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I have a HP zbook Firefly 15 G8 and as there are currently no suitable docking stations from this vendor available for me to buy I took the risk and bought one from Asus (Asus Sim Pro Dock 2).

The dock mentions especially it is compatible to some Asus Laptop but in the 2 page manual (there seems to be no better/bigger manual), that it may also support other Thunderbolt compatible laptops - I get it, they cannot take the risk. But I did and I thought to give it a try.

The dock seems to work, but not it's power button. The laptop gets connected to the monitor and ethernet which are connected to the dock (using the built in TB3 cable of the dock).

I also installed the necessary driver and updated the firmware of the dock. In the laptop's BIOS the TB settings look OKAY (nothing disabled, TB related).

When I connect the laptop to the dock and press the button nothing happens. LED on the dock does not change color. When I activate in BIOS "Power on when AC detected", the laptop starts when connected to the dock,but I would prefer if I could trigger it with the button.

Isn't such "Power On"-functionality something that is given by the Thunderbolt specifications? Or is it such a vendor specific thing, that it is pure luck if it works between different brands?

Shihan
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  • First, Thunderbolt compatibility is Thunderbolt, the only real consideration is the revision. This is a Thunderbolt dock, meaning you are not required to dock it, and connect it to anything specific? Was this product new or used? – Ramhound Feb 04 '22 at 14:18
  • What do you mean? I dock the laptop to the dock using the TB cable attached to the back of the dock (the one that cannot be removed). I bought the dock from a big retailer with a discount - it was sent back from someone and they checked it and categorized it as working/like new. Maybe they were wrong? – Shihan Feb 04 '22 at 15:30
  • You shouldn't eliminate that possibility. Retailers sell a lot of stuff, when it comes to open boxes, it's a lottery which is why it's important to purchase from Retailers with good return policies on open boxes. – Ramhound Feb 04 '22 at 15:54

1 Answers1

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I asked customer support of the vendor and they told me that their second level support has confirmed them that it is indeed a compatibility issue.

So that seems to show to me, that the power button functionality is indeed something that is not enshrined in the Thunderbolt specification.

Shihan
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