Mac Studio not seeing dock when I plug it in after external disk drives

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Level 1

18 points

Mac Studio not seeing dock when I plug it in after external disk drives

Hardware in question:

Mac Studio 2023 M2 Max 32 GB running Sequoia 15.3.1
External SSD: OWC Express 1M2 with 1 TB NVMe card installed - always mounted using one of the 4 Thunderbolt ports on back - this is bus powered
External Drive Dock: OWC Drive Dock with two 3.5" SATA hard drives installed - connected to one of 3 available Thunderbolt ports on back - this is externally powered (has its own power source)
Dock: OWC Thunderbolt mini Dock (Thunderbolt 3) with 2 HDMI monitors connected to it and Ethernet cable connected to it - connected to another of the 3 available Thunderbolt port on back

So here is the issue: When I connect the External SATA Drive Dock to one of the 4 Thunderbolt ports on the back first and then connect the mini Dock to another port on the back the mini Dock is not recognized but when I do it the other way around all is good.

Why do I do this? Well I switch the mini Dock (with its monitor connections and Ethernet connection) between my Mac Studio and my MacBook Pro as I go back and forth between devices.

The External SATA hard Drive Dock are used for backup or archived files but I would like to keep them attached at all times.

Starting with everything attached and working if I detach the mini Dock and then plug it back in the Mac Studio does not connect to it (the monitors don't detect a signal and the Ethernet port on the dock does not light up). IF I eject the SATA hard Drive Dock (pushing the buttons on the Drive Dock itself since no monitor is attached) and unplug it and then plug in the mini Dock the monitors get a signal and the Ethernet lights up. Then I can plug the Drive Dock back in.

Any ideas as to why and a solution?

Mac Studio, macOS 15.3

Posted on May 29, 2025 7:28 AM

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Answer 1

May 31, 2025 12:30 PM in response to Barney-15E

Barney-15E wrote:

Does the drive dock use any sort of software?

The description of the OWC Drive Dock says that it is "USB-C and USB-A compatible", that it works with "Mac, Windows, iPadOS, ChromeOS, and Linux", and that it includes cables "for Plug and Play use".

Given all that, I'm guessing that the dock presents drives as USB Mass Storage devices – that there won't be separately-installed drivers.

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Answer 2

May 31, 2025 12:32 PM in response to David Dwight

if you are using 'that the displays light up' as your indication that the whole thing works, that could be problematic.

The Mac does not rely on Windows-like side-loaded "Drivers" which are actually packages of resolutions and settings for a specific display. Instead, it goes straight to the immutable source -- it asks the display itself.

To get a Mac display to become active, you need the Mac to query the display, and the display to answer with its name and capabilities. Otherwise, the display will not be shown as present, and no data will be sent to the display. "No signal detected" is generated by the DISPLAY, not by the Mac.

This query is only sent at certain times:

• at startup

• at wake from sleep — so momentarily sleeping and waking your Mac may work

• at insertion of the Mac-end of the display-cable, provided everything on that cable is ready-to-go

• hold the Option key while you click on the (Detect Display) button that will appear in Displays preferences (from another display)

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

120,342 points

May 31, 2025 12:39 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Servant of Cats wrote:

Barney-15E wrote:

Does the drive dock use any sort of software?

The description of the OWC Drive Dock says that it is "USB-C and USB-A compatible", that it works with "Mac, Windows, iPadOS, ChromeOS, and Linux", and that it includes cables "for Plug and Play use".

Given all that, I'm guessing that the dock presents drives as USB Mass Storage devices – that there won't be separately-installed drivers.

And… what happens in Safe Mode? The two questions do tend to be related, but in this case, not necessarily.

I also didn't ask you.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

120,342 points

May 31, 2025 11:36 AM in response to David Dwight

Does the drive dock use any sort of software?

A quick check is to start up in safe mode and see if you see the same problem while in safe mode.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

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Answer 5

May 31, 2025 12:23 PM in response to David Dwight

Given that the SSD and both docks are from OWC – and that they seem to be fairly knowledgeable about Macs – you may want to reach out to them.

Other World Computing – Customer Support

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