USBC-SATA-V not recognizable with "invalid configuration descriptor" after drive spin-down

I have a brand-new USBC-SATA-V that returns the error message “invalid configuration descriptor” in Device Manager upon any attempt to connect the dock or any drive in it after the drive goes into a power-down state.

The dock and drives work fine for the FIRST connection to the system, but if the dock goes into power mode, the drive disappears from the system and ONLY THE DRIVE letter disappears from the Task Manager entry for the drive on the “Performance” tab and the above error appears in Device Manager.

Removing and replacing the HDD yields the above error in Device Manager.
Power-cycling the dock via the rear on/off switch does the same.
Unplugging everything and plugging in just the dock does the same.
Deleting the entry in Device Manager and re-scanning to detect the dock does the same.

There is nothing that can revive the dock beyond full cold reboot, which is a condition I WILL NOT ENDURE.

Before I return this dock as defective… please tell me what else I can do to remedy this situation.

Windows 10 Home 64-bit with 64GB RAM
USB 3.1 Gen 2 via built-in port on rear of Asus X99 TUF motherboard
Using provided USB-A to USB-C cable
Occurs on both HDDs used so far: HGST CoolsSpin 4TB and WD 4TB Green (SMART on both drives show no errors, and the HGST was formatted via the dock)

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out to us, I am sorry this is not working as expected.

Thank you for the detailed description of the error and your troubleshooting. This is not the normal operation of the USB-C Hard Drive Dock. Based on your description, it sound like this could be a faulty docking station or a software problem in Windows. Is it possible to test this docking station with another computer to see if the error is persistent across multiple systems or localized to this specific computer?

Additionally, does power-cycling the docking station while the drive is still detected start this behavior or does the drive have to automatically spin down before becoming disconnected? Does the drive fail to detect when using the USB-C to USB-C cable, the USB-A to USB-C cable or both ( if USB-C is supported on your system )?

Please let me know your Amazon Order ID ( available from Amazon.com/orders ) for the original purchase of this adapter. If you prefer to email this to me directly, please send an email to “support@plugable.com” with the subject line “Ticket #239249 - Attention Pat” and I can get a warranty replacement started if the docking station is behaving the same on another system.

Thank you for working with us to get this resolved.

To answer your questions:

• I have another computer (a Windows 8.1 ultrabook) that I can test it with. I’ll do that today.
• If I use the “remove USB device” systray option, I can switch hard drives without error, so long as it hasn’t gone into “power-down” mode… after which no drive shows up and placing a new drive in the dock lights up the light then goes dark permanently with no exposure of the drive to the system.
• I don’t have any other USB-C devices, so the USB-A to USB-C cable is the only one I can use. I DID get a second cable for use with the laptop, so I will also test that after-market USB-A to USB-C cable (made by Inateck).
• After I test the issue on another computer, I’ll reply with the results. Hopefully it’s a system setting issue that can be resolved without having to affect an RMA.

Thanks for your speedy reply!

Hello,

We’re closing this thread due to inactivity, but if you have any further questions please feel free to contact support@plugable.com and we’ll be happy to help.

Thanks,