MBP no longer works with TBT3-UDV several hours after adding new USB-C hard drive to dock

I have a 2016 MBP and have had the TBT3-UDV for just over a year, mostly has worked great. But just last night I connected a new (DC powered) external hard drive to my TBT3-UDV via the top USB-C port. The drive came up on my Macbook and I started transferring some files to it. Then this morning, I notice on the screen this new drive has been improperly ejected… no big deal, happens often. So as usual I unplug the thunderbolt cable from the TBT3-UDV to my Macbook and plug it back in. Nothing! It’s not even charging. I unplugged the power from the TBT3-UDV, I re-started my Macbook, I disconnected the new hard drive, I tried a different port on the MBP (though I verified the original port is working)… but still no luck getting the MBP communicate with the Plugable device. Green light is on the tower, but never the blue now.

I also ran the Plugable debug tool, but prefer not to send the logs, as just a quick glance at the files reveals it collects unnecessary information, like my Apple Pay serial number (huh?). Any other tips I can try to fix this?

EDIT: I just tried a new order of operations. I kept the thunderbolt cable connected from the TBT3 to the Macbook as I unplugged the power from the TBT3 and plugged it back in. The blue light is back and I’m back in action! Any thoughts on why this happened? Coincidence with the new hard drive? Or an issue that has come up in the past?

Hello Katlis,

Due to the weekend our support is somewhat limited. One of our experts should be able to follow up with you on Monday.

Thanks for your patience until we can assist further.

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for posting! I was sorry to hear about the original frustration, however I am glad that you were able to resolve the issue and appreciate the follow-up post. I thank you as well for the excellent detail you provided throughout that is much appreciated.

To your question, unfortunately we cannot be sure of the cause of the behavior based on the description alone so as result we are unable to explain it. When unexpected behavior occurs, the best practice is to completely reset the dock and the host system to help ensure both are in a good state. Our procedure for doing so is similar to what you describe having done already:

  1. Disconnect the dock’s Thunderbolt 3 cable from both the back of the dock and the system, and disconnect the dock’s power cable so it turns off completely.

  2. Shutdown the laptop completely (do not just restart).

  3. Power on the laptop and login.

  4. Reconnect the power cable to the dock, and you should see a solid green light on the front of the unit. Then reconnect the Thunderbolt 3 cable to both the dock and the laptop and you should see a solid blue connection light.

Should you encounter any problems in the future and the above procedure not help, please send us a direct email to support@plugable.com with your Amazon Order ID number and the output of our PlugDebug utility → https://plugable.com/support/plugdebug and we will be happy to assist (please do not post this information within our public forum).

In regard to the information that PlugDebug gathers, we do our best to describe these details on the utility’s download page. The main component of which is the Apple ‘System Report’ which is available by clicking on the Apple Menu → ‘About this Mac’ → ‘System Report…’ The Apple ‘System Report’ does include the system’s serial number, however to the best of our knowledge it does not include any account information for Apple’s online services. Plugable does not share information provided in PlugDebug with any 3rd-party, it is only used for troubleshooting purposes.

Thank you,

Bob
Plugable Technologies

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