Windows 11 - everything works fine. However, if I boot with it plugged into the dock, Ethernet and 1080p monitor doesn’t work. I need to cycle the plug for both to work.
Fedora 40 - If I boot with it plugged into the dock, Ethernet and 1080p monitor doesn’t work, and the 1440p monitor is either at 60 Hz or 100 Hz. After cycling, Ethernet works, but 1080p monitor detects as an “unknown” monitor so I’m stuck at 640x480 and cannot be changed. The other monitor is fine (gets up to the full 165 Hz, but you will need to set it up again in display settings).
Try reducing the refresh rate of your 1440p display. My WD22TB4 is unable to drive 165Hz at that res, but it can do 144hz. It causes glitching on other components as well, I think it’s perhaps a bandwidth issue.
It couldn’t do 144 Hz, or even 60 Hz to allow for my 3rd monitor to work at native resolution. Still seen as “unknown monitor” and hard locked at 640x480
Just remember that all 3 monitors work at their max resolution and refresh rates just fine on either docking station in Windows 11. Just not in Fedora.
So I tried to get the edid info while connected to my CalDigit TS4 with my 2 external monitors.
The first output is the working one (Asus ROG PG279Q - 1440P at 165 Hz).
The second output is the internal display of the FW16.
The thrid output just says “bad edid”, which is the Viewsonic 1080P monitor at 75 Hz that is detecteda s “unknown display” in Gnome Display settings (stuck at 640x480 at 59 Hz).
I’m searching for a dock delivering 180W/240W for my soon to arrive FW16 + GPU. If I saw it correctly all above mentioned docks provide a maximum of 100W. Thus I’m wondering if I overlooked something? Can someone point me to a dock delivering more than 100W?
Thx in advance!
There’s no dock that can provide 180 or 240W. There are barely any stand alone USB-C PSU that can do that either. FW is the only one that has a 180W PSU, and Delta is the only one that has a 240W PSU.
That is the reason why you won’t find any docks that will do either of those wattages. For the most part, the highest most laptops take is 100 W USB-C PD, and there may be some coming out with 140W because Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro takes that, so whatever Apple does, other people tend to follow.
Even then, it’s relatively new so only the newest of the newest docks would offer 140W charging.
If your activities won’t stress the 100W, the dock will suffice. I play games on power saver with 100W dock and it’s fine. Then again, it’s OW2 so it’s not the most demanding game.
I’ll stress the CPU and GPU more with image rendering tasks. I have no experience yet, but by what I read, 180W or even 240W are needed if CPU and GPU are working.
I was hoping to participate from this learning and got the same dock, running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. But I’m struggling with two Eizo 22" 1680:1050 59.88Hz monitors, using an HDMI cable + HDMI-to-DVI-D adapter. Each of them works fine one at a time, attaching it directly to the laptop via the HDMI expansion card. If I attach both via the dock, they are recognized by the OS, but stay black. If I attach only one of them at a time via the dock, it seems to be a hit and miss if I get a picture or not.edit: and now both work. I’ll observe the behavior… In general hot-plugging via the HDMI port of the dock seems not to work, I do have to un- and re-plug the USB-C cable connecting the dock to the laptop.
Any recommendation?
(ethernet (1Gbit uplink limit), USB-A, headset port seem to work, although I’m running in an issue of too deep nested USB hubs, having daisy chained two hubs to attach mouse, keyboard, printer, CD-drive, graphic tablet, …)
edit: I just tried with two Fujitsu 24" 1920:1080 and it stays very unstable. I once got both displays to work, but one lost signal every couple of minutes. After rebooting the laptop I cannot get them to work again using the dock at all, it seems. Gnome Settings under Ubuntu shows me a recognized display (if I attach only one to the dock), but the display itself reports “no signal”. Nevertheless, connecting one of them via the HDMI expansion card, it works without problems for both of them. edit: Back to the two Eizo displays, I cannot get them to work either anymore. And for both, Fujitsu or Eizo, having one display attached to the dock and having the dock attached to the Framework 16 laptop, it seems that the graphical login manager fails to start.
edit: After being reminded to not use the USB4 ports, the dock is much more stable now. Everything seems to work now.
I bought A FW16, and also have a Dell dock for my work laptop. Part Number: MT6V9, with a 180W power supply. So far its charged and outputted video. But I didn’t attempt to game with it though.
I bought a Mokin dock.
MOKiN Multi Display USB Dock - Triple 4K HDMI Monitor, 100W PD, USB 3.1/3.0 & 2.0, RJ45, SD/TF, Audio for Dell/Lenovo
$129.99
It works well, and I am using three older monitors with it. It came with a PS, and that feeds the dock, the dock feeds the monitor signals, sound, USBs and the FW16 through a short 3 ft cable rated for the power required. The cable end for the FW16 is a right angle so it does not stick out.
on sale a while back. I’m using it as a dock by just connecting the peripherals I need, like a spare 2.5Gb Framework NIC module. This method suits me, because I can customize my dock however I like. It does provide enough juice for lower power usage.
Limitations are similar as any other TB4 dock I’ve seen. For gaming, or any other intensive processing I need to plug in the other power adapter. TB4 limits my external monitor to 60Hz. So if I want higher refresh I have to plug in directly.
