Macbook Pro 16inch & CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock cSleep Crash

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...

@shacked

I should clarify, that the dock was connected to the MBP and I was in using it when the freezing (crashes) occurred. Usually, it will only crash when it's connected to the dock and the screen is "sleep" while in clamshell mode. It crashes almost every time that I have the dock connected in clamshell mode and the screen goes to sleep. I have never had a crash or freezing when using the laptop when the dock is NOT connected and using it in "normal" laptop mode. As sort of a workaround, I have changed the Energy Setting to never turn the display off and using a screensaver to see if that will help. It's only been a few hours, but so far, so good. Again, it's not unreasonable to expect to not have to come up with workarounds for such an expensive accessory.

I totally agree, we should not have to come up with expensive workarounds. We’ve bought the best laptop and dock and they should work!

Just to clarify what I said above, I’ve had the MBP crash in clamshell mode after sleep, when the dock was not connected and the monitors were directly connected. Basically I’m just saying the instability IME is not solely related to the dock. There is a wider problem.

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.

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.

Have you updated the TS3 firmware? If not, you should. It is here https://www.caldigit.com/updating-the-ts3-plus-firmware-via-macos-10-15/

I am currently no longer having problems with kernel panics on my machine. My gut feeling is that it was a combo of the firwmare update + OS updates as I'm sure I had a couple of issues after the firmware update, but I can't be sure of this. The firmware is certainly a must have.

I just updated to macOS 10.15.7 and now I'm getting kernel panics on restart when connected to my CalDigit TS3+ dock.

When my MBP is disconnected from the dock, I don't get the kernel panics.

Maybe it's time for CalDigit to release some more updated firmware for the TS3+?

Good news. I may found the solution. I carefully checked the peripherals connecting to the dock and found a USB 2.0 based headphone amplifier continuously wakes the dock every miniute, which means that the USB device hasn't hibernation mode. And I also reckon that sleepless devices cause T2 chip dumped due to the security strategy of the chip. The presentation of dock being waked is that both Ethernet port instruction light truning on and red light leaking at optical SPDIF port. Normally after I sleep the mbp, all light should go out in 30 seconds. So the solution is to check your peripherals one by one and find which one cannot sleep.