Problems with Caldigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

[katastropoulos]

Hello, I bought the Mini PC TK11 als additional Windows Mini PC to my main setup which is a Macbook Pro 16" M2 which is connected to my two monitors and all external devices via a CalDigit TS4 dock.

My setup with the Macbook Pro and the dock works perfectly.

I want from time to time being able to not use the Macbook and MacOS but switch completely over to the MiniPC for WIndows development.

So when I connect my TK11 mini pc to my Caldigit TS4 dock via a thunderbolt 4 cable, my external peripherals like mouse and keyboard and webcam are recognized in WIndows 11. But there is no display output.

What must I do to let the TK11 mini pc display its video through the Caldigit TS4 to my external monitors which are connected via a) USB-C and the second monitor via DisplayPort?

Greetings Janni

[katastropoulos]

It is getting more and more strange.

I was getting disdappointed with the machine. I still had it connected to my Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 dock and my external devices like mouse, keyboard and 2 monitors via a thunderbolt 4 cable. The mouse and keyboard were detected and worked. The external monitors not!

So I used the machine the whole day with the dock and a separate Displayport cable from the mini pc directly to one of the monitors.

Then I unplugged the displayport cable from the mini pc while the thunerbolt 4 cable was still connected to the dock and suddenly my two external monitors via the Thunderbolt 4 cable sprung into life! I could work with the Caldigit TS4 dock and all devices including 2 Monitors via the Thunderbolt 4 cable, hooray!

But now in the evening I shut the machine down. Then I wanted to check some mails and restarted the machine. The result:

again 2 black dark monitors without image!!! I had to plug in a displayport to displayport from the mini pc to one of my monitors and no matter what I do, I cannot get it back to working with the 2 monitors via the thunderbolt 4 cable, grrrr!

This makes the machine unusable for me.

I checked the thunderbolt drivers and they are from Intel version 1.41.1134.0 from 2021-03-16 and they seem to be the most current drivers, I could not find later ones for Windows 11.

So, if I cannot find a solution for this problem, I will have to return the machine.

I also have the phenomenon that by connecting one monitor directly to the mini pc, it frequently loses its connection to the monitor and the screen turns black and the sound stops for 1-2 seconds. Connecting the mini-pc to the same monitor via displayport makes no problems.

I am very disappointed at the moment although I like the machine, it is fast and quiet when not under heavy load.

Greetings Janni

[barry777]

According to the relevant information I found.
This may be related to dock compatibility issues, it is recommended to download the latest dock related drivers;
Are you using an original HDMI cable to connect your monitor and have frequent problems?

[katastropoulos]

Hello Barry, there are no specific drivers for my Caldigit TS4 Dock: https://downloads.caldigit.com/
Only for Ethernet. Thunderbolt 4 drivers are supplied by Intel usually and I have the latest one installed.

Today things are working again. I started the mini-pc in the morning and it booted up and connected to both external monitors via the Caldigit TS4 dock.

But yesterday in the evening it did not. I had to do multiple reboots until it worked again and have a monitor connected to the machine directly in order to be able to see anything.

I tried when connecting the mini pc directly to my monitor the included short HDMI to HDMI cable and had multiple black screens and connection drops between the mini pc and the monitor. Via a display port to display port cable from the mini pc to the same monitor everything is fine.

When the Thunderbolt 4 connection works and I connect to my 2 external monitors (one via USB-C to USB-C on my first monitor) and to the second monitor with displayport from the dock to displayport on the second monitor the connection is stable and works very well.

I could live with the wonky HDMI connection because displayport is stable and Thunderbolt 4 also when Thunderbolt 4 wors correctly!

I will experiment some days with the mini pc. I like the machine a lot, it is very quiet and very smooth. I am using it this week for a Software Development Seminar with Teams Sharing, developing .NET APps in Microsoft Azure, it works fine!

But the not reliably working Thunderbolt 4 connection when I boot the mini pc sucks, this should not be.

I do not know what is keeping the mini pc and the CalDigit TS4 dock from communicating correctly when I boot the Mini PC up. External devices are recognized fine but not the monitors. The interesting thing is that my mouse and keyboard are connected to the first monitor which is connected via USB-C to USB-C to the Caldigit dock. So the mini-pc recognizes the mouse and keyboard connected to the monitor, but not the monitor display itself?

Maybe I have to install some newer beta drivers from Intel for the Intel Iris Xe graphics? My version is from 16.03.2023 - 31.0.101.4255

Greetings from Germany, Janni

[barry777]

Open https://downloads.caldigit.com/, find the relevant driver, and try to download and use it; Do you have any other computers with Windows 11 system? You can try this dock to test for compatibility issues.
There is a problem with connecting the TK11 to the display with an HDMI cable, try another HDMI or other display;
You can update the driver through setting-windows update and try again.

[katastropoulos]

Hello Barry, I think that you misread the Caldigit page. The driver that you mentioned is a special hotfix for a problem with the ethernet 2.5 GBit port on the device, this is not a thunderbolt 4 driver!

I am not having ethernet issues but external monitor issues.

I used at the Caldigit Ts4 successfully until today: Macbook Pro 2019 16" Intel, macbook Pro 16" M1, Macbook Pro 16" M2, Macbook Air M1, ThinkPad Extreme, ThinkPad 13, Dell Latitude 3410 and HP EliteBook 850 G4.

Greetings Janni

[barry777]

I'm checking with the manufacturer.

[barry777]

We tested the Thunderbolt 4 dock to work properly, the dock is: Anker PowerExpand 5-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Mini Dock, model: A8398;
There may be a problem with your device, it is recommended to contact an Amazon store service specialist.

[katastropoulos]

Hello Barry, thanks for the information. With "my device" you mean my TK11 Mini PC and not my Caldigit TS4 dock, right?
I am already in contact with someone called Roy via the German Amazon Store and I offered him to send a video of the problem which is not possible via Amazon becuase a video file can get very big.

So you think that the device has a problem? Does it have to be replaced, then?

Greetings Janni

[katastropoulos]

Interesting: today the Mini PC booted up connecting to one of my 2 monitors connected to the dock.
My setup: 2 monitors, mouse, keyboard and external hdd connected to a Caldigit TS4 dock. The Caldigit dock connected via Thunderbolt 4 cable to the Mini PC.

But because of the not correctly working Thunderbolt to monitor connection I also have the Mini Pc connected via HDMI to HDMI cable to one of the external monitors in order to being able to use them.

Tomorrow for unknown reasons the mini pc booted up and did not show to be connected via the hdmi to hdmi cable from the mini pc directly to one of my 2 external monitors. But instead it connected to the exactly same monitor via the thunderbolt dock which uses USB-C to usb-c cable to the same monitor!

But it only connected with 30Hz refresh rate instead of 60 and I cannot change it. Also the second monitor does not show up although it is also connected to the dock. This is very weird.

I will now send the device back.

Greetings Janni