Macbook Pro 16inch & CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock cSleep Crash

I just get the dock from apple store and arrived 2 days ago. I have been experiencing the same problem , I contacted CALDIGIT and they are aware of the problem but no solution so far, they recommend resting NVRAM and SMC . I did both and still the same. Then I contacted Apple technical support, to my surprise, their were not helpful at all claiming that they are not responsible of 3rd party devices sold in apple store !! they recommended reinstalling the macOS 10.15.4 , and I did ..still the same problem. I started isolating the problem by disconnecting devices, starting by my LaCie 8TB USB3 backup time machine, I thought it worked and that was the case for almost a day and then it crashed in the middle of the day. I tried every possible Energey saving setting , from don't put hard desk to sleep to unchecked automatic graphic .. nothing worked. I am already request a return and send back tomorrow for refund. As you mentioned good reviews that made to buy this dock ...was hoping it would work..but it is not. Let me know if you solved the problem.

From the Apple Store web site, emboldening is mine:

Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple’s Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMX12ZM/A/caldigit-ts3-plus-dock

That having been said, kernel panics should never occur, so Apple should address that issue in macOS X.

Can you post the text of one of the panic logs?

This exactly what I did " resting NVRAM and SMC" ... and It worked for few hours and then crashed again. I decided today morning to send it back and I did. Hopefully it would work for you. let me know.

No kernel panics since upgrading the Belkin dock to the TS3+ on firmware 44.1 here.

I came to the conclusion that the Belkin dock just wasn't compatible with the new 2020 13" MBPs (and the Belkin website pretty much confirms this). The TS3+ is much better, but runs warm. I have an ethernet cable connected into the TS3+ which seems to raise the operating temperature.

FWIW, I'm using my MacBook Pro with an Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display connected via the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter plugged into the Thunderbolt 3 port on the back of the TS3+. All good so far and am enjoying the additional connectivity the TS3+ offers (especially the digital out).

I don't know too much about DisplayPort but I do know there are different versions of DisplayPort and the TS3+ supports version 1.2.

Similar problem here but mine is kinda different: when I disconnect TS3+ and reconnect, its USB bus will not reconnect. It happens about 60% of the time and if I disconnect it again when USB bus is not properly connected, I'll have Kernel Panic.

So far I can confirm that it's

1. not related to Sleep issue. It happens only after few minutes that I moved laptop to colleagues' desk and move back.
2. not related to DisplayPort. It happens when I disconnect the DisplayPort cable and use a USB-C to VGA to external monitor directly plugged into the body.
3. not related to background 3rd party apps. It happens before log in to any user account.

And now I'm testing the Ethernet interface, as I've read somewhere in AskDifferent that the I/O interface chip set could be the source of problem.

Basically I'd highly suspect the compatibility of TS3+, as the DisplayPort just failed to work at all before firmware 44.1, and the Thunderbolt uplink still refuse to work properly with type-C to DVI-D convertor. The developer team of CalDigit had confirmed this and they refuse to work on it because DVI-D is rarely seen these days. And gods know how many unfixed bugs hidden inside this firmware 44.1.

tigerspew wrote:

I have just purchased a Macbook pro 16inch and Caldigit TS3 dock.

If I unplug the dock before the computer is put to sleep, no problem.

Does not sound like the Caldigit TS3 dock is compatible (?)

There are many options out there—why fight it...

That one is a known software issue; hopefully Apple will have it fixed soon, but I certainly understand if you are not willing to wait.

Note it also isn’t universal; for some reason my MBP 16 does not experience this issue.

Well known among senior contributors here and at least some people at Apple.

I have no insight as to a root cause or when a fix may be coming, and as always it never, ever hurts to raise the issue with Apple Support yourself:

Official Apple Support

I have the same problem. It only crashes if the external monitor is plugged in to the CalDigit's Display Port. I just bought a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable. It arrives in 2 days. Maybe that will fix the problem: connecting the monitor directly to the Mac and using the Caldigit for everything else.

I have this same problem to mbp 16 + caldigit ts3 plus dock. It is definite kernel panic with what appears to be the osx usb driver listed in the stack trace. Definite software issue in osx that apple should fix, especially if they sell this dock through their store claiming it is compatible.

I have reinstalled osx - no luck. nvram + smc reset works for a week maybe then it starts again.

Note it also isn’t universal; for some reason my MBP 16 does not experience this issue.

Do you think it's possible there is a hardware issue with the CalDigit dock? I'm having the same issue too. Latest firmware on the dock and bang up to date in the OS.

I have reported to Apple this morning, but will contact CalDigit too. Pretty frustrating as a lot of us seem to have dropped the cash for a new MBP + TS3.

I have been experimenting with different configurations. Between testing each configuration, I clear nvram and reset SMC (and of course reboot). I have found that my Mac will crash regardless of whether the external monitor is connected via the TS3 OR directly to its own USBC port on the Mac. Therefore, it might suggest that this is to do with external monitors full stop, rather than the TS3 itself. All of these crashes happen when I return to the Mac and at least the monitor is in sleep.

What monitors are people using? I have the ASUS VG27AQ.

With the monitor directly connected to the Mac AND the TS3 connected, I got this:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800189167c): Sleep transition timed out after 180 seconds while calling power state change callbacks. Suspected bundle: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily. Thread 0x5f41.
Backtracing specified thread

With the monitor directly connected and NO TS3, I got this:

panic(cpu 8 caller 0xffffff7f98ba1ad5): userspace watchdog timeout: no successful checkins from com.apple.WindowServer in 120 seconds
service: com.apple.logd, total successful checkins since load (7170 seconds ago): 718, last successful checkin: 0 seconds ago
service: com.apple.WindowServer, total successful checkins since load (7140 seconds ago): 702, last successful checkin: 120 seconds ago

I have a case open with Apple and will be reporting this back to them too.