CalDigit TS3+ owners, screen behaviour

[drdaz]

Hi there

Since I bought my new setup (2018 MBP 15 w/ Radeon 560X, CalDigit TS3+, 2x LG 4k monitors) last year I've been seeing some weird behaviour, and I'm wondering if anybody else sees the same thing.

When my laptop is connected to my 2 screens via the dock, when the machine turns off the external screens, the screens notify me of this twice. As in, they show me a ’no signal’ message, and then switch off. They instantly switch back on to a black screen, and show me the ’no signal’ message again.

This doesn’t happen when the screens are connected directly to the Mac. I see ’no signal’ once.

Before anybody asks what the actual problem is, I've had endless trouble with the entire setup. In particular there have been a lot of issues with the screens glitching out in various ways. Currently at 9 months (!!!) of non-stop contact with Apple Support. So I'm fishing for clues. And praying for closure.

 

[Stephen.R]

How are the screens connected to the Dock? (as in, what cables into what ports)?

What specific model #s are the monitors?

 

[drdaz]

How are the screens connected to the Dock? (as in, what cables into what ports)?

What specific model #s are the monitors?

The screens are these: LG 27UD68P-B https://www.lg.com/dk/skaerme/lg-27UD68P

And they're connected via DisplayPort. The TS3+ only has one DP output, and I'm using the DP cable that came with the monitor for that one. The other monitor is connected to the TB3 port on the dock, using a USB-C -> DisplayPort cable.

We've tried a bunch of different cables. Apple even sent me a pair of the ridiculously priced Moshi cables they have in their store. Didn't make a difference.

 

[Stephen.R]

Have you contacted CalDigit about this?

Have you tried it with either, only one display connected, and/or; different displays connected (to the dock)?

 

[drdaz]

I haven't tried different displays; I don't have access to more unfortunately.

But I've tried pretty much everything over the past 9 months; one screen at a time still does the double-off.

The thing is this effect is an annoyance at worst. I'm just interested in hearing if it's abnormal. Because if it is, the dock may be a little off. And at this point 'a little off' is something that needs to be isolated and removed.

This is by far the most expensive setup I've ever built for myself, and to this point it's *by far* the worst experience. And I've been doing this for a while. I ran multi-screen Hackintosh setups in the past that gave me way less trouble.

 

[drdaz]

Have you contacted CalDigit about this?

I missed this bit. But yes.

Originally when I got the machine (shortly after release) everything with this machine was catastrophic, but most of that turned out to be on Apple's side.

I've just contacted them again about this specific thing. Awaiting a reply from a technician.

 

[GB1986FI]

Hello Everyone,

I have a similar problem, I have a mac book pro retina 15 (bought in2018) now connected to the TS3 plus dock. The dock is then connected to the LG 5K screen. So with one cable, from the doc to the mac, I have everything connected.

the mac behavior has always been a bit “funny” since this set up. for instance after you disconnect from dock cable, in the monitor the applications doc would keep stay on i.e. if you are watching Netflix full screen you will see the dock. To fix that I had to go to system preferences move the dock either to the left or right on the screen and then back to bottom to have the applications dock working correctly again.

this morning the screen, just at the high of the applications doc at the bottom (image attached) started flickering.

i have spoken with Apple that said it is an hardware problem and to fix the issue the costs can be around £700. I find this crazy for a machine which has just 2 years and cost almost 3k. Of course on top the guarantee just run out last month after the 2 years passed.

i wanted to ask if you think this can be caused by the dock and the lg screen connected?

As well what do you suggest, I still have to finish to pay for the computer and I don’t want to spend £700. Especially now.
Do you think the flickering can get worst? Would you keep it like that since is not a big damage?

any suggestions are welcome, thank you in advance.