Troubles docking and undocking Thunderbolt Display

[rpg51]

I am confused about the process to use when I dock my mac book air to my thunderbolt display in clamshell mode. I frequently find that after I connect one thing or another is not working and I end up shutting down and starting up again to get things working. It is becoming a real annoyance. I have read all the threads and links about clamshell mode etc.

My set up is as follows - My TBD has an ethernet cable connection to my home network router. I have a usb audio engine D1 attached to my TBD to run a set of external speakers. I have a wireless USB keyboard, (logitech K750). The keyboard usb receiver is plugged into my TBD. I have a wireless logitech mouse using the same usb receiver that is plugged into the TBD for the keyboard. I have an apple bluetooth external touch pad.

I have a 2011 macbook air that i connect to the TBD using the power and thunderbolt cable from the TBD. When I am not connected to the TBD I use a wireless connection to my network and the internet. Also, I do not use the external touch pad unless I am connected to the TBD. My habit before I try to dock my MacBook Air to the TBD is to set the MBA on my desk and make sure it is running with screen open in the normal fashion. Before I connect to the TBD I turn off the wireless connection from the Air and I turn on the Bluetooth connection and make sure the trackpad is connected. Next I plug in the TBD power cable to my MBA and then I plug in the Thunderbolt cable. I wait until the screen displays on the TBD. Then I shut the screen on the laptop and place it in its stand.

Just now I went through this process and when I was all done the keyboard and mouse were not working. The trackpad was working partially - i was able to move the pointer around the screen, but I could not execute anything by clicking or tapping in the normal fashion. I did a hard shut down using the laptop keyboard and rebooted. I went through what I thought was the exact same sequence and when it all booted up every thing works perfectly.

Is it necessary with this set up of mine that I shut down my air before I dock it every time? If so I'll just starting doing that - but it definitely would be better if I could dock my air without shutting it down first.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I should say that my habit when I undock is to turn the wireless connection back on and to turn the Bluetooth connection back off. Undocking is less troublesome but I am not 100% sure how best to do it so I tend to just shut the Air down before I undock because I know that will work.

 

[Outrigger]

I am confused about the process to use when I dock my mac book air to my thunderbolt display in clamshell mode. I frequently find that after I connect one thing or another is not working and I end up shutting down and starting up again to get things working. It is becoming a real annoyance. I have read all the threads and links about clamshell mode etc.

My set up is as follows - My TBD has an ethernet cable connection to my home network router. I have a usb audio engine D1 attached to my TBD to run a set of external speakers. I have a wireless USB keyboard, (logitech K750). The keyboard usb receiver is plugged into my TBD. I have a wireless logitech mouse using the same usb receiver that is plugged into the TBD for the keyboard. I have an apple bluetooth external touch pad.

I have a 2011 macbook air that i connect to the TBD using the power and thunderbolt cable from the TBD. When I am not connected to the TBD I use a wireless connection to my network and the internet. Also, I do not use the external touch pad unless I am connected to the TBD. My habit before I try to dock my MacBook Air to the TBD is to set the MBA on my desk and make sure it is running with screen open in the normal fashion. Before I connect to the TBD I turn off the wireless connection from the Air and I turn on the Bluetooth connection and make sure the trackpad is connected. Next I plug in the TBD power cable to my MBA and then I plug in the Thunderbolt cable. I wait until the screen displays on the TBD. Then I shut the screen on the laptop and place it in its stand.

Just now I went through this process and when I was all done the keyboard and mouse were not working. The trackpad was working partially - i was able to move the pointer around the screen, but I could not execute anything by clicking or tapping in the normal fashion. I did a hard shut down using the laptop keyboard and rebooted. I went through what I thought was the exact same sequence and when it all booted up every thing works perfectly.

Is it necessary with this set up of mine that I shut down my air before I dock it every time? If so I'll just starting doing that - but it definitely would be better if I could dock my air without shutting it down first.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I should say that my habit when I undock is to turn the wireless connection back on and to turn the Bluetooth connection back off. Undocking is less troublesome but I am not 100% sure how best to do it so I tend to just shut the Air down before I undock because I know that will work.

There is really no point in turning wifi on the air on and off since when you're connected via TB with the Gig-E, the air will use that connection even if the wifi is on. And there is also no point in turning bluetooth on and off when undocked. Not sure about your other issues, but having to reboot the air every time isn't normal.

 

[rpg51]

Why I turn off bluetooth when away from my desk

The problem is that if i leave blue tooth on my computer keeps connecting and disconnecting to my track pad because the other room where I use my MBA is just on the fringe of the bluetooth range.

Also, is there any reason not to turn off wifi when connected to my TBD? Any downside? I was have some problems with my scanner finding the file on my computer to scan to. Turning off the wifi seemed to help that issue.