop. I actually have two of these docks, one at the office and one at home.

At the office, everything works correctly.

At home, the dock successfully handles video (external monitor) and power, but it does not "see" the USB ports or the ethernet port. I've been working around this by plugging USB directly into the laptop and using Wifi, but I'd like to actually solve the problem. Any ideas?

Everything I've found on Google leads to suggestions to update Thunderbolt drivers or change BIOS settings, but I repeat: it works at the office. That tells me the problem is not with the laptop but with the dock.

Does the dock need software updates of its own? I tried asking Google about that but kept ending up at instructions to update Thunderbolt drivers on the laptop.

I don't want to do anything to the laptop. I don't want to get back to the office (I assume that will happen someday) and find out I've broken things there. I can use these workarounds at home.

But it seems like I ought to be able to fix this so I don't have to?

Comments

Look for Thunderbolt-specific security settings in the BIOS

[hlinspjalda]

Mr Fixer dixit:

"The Thunderbolt drivers are what the laptop uses to talk to the dock. Sometimes after updating them you will have to go into BIOS settings, and you may have the option to enable or disable ports on the dock from your laptop BIOS. So if after the update it's not just working, go in and check your BIOS to see if there's something that would allow you to enable the USB ports over the Thunderbolt-attached dock. There may well be Thunderbolt-specific security settings in the BIOS that let you change what features of the dock that laptop can use."

Hope this helps!

Re: Look for Thunderbolt-specific security settings in the BIOS

[cellio]

Please pass on my thanks to Mr. Fixer! I will check this out at the end of the day (i.e. when I don't mind a reboot to get to the BIOS).