Arthur Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 How about for LAN/Sound, we will be using USB, LAN and sound on the USB-C docks too. Audio won't need a driver, but LAN will.
mullet_man Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Thanks Arthur I'll have a look when we get a USB-C dock and laptop to have a test. Have you not deployed out the network driver or is that not your device manager pic?
Arthur Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Have you not deployed out the network driver or is that not your device manager pic? The former. The laptop I took that screenshot from hasn't had the USB-C dock Ethernet driver deployed to it. 1
mullet_man Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Thanks Arthur. How durable are USB-C cables/ports - teacher proof?
Arthur Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 How durable are USB-C cables/ports - teacher proof? Should be, although it depends on how ham fisted your teachers are. I don't have many teachers at my school using USB-C docks or hubs. For those that do, there haven't been any breakages to the USB-C ports or cables so far. We also have a number of Chromebook trolleys for students too. The majority use USB-C for charging and none of those ports have been damaged either. Btw, will you need to PXE boot your laptops via the Ethernet port in the USB-C dock? With Dell PCs you have to enable several options in the BIOS. www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukdhs1/sln301218/how-to-boot-to-an-external-device-using-usb-type-c-connection?lang=en 1
mullet_man Posted February 8, 2019 Posted February 8, 2019 Should be, although it depends on how ham fisted your teachers are. I don't have many teachers at my school using USB-C docks or hubs. For those that do, there haven't been any breakages to the USB-C ports or cables so far. We also have a number of Chromebook trolleys for students too. The majority use USB-C for charging and none of those ports have been damaged either. Btw, will you need to PXE boot your laptops via the Ethernet port in the USB-C dock? With Dell PCs you have to enable several options in the BIOS. www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukdhs1/sln301218/how-to-boot-to-an-external-device-using-usb-type-c-connection?lang=en I wouldn't be surprised if some of them manage to damage the ports, we had to replace a lot of docks due to them somehow destroying the pins on the docks. Had a couple of laptops die due to am guessing shorting due to power pins crossing and being bent. Am still not sure what are plan is it might be HP, Lenovo or Dell but I'll have a look. I hadn't planned PXE booting but it's something to consider so thanks for the heads up!
mullet_man Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Have people had any issues with USB-C docks and projectors? We're doing some testing and finding we are running into issues, all our faceplates have VGA which are current Dell docks are using and work perfectly, these newer USB-C docks seem to not have VGA ports so we've tried displayport to VGA leads and the projector shows a picture but at 640x480 resolution. Not what we need. We have HDMI runs on the faceplates but finding not all of them work, so ideally wanted to stick with VGA as we know it works.
DalekSec Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Have people had any issues with USB-C docks and projectors? We're doing some testing and finding we are running into issues, all our faceplates have VGA which are current Dell docks are using and work perfectly, these newer USB-C docks seem to not have VGA ports so we've tried displayport to VGA leads and the projector shows a picture but at 640x480 resolution. Not what we need. We have HDMI runs on the faceplates but finding not all of them work, so ideally wanted to stick with VGA as we know it works. All our projectors have HDMi and had no problems with USB-C docks. Have you tried something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-DisplayPort-VGA-Adapter-Active-Black/dp/B001RPCZL4 ? Just a reminder that the adaptor has to be the computer side and not on the face plate or the projector to work IIRC. Also what docks are you using?
mullet_man Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 All our classrooms have 2 faceplates one at the teachers desk and a 2nd close to the projector, god knows why it was installed like this but this was how it was done, a new build (7 year old now). I think the company who did it were called CDec. Who I think have since folded. So we have that which might cause an issue, as well as some are long runs - is there a HDMI length limit? Most of our projectors have HDMI, there are a few that don't. These were the docks http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=17032737 The cable we tried was like that but a cheaper one. We need the cables to be from the dock to the faceplate, as we just want one lead to the laptop. Currently we are all Dell laptops and E-Docks which work perfect, but are replacing the laptops.
Norphy Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Have you tried the Dell WD15 or, if you have thunderbolt, the TB16? We have the TB16 with Latitude laptops. Both have vga, admittedly I’ve not run projectors from them but I’ve run monitors via the native VGA port and with a DisplayPort to vga adapter.
mullet_man Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Have you tried the Dell WD15 or, if you have thunderbolt, the TB16? We have the TB16 with Latitude laptops. Both have vga, admittedly I’ve not run projectors from them but I’ve run monitors via the native VGA port and with a DisplayPort to vga adapter. I haven't no but that's on my list to try, will these docks play with non Dell laptops? We are going to move to HPs but they will have USB-C ports.
Norphy Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 As I understand it, they should but HP laptops are fussy about what they charge from so they might not charge from the USB 3 cable. There are some Dell only features built into them as well such as MAC address pass through, where the docking station clones the laptops internal MAC address if it has a built in Ethernet port.
mullet_man Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 As I understand it, they should but HP laptops are fussy about what they charge from so they might not charge from the USB 3 cable. There are some Dell only features built into them as well such as MAC address pass through, where the docking station clones the laptops internal MAC address if it has a built in Ethernet port. Looking at the WD15 it has VGA and is USB-C so in theory might work with our weird setup and HP laptops. I would suspect they would charge via the USB-C port on HP laptops?
Norphy Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Looking at the WD15 it has VGA and is USB-C so in theory might work with our weird setup and HP laptops. I would suspect they would charge via the USB-C port on HP laptops? Possibly but the HP laptops that we have which can charge via USB3 will only charge from HP branded adapters. I think there is a bit of Dell weirdness with the USBC implementation as well, it's possible they will only charge Dell laptops.
mullet_man Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Possibly but the HP laptops that we have which can charge via USB3 will only charge from HP branded adapters. I think there is a bit of Dell weirdness with the USBC implementation as well, it's possible they will only charge Dell laptops. Thanks - we are going HP for laptops that's confirmed but dock in theory can be any make. So might have to get one of those Dell's to test. Thanks for the advice! I'll keep you updated here!
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