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

[Jochheim]

@Broko Fankone
As i stated somewhere before here, it got worse for me too. It seems that sleeping the Mac is no longer the deciding factor. Since it has been this bad I was not using my dock anymore. I am really tempted to update to BS but I am still worried that some crucial things will not work or is bugged.

 

[Broko Fankone]

But this makes no sense unless something changed in the system itself. Why would it "get worse" as if it's some kind of illness? It's software and hardware and the behaviour was very particular in my experience, for months. For the last couple of days this behaviour changed and I didn't update macOS. There has to be some kind of explanation.

I highly advise against updating Big Sur. Some user reported the installer bricked their macbook. All that talk about how reliable macs are and how "they just work" is not something I can confirm at all. It's the exact opposite, I've never had such various problems and crashes with windows computers and laptops over 20 years of usage. I've usually had some kind of hardware failure with them at some point, in some cases, and with software I could always deal in one way or another. But this level of unreliability was honestly unfamiliar to me until I bought this 2020 MBP.

I am 100% convinced that updating to Big Sur *might* solve this TB3 problem for me but it will be a trade-off and I will have a gazillion other problems to deal with. As it is, Apple have left us, 2020 users, with two choices - remain on Catalina with a ridiculously stupid problem that we know of, or update to BigSur and lose who-knows-how many working apps, and face n-amounts of unexpected issues.

Bravo, Apple. Your war against your customers is going great!

BTW, are you by any chance using Karabiner Elements? I'm entertaining the idea that the latest BigSur update they pushed might've worsened the TB3 problem. I just reverted to the previous version and will watch out to see if there's improvement.

 

[dmexs]

Has anybody else noticed that this problem seems to be less evident if you wait a couple seconds after logging in to reconnect your dock? I have a TB3 dock at a home and a monitor with a USB-C dock at work and I find this problem is less if I wait a good 5 seconds after I log back in to reconnect the cable.

 

[bb147]

Can confirm Big Sur has fixed the problem entirely for me. Finally

 

[Broko Fankone]

I can now confirm that rolling back the Karabiner Elements has resolved the worsened behavior of the issue that I was experiencing. Now it's back to what it was - only bugged if the mac sleeps for some time between re-plugging the dock.

This means that potentially some 3rd party apps can make this problem better, or worse for you. I think I can live with this behaviour and remain on Catalina, as long as it doesn't get worse and stays like this.

 

[Nepherte]

Looks to be fixed with Big Sur here as well. Have a Macbook Pro 13” 2020.

Initially had the issue non stop with both Catalina and Big Sur (beta). Not only with replugging in the dock, but more generally, each time the mbp went into some form of sleep mode (even when the dock remained plugged in). Playing around with the power saving settings helped to a certain extend, but didn't fix it completely.

Then handed it back to the Apple Genius Bar, who replaced the logic board and t2 chip. Afterwards, the issue only occurred when replugging in the dock.

Now after upgrading the Big Sur, that seemed to finally do the trick. Knock on wood...

 

[Jochheim]

I can also confirm, that updating to BS got rid of the problem and I can finally use my Thunderbolt Dock again. To my surprise BS has also been really stable for me. So far it seems like BS is even more stable than Catalina ever was for me (although that was not hard to do). I hope it keeps that way.

 

[pqrst]

Chiming in here with my own experience.

Using a Macbook Pro 16" (i7/16GB/512GB) with an Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock.

Two LG 4K (27UL850) monitors plugged in (one via USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 cable, other via DisplayPort to USB-C cable)

Gigabit Ethernet cable plugged in.

2 USB ports with (Logitech Streamcam + Blue Yeti X) via a USB3.0 switch (switch these two between my PC and Macbook), and Schiit Modi DAC plugged in.

I am on Catalina 10.15.7 (can't install BigSur yet since it's a work Macbook and they haven't given the go-ahead yet)

When the USB ports work, they work.

Sometimes, they'll just randomly cut out while I'm working. Both Displays AND ethernet continue to work as normal. I've noticed for some people ethernet cuts out too, but for me, it works fine. I guess the ethernet controller on this dock isn't on the USB bus.

The 3.5mm headphone port also cuts out (shows up as Elgato Dock in the sound menu when working) so I guess that is on the USB bus.

It might have to do something with me switching one monitor to another input (like my PC) so the dock probably has to renegotiate connections and maybe loses out on USB at that point...I dunno. But mostly I'll just be using the laptop and randomly the USB devices will cut out completely.

Then SOMETIMES a reboot will fix things. Other times it won't and I'll have to plug everything out and reboot multiple times to get it to work. It's extremely finicky. I have also seen those kernel panics a few times, but they have not been frequent.

Is this really fixed in Big Sur?

I was convinced that the dock was faulty (especially since it was pre-owned and it was quite a bargain!) and was considering getting a CalDigit TS3+ but now I feel like it won't be necessary at all since it seems to be a macOS problem.

 

[avernet]

Is this really fixed in Big Sur?

I my experience, yes. After upgrading to Big Sur, I didn't have any of those problems after reconnecting the MacBook, like USB devices not being accessible anymore, or the occasional crashes. I hope you'll be able to upgrade to Big Sur soon!

 

[odysseus]

Well, I'm sorry to say that the problem exists with the MacBook Pro M1 and the CalDigit TS3+ dock (Mac OS Big Sur 11.1). I get the occasionally kernel panic, but consistently my external USB SSD drives will be improperly disconnected during sleep, and once this happens, they won't be recognized again. I have to disconnect and reconnect the CalDigit.

Am trying the 'sudo pmset -a darkwakes 0' to see if it helps.

 

[BenBatsir]

Sadly, I can also confirm that after upgrading to BigSur (a few hours ago), I've also experienced random disconnections.

My setup includes Dell WD19TB docking connected to a KVM + 2 monitors + logitech GHub keyboard and mouse.
Those are connected to (apart from the docking of course) a Desktop and MacBook Pro (late 2019).

My experience is a bit strange as when it happens, the network disconnected and somehow it affects my home network as such some of the devices (other computers/streamers etc...) cannot access the network.

I know for a fact it's the Mac because the problem is resolved the moment I disconnect the docking from the Mac.

BTW, none of it happens when I'm using my Mac in my office (same setup but no KVM and the docking is Elgato), so maybe it's somehow HW related, I'm not sure yet.

***********************
UPDATE (24 hours later):
***********************
Seems like it's behaving fine so far (apart from this one glitch I've mentioned above).
Lets hope it'll stay that way.

 

[macccintosh]

After upgrading to Big Sur (11.1), I am no longer experiencing the original issue, which was not seeing USB devices through a CalDigit TS3+ (if they were connected after my 2020 MacBook Pro was in sleep mode) along with kernel panics after the dock was disconnected.

I have not experienced any USB disconnects while in use, however, so it's possible that is a different issue.

 

[jpiscaer]

Big Sure 11.1 doesn't solve these issues for me. I'm connected to a CalDigit USB-C Pro Dock, and it still has random USB lockups / disconnects. Re-plugging the dock (or power cycling it) does solve it for a little while; I don't need to reboot the Mac for USB devices on the dock to work again. I haven't seen MacOS kernel panics in a while, either.

But all-in-all, I'm still having random USB crashes regularly.

 

[__xg__fv__c@]

i own MBP 2020 13" i7 (10th gen) and it doesn't matter wheter i'm on a big sur or catalina
issue persists:

i've found this info: https://knowledgebase.apogeedigital...vices-and-2020-MacBook-Pro-13-and-MacBook-Air

maybe it is somehow connected to the fact that 2020 13" are IceLake CPUs and these are (mainly) affected? idk

 

[Nepherte]

I had my mbp 13" 2020 repaired by Apple (logic board + T2 chip) several months ago. Ever since, I am no longer experiencing any kernel panics when coming out of sleep mode with a dock attached.

 

[IceStormNG]

Sorry to necro this thread, but are you sure this only applies to the 2020 13"? I have the exact same issue you describe here but with a 16" and a HP G2 dock. The USB ports just lock up on the dock having to re-conect the dock (50:50 chance that disconnecting the dock will then cause a kernel panic).

I first thought it was the dock, I got it replaced by HP, but does the same thing. Then I thought it was one of the USB devices, so I disconnected all of them, even stopped using the integrated Ethernet (which internally is also USB). Nothing changed. A USB drive or a SSD connected to the dock might just lock up the USB ports and maybe also crash the mac. The Display Output works though.

 

[melvynadam]

Resurrecting this thread to say that:

• This issue isn't fixed
• It's not limited to a specific dock manufacturer
• Restarting the Mac doesn't always resolve things

I've got a MBP 14" M1 running Monterey 12.3.1 and connected to an OWC TB4 dock. All has been well for a couple of months. Today, my USB keyboard and mouse (two separate devices from different manufacturers and with separate dongles) aren't working.

Things I've tried:

• Restarting the MBP
• Shutting down completely and restarting
• Connecting the dock to three different TB ports - including on both sides of the device
• Moving the dongles to different USB ports on the dock
• Checking for updates to the "OWC dock ejector" tool

Update: cycling the power to the dock and then reseating the USB dongles resolved the issue for me.