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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

HP G4 thunderbolt dock not working with Ventura

I searched the forums and found plenty of people trying to connect two monitors to their HP docks, some successfully, some not.

Well I'm using my dock (TB 120W G4) from my office laptop to connect two external screens. I don't need two screens on the Mac, as I have the HDMI port on my 16" M1bp (M1 Max) connected directly. (That way I can still use both side-by-side while working, just by flicking the monitor input :)

But I thought I could attach the dock (fully TB4) to the Mbp and use the dock after hours to give me both screens on the mac. Well the problem is not monitors but rather that I don't get *any* life at all out of the dock when connected to the Mbp. No USB, no ethernet, no extended USB-C, no displays. Seems clear that the Mbp is simply not onboarding the dock whatsoever.

Is there any trick to this? I thought TB4 would just kick in without a sweat. Other posters have been able to use their similar G4/G5 docks so this shouldn't be problematic....

Posted on Jul 16, 2023 1:54 PM

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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 16, 2023 2:55 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

ThunderBolt symbol at each end? It's built into the dock, but yes it has '4' on it and the model is literally 'TB4 120W G4'.

shorter than 08 meters if Apple brand? n/a

shorter than 0.5 meters if Brand X? Ya it looks about 0.8 but as it's not detachable I don't have a choice heh.


It's not working because:

  • no screen
  • no USB (plugged in a card reader)
  • no ethernet
  • no detection of device connected to downstream USB-C or TB ports (dock has one of each).
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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 20, 2023 3:30 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Well,

  • I have a 10Gbe SFP+ connected to a different TB4 port, so I don't need the NIC from the dock, just saying that it doesn't appear, that's all. Though to be fair it doesn't show up on the actual HP laptop it's connected to during the day, either.
  • Dock power button is irrelevant. Actually that's better, I've already shut down my HP laptop a couple of times accidentally while connecting display cables heh.
  • I'm running 13.4.1. I suspect they didn't mean *only* Big Sur and nothing following that, that's not usually the way things work.
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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 16, 2023 3:54 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

You're right.. it is indeed connected here. :/


Thunderbolt Dock G4:


 Vendor Name: HP

 Device Name: Thunderbolt Dock G4

 Mode: USB4

 Device ID: 0x488

 Vendor ID: 0x3F0

 Device Revision: 0x0

 UID: 0x808757C378CA0500

 Route String: 1

 Firmware Version: 38.1

 Port (Upstream):

 Status: Device connected

 Link Status: 0x2

 Speed: Up to 40 Gb/s x1

 Current Link Width: 0x2

 Port:

 Status: No device connected

 Link Status: 0x7

 Speed: Up to 40 Gb/s x1

 Current Link Width: 0x1

 Port:

 Status: No device connected

 Link Status: 0x7

 Speed: Up to 40 Gb/s x1

 Current Link Width: 0x1


Well then that's more awkward. Nothing connected to the unit is seen by the OS. Not Ethernet, not USB, not video. :(

Though I see it says Mode: USB4. Does that mean no TB? Or just a reporting confusion? In any case even USB4 should allow the USB reader etc.

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,201 points

Jul 17, 2023 6:57 AM in response to footofwrath

The way to proceed with USB devices is to connect one, then see if it shows up under system report, see what it is demanding for power, what the dock is supplying for power, and what speed it can attain. There are many different types of USB cables, so choosing a cable not right for the exact use can be a problem.


If it will show up plugged in direct into the chassis, but will not show up plugged into the dock, that tells ism there might be a problem as well.

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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 20, 2023 4:11 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Dock works without any problem when connected to the Windows laptop.

I don't see any additional devices appearing when I connect to the Mac.

I have two USB hubs and these are picked up and working fine. I can even chain them in sequcne and then attach a USB reader at the end and this is still detected on the WIndows machine. On mac not even the ethernet on the dock is seen.

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,201 points

Jul 20, 2023 8:22 AM in response to footofwrath

If a connected device does not appear as connected in System Report, it is hugely not compatible with Mac or is damaged somehow. It MUST appear in System Report to have any hope of being usable.


Depending on exactly what device(s) you are connecting, testing the device may be more complex than expected. "Supported on Windows just fine" is not the criterion used for Mac.


The supported Chips and built-in Drivers are for very specific devices, and in some cases, an additional step is required to get them working. In some cases, they will never work.


Readers would be happy to work with you on a device-by-device basis, if you wish to pursue getting some devices working.



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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 20, 2023 11:14 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

So I have two USB hub-things, one came with a TB3 cable and one is USB4.0 (it says). If I connect either of them to my Macbook, the SD card inside a micro->SD adaptor, inside a USB stick, attached to either USB-C or USB-A (the SD reader has both), they all show up in the Mac.

If I then attach the HP dock to the Macbook, the USB hubs are not seen in the mac System Report, and accordingly the SD card is not seen. Even plugging the USB card reader directly into the dock does not present any new devices in system report (so far as I can tell).

I mention the Windows functionality only to show that the dock itself does not have a compatibility issue with the USB devices.

And the Mac has no problem with the USB devices if connected via the USB hubs.

What to check next? e.g. where to see if it tries to load the device but fails, for example....?

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User profile for user: footofwrath
footofwrath Author
User level: Level 1
18 points

Jul 20, 2023 11:46 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The dock is capable of 100W PD output. And as I said.. it can run either of the hubs just fine when connected to the windows machine. In fact I even had all three of them daisy-chained and then put the card reader in the end device and still got 80Mb/s.

In which section should I be looking for the power reports? The TB4 section doesn't give any power information about the dock. And the USB sticks aren't present at all.

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,201 points

Jul 20, 2023 12:14 PM in response to footofwrath

You may need to spend some time with the Manual for that dock, here:


https://kaas.hpcloud.hp.com/pdf-public/pdf_6747028_en-US-1.pdf


the first page has this disclaimer:


4 For ThunderboltTM Host systems, dock will use Intel 2.5 Gbps NIC. (To reach 2.5 Gbps speed, it requires infrastructure that supports 2.5GB Ethernet speeds.)

For Non-ThunderboltTM (Multi-Function) Host systems, dock will use Realtek 1.0 Gbps NIC.

Note: The Ethernet driver is needed on the host system. The host connection to the Thunderbolt G4 dock will determine which Ethernet NIC is active inside the dock. For ThunderboltTM connections, the Intel® I225 LMvP device is active. For USB-C®, or if ThunderboltTM mode is turned off, the Realtek 1.0 Gb/s Ethernet NIC is active. Only one Ethernet is active at one time. Use the host side device manager to view Ethernet status.


and this one:


1 The dock power button is not functional when connected to non-HP notebooks, Chrome or non-supported HP notebooks


and this one:


Operating systems supported: requires MacOS Big Sur 12.1.

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HP G4 thunderbolt dock not working with Ventura

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