Thunderbolt Dock (Caldigit ts3+) stopped working on right side 16in MBP

[TexAgDino]

I am not sure when it happened exactly but before my employer went "work from home" I used to be able to connect my Caldigit dock to the right side so I can run my drives and dual monitors. No problem since February until mid to late March. Got back into the office this last week finally and it no longer works. It works fine from the left side ports. Usb drives work on the right side, but I don't know what speed they are working at. Is there a way to see the speed if I plug in a ssd drive and try to transfer some files over? I reset the smc and nvram per apple's instructions and no change. The dock firmware is up to date and so is my computer. Is it a bad thunderbolt controller? The genius bars in my state are all closed indefinitely still so I can't have them diagnose and I cannot send in my computer for 2 or more weeks right now. Any ideas? Sorry if this was already posted somewhere I did try to search for similar issues before posting. Computer is a 2019 Macbook Pro 16in with 8GB 5500M.*edit: I forgot to add that I get a flashing blue light on the dock when plugged into the right side ports and a solid blue on the leftside if that helps*

 

[Jochheim]

Can not help with the problem per se but you can test transfer speeds with "Blackmagic disk speed test". But you have to select the drive you want to test (with the gearwheel-symbol).

 

[TexAgDino]

Can not help with the problem per se but you can test transfer speeds with "Blackmagic disk speed test". But you have to select the drive you want to test (with the gearwheel-symbol).

Ok, I will look into that. Thanks

 

[oemmeo]

I am having the exact same problem with my MBP16 and Caldigit TS3 Plus. The Dock stopped working on both thunderbolt ports on the right hand side of my MacBook Pro. I have a second dock from another company that will also not run on the right hand side ports. All is fine on the left side. The weird thing is that a usual USB drive (SSD) will work on the right side, although it takes unusually long until the drive is mounted.

So I was wondering whether you found a solution for this problem?

 

[TexAgDino]

I am having the exact same problem with my MBP16 and Caldigit TS3 Plus. The Dock stopped working on both thunderbolt ports on the right hand side of my MacBook Pro. I have a second dock from another company that will also not run on the right hand side ports. All is fine on the left side. The weird thing is that a usual USB drive (SSD) will work on the right side, although it takes unusually long until the drive is mounted.

So I was wondering whether you found a solution for this problem?

The apple stores opened up finally but I havent had the opportunity to get it checked (I didn't want to deal with the mail in). Im sure it will be a week repair though as is everything with these machines. My family member needed a computer so they are using it but they don’t use the dock so no issues for them. I have a slightly higher specked version of the 16in now which is working fine. I still suspect a thunderbolt controller either hardware problem or it needs a software flash that the smc reset doesn’t do. I think this is also why the speeds are lower as it probably is settled on 5 or 10gb/s usb 3 speeds rather than the 40gb/s that thunderbolt allows. I never tried the Blackmagic speed test mentioned above maybe you should try to see what speeds your drive is actually running.

 

[oemmeo]

The apple stores opened up finally but I havent had the opportunity to get it checked (I didn't want to deal with the mail in). Im sure it will be a week repair though as is everything with these machines. My family member needed a computer so they are using it but they don’t use the dock so no issues for them. I have a slightly higher specked version of the 16in now which is working fine. I still suspect a thunderbolt controller either hardware problem or it needs a software flash that the smc reset doesn’t do. I think this is also why the speeds are lower as it probably is settled on 5 or 10gb/s usb 3 speeds rather than the 40gb/s that thunderbolt allows. I never tried the Blackmagic speed test mentioned above maybe you should try to see what speeds your drive is actually running.

Thanks for the swift reply. I don't think a speed test will help me in any way. I need to get these ports back running as expected otherwise I cannot work with the computer. To connect all the devices I need I am using two TB docks and I also need both sides working to be able to work with 2 displays. I tried a SMC and NVRAM reset already, but that didn't help. So I guess I'll also have to take it to a store and have it checked. Now I am really relieved that I went for AppleCare+ back then, the machine is now 1 year and 30 days old. Almost feels like a built in kill switch - your warranty is over let's trash the machine with some stupid malfunction.

 

[TexAgDino]

Thanks for the swift reply. I don't think a speed test will help me in any way. I need to get these ports back running as expected otherwise I cannot work with the computer. To connect all the devices I need I am using two TB docks and I also need both sides working to be able to work with 2 displays. I tried a SMC and NVRAM reset already, but that didn't help. So I guess I'll also have to take it to a store and have it checked. Now I am really relieved that I went for AppleCare+ back then, the machine is now 1 year and 30 days old. Almost feels like a built in kill switch - your warranty is over let's trash the machine with some stupid malfunction.

 

[TexAgDino]

Yeah I understand. You definitely need both thunderbolt channels. It seems every mac lately I have had or within the family has had issues. Last one would not let me boot after a wipe to ready for sale. At least the next buyer got a new motherboard lol. My 2012 was 4 solid years of awesome though. Need the applecare + these days for sure.