Dell D6000 dock resetting on Ubuntu 16.04

[edclement]

After a few days of struggling, I managed to find a solution on Ubuntu 17.10. Hope this works for everyone having problems with the D6000 dock. Below format is markdown (to lazy to convert it)

## Instructions for fixing the blanking monitor on dock issue within Ubuntu.
**Make sure to reboot after making the changes!**

#### Disable USB AutoSuspend
* `sudo gedit /etc/default/tlp` and change the below value from `1` to `0`

```
USB_AUTOSUSPEND=0
```

* `sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/01-usb-dock.rules`. This will create a new file.

```
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1bcf", ATTR{idProduct}=="2b95", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1bcf", ATTR{idProduct}=="0005", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1d6b", ATTR{idProduct}=="0002", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1d6b", ATTR{idProduct}=="0003", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04d9", ATTR{idProduct}=="0143", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04f3", ATTR{idProduct}=="24a1", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="05e3", ATTR{idProduct}=="0608", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="05e3", ATTR{idProduct}=="0610", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="05e3", ATTR{idProduct}=="0620", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="06c4", ATTR{idProduct}=="c411", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="17e9", ATTR{idProduct}=="6006", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="on"
```

#### Disable Display Power Management
* `sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf` Append the below options to the file.

```
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DVI-I-3-2"
Option "DPMS" "false"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DVI-I-2-1"
Option "DPMS" "false"
EndSection
```

#### Disable audio suspend
* `sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa`. Comment out the line indicated below.

```
### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
# load-module module-suspend-on-idle
```

#### Disale USB wake in BIOS
Boot into the BIOS by pressing the F12 key as the machine turns on. Under `Power Management` >> `USB Wake Support` uncheck both boxes.

[aplund]

I have only just recently come across this hardware.

I too have been experiencing the resetting. At first I thought it was my specific unit as the USB-C power appears to be cut as well and the LED goes from white to red which might indicate that there is some physical link problem. But after reading this forum, I'm starting to doubt that.

The "working solution" posted seem to change vastly too many things to narrow down the problem. It cannot possibly be that _all_ of them are required to fix things.

I'm on ArchLinux so the Ubuntu based instructions need to be converted to my settings. I've tried fiddling with each of these things and none of them individually seem to help.

Can you try removing one fix at a time and see when the issue of disconnections reappears?

[edclement]

Trust me, I tried each of these individually and as soon as I reverted any one of them the problem started again. It seems to me that any power management that Linux attempts to apply to this unit causes either the unit itself or three connection to cycle.

[aplund]

I cannot see how bios support for wake on USB could cause these disconnections. That just seems totally orthogonal to the working theory here.

I think concentrating on the power management is a reasonable theory.

If the power management is the issue, then the dropouts should occur with no devices connected. Can anyone confirm that it still happens with no monitor, or other devices attached (you can't do much about the audio drivers).

I need to sort this out, but I only have access to the hardware during the week.

[aplund]

I have confirmed that this is the bit that makes things work:

#### Disable audio suspend
* `sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa`. Comment out the line indicated below.

```
### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
# load-module module-suspend-on-idle
```

Interestingly it is only _one_ device that detaches from the bus (the 17e9:6006 device) which can be confirmed by watching "udevadm monitor".

I couldn't figure out why it was disconnecting. I tried all sorts of other approaches using the power/control interface as suggested, but nothing worked.
I think the runtime PM of the audio output was a crucial part. I have a feeling that the CDC ethernet device might have something to do with it as well in as much as determining exactly _when_ a disconnect will occur.

The way this probably should be dealt with is via the DisplayLinkManager process as there is no kernel module for the display link device. The way this is done seems to just access USB data via the usbdevfs interface. I'm not sure if there is a way to stop the runtime PM stuff through that interface, but the DisplayLinkManager binary blob people should work on getting this fixed as nobody else can work on it (by design). Having audio output constantly on is a _hack_ and shouldn't be the way to rely on keeping the USB link up. Perhaps there is a less power intensive hack to achieve the same result.

[andreiiar]

Originally Posted by edclement

#### Disable audio suspend
* `sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa`. Comment out the line indicated below.

```
### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
# load-module module-suspend-on-idle
```

Indeed this workaround works solely.

Not sure if this is DL bug or PA bug and where to submit it.

[aplund]

Originally Posted by andreiiar

Not sure if this is DL bug or PA bug and where to submit it.

Definitely a displaylink bug. Runtime power management should suspend things when they aren't in use, which includes the entire tree of USB devices, so the kernel is working exactly as intended. The way the displaylink part uses a userspace driver works is a bit odd and issues like this are more likely to occur. Forcing the audio driver to never suspend is just a workaround (and a waste of power).

[scottgeiger]

I am running Linux Mint 18.3 (Ubuntu 16.04). I was also having the same problem with the D6000 "crashing" periodically. I can confirm that the modification to the pulse default settings fixed this issue for me. Thanks for finding that and sharing it.

[kthhrv]

I'm using a Dell XPS 13 9370 with a D6000 dock on Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS and was suffering from the dock resetting every few hours. turning off the wifi seams to have stopped this happening.

this is the thread that lead me to try that
https://plugable.com/2016/06/30/inve...ision-laptops/

good luck!