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USB-C and Thunderbolt Docking Stations Not Recognized by the Computer

Summary: How to get a USB-C or Thunderbolt docking station to work with a computer using Group Policy.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

A USB-C or Thunderbolt docking station does not work with the attached computer.

Cause

The issue can be caused by possible Group Policy settings in Windows.

Resolution

USB-C and Thunderbolt Docking Stations

An issue where several computers are unable to recognize USB-C or Thunderbolt docks. If you check Device Manager, you see a yellow exclamation mark (bang), and get a message if you try to automatically search for drivers on the device with Device Manager.
Update Driver Device Manager

 

Group Policy Setting

This is caused by a Group Policy (GPO) setting in the Windows image. The security policy is preventing USB-C and Thunderbolt devices and drivers from being installed. This was likely in the custom Windows image due to a previous vulnerability in Thunderbolt 1 & 2 that is no longer present in Thunderbolt 3 devices.

Dell is not able to provide specific Windows imaging assistance but if the Windows administrator is familiar with the GPOs. Review the following information in the link from Microsoft, and they can adjust their custom Windows image accordingly.
Blocking the SBP-2 Driver and Thunderbolt Controllers to Reduce 1394 DMA and Thunderbolt DMA Threats to BitLocker This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.

Thunderbolt Docking Stations Not Initializing at the Login Screen When on a Domain

Peripherals like a keyboard and mouse connected using USB to a Thunderbolt Dock may work in BIOS, do not work at the login screen, but work after login.

Affected Platforms:

  • Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB15
  • Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB16
  • Dell Precision Dual USB-C Thunderbolt Dock - TB18DC
  • Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD19TB
  • Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD19TBS

 

Kernel Direct Memory Access (DMA) Protection

The new Kernel DMA Protection that is active in Windows does not let Thunderbolt docking stations initialize before booting into the Operating System (OS). This is working as designed.

Companies or individuals using a Domain login to push group policies may see this issue. This is due to group policies not being pushed to the computer before the User logs in.

Group Policy Change

To fix this behavior, the group policy must be changed to allow the docking station to initialize at the login screen.

Additional Information:

An example of the settings in Intune:
This image is not available because: You don’t have the privileges to see it, or it has been removed from the system 

The USB and NIC Ports Do Not Work on the Dock Until You Log in to Windows

Do you have BitLocker installed? Are your group policies now set to mitigate DMA attacks (BitLocker Direct Memory Access (DMA) Counter Measures)? If you do, then the USB ports and the NIC connector on the Dock may not work. When you log in to the Windows operating system, the issue goes away.

Note: The Latitude XX00 series of Laptops are those Dell Latitude laptop models that end in 00 such as the 3400, 5400, 7400, so forth.

 

Solution

Note: Your system is working as designed.

This is the expected behavior of this specific group policy. These laptops are designed to use the Kernel DMA protection.

We do not store any GUIDs or device IDs. These can be easily spoofed. That means you cannot trust them. Every time that you lock the screen, or reboot the system, and a device is connected, you must log in to allow this device to work.

For more information, please see the following documentation from Microsoft:

If you have an issue, and, the Group Policy should not be used. You can replace it by setting the:

Additional Information

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

Affected Products

Dell Dock WD15, Dell Dual Video USB3.0 Docking Station D1000, Dell SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Docking Station, Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB15, Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB16, Dell Precision Dual USB-C Thunderbolt Dock - TB18DC, Dell Universal Dock D6000 , Dell Universal Dock - D6000S, Dell Universal Dock UD22, Dell USB3.0 dock D3100, Dell Dock WD19, Dell Performance Dock - WD19DC, Dell Performance Dock – WD19DCS, Dell Dock – WD19S, Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD19TB, Dell Thunderbolt Dock – WD19TBS, Latitude 7200 2-in-1, Latitude 3300, Latitude 5300 2-in-1, Latitude 5300, Latitude 7300, Latitude 3400, Latitude 5400, Latitude 7400 2-in-1, Latitude 7400, Latitude 3500, Latitude 5500, Dell Thunderbolt Dock – WD22TB4 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000146415
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Nov 2024
Version:  8
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