Random kernel panics in macOS

[eysun]

I am experiencing kernel panics with this dock on my 16 inch MacBook Pro in latest Catalina release. Has there been any reports of this? Is there a firmware update for the dock that I can use?

[Mitchell]

Hi @eysun,

Thanks for posting!

Not good to hear. This isn’t something that has been reported before nor seen with our MacBook Pro 16" system in our test labs (but if anyone else is seeing kernel panics, please reach out). That said, our MBP 16" is running macOS Big Sur, so that could be a factor.

A couple questions for you to better isolate the root cause:

1. You mention “random” kernel panics. Does that mean that while the dock is connected, you will randomly crash? Can you estimate the frequency (once per hour, etc.) or is it too sporadic?
2. Can you provide a brief list of everything connected to the TBT3-UDC3 docking station?

Thank you for giving us a chance to help!

Mitchell

[eysun]

Hey @Mitchell,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I mentioned random as it doesn’t seem to be reproducible all the time following the same steps. I experienced a few panics in the beginning of using the dock when I was trying to resolve an issue with my dual monitor setup (see the other thread). This happened when I tried connecting an HDMI cable (almost immediately after connection). I suspect it could have been due to the issue of frame rate discrepancy in the other thread.

I have already solved my monitor issues. But the last panic happened when I connected the thunderbolt cable to my “asleep” Mac and was waiting for it to wake up and for the monitors to start display. After the restart, everything seems to be working just fine!

As for the devices connected:

• two Acer V277U monitors through HDMI and DisplayPort.
• a Logitech unifying device wireless USB dongle
• a standard stereo headphone
• An ethernet network line

I also have a apple wireless keyboard paired with my Mac.

Thanks for the help and looking forward to solving this problem as I really like the product.

[Mitchell]

Thanks for the additional details.

Typically, it’s useful to rule out hardware by disconnecting everything connected to the dock to see if the kernel panic occurs when just the dock is connected, but your listed peripherals are definitely not out of the ordinary.

At this point, I’d like to request some logs from your system to better investigate further. Please keep the dock connected to your MacBook Pro, then navigate to our PlugDebug tool and follow the instructions there.

Please send the log file to us directly at support@plugable.com with the subject line “Ticket #328501” to match up the details to this post.

Thanks for your patience while we work to help!

Mitchell