Thunderbolt Dock Occasionaly Not Recognized by Computer

Thunderbolt TBT4-UDZ
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Summary
I have been experiencing issues with my thunderbolt dock. Sometimes, the dock stops working and the computer no longer recognizes any USB devices or monitors connected to it.

This happens around one time a week for me, but yesterday the steps I normally follow to fix it stopped working.

Hardware and Software info
Machine: ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo UX582HS
OS: Windows 11 Pro, build 22621.1413

Troubleshooting I have done
To troubleshoot problems, I have always followed the steps provided in a similar issue reported on a forum, which usually works. However, the displays remain undetected even after following the steps.

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I couldn’t include this bit because new users have limits on the number of media embeds they can have. I have swapped out the first two images for imgur links.
OEM Cable Rant
I am using the OEM cable provided with the doc because it seems to be the most reliable.
https://i.imgur.com/jghfjfB.jpeg
But it is designed to connect to the front of the dock, which makes it easier to accidentally knock the cable out with my chair.
https://i.imgur.com/SEAf4JC.jpeg

I would much prefer something that bent around 180 degrees so it could go with the rest of my cable management and I wouldn’t accidentally hit it.

Untitled
Untitled1920×924 71.9 KB

Commercial solutions like the one above disconnect easily when shifted slightly.

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Hello,

Thank you for contacting Plugable support! Sorry to hear about this issue. I’d be more than happy to assist you.

To confirm, does this issue still happen if you do not use the pictured 180 degree adapter?

I ask because the 180 degree adapter that is pictured is likely not compliant with Thunderbolt certification. (Most adapters like these are not even if they claim to be.) However, if you’re encountering this issue without the adapter using our provided cable then this would not be expected.

Unfortunately, we do not have a solution for the cable placement problems you’re encountering besides recommending to move the dock to a different location to prevent the cable from being bumped by your chair, rather than trying to replace the stock cable.

It’s also possible that if this cable has been bumped and knocked loose by your chair previously that the USB-C/Thunderbolt connection on either the cable end or the dock itself could have become damaged and may also be causing some of this instability if the connection is not secure.

Another item to check is if you are connecting your ASUS system to the stock 240 watt charger it shipped with? We have seen some issues with high power systems like this where the 98W the dock can provide over USB-C Power Delivery is ultimately not enough to successfully keep the system charged and powered under load which can sometimes cause issues connecting to the dock or the dock may be unstable. So if you are not using the stock ASUS charger I would also suggest to try connecting that to the system that and see if three are any improvements when attempting to use the dock.

If these suggestions have not helped, then next we will likely want to collect some system diagnostics to get a better idea of what’s going on. We have a troubleshooting tool that helps us find out what is going on in situations like this. Please plug the dock with your devices attached to it into your computer, then go to this page and follow the instructions there:

http://plugable.com/support/plugdebug

When emailing us the diagnostics results please mention ticket # 402914 in the subject line. Do not post them here!

Please don’t hesitate to let us know of other questions.

Thanks again for contacting Plugable support and best wishes!

Joshua Henry
Senior Engineer | Product Owner
Plugable Technologies

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