macOS Monterey Users Report Connectivity Issues With USB Hubs

[Cave Man]

Well, I am having a problem with my WavLink 7 port USB3 hub and my M1 Mac mini. I thought it was the hub but now that I see this thread I suspect it's the Monterey problem. I sure hope Apple fixes this soon. It's ridiculous that it was noted in the betas last summer yet Apple did not fix it before Monterey's release.

 

[datacenter]

If you need to do this, do it before you switch to an M1. The updater only runs on intel!

and FWIW, it takes a while between prompts...be patient

I was already on the new M1 Pro.. The updater did run on the M1 , it did take awhile and it asked me to reboot the hub, it eventually it worked but there was dialog boxes saying to "update" and I wouldnt receive a message it completed.. weird..

Everything has been working fine so far..

 

[MallardDuck]

When your new M1 Max tries to run Monterey:

 

[ISKOTB]

+1
After the Monterey update, my external USB/C SSD would not mount at all!?

 

[Kwl147]

He didn’t say anything about intel or Apple silicon… he said he usually waits until the x.2 update before updating his system. Everyone is aware it’s a Monterey issue.

Tbh I wouldn’t recommend any new software from Apple until at least the .4/.5 version and that’s if they really need a feature from that new software otherwise stick with what came with your device because Apple QA with software is through the floor in how bad it’s been and gotten. This ridiculous yearly schedule is putting too much pressure on their team and huge mistakes are being made. It’s sullying Apple’s name. I would say the same for iOS as well. Two to three year cycles would be optimal and meaningful for consumers.

And if you do update, be sure to factory reset so no bugs are carried over and you get the best experience with that new software.

 

[rpetersonca]

USBC ports on my LG Ultrafine monitors are not working... I have a new 14" MBP that ship with Monterey. Can I install Big Sur on these? Does anyone know?

 

[Jochheim]

USBC ports on my LG Ultrafine monitors are not working... I have a new 14" MBP that ship with Monterey. Can I install Big Sur on these? Does anyone know?

No chance, sadly.

 

[twistedpixel8]

Tbh I wouldn’t recommend any new software from Apple until at least the .4/.5 version and that’s if they really need a feature from that new software otherwise stick with what came with your device because Apple QA with software is through the floor in how bad it’s been and gotten. This ridiculous yearly schedule is putting too much pressure on their team and huge mistakes are being made. It’s sullying Apple’s name. I would say the same for iOS as well. Two to three year cycles would be optimal and meaningful for consumers.

And if you do update, be sure to factory reset so no bugs are carried over and you get the best experience with that new software.

Completely agree. HomePod software 15 has rendered HomeKit borderline unusable. Most of my automations don’t work. When asked to set a scene, Siri does it instantly and then starts going, “hmm, still working… just a sec…” every single time. I now just get my phone out and do it myself.

Really glad I wasted money on those pointless orbs to make HomeKit “better”…

 

[Spanther]

And if you do update, be sure to factory reset so no bugs are carried over and you get the best experience with that new software.

This can not be stated enough. Start fresh or bad stuff is way more likely happen.

 

[twistedpixel8]

This can not be stated enough. Start fresh or bad stuff is way more likely happen.

Do you mean like a fresh install and then restore your data from iCloud? I can’t imagine literally starting from scratch and then adding all my data manually for every update…

 

[sirozha]

USBC ports on my LG Ultrafine monitors are not working... I have a new 14" MBP that ship with Monterey. Can I install Big Sur on these? Does anyone know?

You can try.

 

[sirozha]

This can not be stated enough. Start fresh or bad stuff is way more likely happen.

Have been a Mac user since 2008. Never started from scratch. Never have any issues that can’t be corrected by in update. This is simply an urban legend.

 

[dmfresco]

I received my 14" MBP and it works fine with two different Anker USB hubs with an external display attached via HDMI, external camera attached via USB and printer attached via USB. And it charges fine via USB-C or Magsafe.

 

[Spanther]

Have been a Mac user since 2008. Never started from scratch. Never have any issues that can’t be corrected by in update. This is simply an urban legend.

^ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE ALERT^

Sometimes deep-cleaning the bathroom with bleach is necessary even if it gets cleaned with soap from time to time.

Lots of bugs can linger in and manifest in ways that were never able to tested during OS development. This is especially true if updating hardware that is increasingly teetering on becoming a legacy device.

 

[Spanther]

Do you mean like a fresh install and then restore your data from iCloud? I can’t imagine literally starting from scratch and then adding all my data manually for every update…

Do whatever is feasible to you. If you start having weird problems then go down this route.

 

[jv_oz]

I have dual 4k Samsung monitors that were working beautifully on Big Sur. Both connected to a Satechi dual HDMI dongle that uses two USB C ports. Monterey has killed it. Now whenever both are connected, my Mac crashes.

I have done PRAM reset and reinstalled the OS, but nothing yet fixes it.

 

[MallardDuck]

So a bit more data. Mounting encrypted drives takes *forever*, and is substantially longer than unencrypted ones. For ones in the keychain, it's a bit faster, but if you have to enter the password, that screen stays up (and disabled) for 15-30 seconds per drive.

Enumeration takes vastly longer than my intel/2019. Like seconds for that one and multiple minutes for the M1 Max. I can't sure sure if it's an M1 or Monterey issue, but I don't recall the delays with 12.0, just with 12.0.1 (and 12.1 doesn't fix it).

The one thing I simply cannot do is erase/format a USB drive. It just never completes. Taking the failed drive to an older intel machine erases in a few seconds.

There is absolutely something wrong with the USB subsystem. Hope to heck it's not hardware....

 

[gank41]

So a bit more data. Mounting encrypted drives takes *forever*, and is substantially longer than unencrypted ones. For ones in the keychain, it's a bit faster, but if you have to enter the password, that screen stays up (and disabled) for 15-30 seconds per drive.

Enumeration takes vastly longer than my intel/2019. Like seconds for that one and multiple minutes for the M1 Max. I can't sure sure if it's an M1 or Monterey issue, but I don't recall the delays with 12.0, just with 12.0.1 (and 12.1 doesn't fix it).

The one thing I simply cannot do is erase/format a USB drive. It just never completes. Taking the failed drive to an older intel machine erases in a few seconds.

There is absolutely something wrong with the USB subsystem. Hope to heck it's not hardware....

I’m finding that even encrypted drive’s saved passwords and not being saved, and drives not getting mounted. I’m having to mount some drives manually after every reboot.

 

[Kingkangkong]

I found a temporary solution for external monitors to work through the usb-c ports:

1. Remove power usb-c cable from the mac
2. Plug in the external monitor in any of the usb-c ports
3. After it connects, plug the power cable back in

Not able to get an external hub to work this way though...

I use :
Model Name: MacBook Pro (late 2018)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1
Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i9

 

[alexqndr]

A brand-new USB-C to Ethernet adapter branded Uni, caused my M1 Max Mac to brutally and suddenly restart. This is worrying, so I returned it immediately. My old and trusted QAQOC dongle is working flawlessly on the other hand.

 

[ojobson]

Think I have found a work around

Looks like anything other than a USB 3.1 (USB-C) or 3.0 (type-A) Gen1 cable just won't work properly. Even the Gen2 cable that dell supplied with my U3219Q monitor results in the built in Hub only running at USB 2.0 speeds. But, with a gen1 cable it runs at its full 5Gbps speed.

Have found this out by buying and swaping out a load of cables between my MacBook Pro M1 my dock, display and devices.

Check out the USB section of System Report to understand what speed your Hubs and Devices are running at when connected.

 

[WebHead]

Think I have found a work around

Looks like anything other than a USB 3.1 (USB-C) or 3.0 (type-A) Gen1 cable just won't work properly. Even the Gen2 cable that dell supplied with my U3219Q monitor results in the built in Hub only running at USB 2.0 speeds. But, with a gen1 cable it runs at its full 5Gbps speed.

Have found this out by buying and swaping out a load of cables between my MacBook Pro M1 my dock, display and devices.

Check out the USB section of System Report to understand what speed your Hubs and Devices are running at when connected.

Thanks for the update, might give it a try. Of the two USB 3 external drives I've tried, one connects fine with the default cable and one either doesn't connect at all, or doesn't stay connected, depending on the cable.

I'm hoping there's only a risk of data corruption if it disconnects while writing, not reading.

P.S. The drive I'm having trouble with is USB-C to USB 3. Have tried three cables so far, all power up the the HD but only one will connect (and only intermittently).

 

[haddy]

I’ve read this a lot… question is though, if everyone were to take this advice, no one would ever update… no one would find bugs and there wouldn’t be any updates…

Okay Apples word is "upgrade". I have come to the realisation that I should stay on the OS that my machines have come with. In this case 10.15.7. which works just fine....no problems on my 2020 27" iMac. And there have been many "updates" for 10.15.7. Apple calls them "security updates".
This machine will stay with Catalina.

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

Yes. I've had issues with my USB-C ethernet adapter randomly not being recognized at all when plugged in. Other times, it will work.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Lol, turns out my USB-C hubs were not effected, what was effected was one of my USB Flash drives.
It will NOT work on any Monterey Mac, M1 or Intel.

I thought the drive was dead but I plugged it on a PC, worked fine. After formatting it in different ways I tried on an older Mac and it worked just fine.
It’s not the file system either, it won’t even show up on System Report. When I plug it in I see activity on the console like USB device added USBIODevice or something like that but it won’t show up anywhere.