Unable to install my OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock. What am I doing wrong?

[transmaster]

I have the OWC Thunderbolt Dock, the 11 port model, all hooked up its Thunderbolt cable plugged into one of the Thunderbolt ports on the back or the Mac Studio. The Dock is all powered up but nothing I plug into any of it ports is seen on the Mac Studio, My iPhone only charges it does not hook up with the MS through the HUB. What am I missing.

 

[transmaster]

Called OWC support, excellent by the way. Turns out I had the cable from the MS plugged into the wrong place. The "front" 90W Thunderbolt plug were it was supposed to go. When the OWC logo on top turned blue I knew this Apple noob was fixed up. I am slowly chipping away at my noobist status. UPnP on the Windows side makes you lazy and hacker friendly.

What really irritates me I was looking for a simple "here is how you hook up an OWC dock" on YouTube all I could find is Influencer Bozo's taking 30 minutes unboxing one, Than for the next 15 minutes doing hosanna's in the highest.

 

[transmaster]

I am not happy with the OWC thunderbolt cable it does not fit very tight and easily slips out. Anker?

 

[BeatCrazy]

I am not happy with the OWC thunderbolt cable it does not fit very tight and easily slips out. Anker?

Swap ends of the cable with the Studio and the dock.

I prefer Cable Matters for TB4 cables.

 

[transmaster]

Swap ends of the cable with the Studio and the dock.

I prefer Cable Matters for TB4 cables.

I had already ordered three Anker TB4 cable, but on your recommendation I just ordered a Cable Matters TB4 we will find out which is better.

 

[Slartibart]

Do you allow accessories to connect?

 

[transmaster]

Do you allow accessories to connect?

OWC has a utility that covers this. OWC Dock Ejector. In order to enable this it takes you where you have to authorise the dock's to access these accessories. When I chatted with OWC support that was the first thing he had me load. After that it was just plugging the TB4 cable into the correct port. Looking back at the symbology on this port is makes sense what it is telling you looking at it from the otherside it was not clear, and as I said I could not find anything that simply told me were to plug this in to connect to my MS.

Basically plug your MacBook in here and you have 90 watts of charging power, plus the TB connection to the dock.

OWC Dock Ejector - Disconnect Devices Connected to your Dock

Easily and safely eject all storage devices connected to your OWC or Akitio dock, including SoftRAID and AppleRAID volumes.

www.owc.com

 

[Apple_Robert]

I never had to use the ejector option and never installed the software for it. You can eject as normal.

 

[transmaster]

I never had to use the ejector option and never installed the software for it. You can eject as normal.

When OWC support tells me to download OWC Dock Ejector, and it does not cost anything that is exactly what I did.

 

[transmaster]

The fit of the "Mickey Mouse" side of the power cord on this dock suck, it does not fit tightly and slips out easily. Same for the supplied Thunderbolt 4 cable. I have had loose fit issues with the USB "C" cable too. I have ordered replacements for both. This is not the first time I have run into this problem with the IEC 60320-C5 (Mickey Mouse) plug it is not a good design.

 

[sauria]

Is it working well for you now?

 

[transmaster]

Is it working well for you now?

Yes the new power cord fixed the problem. As I said I have run into this problem with this design before. A good quality aftermarket power cord always fixes the problem. The Anker thunderbolt cable also fixed the loose fitting OWC cable.

 

[sauria]

Yes the new power cord fixed the problem. As I said I have run into this problem with this design before. A good quality aftermarket power cord always fixes the problem. The Anker thunderbolt cable also fixed the loose fitting OWC cable.

Great to hear. Thanks for letting me know. I am about to set up one of these docks with a Studio Display.

 

[pransu]

Some docks/hubs have "host" or "computer" wording on the port that is supposed to be connected to the host computer.

CalDigits

Sonnet

I notice Satechi and Belkin are similar to OWC.

For TB4 cable, I've been using Satechi one. It's been working OK so far, no complain. And it's braided style which I prefer.

 

[transmaster]

Some docks/hubs have "host" or "computer" wording on the port that is supposed to be connected to the host computer.

CalDigits
View attachment 2328403

Sonnet
View attachment 2328404

I notice Satechi and Belkin are similar to OWC.
View attachment 2328405

For TB4 cable, I've been using Satechi one. It's been working OK so far, no complain. And it's braided style which I prefer.

That is exactly the problem I had at the beginning. I didn't understand the meaning of port description it was intended for people who are plugging in a laptop, 100 watts will power a MacBook.