Thunderbolt display seems flakey

[glenthompson]

Configuration: 2015 Macbook Air connected to a Thunderbolt Display. Attached to the display is a CalDigit TS1 docking station. Two drives attached to the dock along with some other USB devices.

Started getting occasional notifications that the drives were disconnected with being properly ejected. Also the display would occasionally go blank for a fraction of a second. This often happened multiple times then settled down and didn't happen again for days.

Switched the drives to a powered USB hub so that the CalDigit was out of the mix. No more drive disconnects but the display would still flicker some. Moved the CalDigit to an iMac and hooked a drive to it. Ran it for a few days and no disconnect or other problems. CalDigit dock seems to be fine.

Currently have Thunderbolt Display disconnected from the Air but I reconnected the CalDigit direct to the Air with the two drives connected. Only been running this way for a few hours but no errors yet. Will continue this mode for a few days to see what happens. I think that rules out the Air's TB connector as a problem.

It's my thinking that the Thunderbolt Display is going bad - either a problem with the built-in connector or something internal. Any other ideas or tests I should try? Anybody else have problems like this?

 

[joevt]

MacBook Air 2015 only has one Thunderbolt 2 port?

The TS1 has two Thunderbolt ports? CalDigit website is down at the moment so I can't check.

If you suspect a problem with the Thunderbolt Display, then it should be at the end of the Thunderbolt chain. If the display flickers, switch the Thunderbolt 2 port on the Thunderbolt Display.

If you're using Big Sur, you should be able to connect an OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub to add 3 Thunderbolt 3 ports. This way, each Thunderbolt device will have its own port so that they don't need to be chained together. So if one device disconnects, it won't cause the other devices to disconnect (if the one device is not the hub). You'll need some Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapters and another Thunderbolt 2 cable. The hub also supports USB 3.1 gen 2 devices.

 

[glenthompson]

MacBook Air 2015 only has one Thunderbolt 2 port?

The TS1 has two Thunderbolt ports? CalDigit website is down at the moment so I can't check.

If you suspect a problem with the Thunderbolt Display, then it should be at the end of the Thunderbolt chain. If the display flickers, switch the Thunderbolt 2 port on the Thunderbolt Display.

If you're using Big Sur, you should be able to connect an OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub to add 3 Thunderbolt 3 ports. This way, each Thunderbolt device will have its own port so that they don't need to be chained together. So if one device disconnects, it won't cause the other devices to disconnect (if the one device is not the hub). You'll need some Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapters and another Thunderbolt 2 cable. The hub also supports USB 3.1 gen 2 devices.

Thanks for the help. That’s the one combination I didn’t try. Giving this configuration a try and we’ll see if problems pop up. Yes, the Air only has one port and it’s running Catalina. Don’t want to buy any more hubs until I upgrade the Air in the next year or so. The TB display has a combined TB cable and MagSafe power adapter so it was very convenient to use that. If the display has the problem and only occasionally flickers, I can deal with that a lot easier than having my backup drives disconnecting.

 

[helveta]

I've had problems sporadically for a couple years with my Apple Thunderbolt display randomly cutting out. It works fine for several months and then will start randomly cutting in and out. After a while it starts working fine again. I traced it down to an intermittent short in the thunderbolt cable which can't be replaced. I wrapped the caple in electrical tape and covered it with shrink wrap near the connector yesterday to try to keep it from bending too much. We'll see how that works.

 

[glenthompson]

After a few days running with the display as last in the chain, the drive disconnects have gone away. Display still cuts in and out on occasion but I can live with that. May try some shrink wrap on the connector end. When plugged into the MBA it has a noticeable bend since there only so much slack and the two cables are in opposite sides of the Air.

 

[wur10]

You probably have to replace the cable of the TB display. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Apple+...hunderbolt+&+MagSafe+Cable+Replacement/112355

 

[helveta]

After a few days running with the display as last in the chain, the drive disconnects have gone away. Display still cuts in and out on occasion but I can live with that. May try some shrink wrap on the connector end. When plugged into the MBA it has a noticeable bend since there only so much slack and the two cables are in opposite sides of the Air.

After using the shrinkwrap it worked fine for about a week and then its started cutting in and out again. I changed so that my MBA was plugged into the TB backup drive and then plugged the monitor into the drive and its working now. I'll see how long that lasts, but in the meantime I ordered a new LG 27"