MBox Studio frequently loses connection with Mac while idle

[SixChurchStreet]

Frequently, I’d even say consistently, my MBox Studio loses the connection with my Mac. If my computer has been idle for a few hours the MBox is gone from the Macs audio devices. Even powering off and on the MBox doesn’t reconnect it. I need to either power cycle both the computer and the MBox, or physically pull out the USB cable from the MBox and put it back in. Anyone also have this issue? So far it’s been stable while actively using it. I’ve never seen it lose connection while actively working on my DAW or listening to music.

[tope d]

Originally Posted by SixChurchStreet

Frequently, I’d even say consistently, my MBox Studio loses the connection with my Mac. If my computer has been idle for a few hours the MBox is gone from the Macs audio devices. Even powering off and on the MBox doesn’t reconnect it. I need to either power cycle both the computer and the MBox, or physically pull out the USB cable from the MBox and put it back in. Anyone also have this issue? So far it’s been stable while actively using it. I’ve never seen it lose connection while actively working on my DAW or listening to music.

Had this before, I changed my USB-C connector with a new one and works flawlessly until now.

[SixChurchStreet]

Originally Posted by tope d

Had this before, I changed my USB-C connector with a new one and works flawlessly until now.

Just use a different USB-C cable, rather than that purple one it came with? I got plenty of cables around. I'll try a different one, and hopefully that takes care of it. I really like this interface, and I'd like to not give up everything it brings to the table, but in it's current state disconnecting all the time it's a real pain in the rear.

[tope d]

Yup.

The purple one worked for a few months for me then I switched to a new one after the Mbox got undetected.

[SixChurchStreet]

I tried another cable and left it overnight. Same disconnection issue in the morning. I'll try a third cable perhaps? Do you know specifically which brand cable you used that worked well? Currently I have an Anker cable but still getting the disconnects.

[SixChurchStreet]

I had to turn off all sleep options on the Mac. I'd been using a Presonus 68c for so long, which is Core Audio, so I didn't even think about the sleep settings, because it always reconnected when waking up. Now that the sleep options are toggled off the MBox seems to be staying connected well when I'm away from the desk.

[marty martin]

You could try a free app like Amphetamine which stops your Mac from sleeping.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/amphet...37984704?mt=12

[kuene]

I've been having this problem. It did not occur with my 2020 Macbook Air M1. But when i recently switched to an M4 MacMini, i will occasionally get the same disconnection issue. It can only be resolved by a restart. Even killing/restarting coreaudio app through activity monitor won't force it to show up. I need to do more testing. It can/does happen during long periods of inactivity, but it has also happened 1 or two times while I was just browsing the web before. So far, it has never disconneted during an active pro tools session. I'll try another cable I suppose. I have it plugged into my thunderbolt hub, but it was also plugged into it with my older, weaker MacBook air, and I never had a disconnect. I can try to test the MBox it for a while directly plugged in to MacMini, but it should work in the hub, and if it doesn't then it's a flawed piece of gear IMO.

Mac Mini M4, 24gb
Mbox Studio
CalDigit Thunderbolt 3
Pro Tools Studio 2024.10.1

[kuene]

I wouldn't say I've resolved this yet- but I did run a test over the course of about 5 days with the MBox plugged directly into the M4 MacMini 24/7 - and there was not one connection loss. Perhaps too early to say if the CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 hub is the problem, but seems more likely culprit now.

However, I also read on a thread about CalDigit thunderbolt hubs and USB audio devices, that one user seemed to solve his random disconnect issues by changing from a thunderbolt 3 cable to a thunderbolt 4 cable (between his Mac and the hub). I've purchased a thunderbolt 4 cable and will be running a test with that and MBox plugged back into the hub.