macOS Monterey Users Report Connectivity Issues With USB Hubs

[MRxROBOT]

Unfortunately I just started having these problems as well on my 16” M1 Pro. My OEM apple USB A to lightning cables will not connect to anything. Tried multiple different cables. I do not have this problem with USB C connected lightning devices. In my particular case, it seems to be an issue with USB 2 speed devices. I’m on the latest version of Monterey.

 

[Jeo_cz]

I bought this USB hub for my new M1 iMac...

Qwiizlab USB C Hub Stand with Dual Drive Enclosure, Docking Station for Mac Studio Mac mini M2/M1/Intel, Type-C 10Gbps, Card Readers 100MB/s, Fits M.2 NVMe NGFF SSD & 2.5'' SATA SSD (Silver)

Qwiizlab UH35 is an innovation to combine USB 3.1 Type-C hub and SSD/HDD enclosure in an elegant and sleek aluminum monitor riser. It is a surprising compact accessory for you to resolve expansion issues of Mac mini and Mac Studio. Featuring USB-C data port up to 10Gbps, USB-A data port up to 10G...

www.amazon.com

I have both an NVME drive and an SSD in it. Generally, it works well, but I do get random disconnect errors with it. I have observed a couple of things. I can copy from one of the disks in the hub to another disk using another USB port on my iMac without issue. But, if I copy from the NVME to the SSD in the hub, I get the disconnect errors. Curiously, If I use a low speed USB cord to connect the hub to the iMac, I can copy from the NVME to the SSD in the hub without disconnect issues, though it is painfully slow. I also see disconnect errors when moving photos from an iPhone to the Photos library on the nVME if I connect the phone to the front port of the hub. The NVME drive in the hub is backed up to my Time Machine drive as well, and it works without issue as the Time Machine drive is connected to another port. I suspect the disconnect issues have to do with "overloading" the USB port somehow, as if the system can't handle the amount/speed of the data moving through the port.

Overloading is exactly my experience too. I switch the notebook from 2019 Intel to a new M1 Pro. As a hub I have used Dell UP2720Q with TB3 port, MacOS 12.2.1. If there is only one USB (Wacom tablet) connected to the monitor, all is working fine. But it starts to disconnect when I use the second USB for a gigabit ethernet (by usb-c dongle). If I disconnect this dongle from the monitor and plug it directly to a computer, all works without problems again. And by the way, I have no such that issues with the previous Intel MacBook.

 

[WinterWolf90]

anyone had any luck after upgrading to the latest update?

 

[MallardDuck]

With 12.2, I had a situation where a drive on my mac mini not only stopped working, but flat out crashed the machine. Unplugging it and it's been stable. It worked fine with Big Sur. So it's not just hubs.

12.3 definitely doesn't fix the 'takes forever to mount' problem. USB APFS drives take 30-60 seconds each (they're sequential not parallel). I've dumped all my USB hubs in favor of CalDigit thunderbolt docks at this point and that seems to have stabilized things. An expensive hardware fix for a really bad software bug.

 

[gank41]

With 12.2, I had a situation where a drive on my mac mini not only stopped working, but flat out crashed the machine. Unplugging it and it's been stable. It worked fine with Big Sur. So it's not just hubs.

12.3 definitely doesn't fix the 'takes forever to mount' problem. USB APFS drives take 30-60 seconds each (they're sequential not parallel). I've dumped all my USB hubs in favor of CalDigit thunderbolt docks at this point and that seems to have stabilized things. An expensive hardware fix for a really bad software bug.

I think it has something to do with power delivery, too. There's only a certain amount of bandwidth per port/channel. And I don't think Monterey is taking into account that maybe some (or all!) of the drives I'm connecting also have their own external power supply. I'm saving my pennies for the CalDigit TS4. That seems to supply more power, so maybe I'll have better results with my connected drives. Either way I'm in the market for a new dock...

 

[BlueGhost]

May be seeing a similar problem on Big Sur after the 14.Mar.2022 update to 11.6.5 (security update); seems to be many patches in this update. Intel late 2013 i5 13" MacBook pro. Having issues with a usb-a port when I use a usb-a hub that was working before the update.

Takes longer for a time machine backup attached thru the hub, and time machine disk was corrupted several days after upgrade (looked like file table was wiped or corrupted- no backups visible); marked as read only. Have also had finder lock-up several times (no problems before update), once while dragging a folder to trash. Leaving hub disconnected for now and will only backup while directly connected to port. Appears to work fine without the hub.

Suspect some software change does not properly handle time-outs or write errors? Other devices on the hub are an inkjet printer (always off during backups), and (never while doing a backup) an iPod Classic (80gb disk), less often a 160gb iPod classic, or an iPhone SE Gen2. Time machine disk unmount started taking longer shortly after update, and disk appeared to still be doing i/o's long after time machine said it was done (15-45 minutes). No long delays to mount time machine disk, the iPhone SE or the 80gb iPod (haven't tried the 160gb iPod). No unmount delays except when using the usb-a hub, after a time machine backup.

If I were paranoid, I'd also suspect possible bug/virus in the inkjet software or elsewhere. If any other issues seen on the hub, may replace it (suspect it is 6-8 years old, Best Buy house brand Dynex). Guess I could have just run out of spare sectors to reassign after detection of a bad disk sector (but I doubt that - external disk is just slightly over one year old).

 

[WinterWolf90]

May be seeing a similar problem on Big Sur after the 14.Mar.2022 update to 11.6.5 (security update); seems to be many patches in this update. Intel late 2013 i5 13" MacBook pro. Having issues with a usb-a port when I use a usb-a hub that was working before the update.

Takes longer for a time machine backup attached thru the hub, and time machine disk was corrupted several days after upgrade (looked like file table was wiped or corrupted- no backups visible); marked as read only. Have also had finder lock-up several times (no problems before update), once while dragging a folder to trash. Leaving hub disconnected for now and will only backup while directly connected to port. Appears to work fine without the hub.

Suspect some software change does not properly handle time-outs or write errors? Other devices on the hub are an inkjet printer (always off during backups), and (never while doing a backup) an iPod Classic (80gb disk), less often a 160gb iPod classic, or an iPhone SE Gen2. Time machine disk unmount started taking longer shortly after update, and disk appeared to still be doing i/o's long after time machine said it was done (15-45 minutes). No long delays to mount time machine disk, the iPhone SE or the 80gb iPod (haven't tried the 160gb iPod). No unmount delays except when using the usb-a hub, after a time machine backup.

If I were paranoid, I'd also suspect possible bug/virus in the inkjet software or elsewhere. If any other issues seen on the hub, may replace it (suspect it is 6-8 years old, Best Buy house brand Dynex). Guess I could have just run out of spare sectors to reassign after detection of a bad disk sector (but I doubt that - external disk is just slightly over one year old).

This is what happened with one of my discs. It was corrupted after a failed time machine update after updating to Monterey. I used an ANker Hub with USB A ports. I was able to get the data by connecting it to a windows PC. I have a usb C SSD external drive and it works fine, but it doesn't look like they addressed this issue yet and lots of people still have issues

 

[Joeyinaz]

I thought I was going crazy. I upgrade to Monterey a few months back. No issues. Because I had to swap between laptops, one without Thunderbolt I decided to go usbc hub. Heavy load. I had crash after crash. Eventually downgraded to Big Sur. Even with the update I am not seeing the crashing I had every day with the usb hub.

The hub is under heavy data load but not power, no under powering. Should not be crashing like it does.

Now for mounting I noticed there is a considerable delay.

Something in my gut is saying wait for .6. They should have it fixed.

I may just use my thunderbolt dock and when I need windows/Linux laptop, just move some wires around.

 

[kcl65]

Just upgraded to 12.3 and my USB wireless mouse and keyboard has randomly freezes a few time already. This never happen with 12.2.1. Any one has similar issues? Thanks.

 

[turbineseaplane]

All good on 12.3 with my Hackintosh!

 

[TimmuJapan]

Intel MacBook Air 2020.
12.3 Fixed my USB problems.

 

[BlueGhost]

This is what happened with one of my discs. It was corrupted after a failed time machine update after updating to Monterey. I used an ANker Hub with USB A ports. I was able to get the data by connecting it to a windows PC. I have a usb C SSD external drive and it works fine, but it doesn't look like they addressed this issue yet and lots of people still have issues

A NVRAM/PRAM reset on my 11.6.5 2013 MBP seems to have cleared my problem with USB-A attached disk drive backups. Before the PRAM reset, even when directly connected to port (without hub), disk would go into standby (slow flashing), instead of idle (solid light) at end of backup. Now, disk goes into idle, and I can properly eject drive. Funny thing is, I think disk had always gone into standby mode instead of idle in the past. Will wait a few more days before declaring victory, maybe I've just been lucky for the last few days. Had been nearly four years since last PRAM/NVRAM reset.

 

[dizmonk]

Overloading is exactly my experience too. I switch the notebook from 2019 Intel to a new M1 Pro. As a hub I have used Dell UP2720Q with TB3 port, MacOS 12.2.1. If there is only one USB (Wacom tablet) connected to the monitor, all is working fine. But it starts to disconnect when I use the second USB for a gigabit ethernet (by usb-c dongle). If I disconnect this dongle from the monitor and plug it directly to a computer, all works without problems again. And by the way, I have no such that issues with the previous Intel MacBook.

How do you like this hub?

 

[Jeo_cz]

How do you like this hub?

Sorry for my late reply. Well, it's not a real hub, it's a Thunderbolt 3 monitor with a few USB connections.

 

[Jeo_cz]

Overloading is exactly my experience too. I switch the notebook from 2019 Intel to a new M1 Pro. As a hub I have used Dell UP2720Q with TB3 port, MacOS 12.2.1. If there is only one USB (Wacom tablet) connected to the monitor, all is working fine. But it starts to disconnect when I use the second USB for a gigabit ethernet (by usb-c dongle). If I disconnect this dongle from the monitor and plug it directly to a computer, all works without problems again. And by the way, I have no such that issues with the previous Intel MacBook.

Update on this. No overloading! Disconnecting appears when I am mixing USB3 and USB2 together. I can connect ethernet dongle (USB-C / 3) directly to the monitor's hub and work normally in a full speed without a single disconnect, but I have to connect all other (USB2) devices to another MacBook port, not to the same monitor's hub.

 

[londoner1]

HI
I have an intel iMac.
I had this problem, but solved it with an SMC reset (shut down, remove power cord, hold power button for 5s, release, restart; different for MacBooks though)
Now my hubs and associated devices work OK again

 

[Boomish69]

I thought this was to do with my new Mac Studio Ultra! Thank goodness, hopefully there is a fix coming, I've had loads of problems with hubs or drives in hubs not being recognised.

 

[Sarpent]

I'm unable to keep wired mice connected to my Apple Studio Mac using Monterey v12.4. They work for an hour or so, then either completely disconnect, or behave like a button is stuck depressed. I've only tried them using a USB-A plug going through Apple USB-C adaptors (tried 3 mice, and 3 Apple adaptors, all behave the same). My Magic Mouse works fine, but I really don't like Magic Mice, since they make webpages float around on me all time, and Apple seems to have optimized them for maximum click volume. I should add that unplugging and replugging the mice in doesn't really help. When this issue occurs, a reboot is required.

I also see the issue where external USB drives take forever to mount.

This really feels like a USB bus power issue, since it's affecting so many different USB devices.

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't dealt with this yet, but I probably shouldn't be. They seem to care less and less each year about bug fixes that don't affect absolutely everyone. In this case, Apple expects users to use their wireless mice or track pads and isn't extensively testing other cases or just doesn't care about other cases.

 

[EugW]

I'm unable to keep wired mice connected to my Apple Studio Mac using Monterey v12.4. They work for an hour or so, then either completely disconnect, or behave like a button is stuck depressed. I've only tried them using a USB-A plug going through Apple USB-C adaptors (tried 3 mice, and 3 Apple adaptors, all behave the same). My Magic Mouse works fine, but I really don't like Magic Mice, since they make webpages float around on me all time, and Apple seems to have optimized them for maximum click volume. I should add that unplugging and replugging the mice in doesn't really help. When this issue occurs, a reboot is required.

I also see the issue where external USB drives take forever to mount.

This really feels like a USB bus power issue, since it's affecting so many different USB devices.

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't dealt with this yet, but I probably shouldn't be. They seem to care less and less each year about bug fixes that don't affect absolutely everyone. In this case, Apple expects users to use their wireless mice or track pads and isn't extensively testing other cases or just doesn't care about other cases.

Are you going through any hubs?

 

[Sarpent]

Are you going through any hubs?

No, just an Apple USB-C to USB-A adaptor (the mice are USB-A). I do have a USB Hub, but it doesn't work and has never worked with this Apple Studio Mac.

I should add that plugging my mice into the Apple Studio Display instead of the Studio Mac doesn't work any better.

 

[MauiPa]

I'm unable to keep wired mice connected to my Apple Studio Mac using Monterey v12.4. They work for an hour or so, then either completely disconnect, or behave like a button is stuck depressed. I've only tried them using a USB-A plug going through Apple USB-C adaptors (tried 3 mice, and 3 Apple adaptors, all behave the same). My Magic Mouse works fine, but I really don't like Magic Mice, since they make webpages float around on me all time, and Apple seems to have optimized them for maximum click volume. I should add that unplugging and replugging the mice in doesn't really help. When this issue occurs, a reboot is required.

I also see the issue where external USB drives take forever to mount.

This really feels like a USB bus power issue, since it's affecting so many different USB devices.

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't dealt with this yet, but I probably shouldn't be. They seem to care less and less each year about bug fixes that don't affect absolutely everyone. In this case, Apple expects users to use their wireless mice or track pads and isn't extensively testing other cases or just doesn't care about other cases.

ventura is working fine. USB drives were fine when I was on Monterey. I bought some stupid flat connecter to USB-c cables and no problems at all. In fact the write speeds have been improved (or just my imagination). I have a USB-c hub ( a cable creation - not the best) it is sometimes wonky like it would forget how to turn on an old Samsung HDMI monitor after booting (but hey, adapter or display?), but an HDMI to usbC cable would work fine. Not had that problem on Ventura

 

[gank41]

I also see the issue where external USB drives take forever to mount.

This really feels like a USB bus power issue, since it's affecting so many different USB devices.

I've recently resorted to NOT using my Belkin USB-C Hub and have not using my MBP docked at all because of issues like this. Even when I bypass the hub and connect my relatively new WD Passport USB-C external drive, it takes upwards of 4-5 full minutes before it mounts. It's just a Time Machine drive.

Also adding that I AM using the Belkin hub along with all of the other devices I had connected, but with my 2018 Intel Mac mini, and all drives mount almost immediately after logging in. No hiccups with connected USB peripherals or anything. Definitely seems like something related to the M1/M2 Apple Silicon Macs.

 

[WinterWolf90]

I wonder if Ventura has the same problems.

 

[MallardDuck]

I've recently resorted to NOT using my Belkin USB-C Hub and have not using my MBP docked at all because of issues like this. Even when I bypass the hub and connect my relatively new WD Passport USB-C external drive, it takes upwards of 4-5 full minutes before it mounts. It's just a Time Machine drive.

Also adding that I AM using the Belkin hub along with all of the other devices I had connected, but with my 2018 Intel Mac mini, and all drives mount almost immediately after logging in. No hiccups with connected USB peripherals or anything. Definitely seems like something related to the M1/M2 Apple Silicon Macs.

I've narrowed things down two to sets of problems: hubs and formats.

I had to dump all my USB 3.x hubs - not one worked reliably, even though they had for years on intel machines up to Big Sur. I've switched over to CalDigit Element hubs and that solved most of the stability issues (and to be fair, boosted performance too). I confirmed this is a monterey issue because my m1 mini worked fine on big sur, and completely failed after upgrading...until I replaced the hub.

However, that doesn't solve the 'take forever to mount drives' issue. That I've narrowed down to encrypted APFS format drives. SSD's take 5-30 seconds to mount, and spinning disks can take up to a minute - 10x for unencrypted drives. That's each. In serial. So it can take 5-10 minutes to boot my computer and remount everything depending on what's connected - party like it's 1984!

HPFS+ encrypted disks do not have the issue. APFS unencrypted drives don't have it either. So something changed in how APFS is handling encrypted drives in Monterey because this is did not happen on Big Sur.

And of course, Apple in their infinite wisdom removed the encrypted HPFS+ option in disk utility, so we can't easily create encrypted disks that mount quickly (yes I know you can do it from the command line, but that's painful and beyond most users. likewise, doing it after formatting from finder isn't the same either).

They need to either fix APFS or restore the encrypted option in disk utility. Bonus points if they turn on encryption for RAID volumes at the same time.

 

[gank41]

I've narrowed things down two to sets of problems: hubs and formats.

I had to dump all my USB 3.x hubs - not one worked reliably, even though they had for years on intel machines up to Big Sur. I've switched over to CalDigit Element hubs and that solved most of the stability issues (and to be fair, boosted performance too). I confirmed this is a monterey issue because my m1 mini worked fine on big sur, and completely failed after upgrading...until I replaced the hub.

However, that doesn't solve the 'take forever to mount drives' issue. That I've narrowed down to encrypted APFS format drives. SSD's take 5-30 seconds to mount, and spinning disks can take up to a minute - 10x for unencrypted drives. That's each. In serial. So it can take 5-10 minutes to boot my computer and remount everything depending on what's connected - party like it's 1984!

HPFS+ encrypted disks do not have the issue. APFS unencrypted drives don't have it either. So something changed in how APFS is handling encrypted drives in Monterey because this is did not happen on Big Sur.

And of course, Apple in their infinite wisdom removed the encrypted HPFS+ option in disk utility, so we can't easily create encrypted disks that mount quickly (yes I know you can do it from the command line, but that's painful and beyond most users. likewise, doing it after formatting from finder isn't the same either).

They need to either fix APFS or restore the encrypted option in disk utility. Bonus points if they turn on encryption for RAID volumes at the same time.

I’d like to add, as for Apple needing to fix this, that I’ve got a small Totu Hub that I use to only connect two Time Machine drives (one WD Passport that needs power, and a Seagate External drive that DOES have power) along with a USB installer of macOS 13, and everything is faster on Ventura as opposed to Monterey.

From what I can gather, it seems to be related to what you indicated with encrypted APFS drives, and power management. Sometimes it takes longer to remount drives that shouldn’t have been ejected in the first place, than it does to just mount them initially. And I didn’t see these issues with Big Sur on my same M1 MBP.