MBP 13 2020 won't recognize USB devices from CalDigitTS3+ dock after sleeping and connecting to the dock, and after unplugging the dock it crashes

[startup chime]

I have installed latest update - which specifically mentions it addresses some WiFi issues and some iCloud drive issues. As i am not home for another 10 days, I can't test if Apple has through fantastic grace and client's focus or through asking few developers to use Thunderbolt docks/monitors addressed the issue.

Version is: 10.15.6 (19G2531)



View attachment 951977


Hopefully one of you tries it and let us know if after only a month or two Apple fixed the issue

thank you !!!

I updated to 19G2531 this evening and have had the same issues we’re all seeing. Kernel panics are still happening when unplugging the dock. Doesn’t appear like theres any fixes in this build which is really disappointing.

 

[tonypg]

Apple just released 10.15.7! Can we test if this version has solved the issue?

 

[startup chime]

Apple just released 10.15.7! Can we test if this version has solved the issue?

Unfortunately it didn't fix the issue for me.

 

[startup chime]

I've been dealing with apple support on this issue since I started using a thunderbolt dock shortly after 10.15.6 was released. The dock, CalDigit TS3+, works fine with my older MBP as does the CalDigit Connect10G that's connected to the TS3+. On the 2020 13" (10th gen) I have the same issues as everyone here plus one additional issue. If I boot up with the dock connected MacOS won't load the drivers for the Connect10g (the drivers are provided by apple and built in to MacOS).

Apple support has been really disappointing to say the least. I've supplied them with system data (using their collection tools) when the system is and is not in the broken thunderbolt state. It's pretty clear when the system is broken because the thunderbolt bus that the dock was connected to is missing half of the data that's normally there. I've also done a fresh install of MacOS 10.15.6 without any of my data (skipped all the Apple ID login prompts) and can easily reproduce the issue and sent them more logs.

After a few weeks of radio silence from apple support I finally heard back that they "didn't see anything wrong with my system". They also said they've had no other reports of this, which I find ridiculous because of all the replies here and on the apple support communities. I reiterated again that my older mac on the same version of MacOS does not have the problem. So now I'm waiting for them to look into the issue again. Then 10.15.7 gets released and theres no fixes at all for this and from the looks of it big sur is still has the problem (but I have yet to try).

I decided to do some investigation of my own, quite frankly the stuff apple should already know and have investigated. I wanted to start by finding some differences between the 10th gen hardware and previous generations. The 10th gen SoC is the first that integrates the thunderbolt controller on the chip. It would surprise me if apple decided to also add titan ridge chips (like previous generations have had), but I can't find a teardown to confirm. AFAIK MacOS takes a different approach to thunderbolt setup than other operating systems. I've also noticed some interesting things in the OS logs when I do experience the issue. These are things I'd hope apple support would have looked into but it seems like they perfer to blame our thunderbolt devices.

 

[iJon]

This has been happening to my friend and I with our Thunderbolt Displays, and we both have 2020 13" machines. Started with 10.15.6, good to know we're not alone in this, been very annoying but this is first I've seen others talk about it. I too have seen the USB ports on the Thunderbolt Display not work until I restart.

 

[nameste]

I am thinking of buying the caldigit ts3+ dock .Any 16” 5600m user having the same issue ?

 

[bb147]

After a few weeks of radio silence from apple support I finally heard back that they "didn't see anything wrong with my system". They also said they've had no other reports of this, which I find ridiculous because of all the replies here and on the apple support communities. I reiterated again that my older mac on the same version of MacOS does not have the problem. So now I'm waiting for them to look into the issue again. Then 10.15.7 gets released and theres no fixes at all for this and from the looks of it big sur is still has the problem (but I have yet to try).

If there's a way to add my info to the case let me know. I am very frustrated with this as I experience this every single day. Apple Support is very useless sometimes. This problem did NOT exist in 10.15.5, I had zero issues until they fixed the usb issue in 10.15.6 so that is obviously connected to all this.

 

[smenzer]

Same thing happening to me...exactly what everyone here is describing. Very frustrating!

 

[startup chime]

If there's a way to add my info to the case let me know. I am very frustrated with this as I experience this every single day. Apple Support is very useless sometimes. This problem did NOT exist in 10.15.5, I had zero issues until they fixed the usb issue in 10.15.6 so that is obviously connected to all this.

Waiting to hear back from the last batch of data I’ve sent them from my system. Hopefully I hear something soon.

 

[Jochheim]

Wanted to update, since the last macOS update has made things even worse for me. Since this error (with the thunderbolt connection) deleted some serious work of mine I have not used my thunderbolt dock. I just use my USB C 4K Monitor and a USB-C Hub. But as soon as I updated to the newest update, the MBP has gone from unreliable to almost unusable. It does not matter what is connected, sometimes even when I just restart the machine (without anything connected) the Macbook gets a kernel panic (at least the log file suggests this) and the MBP restarts with 99°C and goes bonkers with the fans. This exact behavior has also occurred when I reconnected the thunderbolt port so I assume that this machine has some serious flaw (?!). The MBP also does at least once every day not recognize the USB-C Monitor. It gets power and also reads the connected USB drive but I can't get the display to work. The only solution to this is to disconnect the display, power it off completely, restart the MBP and hope that it now gets recognized. I have to say that this has been the worst experience I have ever had with a machine and it really bugs me, that I have payed over 2000 € for this laughable toy. Maybe I have just had bad luck and this machine is broken (was already replaced 2 times because apple could not deliver an undamaged MBP) but I can't get my head over the fact, that this is the best apple could deliver in 2020?
Sorry for the rant, I know that this does not get this problem any further, but maybe someone other has experienced those problems as well? As soon as I have some time I will nag the apple support every day with this problem.

summary: Problem has not been fixed for me and it got even worse with the new update. Really angry customer

 

[Doc C]

Not sure if this is related or even adds something -

I plugged one of the older DVD Superdrive (regular USB...I'm never sure what to call it...) into my 2020 16" MBP and my kids' 2019 15" MBP (via the Caldigit TB3+, via Satechi dual-thunderbolt minidock, via Satechi single-thunderbolt minidock, and also using a couple of other dongles that I had around). In all cases, it said that the USB device required power to function. I then plugged the drive into an old Mac Air we had lying around and it worked perfectly.

Is it possible that the apple Thunderbolt ports don't adhere to the standards at some level (whether data or power), and this is what is messing things up?

In general, I haven't had too many problems with my Caldigit TB3+, though I use it mainly for video output, and rarely for USB devices, etc (other than above).

 

[robotica]

hmmm thats concerning, I would have thought the TS3+ would be able to provide full usb power to each of the ports. It is essentially a powered hub.

 

[startup chime]

Not sure if this is related or even adds something -

I plugged one of the older DVD Superdrive (regular USB...I'm never sure what to call it...) into my 2020 16" MBP and my kids' 2019 15" MBP (via the Caldigit TB3+, via Satechi dual-thunderbolt minidock, via Satechi single-thunderbolt minidock, and also using a couple of other dongles that I had around). In all cases, it said that the USB device required power to function. I then plugged the drive into an old Mac Air we had lying around and it worked perfectly.

Is it possible that the apple Thunderbolt ports don't adhere to the standards at some level (whether data or power), and this is what is messing things up?

In general, I haven't had too many problems with my Caldigit TB3+, though I use it mainly for video output, and rarely for USB devices, etc (other than above).

CalDigit has some Mac drivers on their support site that look to add support for connecting the superdrive to the dock. Have you tried with those installed?

 

[Jochheim]

Not sure if this is related or even adds something -

I plugged one of the older DVD Superdrive (regular USB...I'm never sure what to call it...) into my 2020 16" MBP and my kids' 2019 15" MBP (via the Caldigit TB3+, via Satechi dual-thunderbolt minidock, via Satechi single-thunderbolt minidock, and also using a couple of other dongles that I had around). In all cases, it said that the USB device required power to function. I then plugged the drive into an old Mac Air we had lying around and it worked perfectly.

Is it possible that the apple Thunderbolt ports don't adhere to the standards at some level (whether data or power), and this is what is messing things up?

In general, I haven't had too many problems with my Caldigit TB3+, though I use it mainly for video output, and rarely for USB devices, etc (other than above).

Not 100% sure but wasn’t it the case that those SuperDrives needed a usb 2 connection also with a usb 2 cable to get enough power? Maybe I am confusing something but I think I read that somewhere.

 

[Doc C]

CalDigit has some Mac drivers on their support site that look to add support for connecting the superdrive to the dock. Have you tried with those installed?

I was sure that I already had them installed, but I went to the website and downloaded/(re)installed them - no difference.

 

[Doc C]

Not 100% sure but wasn’t it the case that those SuperDrives needed a usb 2 connection also with a usb 2 cable to get enough power? Maybe I am confusing something but I think I read that somewhere.

Not sure what you mean - it did work on the Mac Air, so I figure it must work with the 500mA that a single USB2 port is supposed to provide. This being the case, shouldn't USB-C / Thunderbolt provide more than enough power?

If it was only one of the dongles I tried that didn't work, then I would suspect the dongle, but all of them failed, so I figure that it must be something more proximal (since the drive works fine on the Air, and all the dongles have the exact same issue)

I didn't mean to hijack the conversation or anything, I just wondered whether the information would help point to a cause for the OP's issue.

 

[startup chime]

I've been dealing with apple support on this issue since I started using a thunderbolt dock shortly after 10.15.6 was released. The dock, CalDigit TS3+, works fine with my older MBP as does the CalDigit Connect10G that's connected to the TS3+. On the 2020 13" (10th gen) I have the same issues as everyone here plus one additional issue. If I boot up with the dock connected MacOS won't load the drivers for the Connect10g (the drivers are provided by apple and built in to MacOS).

Apple support has been really disappointing to say the least. I've supplied them with system data (using their collection tools) when the system is and is not in the broken thunderbolt state. It's pretty clear when the system is broken because the thunderbolt bus that the dock was connected to is missing half of the data that's normally there. I've also done a fresh install of MacOS 10.15.6 without any of my data (skipped all the Apple ID login prompts) and can easily reproduce the issue and sent them more logs.

After a few weeks of radio silence from apple support I finally heard back that they "didn't see anything wrong with my system". They also said they've had no other reports of this, which I find ridiculous because of all the replies here and on the apple support communities. I reiterated again that my older mac on the same version of MacOS does not have the problem. So now I'm waiting for them to look into the issue again. Then 10.15.7 gets released and theres no fixes at all for this and from the looks of it big sur is still has the problem (but I have yet to try).

I decided to do some investigation of my own, quite frankly the stuff apple should already know and have investigated. I wanted to start by finding some differences between the 10th gen hardware and previous generations. The 10th gen SoC is the first that integrates the thunderbolt controller on the chip. It would surprise me if apple decided to also add titan ridge chips (like previous generations have had), but I can't find a teardown to confirm. AFAIK MacOS takes a different approach to thunderbolt setup than other operating systems. I've also noticed some interesting things in the OS logs when I do experience the issue. These are things I'd hope apple support would have looked into but it seems like they perfer to blame our thunderbolt devices.

Yesterday I set up bootcamp and wanted to see what happened if I followed the same steps I did in MacOS 10.15.7. At least booting into bootcamp with the dock and Connect10g connected the Connect10g works without needing to unplug and plug it back in, unlike MacOS. Following my same steps the thunderbolt bus did stop working but the OS doesn’t crash So at least I have time to save things or just switch over to using the ports on the opposite side of the computer. I didn’t spend a lot of time testing in boot camp though.

Still waiting to hear back from apple support.

 

[brosenz]

I have the exact same problem when plugging to the 2020 MBP 13 the LG Ultrafine 27" or 24", initially I thought the issue was with the 27" due to the double TB3 link to achieve 5K, but with the 24" in 4K happens even more, I have no external dock, this is consistently crashing, terrible experience. Has anybody seen the result using the latest Big Sur Beta?

 

[brosenz]

I have a 2018 MBP 13" that doesn't have this problem at all, it is super reliable in connecting/disconnecting the TB3 with the LG Monitors and external Docks, this issue seems related ONLY to the latest version (2020) of the MBP 13

 

[brosenz]

Follow these steps and the MBP will ALWAYS crash:

• Reboot
• Connect the LG Ultrafine Monitor 27" or 24" via the Thunderbolt 3 Apple cable
• Wake External USB Mouse works fine
• Select Sleep at the menu bar, then disconnect the Monitor
• Connect the LG Ultrafine Monitor 27" or 24"via the Thunderbolt 3 Apple cable
• Wake from sleep, the external USB Mouse stopped working
• Select Sleep at the menu bar, then disconnect the Monitor
• Wait a few seconds and the MBP will crash

 

[brosenz]

I just did a fresh installation of 10.15.5 and 10.15.7, I was able to plug and unplug the Thunderbolt 3 monitor from 10.15.7 3 times, then it crashed with Kernel Panic. Then I did the same test with 10.15.5 24 times with no crash, I just simple stopped there. This confirms that it is a SW issues, not HW. Now I am going to test 10.15.6.

 

[asv56kx3088]

Little update for you all:
I have sent my MacBook to the Genius Bar last week for a repair regarding the issue (as I’ve had enough of it), they proposed a logic board swap, IO port swap, speaker swap (what?), and a Touch ID swap. It’s been a week since I’ve got my Mac back, and I’ve yet to experience any crashes. I’ll provide updates if it crashes again. Fingers crossed.

the symptoms I’ve experienced include:
- kernel panic on shutdown
- USB ports not recognizing devices including monitors and external ssd, had to reboot to get those working. Power works fine though.
- if monitors were recognized, disconnecting it would immediately panic the computer
- MacBook would not wake unless power button is pressed

My device is a 2020 i5 Air, these issues were experienced on 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 (check my older replies on this thread), but not after the repair.

 

[brosenz]

I can confirm that 10.15.6 will crash the MacBook Pro as well, same as 10.15.7, I've have continued doing testing with 10.15.5 and no crash at all, that means something software related was introduced in 10.15.6 that is triggering this problem.

 

[brosenz]

Little update for you all:
I have sent my MacBook to the Genius Bar last week for a repair regarding the issue (as I’ve had enough of it), they proposed a logic board swap, IO port swap, speaker swap (what?), and a Touch ID swap. It’s been a week since I’ve got my Mac back, and I’ve yet to experience any crashes. I’ll provide updates if it crashes again. Fingers crossed.

the symptoms I’ve experienced include:
- kernel panic on shutdown
- USB ports not recognizing devices including monitors and external ssd, had to reboot to get those working. Power works fine though.
- if monitors were recognized, disconnecting it would immediately panic the computer
- MacBook would not wake unless power button is pressed

My device is a 2020 i5 Air, these issues were experienced on 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 (check my older replies on this thread), but not after the repair.

Maybe in your case there were hardware issues, in my case, they are 100% software, I've been running on 10.15.5 with all the same apps I had before (I downgraded from 10.15.7 to 10.15.5 using macOS Install 10.15.5) and so far not a single issue.

 

[bb147]

I can confirm that 10.15.6 will crash the MacBook Pro as well, same as 10.15.7, I've have continued doing testing with 10.15.5 and no crash at all, that means something software related was introduced in 10.15.6 that is triggering this problem.

Exactly like you. Zero issues with 10.15.5 but issues every day with 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 all related to thunderbolt dock. So freakin annoying.