I regret getting a Mac

[iHorseHead]

So plugging in your external drives directly into your Mac (not using hubs - I mean directly straight from the drive to your Mac) does not work?

I only have USB hard drives. I need an adapter or a dock or a USB hub to connect to my hard drivers. I just came back from work and connected my MacBook to the dock and everything works now. It happened yesterday too and I was stunned, but when I rebooted my Mac it stopped working.
I'll make a Time Machine copy while I can or maybe if I'm lucky the issue is fixed?

 

[Bandaman]

I connected it now and everything works. It happened yesterday as well, but when I rebooted my Mac it stopped working. I guess I shouldn't shut down my Mac nor reboot it? It's weird.

What you should do is get a different dock. It’s only working sporadically. If something is working as it should, shutting down shouldn’t make it cease to function.

 

[iHorseHead]

What specific drives/keyboards/hubs are you talking about?

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-universal-dock-d6000/apd/452-bcyt/pc-accessories
I use this one, D6000 (Just checked the exact model)
Seagate's external hard drives, Microsoft keyboard, HP displays. When I connected my MacBook to the docking station now it started working and absolutely everything works. Yesterday it worked as well, but when I rebooted my MacBook Air it stopped working. So weird. The USB Hubs are green cell hubs, but someone here mentioned that those might fry your motherboard and now I am afraid to use those on my MacBook and on my PCs, especially since the PCs are not mine but the company's I work for.

 

[iHorseHead]

What you should do is get a different dock. It’s only working sporadically. If something is working as it should, shutting down shouldn’t make it cease to function.

But it always works on my Windows PCs and I think all of the docks have been taken from the office now. Still, the same issue was with my GreenCell USB Hubs, but from what I read yesterday I won't use those anymore.. Just incase. I mean I have enough problems and stress in my life already.

 

[Bandaman]

But it always works on my Windows PCs and I think all of the docks have been taken from the office now. Still, the same issue was with my GreenCell USB Hubs, but from what I read yesterday I won't use those anymore.. Just incase. I mean I have enough problems and stress in my life already.

That’s because it’s supported on Windows. That has literally no correlation to your Mac. So either downgrade to Big Sur while it’s currently working or get a different hub. I personally wouldn’t let a hub keep me from updating my OS, so my suggestion would be a new hub.

 

[iHorseHead]

@iHorseHead Can you provide a list of all devices involved in your configuration:

The USB hub or dock model numbers (with a photo or link to the vendor / manufacturer)

A list of all devices that you are trying to connect to the Mac via the dock/hub.

A description of cables and connection configuration, e.g. "1TB Samsung model xxx HDD connected via micro-USB to USB-A cable (USB 3.1gen1) to USB-A port of dock. Dock connected to USB-C port of MacBook Air."

The more precise the information, the better the answers the forum can provide.

D600, Dell Docking station
Microsoft Wired Keyboard (600)
2x Seagate 2TB harddrives S/N NAA9Y7R
Ethernet cable
2x HP ProDisplay P22va displays - Those always work, and I don't know why there are people who don't believe that you can connect 2 displays to a MacBook Air, because it's possible.

The displays always power on and work as intended. The problem are the USB devices. Now when I plugged my Mac into a docking station it started working and everything works perfectly. I didn't do anything. I didn't delete any drivers, I didn't reinstall anything. It just works

GreenCell USB Hub (A50) didn't work either, but I'm not going to try it now if you don't mind since it's not that important.

 

[Bandaman]

D600, Dell Docking station
Microsoft Wired Keyboard (600)
2x Seagate 2TB harddrives S/N NAA9Y7R
Ethernet cable
2x HP ProDisplay P22va displays - Those always work, and I don't know why there are people who don't believe that you can connect 2 displays to a MacBook Air, because it's possible.

The displays always power on and work as intended. The problem are the USB devices. Now when I plugged my Mac into a docking station it started working and everything works perfectly. I didn't do anything. I didn't delete any drivers, I didn't reinstall anything. It just works

GreenCell USB Hub (A50) didn't work either, but I'm not going to try it now if you don't mind since it's not that important.

You’re not supposed to run two displays, even though you can, as it’s at best fudging and at worst causing issues. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Have you tried just running one display and see if that fixes anything?

 

[dgdosen]

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-universal-dock-d6000/apd/452-bcyt/pc-accessories
I use this one, D6000 (Just checked the exact model)
Seagate's external hard drives, Microsoft keyboard, HP displays. When I connected my MacBook to the docking station now it started working and absolutely everything works. Yesterday it worked as well, but when I rebooted my MacBook Air it stopped working. So weird. The USB Hubs are green cell hubs, but someone here mentioned that those might fry your motherboard and now I am afraid to use those on my MacBook and on my PCs, especially since the PCs are not mine but the company's I work for.

You may regret getting a mac, but you should regret your choice in hubs. Not only do these require additional drivers, they only have drivers and firmware updates for Windows only.

That'd steer me away from buying a device like that in the first place. Does Dell have an answer for you?

 

[iHorseHead]

You’re not supposed to run two displays, even though you can, as it’s at best fudging and at worst causing issues. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Have you tried just running one display and see if that fixes anything?

Yes, I tried yesterday but none of the USB devices worked then. Even my USB lava lamp didn't work, but as soon as I connected it to PC it started working.

A lot of people have two displays with their Macs.
Currently everything works again.

 

[elvisizer]

What's weird is that I connected my MacBook Air to the dock now and everything works. Including the USB + 2 external displays.

it's just going to keep flaking out
DITCH DISPLAYLINK lol
that's the solution. displaylink has NEVER been reliable on macOS. I supported displaylink docks and displays at Genentech for over 40K mac users for years from yosemite through monterey. They work decently on Windows but their drivers are TRASH on macOS.

 

[elvisizer]

A lot of people have two displays with their Macs.

the only way to do this on that model is with displaylink, which as I THINK I've MENTIONED is straight trash on macOS

 

[iHorseHead]

it's just going to keep flaking out
DITCH DISPLAYLINK lol
that's the solution. displaylink has NEVER been reliable on macOS. I supported displaylink docks and displays at Genentech for over 40K mac users for years from yosemite through monterey. They work decently on Windows but their drivers are TRASH on macOS.

Thanks.
But now it works. Should I restart my Mac and see if it still works? Maybe it's fixed?

 

[Bandaman]

Thanks.
But now it works. Should I restart my Mac and see if it still works? Maybe it's fixed?

Why are you asking if you can restart your computer? Just restart your computer.

 

[CPngN]

It's one of the main issue.
I'm using an M1 MBA. I tried it again and keyboard started working (USB one), but the displays didnt. I restarted my Mac and then the displays started working, but the keyboard and USB mouse didn't.
I've tried different docking station. Still facing the same issue.

But have you SHUT DOWN the mac? Fully. No restart, no sleep mode. Full shut down, wait a minute, then power back up. USB issues can be like that. But new Apple releases are like that also. I make it a point to not even consider a macOS release until .3 or later. They release at beta-quality level and then inch toward complete functionality by .5 or .6 of any OS release in the past decade. Depending on what you do or don't do, .1 through .4 may work just fine for you. If you do advanced network or rending things.... wait!
But before you try to downgrade, try a full power off. Let those usb chipsets truly reset.

 

[iHorseHead]

Why are you asking if you can restart your computer? Just restart your computer.

Because yesterday when I restarted my computer the USB ports stopped working.
I restarted my Mac again, connected to the Docking station and it still works. Everything still works.

 

[iHorseHead]

Thank you! Your advice is amazing. I actually just restarted my Mac, because yesterday my Docking station didn't work after a restart and I don't believe it... Everything still works.

 

[ImJustSayin]

It's one of the main issue.
I'm using an M1 MBA. I tried it again and keyboard started working (USB one), but the displays didnt. I restarted my Mac and then the displays started working, but the keyboard and USB mouse didn't.
I've tried different docking station. Still facing the same issue.

M1 MBA only supports 1 external display officially. Could be user error.

 

[Bandaman]

Thank you! Your advice is amazing. I actually just restarted my Mac, because yesterday my Docking station didn't work after a restart and I don't believe it... Everything still works.

There's no guarantee it will keep working. I had a finicky dock that would work fine and then not work at all sporadically as you are experiencing here. And at first I was worried something was wrong with the thunderbolt ports, but it turned out to be the dock. It's seriously concerning that it requires drivers to function. That's not typical for docking stations. Like at all. They should be plug and play. They shouldn't need anything else. I'm glad it's working again, but you should definitely consider, at the very least, getting a USB-C flash drive in the event that you need to downgrade your Mac or some similar situation.

 

[CPngN]

There's no guarantee it will keep working. I had a finicky dock that would work fine and then not work at all sporadically as you are experiencing here. And at first I was worried something was wrong with the thunderbolt ports, but it turned out to be the dock. It's seriously concerning that it requires drivers to function. That's not typical for docking stations. Like at all. They should be plug and play. They shouldn't need anything else. I'm glad it's working again, but you should definitely consider, at the very least, getting a USB-C flash drive in the event that you need to downgrade your Mac or some similar situation.

If you plug and unplug a device on a usb port too quickly, macOS sees this and shuts down the port. It's supposed to pop up something to let you know. I don't think you can re-enable the port in any way aside a reboot. But I suggest the full shut down and power up it you want to help ensure they work right. And watch out for things like phone docks where the phone may not stay seated well, and other loose connections. If that happens on a DOCK and macOS sees it, it may shut down your ENTIRE DOCK because it's all connected to the one usb port which macos has control over. So watch out for "flickering connections"!!

 

[fa8362]

Hey!
The last year I got myself a MacBook Air M1 and I was really impressed with it. After upgrading to macOS 12 I started facing so many issues that I'm almost going insane here.
I am so tired of nothing working. I connect my docking station to my MacBook (even downloaded the drivers) and everything appeared to work.
After the reboot all of my USB devices stopped working. Everything works just fine on my Windows PCs.

Also, everything worked perfectly in Big Sur. I even downloaded DisplayLink manager for macOS 12 specifically.

I am really disappointed in Apple, really. I have never faced such issues before. Even with Lion that people just hated and called it buggy I never had SUCH issues.

Don't upgrade until 12.5. Problem solved.

 

[Isamilis]

Agreed. You need to take variables out of the equation. DONT USE ANY DOCK OR HUB!!! Can you use ANYTHING with the built in ports?

OP, could you try this? Try any usb-c cable attached to the mac directly, WITHOUT hub. To connect external disk, you can buy cable which directly connect to usb C (not usb A). I also had experienced problematic usb hub in the past which I trashed it out in end.

 

[ImJustSayin]

However, I am not running more displays than what is supported from Apple directly. And I have the displays connected to the system directly instead of through the dock when possible, but I have use the dock as well.

You keep saying “displays” only a single “display” is supported.

 

[iHorseHead]

OP, could you try this? Try any usb-c cable attached to the mac directly, WITHOUT hub. To connect external disk, you can buy cable which directly connect to usb C (not usb A). I also had experienced problematic usb hub in the past which I trashed it out in end.

Does MacBook's charger count? I don't have anything else besides a dock and USB Hubs.

 

[iHorseHead]

You keep saying “displays” only a single “display” is supported.

I have 2 external displays connected right now.
Here are three displays connected to MBA M1

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[ahurst]

I gotta say, I came in here expecting a classic MacRumors flamewar-bait thread but I honestly gotta hand it to the OP: asking for help with an informative technical title, getting no help, and then posting again about the same problem with an inflammatory thread title to get solutions is high-level forum posting. Hats off, hope you get it sorted.

Definitely agreed with everyone suggesting a downgrade to Big Sur if you know how to do it. That'll get you back to a known-working setup until Monterey and/or the dock manufacturer get their act together.