Major problems with Thunderbolt display & MB Air

My wife's 2011 13-inch MBA is also having the Thunderbolt Display ethernet problem. After the most recent firmware update, ethernet would take something like 10 seconds before reconnecting, but it would work. Now in the past couple of days, however, it doesn't operate at all after a wake from sleep or reconnect after using the MBA away from her desk.

Very frustrating because this is one of the main reasons I purchased the TBD for her!

I've got a new MBP 15" and the only problem that I have with the TB display is that if I disconnect the MBP from the TB cable and power, and then reconnect it, the Mac USB keyboard plugged into the TB display no longer works. Interestingly the Logitech USB trackball still works in the same scenario. At this point I have to plug the keyboard directly into the MBP and its fine.

Prior to the latest Thunderbolt Display Firmware Update, I could just pull the USB keyboard cable out of the TB display for a second and plug it back it in, and it would start working again. But after I applied the update, that trick no longer works, I have to plug it into the MBP. A powercycle will solve the problem as well.

I have no issues at all if I leave the MBP plugged in, it's only when I disconnect and reconnect it to the TB display.

And again, this morning it did 'it' again... Lost another 15 minutes of my precious time and I'm currently contemplating smashing up this beautiful piece of crap. Apple, I demand a working solution! This is ridiculous...

And we probably need to know if:

- the problem is with the Thunderbolt Display,

- the problem is with the MacBook Air,

- the problem is with both the products.

Dear Apple, if this is a 'rare' problem, how problematic is it to replace my TB Display and or MBA? I'm causing this problem myself you know...

I just added a new TBD to my new Macbook Air and a wired keyboard. Was dismayed to find it was dropping keystrokes.

I tried plugging the keyboard into a different USB port on the TBD. Seemsto have fixed the problem.

Will revert if status changes.

1) First of all, what a ******** to reply to this thread. It's easy to install your products, but getting support this way *****.

2) I bought a Thunderbolt display, it sucked due to dropped keystrokes, I read about multiple returns and returning issues here, it scared the CRAP out of me, I do not buy expensive Apple products for troubleshooting! I returned the display and demanded my money back.

3) I might still want to get this display, but only if Apple acknowledges the full width of problems, and ensures me they are totally fixed. Right now I see no acknowledgement at all. If I have another experience like this with an Apple product, I will NEVER buy Apple again.

4) Believe me or not, I don't usually ***** like this. Any Apple employee who feels responsable enough to look into this issue, take it to your manager and demand action. I want the Thunderbolt display with LAN, but it's far from great.

Well - trying a different USB port was better - but still drops the occasional keystroke, which is of course totally unacceptable. So I have taken to plugging the keyboard directly into the Air rather than the TBD - which kind of defeats some of the point. Grrr.

Well, you're not alone...

If anything, my problems seem to be worsening. I'm now wrestling with my TBD/MBA combo for half an hour EVERY DAY.

What I need is a fix, this has become too frustrating to deal with anymore. I'm thinking of disbanding the sale altogether. This will of course cause friction with our long time Apple dealer who apparantly has never heard of this problem. I'm too fed up with this issue to 'prove' to them the combo is not working correctly.

I'm talking 'combo' here because I'm not so sure it's the Thunderbolt Display itself or the MacBook Air, or even the combination.

Apple, you NEED to do something to redeem yourself. I can except things didn't go as planned, but now I need SERVICE and have this issue resolved into a working solution. You know how to contact me, you did that before. Start by swapping out my display and we'll see if that helps...

Hi,

anybody tried out the brand new firmware-update from Apple?

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1453

While installation on my MBA connected to TBD I get the message: "Your thunderbolt display don´t need that upgrade"

:-((((((((

Thanks Apple!

My problems: LAN-port on TBD is working sometimes and sometimes not. The same with one USB-port I use to connect my iphone...

CU

Fred

@SkullOne Why don't you get a new one? They offered me a new one at the iCentre in Amsterdam, but after reading the horror stories here I just asked for my money back. Bought an inferior Samsung display instead, but at least it's 25% of the price, and it actually WORKS.

I'm not going to be one of the test cases that gets 5 displays replaced before Apple finally agrees that there is a problem. We're buying Apple products here guys... they should be great.

Still, I'd like a Thunderbolt display, but only if Apple says they found the problem, and fixed it 100%.

SkullOne wrote:

If anything, my problems seem to be worsening. I'm now wrestling with my TBD/MBA combo for half an hour EVERY DAY.

What I need is a fix, this has become too frustrating to deal with anymore. I'm thinking of disbanding the sale altogether. This will of course cause friction with our long time Apple dealer who apparantly has never heard of this problem. I'm too fed up with this issue to 'prove' to them the combo is not working correctly.

Sorry, but there's no point rainting on an open forum. This isn't Apple Support you know - It's under warranty, go talk to Apple.

As I've said a couple of pages back, I've had mine replaced and it's now working just fine. However, I have NOT applied the Thunderbolt update to it. I'm now fairly confident that's what screwed it up in the first place.

Raise a support case - they won't find what's up, because as yet they don't know. What they will do is replace it. When you get your replacement DO NOT apply the update.

Good luck.

Oh, but there is a point. Actually there are more than one.

This way I feel others will notice and (for the moment) not fall into the same trap as I did.

As for support. Here in the Netherlands we need to address the place where we bought something first (this is how our law works) and I did exacly that and was given the could shoulder treatment. As in Wwe don't know this problem." and "There is nothing in Apple's database about this." and "No we can't just replace the display, and you might have to send it to us first before we send you a replacement, and you have to pay for shipping. Need I go on?

You see, I'm just completely fed up with this and just want a sollution with as little effort as possible form my side. I'm not a beta-tester, nor am I paid to be an Apple developer. I bought this combination and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it should work as advertised. It clearly does not and I'm left in the dark and am supposed to make an effort to get it solved?

By the way, Because of my forum posts I was contacted by Apple support a couple of weeks ago. They wanted me to run their diagnostics software and send them the dump. However this is against our data security policy, as we can't tell exactly what data will be sent. In my line of work this is no option.

If they can contact me (by phone and mail) regarding this matter as they did, they can also offer SERVICE the same way. While you may right about the 'official' purpose of this forum, I say they could show some effort themselves. I don't see how that could be bad.

As for your theory about the firmware update. You might be right, but wouldn't it be extremely stupid if Apple would have missed that? More likely you are just lucky your combination works for the things you do with your system. But regretably that doesn't mean it solves everybody's problems. Maybe not applying the update as you suggest might cause catastrophic data corruption somewhere else. Do you know for sure it doesn't?

And we still don't know what the problem is. Is it the TBD or the MBA? Apple should be forthcoming with this, so we can at least tell what we need to replace in the first place!

I would love to get a 'new one', but my dealer isn't making it easy (see my other reply).

If I don't get the TBD to work I can't opt for another display, as I need a wired LAN connection. I would need another notebook to make that an option. Or trade the whole TBD/MBA combo for an 27" iMac...

Agree, someone should notice this thread and release a general fix. It's totally ridiculous that we shouldn't update our display just to make it work! If I want to hack my computers to work I'll go back to assembling PC's.

And SkullOne, your system obviously doesn't work. Go to the store, bring the display, show this topic and tell them you're not leaving without a replacement. The fact that this problem is difficult to reproduce is their problem, not yours.

SkullOne wrote:

As for support. Here in the Netherlands we need to address the place where we bought something first (this is how our law works) and I did exacly that and was given the could shoulder treatment. As in Wwe don't know this problem." and "There is nothing in Apple's database about this." and "No we can't just replace the display, and you might have to send it to us first before we send you a replacement, and you have to pay for shipping. Need I go on?

As for your theory about the firmware update. You might be right, but wouldn't it be extremely stupid if Apple would have missed that? More likely you are just lucky your combination works for the things you do with your system. But regretably that doesn't mean it solves everybody's problems. Maybe not applying the update as you suggest might cause catastrophic data corruption somewhere else. Do you know for sure it doesn't?

And we still don't know what the problem is. Is it the TBD or the MBA? Apple should be forthcoming with this, so we can at least tell what we need to replace in the first place!

Oh don't get me wrong, I feel your pain and am largely in agreement. It's annoyed me no end finding out this thing is so flawed. All I was trying to say was 'go talk to Apple' - as that's going to be your best route to solving the issue.

It sounds like unfortunately you had a poor support engineer in the first place. When I spoke to Apple on the phone (I'm UK based and talked to an engineer in Ireland) the engineer also hadn't heard of the problem - but it didn't stop him trying to resolve the issue.

Yes, 'Capture Data' will collate a lot of data, but it's easy enough to look at what it's gathering. And, if you only have it capture the default information (i.e. make sure none of the other check boxes are marked) you're mainly passing them log files from /var/log - which is a lot of system related stuff that won't cause your security staff to have a heart attack.

As far as whether the issue lies with the display or a MacBook Air - well, I can only speak from my own experience. The Air hasn't been replaced, the display has. It now works fine (I have two fw800 drives and a couple of USB things hanging off my display) whereas it didn't with the previous display.

Sometimes companies - yes, even Apple - drop a bollock and release a piece of crap. The TBD has issues, but I'd suggest it's not all of them. A forum is typically a place for whining about problems, not talking about how good something is. I'd like to suggest, and hope, there are plenty of happy TBD punters out there.

Raise a support case through the web SkullOne, it might prove more fruitful for you.

is there in option to get rid of the last update or to downgrde the update?