UD-CAM no longer charging Macbook Pro 2017 - RESOLVED

USB Docking Stations UD-CAM
1

I purchased a UD-CAM from Amazon recently and have been using it with my Macbook Pro 2017 for about a month with no issues.

A few days ago my laptop started running extremely slowly and I realized that it was due to its battery being almost completely drained. When I looked at the battery display icon it did show the lightning bolt through the battery icon insinuating that it was charging, but when I clicked on the icon the dropdown said that it was not charging. I pulled the USB-C cable (the one that came with the docking station) out of the port on the laptop and reinserted it, but that didn’t change anything. I moved it to the other port and it began to charge the laptop. I thought that was odd, but figured I would just use that port going forward.

Then yesterday, my peripheral monitor (HP 22cwa) started losing connection with the laptop and then popping back in, mimicing the behavior of me unplugging the cable and reinserting it. It happened a couple of times, but never remained offline for more than a couple seconds. This was in the second port of the laptop.

Later that evening, the computer slowed down because the battery had drained again, still while plugged in, and still showing the charging icon, but again stating that it was not charging when I clicked on the drop-down menu. This time, I tried both ports with no success. When I plugged the laptop into the wall using the Apple-provided cord, it began charging immediately. I retained the Plugable cord in the other port in order to continue using the peripheral monitor, but the power was being drawn from the Apple cord.

I’m not sure what sort of trouble-shooting I can try here, but happy to do it and get this issue sorted out.

2

Hi Greg,

Thanks for posting!

I’d like to start by performing a power-cycle of the unit to reset its internal hub chipset. We’ve seen that this can often restore the dock back to a working state when one or more of its functions are not quite working. To do this, please follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect all USB peripherals connected to the dock
  2. Disconnect docking station from host machine, then disconnect the power adapter from power
  3. Leave unplugged for 1 minute for power to dissipate
  4. Connect docking station initially into power only
  5. Connect docking station to host machine, then connect USB peripherals and test for functionality

Please let me know if this helps at all and we can take the next steps from there.

Thanks for giving us a chance to help!

Mitchell

3

Hi Mitchell,

I followed the directions and it appeared to work at first, but then the icon switched from charging to not charging. What are the next steps?

Greg

4

Hi Greg,

Thanks for getting back to me.

To clarify, is only the charging switching in and out? What about the HDMI display?

Pending this clarification, I’d like to request some logs from your system to best investigate further. Could you please keep the Plugable UD-CAM connected to your system (with everything still attached), then navigate to our PlugDebug tool and follow the instructions there?

This will create a ZIP file on your Desktop containing system logs and information. Please send this ZIP file to us directly at support@plugable.com with the subject line: “Ticket #285798”

Additionally, could you please include the Amazon Order ID associated with the UD-CAM?

Thanks for your patience while we work to help!

Mitchell

5

At present, the display seems to be functioning, but I’ve got the Apple charging cord plugged into one port of the laptop and the UD-CAM plugged into the other.

I just unplugged the Apple cable and the display disconnected, but came back a few seconds later.

I am running the debugger and will email the information shortly.

6

You and I have been communicating offline, but now that the issue is resolved I wanted to post a solution here in case someone else runs into a similar problem.

In my case, I had accidentally switched the main power supply with a nearly identical one that powers my monitor, and it turned out that the trigger was when I plugged an iPhone into the front charging port of the UD-CAM unit. When I swapped the power cords back, there were no further issues.

Hopefully this helps someone else in the future.

Thanks Mitchell!
Greg

7

Hi Greg,

I appreciate your update here, and certainly glad that you were able to resolve the issue.

I’ll be closing this thread, but for any future questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to open another topic or reach out to us at support@plugable.com. We’re always here to help.

Best wishes,

Mitchell