A dock that wakes up reliably

What I would have done is tested it with an Android phone. My Samsung S26 Ultra allows me to connect to an external display via a USB C hub. So the test setup would be:

1. Plug the phone into hub.

2. Check that you get display output, the mouse and keyboard are working whilst the screen is not turned off and the phone is not locked.

3. Lock the screen and wait for the screen to turn off, thereby mimicking suspend.

4. Try to make the phone resume by using the attached keyboard and/or mouse.

If all goes well, the monitor should turn on after unlocking the phone or using the keyboard / mouse.

# Other things to try

Again try and reproduce the issue with a Samsung tablet that supports display out via USB C.

Connect the keyboard via Bluetooth and try to make the laptop resume. I found that connecting a Keychron keyboard via bluetooth allowed me to resume a Macbook Pro. I was kinda surprised that this worked.

Does the same issue occur on Linux as well?

I guess you could attach a USB packet type of debugger to ensure that data is being sent to the laptop by attaching the debugger to the cable that connects to the host machine. If you see USB traffic when the monitor goes to sleep and you are pressing keys in the keyboard and the dock still has power that means the dock is working fine so you can rule that out.

Please take this gently, but I did not really walk away from this post having gained anything. I don't have any problems with the post in isolation but I just don't feel it really offers enough weight to be here if that makes sense.

I read a few of your other posts and your writing style is direct and pleasant in a way I appreciate. Thank you for actually writing things.

My experience with non-Apple Thunderbolt products has been pretty dicey across the board. My ASUS motherboard has a port and theoretically works with it but across several firmware, BIOS, and driver upgrades, I’ve never actually got it to successfully recognize my TS4 as a Thunderbolt device, only USB.

On a similar note, I still do not understand why I have to plug a USB Flash Drive into my Mac twice for it to mount.

I take modern USB-C Flash Drive, plug it into my Mac. Nothing. Take it out, plug it in again, and it mounts just fine.

Same with SD Cards.

I have no idea why this is, and I'm not sure if it's always been this way, but I can't remember a time when I didn't have to do this.

I think there's a solid case for someone to make a monitor with a working, built-in dock. I mean, many monitors already have USB-outs for keyboards and 2nd displays and such.

I think monitors are a sweet spot - they tend to stick around longer than computers, and docks really don't need to change a lot over time, at least now with thunderbolt out there. Fewer cables, too.

I like the idea of standalone docks, and I purchased a few, but none reliably worked for me.

I wish I could have submitted this entire thread as an exhibit to every commenter in the "Mac Pro Discontinued" thread from a few months ago telling me "jUsT uSe tHuNDeRbOLT!"

My Lenovo Thunderbolt 3 docks wakes up reliably, the problem is that it keeps randomly nodding off for a second or so causing the monitor to lose signal and have to sleep/wake itself.

It was nice to see one of Ronaldo Nazario's iconic moment on the wall.

I use two different docks. Dock 1 is a cheap chinese dock with some ports that worked (it has many ports). Dock 2 is hp g2 (an expensive dock). Occasionally the screen shuts off and resumes a second later in the dock 1. And resuming from sleep, the laptop doesn’t detect the keyboard. I figured it was until the laptop is fully up, I should not plug in the usb. On dock 2, the laptop goes to sleep and won’t turn back on from the keyboard until I press the power button.

I had the first generation Anker TB2 doc and that was the first time I ever saw them produce a product that was a dud.

They sent me a replacement and I had the same problems. Then found out it was a design problem not a manufacturing one. They could send me 10 more and they would still not wake up all the ports properly. I don't even recall now what series of ritual steps I took to wake it up. I think unplugging it completely from everything. Which is actually more cable wear than not having a dock.

Thunderbolt/USB-C protocols are basically at the edge of what's electrically possible. If you look at Ethernet equipment that's roughly in the same speed range and notice how much it costs, it's clear there are heavy tradeoffs with the consumer stuff.

I use a bunch of Lenovo Thunderbolt docks, with both Macbooks and Thinkpads. The older models go for as little as $20 used nowadays. I had to update the firmware on the really old ones, but after that they work flawlessly and let me connect 2x4k60 monitors.

Never thought it could be the monitor. I have an HP dock with an HP laptop for work and it's totally unreliable waking from sleep.

My chances of getting new monitors are slim in this climate but it's a new avenue of investigation at least.

Anyone know what that keyboard is?

Switching the monitor worked. Wonder if an HDMI dummy plug, a virtual monitor emulator, would have helped.

My OWC Thunderbolt Pro dock is still the most feature packed one with 10g and good heat dissipation

I just looked up who runs the Thunderbolt specification, and was surprised to see that it's owned by Intel. But Thunderbolt 4 was donated to the USB Implementers Forum so maybe that's why things are improving.

> ASUS ROG Swift (PG27UCDM)

any benefits in coding and reading hackernews

I hate to say but this thread gives me comfort that: a) it’s not just me, b) it’s not my particularly unfortunate combination of hardware, and c) I made the right call to permanently retire my Caldigit TS4 and rely on my Lenovo ultra-wide monitor’s ports.

Learning this lesson (on the unreliability of systems using a very expensive docks) cost me over $1200 in chopping and changing hardware in the last few years.

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