Is it possible to connect an ubuntu laptop to a USB-C docking station over a USB-C to USB-A adapter and get signal in the monitors?
I have a Dell WD15 docking station, and one of my laptops is a bit older so it does not have a USB-c port. When connecting that hp laptop (Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS) I get the usb and audio connections, but there is no signal for the monitors. Is there a way to make this setup work, or is this hopeless?
33 Answers
No. You can't. It's hardware that is missing. USB C on many laptop supports USB C Alt mode which is DP over USB C cable.
The sound is however a normal USB signal, and thus works perfectly fine over USB.
It is hopeless.
Your USB C dock expects a video signal over the USB C cable, but your USB A to C adapter only repeats the USB 2.0 signals. Some also handle USB 3.0 signals.
To make your dock work, you have need an USB A to C adapter which has a graphical card build in to re-create the missing video signals from a standard like displaylink. If these would exist, they would cost about the same as a dock. (The reason USB C docks are cheaper, is because they don't need to convert the video signals
My laptop is a Lenovo, and my docking station is USB 3.0 based system.
I've had success with DisplayLink software and
USB-C 3.1 Male to USB A Female Adapter OTG
which sells for about a dollar on ebay.
On the same docking station, I can remove the Lenovo and park a Mac with no loss of signal again using DisplayLink.
I can't say how that helps you with the Dell configuration. Have you read over the manual for your docking station? There could be some BIOS settings to check.
