Caldigit TS3+ external drive behavior

[seadragon]

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased an M1 Mac mini and a Caldigit TS3+ dock. Connected to the dock via USB is a LaCie Rugged 5 TB hard drive that I use for Time Machine backups. I’ve noticed that when I turn off the Mac, the dock’s power light goes off and the LaCie drive also turns off. Then almost immediately, the LaCie drive turns on again and remains running, even though the computer is off.

I was hoping that when I turn off my computer, the devices connected to the dock would also turn off. It seems that the drive does get a shutdown command but then immediately powers back on.

Having never owned a dock before, I’m wondering if this this normal?

Thanks.

 

[coolajami]

This is normal behaviour, the Caldigit TS3+ would continue to provide some power to the devices that are attached at the USB-A ports even after you shut off the attached computer. That does not happen with the USB-C ports. Only possible solutions are 1) disconnect the devices from USB-A ports after you ejecting them and before you shut down the attached computer 2) connect them to a USB-C port.

I'm not sure the reasons for this erratic behaviour; It may have to do with the different bus design of the ports and Caldigit thought that the USB-A ports needed to stay powered for some reason. I believe there is an issue to “park” the HDDs properly when you shutting off the computer, so caldigit thought to keep them powered? Not sure.

Good thing is that they could be used for charging other devices such as phones and tablets when the attached computer is shut. In the past the promised that would update the docking utility to give options regarding ejecting and powering off the ports, but never happened.