Level 1

62 points

OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock with MacBook Pro - totally disappointed

Hi all

I have, after a rather long wait, received my OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock. What looks and sounds great turned out to be rather frustrating in the daily use. I have numerous issues with it, as follows.

LAN port (ethernet) is not connecting after the MacBooks start or a restart. The only thing that currently helps is unplugging the LAN cable, and plug it back it. How convenient.

I have two USB drives connected to the dock. When the MacBook sleeps, I see the drives shutdown and restart roughly every three minutes. That must kill any conventional hard disk within months, I guess. There's no way to overcome this, I have tried all USB ports.

I had the external monitor (I'm using the MacBook in clamshell mode) connected via the dock's mini display port (MDP), which didn't work at all - frequent MacBook freezes, or not reacting after a sleep. So I'm using a dedicated USB-C-to-Display-Port cable to the Monitor (a Dell 2715), which works more or less. More or less means that when the MacBook is sleeping, the monitor keeps blinking up and going back to sleep every three minutes - same as the drives.

Then, I called OWC support, explaining. After waiting for 20min or so in their queue, I could talk to someone. His reply was simply that this is the way it is and that they could do nothing as everything was Apple's fault, and that they're waiting for Apple to change this and that in the software. So, totally helpful.

I had a simple LMC USB-C docking before, and had everything plugged into it, which worked absolutely flawlessly. I bought the dock because I thought it allows me to have a little more order in the cables, and speedier connections. But what I got does not allow for seamless working, just hassle.

Anyone else experiencing such issues? At this stage, I cannot recommend the OWC Thunderbolt Dock 3.

Thanks for help and comments...

Simon

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, 4 TBT3), macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Aug 19, 2017 12:32 AM

27 replies

Lypza

Level 1

4 points

Sep 4, 2017 10:50 AM in response to Esquared

My MacBook won't even recognize the device. Haven't been able to use use since I got it after waiting for so long. Very disappointed with OWC.

sendaal

Level 1

26 points

Nov 15, 2017 11:33 PM in response to simima

How did this work out for you in the end? I'm also interested in this dock and had some limited testing time with mixed results... Thanks!

simima Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 19, 2017 1:22 AM in response to Esquared

I had the OWC Thunderbolt dock 2 (two) before, and it had similar problems - mostly related to sleep, too. When in use, the dock works well, it's just that around sleep, start, shutdown, restart, where things seem go wrong.

I still have high hopes that there's something wrong with TB3 software under the hood that can be fixed (like they said), as the USB-C dock worked flawlessly. The initial release of Mac OS Sierra was full of bugs, too, many of them having been fixed by now, so maybe... hope dies last.

simima Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 20, 2017 1:48 AM in response to tjk

Thanks. I wrote them... Problem is, I am in Switzerland, and returning the unit to OWC is rather complicated and costly. I had really hoped that OWC is able to deliver a product that works. And, I am still not convinced it is all OWC's fault...

Anyone experiencing the same?

If you have the same dock and you don't have these issues, I'm wondering what your sleep/wake settings are, because the problem clearly is related to sleep.

I was sitting in front of the "sleeping" computer a while and was observing the following. I put the MacBook to sleep. The drives spin down. The monitor remains on for a while, then goes to sleep, too. As soon as the monitor goes to sleep, the drives wake up again. Once the drives are back up, the screen wakes up for a second, then goes back to sleep - and the loop begins again....

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Aug 20, 2017 7:07 AM in response to simima

Sorry, but I don't have that unit. I have, however, purchased new products from them in the past that were not really ready for market, and this sounds the same. You may have to wait for firmware updates. In one case a long time ago, I got a multi-connection HDD dock, and the USB 3 never did work, even after a firmware update (but I didn't know this until long after the warranty had expired as I didn't have anything USB 3 to use at the time). So as much as I like OWC, they do sometimes have their problems. Just make sure you get it taken care of before warranty expires or you may be stuck with a unit that will always behave that way.

simima Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 21, 2017 11:49 AM in response to tjk

No reply from OWC so far.

Meanwhile, I was searching the internet for possible solutions. Monitor settings (Dell P2715Q), pmset settings, printer queues, faulty USB hubs, faulty switches, ... everything. Nothing helped.

So I went testing. Unplug one-by-one, check sleep state. Well, at least I now have an idea on where the problem may come from. It seems that the LAN connection (cable, RJ45) seems to be part of the problem. When I unplug the LAN, then the problem disappears - so, it seems to be something in the network. Something in the network wakes up the docking station (and the drives). Went looking for womp settings and stuff... no luck so far.

Does anyone among the readers of this post know how to log and analyze the network activities when the MacBook is sleeping? To figure out what wakes up the drives every two minutes?

Thanks...

MCusuma1

Level 1

15 points

Aug 30, 2017 5:33 AM in response to simima

I'm having a similar issue with the Caldigit TS3. When the Mac goes to sleep, my HP Z2740w goes to standby mode; if I move the mouse or press a key within an hour or two, everything comes back fine. But if it sleeps longer than that, the monitor does not wake up.

If I shut the monitor off (power switch in back hard shutoff), and turn it back on, it comes back - but at 1280 x 720 resolution (this monitor's "safety mode").

The only way to get the monitor working correctly again is to shut down, unplug the TB3 cable, and plug back in.

I have a thread here, and a case # with Apple.

simima Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 30, 2017 11:36 AM in response to MCusuma1

That is simply the sheer horror, unbelievable. The USB drives are randomly ejected, LAN connection is randomly kept or dropped. That is simply extremely poor work, and I have to assume it's Apple's.

The Synology NAS in the network work flawlessly, almost totally hands-off. The sleep when they can, wake up when they have to, syncronize data seamlessly... With the MacBook, I have to unplug things after starting, have to manually wake up drives, reconnect networks... hassle, hassle, hassle.

I am extremely disappointed by Apple, or by the thing creating this mess.

Anyone that can help, please!!!!!!

Aug 30, 2017 5:12 PM in response to simima

I had the exact same issue! It turned out to be a piece of old software that was gumming up the works. Try reloading the laptop (command-R at boot) without transferring any of the software products from backup (it is OK to reload documents). Reload any software fresh from the Store. After booting, any other software you want to load you can do so one at a time. It took me two weeks to get the internet connection to work all of the time, but it does not appear to be the fault of the device (at least in my case).

Jan 14, 2018 5:29 PM in response to simima

Add me to the list. After ordering this thing when it was first announced, and waiting over 6 months for it to be delivered, I received the OWC thunderbolt 3 dock in June and it worked well with my 2016 MacBook Pro until around November or so, when the last High Sierra update came out. After that, I suddenly had many of the problems everyone is reporting here. Spontaneous disconnects of USB and thunderbolt drives, video anomalies with an external 4K monitor, non-functioning displayport, weird Mac crashes, etc. Even if I disconnect everything from the dock except a single external USB hard drive, the drive will not stay mounted for more than a minute or two. Not good.

OWC just says it is Apple's fault and that it affects all thunderbolt docks, but I have an old Belkin Thunderbolt 1 dock and it has none of these problems.

Walter

Esquared

Level 6

12,415 points

Aug 19, 2017 1:12 AM in response to simima

Thanx for the warning. I was considering buying one of these, but will hold off now.

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Aug 19, 2017 7:35 AM in response to simima

Hi,

Contact OWC's support. It they can't resolve the issues, return the unit.

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OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock with MacBook Pro - totally disappointed