# [Resolved] Blackmagic multidock crashes



## greenpiano (Jun 15, 2017)

Hello,

I've been using Blackmagic Multidock2 on 2013 macpro so far.

But suddenly freezing & crashing issue happened recently.

OS is Sierra 10.12.5.

I thought first it'd be because of OS version so I formatted and tested the dock on Mavericks. But the problem happened again.

As soon as I powered the multidock on, drive names are shown on desktop.

But the samples inside drives are not loaded and a few minutes later, the computer freezes and crashed suddenly.

It works only when I boot it up on SAFE MODE. No problem...

I pull 4xSSDs out and inserted it to USB 3.0 docking station and it works well.

I don't use approved SSDs by Blackmagic. I use 3 x sandisk Ultra2 and 1x Corsair.

An apple technician says it looks like there's something compatibility problem with OS & Multidock. I reported this error and it'll take 1-2 weeks for engineers to analyze it.

Is there anybody who experienced this? It's frustrating. I wasted whole day.

Any comments would be appreciated!

+addition
I did PRRAM reset and tested all 6x thunderbolt ports. But useless..


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## synthpunk (Jun 15, 2017)

Did you try a different Thunderbolt cable? Also be careful of third-party Thunderbolt cables.

I would email/call Blackmagic support they're usually quite quick and very good. Let us know how you make out.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support


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## greenpiano (Jun 15, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Did you try a different Thunderbolt cable? Also be careful of third-party Thunderbolt cables.
> 
> I would email/call Blackmagic support they're usually quite quick and very good. Let us know how you make out.
> 
> https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support



Thanks for replying.

Yes. I tried a different cable. But the problem is same.

When I boot up with the multidock powered on, anything on desktop is gone and even search icon is not shown.

Sometimes ssd drives' name are shown on desktop. But after double-clicking the drive, I cannot see anything.

Few minutes later, the machine is freezing and crashing. again and again..

I emailed to support team.

My machine's spec is below.


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## synthpunk (Jun 15, 2017)

Keep us updated.


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## khollister (Jun 15, 2017)

The obvious things to try would be the MD with a different Mac and a different TB device on the nMP. Did the problem start with the update to 10.12.5? Does the MP crash if the MD is powered up with no drives inserted? If not, then insert one drive at a time to see if it may be a particular drive that causes the issue. While you said the drives work OK ina USB dock, there could be something corrupted in the filesystem or partition on a drive that the TB bus doesnt handle the same as the USB bus.


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## luke_7 (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm sorry to hear that but thank You for warning Greenpiano. 
I was going to upgrade from 10.11.6 to 10.12.5...


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## Saxer (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm on 10.12.5 and the Blackmagic works fine here.


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## greenpiano (Jun 15, 2017)

khollister said:


> The obvious things to try would be the MD with a different Mac and a different TB device on the nMP. Did the problem start with the update to 10.12.5? Does the MP crash if the MD is powered up with no drives inserted? If not, then insert one drive at a time to see if it may be a particular drive that causes the issue. While you said the drives work OK ina USB dock, there could be something corrupted in the filesystem or partition on a drive that the TB bus doesnt handle the same as the USB bus.



Thanks a lot for your advice!

As your instruction, I inserted SSD one by one, I finally knew what the cause is.

When I inserted Corsair SSD 1T, freezing and crashing began.

I couldn't even think the SSD I bought a few months ago could be dead.

Because until yesterday, it even worked with USB3 docking station, but today it was totally dead. (disk utility cannot read it)

I bought it from Amazon, I think it's not reliable. How can I get it fixed?

The rest of 3 x sandisk Ultra 2 are fine.

It was very painful to check what the cause is. But finally it's a relief MD is fine.

I hope to help this post to someone who'd use MD. Thanks a lot!


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## khollister (Jun 15, 2017)

greenpiano said:


> Thanks a lot for your advice!
> 
> As your instruction, I inserted SSD one by one, I finally knew what the cause is.
> 
> ...



Glad I could help. I would contact Corsair about the drive - I'm sure there is at least a 1 year warranty.


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## Dom (Jun 15, 2017)

I had the exact same problem. And it also took a while for me to diagnose the problem. It was a 2TB Samsung SSD 850 Pro that caused the crashes. Tried disk utility etc. In the end I reformatted the drive and all is fine again. You may want to try that first before sending it back.The problem arose initially because I turned off the Multidock inadvertently while it was reading a lot of files. That must have shot the entire partition map to pieces.


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## greenpiano (Jun 16, 2017)

khollister said:


> Glad I could help. I would contact Corsair about the drive - I'm sure there is at least a 1 year warranty.



I'll use RMA service. Is it good? I heard they could send me a new product if I'm fortune.


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## greenpiano (Jun 16, 2017)

Dom said:


> I had the exact same problem. And it also took a while for me to diagnose the problem. It was a 2TB Samsung SSD 850 Pro that caused the crashes. Tried disk utility etc. In the end I reformatted the drive and all is fine again. You may want to try that first before sending it back.The problem arose initially because I turned off the Multidock inadvertently while it was reading a lot of files. That must have shot the entire partition map to pieces.



Thanks for the information. I tried to format it. But unfortunately, disk utility cannot read it.
A ramp of USB3 docking station is blinking..blinking...never stops..and it makes the disk utility freezing.


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## synthpunk (Jun 16, 2017)

Good news. Blackmagic is pretty rock-solid they are at the top of the video industry. Perhaps a good reason to stay away from Lesser known SSD brands in the future? But as @khollister mentioned even top-of-the-line Samsung's can go quirky sometimes. A very good argument to have a thorough back up system. Just curious did you use that drive for a lot of write cycles or in any type of raid configuration at any time?


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

Would it make sense to buy a blackmagic multidock in the soon future, or it's better wait for a v3 of the product?


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## synthpunk (Jun 16, 2017)

I believe Apple has a very reliable USB 3/C to Thunderbolt adapter?

I guess it depends on what Hardware you plan on using in the next 3 years or so. You may also want to check with Blackmagic support and see if there are planning a USB 3/C version in the future.




N.Caffrey said:


> Would it make sense to buy a blackmagic multidock in the soon future, or it's better wait for a v3 of the product?


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> I believe Apple has a very reliable USB 3/C to Thunderbolt adapter?
> 
> I guess it depends on what Hardware you plan on using in the next 3 years or so. You may also want to check with Blackmagic support and see if there are planning a USB 3/C version in the future.


I think my concern was also about the new thunderbolt 3 technology. Is this blackmagik thunderbolt 2?


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## synthpunk (Jun 16, 2017)

I would see what Blackmagic has to say about that N. Their support is very good. Let us know what they say if you do.


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> I would see what Blackmagic has to say about that N. Their support is very good. Let us know what they say if you do.


do you think they would tell me about their future plans?


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## synthpunk (Jun 16, 2017)

Only one way to find out 

I actually remember when the MD2 was about to come out and them telling me not to buy the origional version B&H had.



N.Caffrey said:


> do you think they would tell me about their future plans?


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Only one way to find out
> 
> I actually remember when the MD2 was about to come out and them telling me not to buy the origional version B&H had.


Email sent, let's see. I'll keep you posted


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Only one way to find out
> 
> I actually remember when the MD2 was about to come out and them telling me not to buy the origional version B&H had.


Hello,

Thank you for contacting us. We never comment on possible upcoming devices or feature changes. I don't have any information regarding that change.


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## synthpunk (Jun 16, 2017)

Lol. Well......... 

So what do you have now and what are your computer hardware plans in the next year to three years ?




N.Caffrey said:


> Hello,
> 
> Thank you for contacting us. We never comment on possible upcoming devices or feature changes. I don't have any information regarding that change.


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## N.Caffrey (Jun 16, 2017)

At the moment I'm on a 2013 macbook pro retina, which I have to say still works pretty well. I think I had in mind to upgrade in a year or so. Maybe the new MacPro or next year's iMac. I'm not in a rush to change. But lately my libraries, which I run from usb 3 hard drives, are kind of annoying has the playback often is not as smooth as I'd hope. So I was considering the blackmagic multidock for this reason.


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## greenpiano (Jun 18, 2017)

greenpiano said:


> Thanks for the information. I tried to format it. But unfortunately, disk utility cannot read it.
> A ramp of USB3 docking station is blinking..blinking...never stops..and it makes the disk utility freezing.



Strange...I tried to load the SSD which caused crashes, on PC using Macdrive software. It was loaded without crashes. All files are safe. I formatted it with NTFS first on PC and then reformatted it with Mac journaling on Mac. (It's inserted to Multidock 4th slot) I'm copying mass libraries from back-up drives. So far, no problem....But just curious why?
Anyway It's huge relief I don't need hassle RMA things..Thanks for helping!


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## khollister (Jun 18, 2017)

greenpiano said:


> Strange...I tried to load the SSD which caused crashes, on PC using Macdrive software. It was loaded without crashes. All files are safe. I formatted it with NTFS first on PC and then reformatted it with Mac journaling on Mac. (It's inserted to Multidock 4th slot) I'm copying mass libraries from back-up drives. So far, no problem....But just curious why?
> Anyway It's huge relief I don't need hassle RMA things..Thanks for helping!



I suspect there was filesystem or partition corruption that is handled differently by the OS or HW drivers. I'm not too surprised, which is why I suggested removing drives. Glad everything appears to be working. 

That said, I am a Samsung/Crucial/SanDisk/Intel guy when it comes to SSD's.


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## greenpiano (Jun 18, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Just curious did you use that drive for a lot of write cycles or in any type of raid configuration at any time?



I haven't used the drive a lot because there's not many favorite samples. But Multidock has been almost always powered up whenever using computer. I don't know how to raid it.
I guess I probably do the thing which @khollister mentioned without recognition. Turning off the Multidock inadvertently while it was reading a lot of files....

Curious it is right way to turn on & off MD?
MD is plugged in multitap.
Multitap on -> Computer on -> Using -> Eject -> Multitap off > Computer off
Or I don't eject. Just Computer off and then off the multitap.


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## khollister (Jun 18, 2017)

greenpiano said:


> I didn't use the drive a lot because there's not many favorite samples. But Multidock has been almost always powered up whenever using computer. I don't know how to raid it.
> I guess I probably do the thing which @khollister mentioned without recognition. Turning off the Multidock inadvertently while it was reading a lot of files....
> 
> Curious it is right way to turn on & off MD?
> ...



You should always either eject the external drives first or let the Mac do a shutdown procedure before powering off any external device. Some SSD's are far more sensitive to power interruptions than others. I always use UPS's on everything for the same reason.


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## greenpiano (Jun 18, 2017)

khollister said:


> You should always either eject the external drives first or let the Mac do a shutdown procedure before powering off any external device. Some SSD's are far more sensitive to power interruptions than others. I always use UPS's on everything for the same reason.



Thanks for replying. Can I ask what the 'UPS's' exactly is?


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## khollister (Jun 18, 2017)

greenpiano said:


> Thanks for replying. Can I ask what the 'UPS's' exactly is?


Uninterruptible Power Supply - battery backed AC power supply.


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## greenpiano (Jun 18, 2017)

khollister said:


> Uninterruptible Power Supply - battery backed AC power supply.



Useful information. Thanks. I'm afraid either blackout or behavior to turn off mistakenly. I need to search for it.


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## khollister (Jun 18, 2017)

Not sure what country you may be in, but you are looking for something like this:



There are 3 common brands (at least in the US) - APC, CyberPower & Tripplite.


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## greenpiano (Jun 18, 2017)

khollister said:


> Not sure what country you may be in, but you are looking for something like this:
> 
> 
> 
> There are 3 common brands (at least in the US) - APC, CyberPower & Tripplite.



Thank you so much!


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## synthpunk (Jun 18, 2017)

You can find used APC units on eBay pretty cheap they just may need a new battery replacement there just drop in usually. They usually also offer a good level of protection from brownouts, surges, Etc. I keep one on my I.T. and one on my audio chain.



khollister said:


> Uninterruptible Power Supply - battery backed AC power supply.


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## khollister (Jun 18, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> You can find used APC units on eBay pretty cheap they just may need a new battery replacement there just drop in usually. They usually also offer a good level of protection from brownouts, surges, Etc. I keep one on my I.T. and one on my audio chain.



Most consumer-level UPS's offer pretty poor surge protection actually. I use a series mode surge protector (e.g. Brick Wall or Surge-X) and then plug the UPS into that.


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## synthpunk (Jun 18, 2017)

Nothing ever wrong with double protection. 

We have some Industrial I.T. Belkin racks that we scarfed out of dumpsters a few years back that work great.

It really depends on what area you live in we have pretty clean power here. On tours we take every precaution.



khollister said:


> Most consumer-level UPS's offer pretty poor surge protection actually. I use a series mode surge protector (e.g. Brick Wall or Surge-X) and then plug the UPS into that.


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