Why is external Thunderbolt display not hot-pluggable on 2014 MacBook Pro (Retina) in Windows 10 with Bootcamp?

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Why is external Thunderbolt display not hot-pluggable on 2014 MacBook Pro (Retina) in Windows 10 with Bootcamp?

My colleague has two almost identical MacBook Pro (Retina) 13" laptops - one is mid 2014 (MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) - Technical Specifications) and one is early 2015 (MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) - Technical Specifications). He also has an external 27" Thunderbolt display.

We have installed Windows 10 via Bootcamp on both but hot-plugging only works on the 2015 model. A reboot is required to get the display to appear on the 2014 model.

I have read that hot-plugging is supported on 2014 or later MacBook models (Thunderbolt ports and displays: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) - Apple Support) but that page doesn't mention anything about Windows 10.

There is a USB device that reports "set address failed" in Device Manager on the 2014 machine which may be related.

Is there any definitive information on this?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 13, 2016 7:40 AM

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Answer 1

f1alan Author

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Jan 19, 2016 5:37 AM in response to f1alan

Some additional information. The problem also occurs with a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter, so it is a general Thunderbolt issue.

Any thoughts?

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Answer 2

Loner T

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59,471 points

Jan 19, 2016 5:47 AM in response to f1alan

On the 2014 Mac, can you run the following two procedures and test

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

f1alan Author

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Jan 19, 2016 7:31 AM in response to Loner T

Thank you for the suggestions. I have just tried both procedures but it did not make any difference.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

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Answer 4

Loner T

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Jan 19, 2016 1:47 PM in response to f1alan

Is it possible to install W8.1 on the 2014 Mac and test?

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Answer 5

f1alan Author

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Jan 20, 2016 8:03 AM in response to Loner T

I have just tried this and it looks like the same problem is occurring in Windows 8.1.

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Answer 6

Loner T

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Jan 20, 2016 8:09 AM in response to f1alan

Please try a SMC/NVRAM reset.

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Answer 7

f1alan Author

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Jan 21, 2016 12:51 AM in response to Loner T

Just tried that but still no luck. I am beginning to doubt the system requirements on the apple website.

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Answer 8

Loner T

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Jan 21, 2016 5:27 AM in response to f1alan

Has the 2014 Mac ever been to AppleCare or an AASP for repairs/logic board replacement? Can you verify that it is a 2014? The behavior from a 2013 is as expected.

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Answer 9

f1alan Author

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Jan 21, 2016 6:26 AM in response to Loner T

It is a colleague's Mac not mine but I am pretty sure that it has never had any repairs and as you can see below is definitely a 2014 model.

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Answer 10

Loner T

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Jan 21, 2016 8:22 AM in response to f1alan

After booting Windows, if you have a miniDP-to-(VGA/DVI/DP) adapter, can you connect an external display and check if it show up correctly?

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Answer 11

f1alan Author

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Jan 22, 2016 12:44 AM in response to Loner T

Unfortunately we don't have a miniDP adapter but I can verify that HDMI works in Windows.

I think we may have to admit defeat on this. I have been experimenting with Parallels and as it can run the Bootcamp partition simultaneously with OS X, this might be a better solution.

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Answer 12

Loner T

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Jan 22, 2016 5:07 AM in response to f1alan

Can you file a bug report at https://bugreport.apple.com/ ?

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Answer 13

f1alan Author

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Jan 22, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Loner T

Yes, I have just filed a bug report.

Thank you for all of your help.

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Answer 14

Feb 4, 2016 5:04 AM in response to f1alan

Hot plugging in bootcamp/W10 only works with the mac-mini 2014, and with the iMac 5k.

Due to the firmware in this machines with is up-to-date for hot plugging thunderbolt peripherals.

I own the same macbook pro 11,1 from mid 2014 as you, and can confirm it just does not work, a restart is needed for detection.

Many people blame microsoft for this, because they don't offer thunderbolt drivers in Windows, but leave that up to hardware-makers like asus, msi,apple etc.

In this case it seams to be hardware (firmware) related to Apple, various (bootcamp) drivers won't solve it.

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thunderbolt-hotplug-on-windows-10.1819920/

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Answer 15

f1alan Author

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Feb 4, 2016 6:04 AM in response to Hoopertje

Thank you for that information. It is good to know that it is the same for you on the same hardware.

Actually I did get a reply to the bug report this week which pretty much says the same thing. It is a shame that their FAQ is not more explicit rather than just saying "Thunderbolt hot plug is supported under Windows 8 or 8.1 on all 2014 and later Mac computers.". It would also be good if AppleCare were aware of the limitations.

I hope that this forum thread will be helpful for others and save them some time.

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