usb ports on ultrabase 3 not working after docking.

I have ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS installed on thinkpad x220. I Just purchased an ultrabase 3 docking station, and after I dock the thinkpad, the usb ports on the dock don't work and the little red light on the dock does not light up, however the thinkpad does see that there is AC power and the dvd drive in ultrabay works. I'm not using external monitor so I haven't checked if vga or display port is working. The main thing is that I want the usb ports to work for my keyboard and mouse.

I have found that if I sleep the thinkpad and then resume after docked the red light will illuminate and usually the usb ports will then work. So that is a workaround, but annoying.

Also it works properly if I reboot with the laptop docked.

But once I undock and then re-dock, the usb ports are dead, no light on usb keyboard, nothing.

I also booted from an ubuntu 18.04 live usb and tried docking with same result.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.15.0-65-generic 4.15.0-65.74~16.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-65.74~16.04.1-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-65-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.19
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Sat Oct 19 14:44:37 2019
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
GvfsMonitorLog: Monitoring events. Press Ctrl+C to quit.
HotplugNewDevices:

HotplugNewMounts:

ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: linux-signed-hwe
Symptom: storage
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)