Any experiences on M1 Mac mini with OWC Thunderbolt Dock?

[k-hawinkler]

I am in particular interested in this very recent new Dock:

OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock for M1 and Intel Macs and Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) PCs

Add three Thunderbolt ports, 4 USB ports, along with Ethernet, audio, and card reader functionality to your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or Thunderbolt 4 PC.

eshop.macsales.com

Tried it out on my late 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro with Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter cable under Mojave.
One of the three TB4 ports works just fine. One can even boot from it, using an OWC Envoy Pro EX 2TB SSD.
The other two TB4 ports seem dead, my “trashcan” seems inadequate to activate them.
Also the three USB-A ports of the OWC Dock come alive and work fine once the “trashcan” is booted up.
However, I can’t use them to boot up my old computer.

BTW I have similarly connected my CalDigit TS3+ Dock - but not at the same time.
With the TS3+, connected by itself, all ports work fine and I can boot from all of them.

My late 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro can handle only one of the two Docks at the same time.
So I have to conclude my old computer is the bottleneck problem.

The M1 Mac mini I ordered is scheduled to arrive late January or early February.
And I am hopeful my OWC Dock will work just fine on it.

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[AndrewWx]

Hi:

Forum Member Jazz1 has one - here is the thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/tested-usb-c-hub-with-usb-c-data-port.2252497/post-29414219

Mine is scheduled to arrive today. I do not have may Mac Mini M1 yet - but I will test it on my 2018 MBP.

Andrew

 

[k-hawinkler]

Many thanks for the pointer.
Interesting tidbit about the OWC dock ejector app.
I am looking forward to your findings.

Cheers, khw.

 

[jazz1]

Hi:

Forum Member Jazz1 has one - here is the thread

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/tested-usb-c-hub-with-usb-c-data-port.2252497/post-29414219

Mine is scheduled to arrive today. I do not have may Mac Mini M1 yet - but I will test it on my 2018 MBP.

Andrew

 

[jazz1]

Jazz1 here, who reported my experience with the OWC dock. I'm just adding a note. The OWC Dock Ejector doesn't seem to recognize my one external HD, which is an OWC miniStack. In other words it doesn't eject/dismount the HD. I just drag it to the trash when I need to. OWC support made a big deal about installing the software. I guess I'll follow-up with them tomorrow. Frankly no big deal as long as the ports work. Yes, I check for updates in the very changing world of BigSur OS

 

[Lazyass0]

I am in particular interested in this very recent new Dock:

OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock for M1 and Intel Macs and Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) PCs

Add three Thunderbolt ports, 4 USB ports, along with Ethernet, audio, and card reader functionality to your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or Thunderbolt 4 PC.

eshop.macsales.com

Tried it out on my late 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro with Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter cable under Mojave.
One of the three TB4 ports works just fine. One can even boot from it, using an OWC Envoy Pro EX 2TB SSD.
The other two TB4 ports seem dead, my “trashcan” seems inadequate to activate them.
Also the three USB-A ports of the OWC Dock come alive and work fine once the “trashcan” is booted up.
However, I can’t use them to boot up my old computer.

BTW I have similarly connected my CalDigit TS3+ Dock - but not at the same time.
With the TS3+, connected by itself, all ports work fine and I can boot from all of them.

My late 2013 “trashcan” Mac Pro can handle only one of the two Docks at the same time.
So I have to conclude my old computer is the bottleneck problem.

The M1 Mac mini I ordered is scheduled to arrive late January or early February.
And I am hopeful my OWC Dock will work just fine on it.

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks so much in advance.

To enable all 3 TB4 ports you need to update to Big Sur ... Not sure for TB2 mac's but for TB3 that is written somewhere ....



What is strange for me is only 135W Power supply since older TB3 has 180W which has also 85w USB-C Power delivery and this one has 90W + up to 3x 15W + 4x USB with some W of power ?

 

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks for the pertinent points you made. Here is the source

BIG NEWS for BIG SUR: Thunderbolt Devices, macOS 11, and What We Can Verify

Now that Big Sur has arrived, we have been doing our fair share of testing. One question people have is, "will my Thunderbolt gear work with macOS 11?"

eshop.macsales.com

that TB2 Macs don't get the Hubbing feature under Big Sur. Quote:

"Hubbing Technology

One of the most exciting advances in Thunderbolt technology is that the 4th generation allows for “hubbing” – connecting up to four Thunderbolt devices through one port. We can verify that pre-Thunderbolt 3 Mac models do not support hubbing, and additional ports on these Macs will operate only for USB 3 and up to 10Gb/s (USB 3.1g2 aka USB 3.2).

However, we have some big news to report…

With this week’s release of macOS 11.1, all Thunderbolt 3 Macs now support hubbing. Yep, you’ve got it – with Big Sur, your Thunderbolt 3 Mac is now (essentially) a “Thunderbolt 4” computer! Consider it an early Christmas gift from Apple."

So that would imply that my old TB2 computer should behave under Big Sur exactly as it does under Mojave.
I should get one live Thunderbolt port that I can boot from and several USB-A ports that I cannot boot from.

Well, I'll try and find out if that's the case, provided Big Sur boots up with the OWC Dock attached.

---

 

[AndrewWx]

I just unpacked it. First impression it is very solidly built. I unplugged my CalDigit TS3+ and plugged everything into the OWC (XDR Display, LaCie Thunderbolt 2Bay and a RocketStore Thunderbolt 2 slot drive toaster went into the thunderbolt ports, Ethernet and a USB3 7 port hub)

I then plugged the included thunderbolt cable into the lone thunderbolt port on the front (I agree this is a little odd) with the computer icon on it and then into my 2018 15" MBP.

When I powered on the computer the OWC icon switched from white to blue which as Jazz1 pointed out indicates that everything is happy.

I am happy to report that everything works.

Black Magic Speed test on a Samsung T5 SSD TB 1 to TB 3 via adapter 398 MB/s write 519 MB/s Read.

I am running Big Sur 11.2 Beta.

I am very happy.

 

[jazz1]

I just unpacked it. First impression it is very solidly built. I unplugged my CalDigit TS3+ and plugged everything into the OWC (XDR Display, LaCie Thunderbolt 2Bay and a RocketStore Thunderbolt 2 slot drive toaster went into the thunderbolt ports, Ethernet and a USB3 7 port hub)

I then plugged the included thunderbolt cable into the lone thunderbolt port on the front (I agree this is a little odd) with the computer icon on it and then into my 2018 15" MBP.

When I powered on the computer the OWC icon switched from white to blue which as Jazz1 pointed out indicates that everything is happy.

I am happy to report that everything works.

Black Magic Speed test on a Samsung T5 SSD TB 1 to TB 3 via adapter 398 MB/s write 519 MB/s Read.

I am running Big Sur 11.2 Beta.

I am very happy.

Great news! Did you have to install the OWC Dock app.? I still don’t know why the OWC tech. person said it was a must?

 

[AndrewWx]

Great news! Did you have to install the OWC Dock app.? I still don’t know why the OWC tech. person said it was a must?

I did not - I am going to try manually ejecting discs and see if any problems arise. So far manual ejections and remounts work fine. Only then will I put the software in. Maybe he was looking for some beta testers?

 

[jazz1]

I did not - I am going to try manually ejecting discs and see if any problems arise. So far manual ejections and remounts work fine. Only then will I put the software in. Maybe he was looking for some beta testers?

Well it isn’t working. But manual drag icon to eject/trash works fine. I’m tempted to un-install it.

 

[AndrewWx]

Well it isn’t working. But manual drag icon to eject/trash works fine. I’m tempted to un-install it.

I would - I think it is for laptops where you disconnect everything and then grab the laptop and go. The Mac Mini will pretty much just sit. I bought this for the extra TB ports to augment the two on the Mini.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Congratulations that it works so well for you. That's terrific.

 

[k-hawinkler]

I just unpacked it. First impression it is very solidly built. I unplugged my CalDigit TS3+ and plugged everything into the OWC (XDR Display, LaCie Thunderbolt 2Bay and a RocketStore Thunderbolt 2 slot drive toaster went into the thunderbolt ports, Ethernet and a USB3 7 port hub)

I then plugged the included thunderbolt cable into the lone thunderbolt port on the front (I agree this is a little odd) with the computer icon on it and then into my 2018 15" MBP.

When I powered on the computer the OWC icon switched from white to blue which as Jazz1 pointed out indicates that everything is happy.

I am happy to report that everything works.

Black Magic Speed test on a Samsung T5 SSD TB 1 to TB 3 via adapter 398 MB/s write 519 MB/s Read.

I am running Big Sur 11.2 Beta.

I am very happy.

Congratulations that it works so well for you. That's terrific.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks for the pertinent points you made. Here is the source

BIG NEWS for BIG SUR: Thunderbolt Devices, macOS 11, and What We Can Verify

Now that Big Sur has arrived, we have been doing our fair share of testing. One question people have is, "will my Thunderbolt gear work with macOS 11?"

eshop.macsales.com

that TB2 Macs don't get the Hubbing feature under Big Sur. Quote:

"Hubbing Technology

One of the most exciting advances in Thunderbolt technology is that the 4th generation allows for “hubbing” – connecting up to four Thunderbolt devices through one port. We can verify that pre-Thunderbolt 3 Mac models do not support hubbing, and additional ports on these Macs will operate only for USB 3 and up to 10Gb/s (USB 3.1g2 aka USB 3.2).

However, we have some big news to report…

With this week’s release of macOS 11.1, all Thunderbolt 3 Macs now support hubbing. Yep, you’ve got it – with Big Sur, your Thunderbolt 3 Mac is now (essentially) a “Thunderbolt 4” computer! Consider it an early Christmas gift from Apple."

So that would imply that my old TB2 computer should behave under Big Sur exactly as it does under Mojave.
I should get one live Thunderbolt port that I can boot from and several USB-A ports that I cannot boot from.

Well, I'll try and find out if that's the case, provided Big Sur boots up with the OWC Dock attached.

---

So, I did some more exploring my system.

My late 2013 "trashcan" has an internal 1TB SSD with Mojave on it.
Its four USB-A ports have attached a keyboard, a mouse, an SSD with Catalina, and an SSD with Big Sur 11.1 as the current boot drive.

Also attached is this OWC Dock via an Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter cable:

Attached to the Thunderbolt 4 port, adjacent to the Gigabit Ethernet port, is an Envoy Pro EX SSD with Big Sur 11.1 on it.

When I plug a second Envoy Pro EX SSD with Mojave on it into the middle Thunderbolt 4 port, the following message appears in the upper right hand corner of my screen:

"CANNOT USE THUNDERBOLT ACCESSORY
Connect accessory to a Thunderbolt port on this Mac."

So indeed Big Sur 11.1 has acknowledged that a second SSD is attached to the Dock.

Unfortunately I cannot follow this direction as the Envoy Pro EX SSD has a cable permanently attached to it, so it cannot be used withe Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter cable.

When I try to boot from the Thunderbolt 4 attached Envoy Pro EX SSD with Big Sur 11.1 on it, the system crashes and some Chinese characters appear on the screen.

However, if I switch the two Envoy Pro EX SSDs around and have the SSD with Mojave on it in the Thunderbolt 4 port next the Ethernet port, then the system has no problem booting successfully from Mojave on that SSD.

I also have a Samsung T7 SSD with Catalina on it attached to one of the USB-A ports of the Dock. When I try to boot from that SSD the system doesn't see it and hangs.

I have none of these problems when I attach these devices, except for one Envoy Pro EX SSD, via a CalDigit TS3+ Dock. That setup even lets me boot successfully from the Envoy Pro EX with Big Sur on it.

Go figure.

BTW attaching an Envoy Pro EX SSD with Big Sur 11.1 on it at the end of an OWC Thunderbolt enclosure works just fine as a boot drive.


So I have one question remaining, has anyone successfully booted an M1 Mac mini from a Thunderbolt SSD attached via an OWC Dock or Hub?

 

[k-hawinkler]

An interesting thread.

Cannot Boot from External SSD 1/M1

Correct, they are not compatible. I think this was one of my first mistakes, assuming that they were compatible. If true, then my new backup should work with the M1.

forums.macrumors.com

Start reading here and continue...

 

[jazz1]

I thought people might get a grin out of my use of the dock. AudioQuest DragonFly Red DAC/AMP, BlueDragon (Moon Audio) cable, Sennheiser HD-650! Still wish the USB-C to MacMini was in the back!

Maybe I'll slip the Sennheisers on the HomePodMini and give it an audiophile treat

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[AndrewWx]

Jazz1 - That's a cool desk mat - where did you get it?

 

[AndrewWx]

Still wish the USB-C to MacMini was in the back!

I do too - or at least on the side!

 

[Lazyass0]

Can someone test if TB2 device connected with TB2-TB3 adapter is working on this Dock connected to M1 or Intel TB3 Mac ? And if it is working, does it keep hubbing function on other two TB4 ports ? Thank you

 

[ryys]

My question is - can I plug a USB-C monitor (U2720Q) into this dock? Usually, those work through DP/HDMI with docks and USB-C only directly to the computer itself. I might be wrong though

 

[Deccr]

Both my USB-C -> DisplayPort adapter and Luna Display USB-C dongle work through this dock with my M1 Mac mini (although both don’t work at the same time). So I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work.

I believe I can only get one to work at a time, due to the M1 display limitations. You can use one of the USB-C/thunderbolt ports along with the M1 mini HDMI for 2x monitors simultaneously. You are limited to 1x DisplayPort (USB-C/Thunderbolt) display at a time, unless using a DisplayLink adapter.

 

[jazz1]

Jazz1 - That's a cool desk mat - where did you get

JIALONG Mouse Pad Large Gaming Desk Mat Extended Mousepad with Personalized Design Keyboard Pad for Laptop, Computer and PC - 35.4 x 15.7 inches Black World Map

JIALONG Large Gaming Mouse Pad Computer Desk Mat with High-Quality Non-Slip Rubber Base Why would you need a large mouse pad for your desk You will no longer running out of mouse room when playing games. There's ample room for keyboard and mouse regardless of your set-up and it's perfectly smooth...

www.amazon.com

Jazz1 - That's a cool desk mat - where did you get it?

 

[tythomas]

So, I did some more exploring my system.

My late 2013 "trashcan" has an internal 1TB SSD with Mojave on it.
Its four USB-A ports have attached a keyboard, a mouse, an SSD with Catalina, and an SSD with Big Sur 11.1 as the current boot drive.

Also attached is this OWC Dock via an Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter cable

Doesn't the TB4 dock require Big Sur to run? I'd like to get one for my trash can MP6,1 just for the increased USB speeds delivered via TB2-3 adapter, not necessarily for boot devices at the moment.
It's confirmed working for you on the MP:6,1 still?

 

[k-hawinkler]

Doesn't the TB4 dock require Big Sur to run? I'd like to get one for my trash can MP6,1 just for the increased USB speeds delivered via TB2-3 adapter, not necessarily for boot devices at the moment.
It's confirmed working for you on the MP:6,1 still?

I don't know the answer to your question since then I have moved the OWC Dock to my M1 Mac mini. Sorry.