macOS Monterey 12.1 Thunderbolt Ethernet problems

[sirozha]

Last night I upgraded to macOS 12.1 from 12.0.1, and I'm having issues with Thunderbolt-based Gigabit adapters with the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro. One of the monitors that I have connected to my 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro is the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, which has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet adapter. I had it cabled to a switch and it worked fine until I upgraded to macOS 12.1.

With macOS 12.1 running on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro, when the MacBook Pro goes to sleep and then I wake it up a few minutes later, it takes a while for the "Display Ethernet" connection to detect that it has a cable connected to it, and once it detects the cable, it can't get a DHCP lease so it goes to self-assigned IP address 169.254.x.x.

I also have an Apple Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter (dongle), which I tried to connect to the Thunderbolt2 port on the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, but I can't even get a DHCP lease on this adapter after the restart. I tried to connect the same Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter directly to the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro (by daisy-chaining to to the Apple Thunderbolt3-to-Thunderbolt2 adapter), and I get the same issue - the adapter can't get a DHCP lease. All of these scenarios worked fine with macOS 12.0.1 before I upgraded it to 12.1.

I called Apple support today to report this as a bug and also requested assistance in downgrading macOS 12.1 to 12.0.1, but Apple told me there is no way to downgrade the M1 Mac. The Recovery Mode is different in M1 Macs than it is in Intel Macs (which I didn't know until today), and there is no option anymore to downgrade the OS directly from the recovery mode to the OS that came originally with the Mac (as it exists in Intel-based Macs). I found a video on Youtube that shows how to downgrade macOS on M1 Macs (the video is about Big Sur and 13" M1 MacBook Pro / 13" M1 MacBook Air, so I tried to create a recovery USB disk, boot into the recovery mode on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and then install macOS 12.0.1 from the USB drive, but when I select the SSD, it tells me that the disk cannot be downgraded. So, the instructions that seemed to have worked with Big Sur (to downgrade to an earlier version of Big Sur on the 13" M1 Macs) no longer work with downgrading Monterey 12.1 to 12.0.1.

I've reinstalled 12.1 over the existing installation (from the recovery mode), but the issues with the Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters persist.

Anyone seeing this issue?

 

[Allison J]

Last night I upgraded to macOS 12.1 from 12.0.1, and I'm having issues with Thunderbolt-based Gigabit adapters with the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro. One of the monitors that I have connected to my 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro is the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, which has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet adapter. I had it cabled to a switch and it worked fine until I upgraded to macOS 12.1.

With macOS 12.1 running on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro, when the MacBook Pro goes to sleep and then I wake it up a few minutes later, it takes a while for the "Display Ethernet" connection to detect that it has a cable connected to it, and once it detects the cable, it can't get a DHCP lease so it goes to self-assigned IP address 169.254.x.x.

I also have an Apple Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter (dongle), which I tried to connect to the Thunderbolt2 port on the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, but I can't even get a DHCP lease on this adapter after the restart. I tried to connect the same Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter directly to the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro (by daisy-chaining to to the Apple Thunderbolt3-to-Thunderbolt2 adapter), and I get the same issue - the adapter can't get a DHCP lease. All of these scenarios worked fine with macOS 12.0.1 before I upgraded it to 12.1.

I called Apple support today to report this as a bug and also requested assistance in downgrading macOS 12.1 to 12.0.1, but Apple told me there is no way to downgrade the M1 Mac. The Recovery Mode is different in M1 Macs than it is in Intel Macs (which I didn't know until today), and there is no option anymore to downgrade the OS directly from the recovery mode to the OS that came originally with the Mac (as it exists in Intel-based Macs). I found a video on Youtube that shows how to downgrade macOS on M1 Macs (the video is about Big Sur and 13" M1 MacBook Pro / 13" M1 MacBook Air, so I tried to create a recovery USB disk, boot into the recovery mode on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and then install macOS 12.0.1 from the USB drive, but when I select the SSD, it tells me that the disk cannot be downgraded. So, the instructions that seemed to have worked with Big Sur (to downgrade to an earlier version of Big Sur on the 13" M1 Macs) no longer work with downgrading Monterey 12.1 to 12.0.1.

I've reinstalled 12.1 over the existing installation (from the recovery mode), but the issues with the Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters persist.

Anyone seeing this issue?

I am having the same issue. I purchased another hub as I thought that it could be the problem but the new hub had the same results. I then attached the original hub to my IPad Pro and it connected to ethernet right away. So it seems that the upgrade to 12.1 must be the issue. I'm also seeing more "beachballs" on the M1 Air than I've ever seen. I hope they fix this soon.

 

[cfm56d7b]

I am having the same issue. I purchased another hub as I thought that it could be the problem but the new hub had the same results. I then attached the original hub to my IPad Pro and it connected to ethernet right away. So it seems that the upgrade to 12.1 must be the issue. I'm also seeing more "beachballs" on the M1 Air than I've ever seen. I hope they fix this soon.

Does the hub have Realtek RTL8153 chipset?

 

[sirozha]

I was talking about the Thunderbolt based Gigabit Ethernet adapters. Not about USB-based Gigabit Ethernet adapters. If you were able to connect your “hub” to the iPad Pro, it’s not a Thunderbolt connection. I know the line between USB and Thunderbolt has been blurred, especially with USB4 (not to mention the fact that the USB-C connector looks the same as the Thunderbolt 3 or 4 connector. However, internally, Thunderbolt and USB are different. Both cases that I described in my original post are with Thunderbolt-based Gigabit Ethernet adapter.

You could tell the difference if you pull up the “About this Mac” menu and go to the hardware tab. Them, you will see if the Ethernet adapter is listed under Thunderbolt or USB.

This also doesn’t mean that the same bug may not be affecting USB-based Gigabit Ethernet adapter. However, I think we would see many more reports about this bug because there are many more USB-based Ethernet adapter than Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters.

I am having the same issue. I purchased another hub as I thought that it could be the problem but the new hub had the same results. I then attached the original hub to my IPad Pro and it connected to ethernet right away. So it seems that the upgrade to 12.1 must be the issue. I'm also seeing more "beachballs" on the M1 Air than I've ever seen. I hope they fix this soon.

 

[cfm56d7b]

I was talking about the Thunderbolt based Gigabit Ethernet adapters. Not about USB-based Gigabit Ethernet adapters. If you were able to connect your “hub” to the iPad Pro, it’s not a Thunderbolt connection. I know the line between USB and Thunderbolt has been blurred, especially with USB4 (not to mention the fact that the USB-C connector looks the same as the Thunderbolt 3 or 4 connector. However, internally, Thunderbolt and USB are different. Both cases that I described in my original post are with Thunderbolt-based Gigabit Ethernet adapter.

You could tell the difference if you pull up the “About this Mac” menu and go to the hardware tab. Them, you will see if the Ethernet adapter is listed under Thunderbolt or USB.

This also doesn’t mean that the same bug may not be affecting USB-based Gigabit Ethernet adapter. However, I think we would see many more reports about this bug because there are many more USB-based Ethernet adapter than Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters.

It's worth mentioning that USB-C defines the connector type and nothing else.

USB 3.1 (as an example), Thunderbolt 3, and Thunderbolt 4 refer to the specific protocol to support charging, video, and data transfers. This is why USB 3.1 cable cannot support Thunderbolt 4 although the connectors are the same, or USB-C.

 

[glitched79]

I'm having a similar problem - my USB ethernet dongle on my M1Max MacBook Pro doesn't appear in my Network settings, however it still seems to be *working* because if I turn off WiFi, I can access the internet as long as the dongle is plugged in.

Very strange. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.

 

[Nermal]

I called Apple support today to report this as a bug and also requested assistance in downgrading macOS 12.1 to 12.0.1, but Apple told me there is no way to downgrade the M1 Mac.

Apparently you need to completely wipe the drive and use Configurator to restore* the 12.0.1 image. You will need a second Mac to do this, and of course you'll lose everything on the M1 machine. That's hardly ideal so I can see why Apple doesn't want to offer official support for it.

*The instructions don't say how to choose the image to restore. I assume that you hold Option while choosing Restore but I can't guarantee that.

 

[jostermacedo]

Last night I upgraded to macOS 12.1 from 12.0.1, and I'm having issues with Thunderbolt-based Gigabit adapters with the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro. One of the monitors that I have connected to my 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro is the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, which has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet adapter. I had it cabled to a switch and it worked fine until I upgraded to macOS 12.1.

With macOS 12.1 running on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro, when the MacBook Pro goes to sleep and then I wake it up a few minutes later, it takes a while for the "Display Ethernet" connection to detect that it has a cable connected to it, and once it detects the cable, it can't get a DHCP lease so it goes to self-assigned IP address 169.254.x.x.

I also have an Apple Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter (dongle), which I tried to connect to the Thunderbolt2 port on the 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, but I can't even get a DHCP lease on this adapter after the restart. I tried to connect the same Thunderbolt2-to-GigabitEthernet adapter directly to the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro (by daisy-chaining to to the Apple Thunderbolt3-to-Thunderbolt2 adapter), and I get the same issue - the adapter can't get a DHCP lease. All of these scenarios worked fine with macOS 12.0.1 before I upgraded it to 12.1.

I called Apple support today to report this as a bug and also requested assistance in downgrading macOS 12.1 to 12.0.1, but Apple told me there is no way to downgrade the M1 Mac. The Recovery Mode is different in M1 Macs than it is in Intel Macs (which I didn't know until today), and there is no option anymore to downgrade the OS directly from the recovery mode to the OS that came originally with the Mac (as it exists in Intel-based Macs). I found a video on Youtube that shows how to downgrade macOS on M1 Macs (the video is about Big Sur and 13" M1 MacBook Pro / 13" M1 MacBook Air, so I tried to create a recovery USB disk, boot into the recovery mode on the 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and then install macOS 12.0.1 from the USB drive, but when I select the SSD, it tells me that the disk cannot be downgraded. So, the instructions that seemed to have worked with Big Sur (to downgrade to an earlier version of Big Sur on the 13" M1 Macs) no longer work with downgrading Monterey 12.1 to 12.0.1.

I've reinstalled 12.1 over the existing installation (from the recovery mode), but the issues with the Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters persist.

Anyone seeing this issue?

I’m having the same issue. I lost Ethernet connectivity from my Caldigit TS3+ dock once I upgraded to 12.1. Any updates on how to fix this?

 

[jcscol]

I’m having the same issue. I lost Ethernet connectivity from my Caldigit TS3+ dock once I upgraded to 12.1. Any updates on how to fix this?

I am running the TS3+ with 12.1. It is working now, but I had to reboot with the dock plugged in to make "Ethernet Adapter en7" show up in System Preferences -> Network. It could then be selected as normal. Before the reboot, it didn't show at all.

 

[jostermacedo]

I am running the TS3+ with 12.1. It is working now, but I had to reboot with the dock plugged in to make "Ethernet Adapter en7" show up in System Preferences -> Network. It could then be selected as normal. Before the reboot, it didn't show at all.

Tried your suggestion, but no luck. No Ethernet working so far.

 

[rajs]

looks like wired ethernet in any form / fashion connected to MacBook Pro 14 / 16 under Monterey is a total sh*t show and has been for months (Big Sur also on M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13) from what I can deduce.

I know I haven't been able to find a single solution yet for MacBook Pro 14 with Monterey that actually works properly:
- Native driver support built into Monterey with CPU offload enabled so the Macbook's CPU isn't getting nailed on large data transfers
- Ethernet continues working without intervention after a sleep / wake cycle

Every thing I've tried requires either a new driver or some manual kext installs and bypassing some Monterey security.

LOL about this after so long but kinda hard to take MacBook Pro 14 / 16 seriously if all one has that is reliable is WiFi connection when large data transfers will be needed at times.

Hoping I am just a moron and haven't found the right ethernet solution and someone can point me to one.

 

[glitched79]

Update - I went into System Preference - Network, and clicked the little "+" at the bottom of the list of network connections. My USB adapter was listed in the dropdown, so I added it and hit apply. Magically, it shows up and works now.

Perhaps this same method would work for those of you trying to use Thunderbolt? Click the "+" and see if you can add that network interface, then make sure you click "Apply". If it doesn't work, you can always click the "-" and remove it.

Strangely, if I go to my "About This Mac" and then "System Report", I can still see the old network interface listed, which was "en7". This new one I created is now "en4". Not sure how I can delete the old one, or if that's even necessary.

I'll keep an eye on my network preferences panel after the next update comes out and see if the old interface re-appears. If so, I'll delete the new one I've created. But this is working for now.

 

[rajs]

@glitched79 - Have you tried letting you device go to sleep and then wake it again and see if everything working still ? Thx.

 

[svan71]

My Realtek RTL8156B 2.5 dongle was fine under 12.0.1 since updating to 12.1 I max out at 90mb whereas before I was getting 940.

 

[rajs]

@svan71 following with interest to see if you got it back working properly again. Considering placing and order for one of those dongles. (Also under 12.01 were you using drivers shipped with Monterey or you downloaded and installed drivers from Realtek ?). Best of luck.

 

[glitched79]

@glitched79 - Have you tried letting you device go to sleep and then wake it again and see if everything working still ? Thx.

I have, and it seems to be working just fine each time.

 

[sirozha]

The issue is with Thunderbolt Ethernet adapters, not with USB Ethernet adapters. The issue is not with the adapter missing in the Network settings applet but with DHCP not working after the Mac goes to sleep in Monterey 12.1. The only fix I’ve found so far is to assign a static IP or reboot the Mac for DHCP to start working again, but the latter breaks again after the Mac goes to sleep.

I’ve tried a USB network adapter, and it works just fine in my environment, although the initial plug-in of the USB Ethernet adapter required a Mac reboot for DHCP to work. After the initial reboot, everything works fine.

Those who have Thunderbolt docks, please double-check if the built-in Ethernet adapters are USB-based or Thunderbolt based. You can see it in the System Information when you pull up About This Mac from the Apple menu. See if your network adapter is listed under USB or under Thunderbolt.

My Thunderbolt-based Ethernet adapters are: built-in adapter in the 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display and the Apple Thunderbolt2 Gigabit adapter dongle.

 

[thinkpanda]

I have similar problem with M1 pro machine with CalDigit minidock's ethernet adapter. (For both os 12.0.1 and 12.1)

When I plugged in the dock, the ethernet works fine. Then I went to bed and back the other day. The ethernet cannot get though. When I unplugged and plugged again the cable, ethernet cannot even get DHCP response. Sometimes it work if I unplugged the dock and plugged in again.

I was thinking it is my mini dock problem, as I did not use the ethernet with my old Macbook 2019. But look like it is more general problem than I thought.

 

[cectoolt]

Having similar issue with Macbook Pro 13 2020. Installed a big update yesterday and now usb-c ethernet adapter stops working after 10-20 minutes. I have to restart OS to get it working again.
I noticed after update it created a bunch of new Thunerbolt Bridges:

 

[Pfanny]

I have UNI USBC Ethernet Dongle. Showing up in USB with a Realtek driver. With 12.01 I got download rates in clamshell mode with max 940mbit down. now with 12.1 I only get 700mbit in open mode and clamshell max 200mbit. fun fact. if I restart the MacBook Pro m1max and do a Speedtest immediately when it is possible I get on the first test my 700mbit. second run is again 200mbit. I ordered a dongle with an AX driver and lets see how this works. Advertised I only see this drivers compatible with MacBook Pro m1 ones, Realtek just advertised till MacBook pro 2019. lets see how it works. I will let u know tomorrow. but its definitely Monterey problem 12.1.

 

[stemoche]

I used the Uni usb-c to ethernet w/ 3 usb-A ports dongle (with a wired Logitech mouse) that worked fine before the update on a 16" AS mbp. After 12.1 it stoped working after putting the laptop to sleep. I had to unplug/re-plug it to work, I called Apple support and they were aware of the situation, engineering department said to try another dongle I tried my wife's 2 y/o simple Uni dongle and it works, Both used the 8153 chipset.

 

[Pfanny]

I used the Uni usb-c to ethernet w/ 3 usb-A ports dongle (with a wired Logitech mouse) that worked fine before the update on a 16" AS mbp. After 12.1 it stoped working after putting the laptop to sleep. I had to unplug/re-plug it to work, I called Apple support and they were aware of the situation, engineering department said to try another dongle I tried my wife's 2 y/o simple Uni dongle and it works, Both used the 8153 chipset.

i have exactly the same dongle from uni which is not working fast anymore. today I got the Ugreen with ASIX Chipset AX88179a

works fine as the uni before. got download rates on Friday evening 7:30pm with 890mbit/s.

https://www.amazon.de/UGREEN-Thunde...p-B091T7LPJP/dp/B091T7LPJP/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

P.S. over night the battery is not draining anymore because of the adapter plugged in. still 100% charge over night. wit the uni I hat around 86% remaining.

 

[reidconti]

Same issue on my 2017 Macbook Pro with a Caldigit TS3 dock, as soon as I upgraded to Monterey 12.2 from 11.x.

Wake from sleep, network works for 10 or so minutes, then stops. Currently the adapter calls itself "Thunderbolt Ethernet Slot 1". When it fails the link in the network control panel just goes from green to orange. And if I yank the cable and plug it back in it just gives itself a 169.x.x.x IP.

This dock has worked flawlessly for me for 4 or 5 months, until yesterday's upgrade straight from 11.x to Monterey 12.2. Now it's failed repeatedly.

 

[stemoche]

i have exactly the same dongle from uni which is not working fast anymore. today I got the Ugreen with ASIX Chipset AX88179a

works fine as the uni before. got download rates on Friday evening 7:30pm with 890mbit/s.

https://www.amazon.de/UGREEN-Thunde...p-B091T7LPJP/dp/B091T7LPJP/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

P.S. over night the battery is not draining anymore because of the adapter plugged in. still 100% charge over night. wit the uni I hat around 86% remaining.

Thanks for the info, was about to order the old Uni, but I'm glad I didn't. The Ugreen dongle, works... if I plug it in on the left/front side of the mbps16, but on the right side it continues to be affected. The good thing about this dongle vs Uni is it doesn't heat up while the computer is asleep, and it still works after the 12.2 update , the read speed is about 80% faster too! write speed is the same.

 

[sirozha]

Same issue on my 2017 Macbook Pro with a Caldigit TS3 dock, as soon as I upgraded to Monterey 12.2 from 11.x.

Wake from sleep, network works for 10 or so minutes, then stops. Currently the adapter calls itself "Thunderbolt Ethernet Slot 1". When it fails the link in the network control panel just goes from green to orange. And if I yank the cable and plug it back in it just gives itself a 169.x.x.x IP.

This dock has worked flawlessly for me for 4 or 5 months, until yesterday's upgrade straight from 11.x to Monterey 12.2. Now it's failed repeatedly.

The only solution I’ve found so far is to assign IP information statically. Then, everything works well. It’s ridiculous that Apple broke DHCP client in Thunderbolt Ethernet adapters in Monterey 12.1 and 12.2, but it is what it is.