2020 Razer Blade Advanced USB-C PD Charging Issues | Razer Insider
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Hi! Does anyone else have an issue where the 2020 Razer Blade Advanced won't pull over 3A @ 20V (60W) from USB-C (or Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C) when connected to a docking station? I've updated to the latest 1.06 BIOS, latest EC firmware, and reinstalled windows 20H2 with updated thunderbolt drivers and everything. The laptop simply will not pull over 3A over Type-C when connected to a dock. I've tried many docks too, including a Dell WD19TB with 180W PSU (90w advertised power delivery for non-Dell systems), Lenovo Hybrid USB-C Dock (90w advertised PD), and recently a Pluggable TBT3-UDZ, which has a 96W advertised power delivery capability. When any of these docks are plugged into my friend's MacBook Pro, the system reports the correct power delivery capability of the docks. However, my Blade simply won't pull more than 60w, no matter what I try. The only way I've seen to get the Blade to pull anywhere near 5A @ 20V (the limit of the official USB-C Spec) is to use a 100W PD charger and a 5A E-Marked C-C cable.



At first, I thought maybe the E-Markings of the USB-C cables was the issue. So, I tried swapping cables around the docks and the charger brick. Turns out, that wasn't the issue. My findings are in the chart below:









Then, I thought the issue was maybe only with Thunderbolt docks, so I borrowed my brother's Lenovo Hybrid USB-C dock, which is purely a USB Hub (with a DisplayLink chip to drive it's display outputs).... and it was still limited to 60W.







I'm out of ideas. At this point, I think Razer's implementation of USB-PD is just broken. My hypothesis is that the laptop only has one USB-PD profile for >3A, and that profile is explicitly 5A @ 20V. My guess is that the Blade doesn't have other fallback profiles, such as 4.5A (90W), 4.25A(85W), or any other common fallback PD profiles, so it just falls all the way back to the standard 3A profile. This is bad, because dock manufacturers aren't (AFAIK) allowed to advertise 100W USB-PD from their docks. Especially with Thunderbolt docks, where I think the Thunderbolt spec only allows an advertised power delivery capability of 96W or 97W (which is why Pluggable's dock advertises 96W, not 100W). I submitted a support ticket LAST YEAR, and nothing has come of it. They basically told me that I should use a first-party USB-C charger, which kinda defeats the purpose of USB-C, since it's supposed to enable compatibility with a wide range of accessories. This issue applies to my friend's 2020 Blade Stealth as well. He could get 100W from his USB-PD charger brick, but no more than 60W from any kind of dock.



I'm going to buy the new Razer Thunderbolt 4 Chroma dock (90W advertised PD), and see if Razer's own dock can charge their own laptops at the advertised wattage, though I'm kinda expecting it to get stuck at 60W too.



Has anyone else gotten their USB-PD capable Blade laptop to accept over 60W from a USB-C docking station?



BTW, I'm also having the same issue this guy (Here: /blade-15-2020-adv-usb-c-charging-problem.60679/) was having. AND, in his videos, you can see that when he does manage to get his laptop to charge, it charges around 3A @ 20V, which is 60W.



Razer, pls fix.







7/14/21 UPDATE: I bought Razer's In-House Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma. It doesn't charge my 2020 Blade 15 Advanced at 90W. It's stuck at 60W, just like the other docks. Razer didn't come up with a proprietary charging protocol addon to USB-PD, they just screwed up their implementation up so badly that their first-party accessories don't even work. :slightly_sad:



10/18/2021 Update: I had contacted Razer support months ago, and they said that they had identified the issue, and that I should wait for a response. It's been a few months, and nothing has come of it. L
I bought Razer's own Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma for testing. Guess what? It doesn't charge my Blade 15 at 90w. It's also stuck at 60w. Razer screwed up their implementation of USB-PD so badly that their own dock doesn't work properly with their own laptop. wtf
This thread still alive?

I just got my Razer USB-C 100W GaN charger and I too see the 60W limit charging my RB14. Odd behaviour us that I get more like 80W if I boot with it connected, but revert to 60W if I unplug and plug it back in.
Yeah thread is still technically alive. Razer support said they identified the issue and are working on a fix. If it will ever come... idk.
keep us posted, please.

I really don't need the TB4/chroma dock (yet!) so I would be interested in what works in terms of Thunderbolt and PD



What I need is a docking station that

- powers the 15" blade (2020, base model, GTX1660) laptop

- can provide pixels to at least one 4K@60Hz screen

- does proper networking and can connect 3 or 4 USB devices.(charge&sync my phone, headphones etc..)



my plan is to start with the "amazon basics" 11-in-1 thunderbolt 3 dock - it claims to deliver 60W to the laptop - cost is ~EUR 100,- so that would be a steal if it works.



If not, then I will work my way up to Anker "powerexpand elite" thunderbolt dock (it claims to do 85W PD via TB3) - pricetag is ~EUR 300,-

Alternatievely there is the Anker Apex TB4 dock, it claims to deliver 90W PD to the laptop. Same price tag.



There is an i-Tec TB dock that claims 3x4K screens and 96W PD - but I don't know the brand, that would be ~EUR 250,-



If all else fails there is the Razer chroma dock.. but if it is really stuck at 60W as @wirelessnet2 reports, then it's not worth the ~EUR330,- price tag IMO



sadly there seems to be nothing in between 100 and 300 euros.. except aliexpress stuff which is notoriously bad at receiving aftercare / driver / firmware updates.
As of right now, no Thunderbolt certified docks will charge the laptop at any rate over 60W. If someone somehow manages to sneak a true 100W power delivery dock past Intel certification, I'd assume it would work. I have contacted Razer support, and they said they have identified the issue, and they are apparently working on a fix, though I have no clue how long that would take.



If you want to try some docks, I'd maybe try to find a USB-C/Displayport Alt Mode (NOT THUNDERBOLT) dock that advertises true 100W USB-PD. I haven't tried one of those yet, but I think it should actually deliver the full 100W.
I'm really glad I found this thread. I've been trying to work out for ages why my 90W Dell TB dock and my 90W Dell USB-C charger wasn't getting close to running the system at idle, let alone doing anything intensive.



I was dismayed by the fact there was nothing built into the internal software, power profile-wise that realises the system is on USB-C power and adjusts performance in-line with the power delivery. It's either battery or mains, which is completely pointless if the "mains" the system is scaling for is 230W and it's actualy getting 60W.



I can see the battery just start draining by the percentage in real time when this occurs until the laptop just runs out of power and turns off.



Dell do have a 130W USB-C charger out at this point which I'm sure supports 20V @ 5A (£68 - Amazon) so I think I'll invest in that and see if it makes any difference. Perhaps the system will have a better change of lasting a tad longer @ 100W then 60W - but in general, I agree that Razer seem to have made the biggest possible screw up in regard to implementing USB PD, from both a hardware and a bios/software perspective.



The only thing it is useful for is charging the laptop when completely turned off which pretty much defeats the entire point of it, made even more hilarious when the same thing appears to happen when docked to their own products.
Just checking is this still being worked on? I also have a Blade Advanced 2020 and USB-C charging was always funky. I got a 100W GaN charger and an e-marked cable but charging only works *sometimes*. When booted up plugging into the left (non-TB) port will sometimes randomly work, literally no idea why it's not consistent. Plugging in first and then booting up works almost always. The right (TB3) port never worked (for charging).



For me it either works or it doesn't and I never established the charging speed because I don't have a way to measure it.



I also saw your reply on notebookreview forums asking for pics of USB-PD ICs to try to get around Razer's propriotary bs. First I gotta say that's unfathomably based and awesome and thanks for bringing that up.



Either way, I'm just asking if there's any news and I'm considering getting a USB-PD protocol analyzer and CH341a programmer and do some testing myself. It will take a while for those things to ship though.
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