MBP 13 2020 won't recognize USB devices from TB dock after sleeping and connecting to the dock. After unplugging the dock MBP crashes and does SMC reset

Also experiencing this issue. 2020 MacBook Pro 13" (10th-gen i5), CalDigit TS3+ dock, LG 27UK850 4K 27" monitor plugged into the dock via HDMI to USB-C. When I plug in the TB3 cable, I'll sometimes get a display on the external monitor, but USB keyboard doesn't work, then I get the kernel panic screen and it reboots.

This only appears to affect my 2020 MBP; I have a 2018 15" MacBook Pro i7 for work that functions perfectly with my dock/monitor setup. Can plug and unplug the TB3 cable all day with no issues on this computer. Just having issues with the new 2020 model.

I'm running macOS Catalina 10.15.6 on both machines.

MBP 13'' 2020, 10th GEN i7 with OWC Thunderbolt 3. Catalina 10.15.7.

The behaviour is as described here, and it is annoying. I need to unplug the dock sometimes several times a day, and after re-connecting no devices such us sound card and external disk are detected. (charging works, monitor works and ports used for charging devices - work too).

I can't reproduce restarts. Sometime it does immediately, some other times it takes up to several minutes.

Manual restart with hub connected works, but well, I am expecting a bit more from the machine that is that expensive. What a disaster. I hope this to be fixed ASAP.

Note: I am using this Dock for one and half year now and I never experienced any issues until several weeks ago.

I can agree that there are no crashes in the last few hours of using Big Sur Beta 10 with the CalDigit Thunderbolt Dock and the Macbook Pro 13 2020, but my displays connected to the dock are flickering from time to time and my HDD connected to the dock disconnects after a few minutes of using. It seems we have to wait a few months longer and i have to go back to a usb-c-dock, there are no issues till now...

benjamin.lauret wrote:

Can you share the official answer from Apple.

I would love to, but I was told on the phone, and they declined to notify me in writing. I guess they don't want a paper trail, or evidence of how appalling they treat their customers. I have no issues with the support staff, who were professional and courteous, and could only deliver the message from the engineers, that shutting down the computer before unplugging a device is how you're supposed to unplug a TB3 device on a Mac.

This is exactly the scenario I experience:

• freshly restarted MBP connected to TB3 display (LG Ultrafine 5k in my case) -> everything fine
• disconnect from TB3 (no matter how - clean, sudden, manually putting machine to sleep before or not) -> still fine
• use machine w/o external display -> still fine
• reconnect machine to TB3 display -> crash or at least nonfunctional external USB

(As a developer, I filed an issue in Apple Feedback Assistant a few days ago, but no reaction there, so far)

2020 Macbook Air, Cal digit TS3, same issue. I will NOT stop "reminding" Apple this is STILL occurring. I email them every other day. Which isn;t NEARLY as obnoxious as my new computer crashing or me having to restart 3-4 times a day. Their "standard" email response:

"I can confirm that Apple has received reports of this behavior with the CalDigit TS3 Dock and is investigating. The results of the investigation may come in the form of an update, a knowledge base article, or some combination of the two. Please should be encouraged to keep the macOS up-to-date. We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate these reports."

No, sorry. I will not be patient after MONTHS of the same problem that is crashing my new computer that I need to work. I mean, I can get a PC if I want to deal with these kinds of issues.

KEEP EMAILING. Also, make sure you remind them, IN WRITING, that since they are aware of this issue, and have done nothing to resolve it, you will not be held responsible for problems that may arise as a result of your computer constantly crashing. Inundate them. Squeaky wheels and all....

I literally copy and paste the same thing over and over again. Months ago, I called and reported the problem and asked for senior tech. I did receive a call from a senior tech, who was lovely (but powerless to do anything as he was not an engineer). I was then sent a follow up email from our convo (at my request) which included the ticket/case number. And then I just kept emailing a reply back to that email. I would change the opening (i.e. " I haven't received a response to my query about this issue, which is STILL occurring", or "I am STILL waiting for a resolution to this issue which is STILL crashing my computer", etc) and then copy and paste the issue itself (essentially what I wrote in my original post which you responded to) and then I'd end it with "Apple will be responsible for any and all issues this constant crashing of my new computer causes for the life of this computer." It's irrelevant if they respond or not. As long as you have a written record that you consistently made them aware of the issue that they did NOT fix, you'll be golden.

Big Sur beta 11.0.1 does not fix the issue for me. It is not crashing anymore. It is just not usable. The caldigit reset the link every couple of minutes with displays disconnecting and reconnecting. Impossible to work with that.

I have the same issue with the Apple Pro Display XDR and Macbook Pro 13 2020 on Catalina and still the same on the latest Big Sur beta. I have already done NVRAM/SMC resets and I'm just waiting for Big Sur to be released to try it again, before I contact Apple. I also have a MacBook Pro 15 2019 which doesn't have the same issue. So, this is a problem specifically with the Macbook Pro 13 2020 and not third-party docks as I'm only using Apple hardware.

Unfortunately, the CalDigit Support gives a completely different picture of the problem in Big Sur.

As long as I cannot be sure that Big Sur has fixed the Sleep Mode Problem with MacBook Pro 2020, I will not install it.

You can read the answer of CalDigit CalDigit EU Support which I have received today:

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Hello,

Unfortunately the issues still seem present on Big Sur at the moment. Our engineers initially confirmed that Big Sur beta 11 fixed a lot of issues and these were also confirmed on the Apple official forums but, since the launch version of 11.0, most of these changes have either been reverted or made worse. Our engineers haven’t been able to properly test Big Sur 11.0 at the moment due to current circumstances with California still on state wide lockdown and we haven’t been given approval from our head office to upgrade to the latest OS version here in the UK/EU at this moment in time. They have confirmed that, kernel panics on MacOS Big Sur still haven’t been addressed by Apple and are still present as they were in 10.15. 

From a couple of reports we’ve had, some customers have been lucky and have had a lot of their issues fixed as soon as they’ve upgraded but the majority who have upgraded are having even more issues than before, even without a docking station. Dual monitors still haven’t been fixed by MacOS Big Sur and there is now a new forum post regarding this here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/651131. It’s the luck of the draw as to who can get Big Sur to successfully run and fix their issues and who just has more issues than before.

We’ve had no official report or update from Apple on this. 

Regards,

CalDigit EU Support.

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This message was the reply to my question:

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Dear Support Team,

A few weeks ago, your support team gave me the information that 2020 MacBooks may crash after sleep mode if they were connected to the TS3 Plus before. I was informed that this was a problem of the MacOS and that your are in contact with Apple regarding this problem. The problem is not solved in Catalina an would be solved in Big Sur was the information at that time. 

Now that Big Sur is published, I have read many people’s comments who say that the problem is resolved with Big Sur. Can you confirm this, or give me any other info about this problem and possible solutions? 

I really like the TS3+, but the shutdowns are annoying.

Kind regards

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My "responsive" Apple senior advisor has gone off the radar. I am struck reading all of these responses about how prevalent this issue still is (even with many of those who took the risky leap to Big Sur) and I am cynical about the efficacy of posting here in the hopes that Apple engineers will solve a bug that should have been taken care of in Catalina many months ago. Can I suggest a "power in numbers" approach and encourage everyone to contact an advisor (either via phone or email) and tell them that if they can't resolve this well-documented problem—in Catalina and Big Sur—you would like a full refund for the laptop? I realize this seems like a long shot but if there are a bunch of people making EXACTLY the same request it might have real power in making Apple focus on and finally resolve this issue. This will take just a few minutes of your time—far less than the endless semi-solutions (buying two power adaptors, coming up with ever-changing rituals of disconnecting/reconnecting hubs, etc. etc., upgrading to a bug-filled new OS, etc.) we're all coming up with.

If any of you are into this idea, let me know and we can coordinate a response that will have maximum impact.

I think I have found a way to avoid this issue, but can only work with four Thunderbolt mbp. I always use a Thunderbolt portable disk, so for example , when you finish your work, eject the disk and disconnect it , then just sleep your Mac as normal, no matter how longe it sleep, wake it up when you need it and connect the disk with the other side port. I know lots of people are using thunderbolt Hub, actually I don't know the workflow to disconnect the hub because I don't use a hub, but try to disconnect it before you sleep your Mac, and connect it to the other side port after you wake up your Mac!!! Hope this can help you!

From 13mbp 2020 Catalina 10.15.7

After dealing with this problem for months on my 2020 4TB port MBP on 10.15.7 (with OWC 14-port TB3 Dock), including Apple replacing the computer the other day after logic board and IO controller replacement, and not finding this thread until just now... it's been maddening. I hadn't detected a pattern of when this same failure would occur until I read this and a Macrumors thread about the issue, and can confirm that it only happens after the computer has slept while plugged into Apple power adapter (sleeping while connected to power from OWC dock does not seem to cause the issue. I tried turning off Power Nap on Adapter like the above poster but it did not fix it. I am unable to update to Big Sur at this time due to key software not being compatible, but some people report the problem being fixed in 11.0.1.

Yeah it seems to be just the 10th gen processors on 10.15.6 and 10.15.7. When my MBP was in the shop I used a 2020 MPB 8th gen i5 (on 10.15.7) and an M1 Macbook Air (11.0.1) with my same dock setup and had no problems. Other than occasionally the Touch ID becomes less responsive when plugged into the dock.

I’m running a 2020 13 in. MB Air with Big Sur (v 11.1). I use an Apple USB-C to Thunderbolt 3 adapter to run a Buffalo 1 TB peripheral drive. The adapter connects the peripheral to the machine fine but the Intel crash / reset issue is persistent. It seems to be stable / work better when I am doing actions that hit the drive. But as soon as I stop, the machine crashes. This is a pain. I have a photo library on that peripheral I am concerned will get corrupted because of all of this resetting. Based on what I am reading on this form, this sounds not to be a hardware issue but a bug with the OS—and going back to Catalina builds. I really, really hope that Apple fixes this.