Thunderbolt link status

[Bravo3013]

Hello, I am troubleshooting a Thunderbolt connection from my mac to an external PCIe enclosure which houses a graphics card. My mac have trouble detecting this enclosure. When I connect the enclosure to my mac, nothing shows up in Systems Info, except the Link status on the Thunderbolt Bus which changes from 0x101 (when TB Enclosure is not connected) to 0x7 (when TB Enclosure is connected).

The setup can be illustrated like this:

Thunderbolt Enclosure <------> Apple Bi-Directional TB3>TB2 Adapter <-------> Apple 2m TB2 cable <--------> MacBook Pro 15" early 2011.

Question 1) What does the different Link statuses mean? (Could not find much info on this)
Question 2) Could there be a physical problem with my Thunderbolt port, and how can I confirm or disprove this?

 

[treekram]

On my 2014 Mini (TB2), there are 2 TB ports. When nothing is connected, both ports have a read link status 0x101. When a Thunderbolt disk is connected, the connected port has a link status of 0x2, the non-connected port has a link status of 0x7.

The 2011 MBP has a TB1 port. I wonder if that can be an issue. Check if your PCIe enclosure supports TB1. You might also want to contact Apple and see if the bi-directional feature of the adapter works with TB1->TB3.

There are a lot of reviews on Amazon where people say they bought a fake Apple 2m TB cable. The latest was from Dec. 2017 - most are from 2016. If you didn't get the cable from Apple, that maybe something to check.

 

[Bravo3013]

On my 2014 Mini (TB2), there are 2 TB ports. When nothing is connected, both ports have a read link status 0x101. When a Thunderbolt disk is connected, the connected port has a link status of 0x2, the non-connected port has a link status of 0x7.

The 2011 MBP has a TB1 port. I wonder if that can be an issue. Check if your PCIe enclosure supports TB1. You might also want to contact Apple and see if the bi-directional feature of the adapter works with TB1->TB3.

There are a lot of reviews on Amazon where people say they bought a fake Apple 2m TB cable. The latest was from Dec. 2017 - most are from 2016. If you didn't get the cable from Apple, that maybe something to check.

Thank you for your reply.

The enclosure only has one TB 3 port, so I cannot test it without using the adapter. The enclosure, 2m cable and the adapter were all bought from a trusted store, not directly from Apple though, so there could be a possibility that there is something wrong with the cables, even though they were just unboxed.

I believe the TB3>TB2 adapter works with TB1, as TB1 and TB2 are completely indentical interface wise. (Just like hdmi cables).

The problem is I don’t have any other Thunderbolt products lying around, so it’s hard for to conclude if the problem lies in the Mac itself, the cables or the enclosure. I probably have to take the items to a store and get them tested. I could also just buy a Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter and if it works then my Mac is fine.

Do you have any ideas of other ways I eventually could find out where the problem is?

 

[treekram]

You're going to have to test the components to see where the problem is.

Do you know someone who has a Mac with a TB3 (USB-C) port? You can test to see if the enclosure works (I presume the enclosure came with a TB3 cable). You can also test your computer, the cable and adapter by trying to see if target disk mode works.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462

If not, do you have or know somebody that has another Mac with a TB1 or TB2 capability? If so, you can test whether the cable and your computer works by testing target disk mode.

If not, if you can get to an Apple store, see if they will be willing to do the first test above.

Contact the PCIe enclosure manufacturer and see what they say about your configuration.

If the store you bought from is a more specialized shop (not a mass retailer), they may have technical support there as well.

 

[Bravo3013]

You're going to have to test the components to see where the problem is.

Do you know someone who has a Mac with a TB3 (USB-C) port? You can test to see if the enclosure works (I presume the enclosure came with a TB3 cable). You can also test your computer, the cable and adapter by trying to see if target disk mode works.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462

If not, do you have or know somebody that has another Mac with a TB1 or TB2 capability? If so, you can test whether the cable and your computer works by testing target disk mode.

If not, if you can get to an Apple store, see if they will be willing to do the first test above.

Contact the PCIe enclosure manufacturer and see what they say about your configuration.

If the store you bought from is a more specialized shop (not a mass retailer), they may have technical support there as well.

Thank you for replying. I am not able to check Target Disk mode now as I only have access to one mac unfortunately.
As I do not know about someone with TB1/2/3 Mac I will go to a Tech-store this Monday and see if they can check my cables. I have also sent a message to the enclosure manufacturer, might take 3-7 days before I get a reply.