In today's publication, we will explore why devices connected via Intel Thunderbolt Dock software stops working after Windows 10 computer resumes Power state S5. Thunderbolt was developed by Intel and offers high bandwidth data transfers between devices, with maximum transfer rates of 40 Gbps (or 5 GB / s) available.
You should know that USB-C and Thunderbolt both use the same reversible port. While a USB-C port and a Thunderbolt port are similar, Thunderbolt has additional hardware compared to the more widely adopted USB-C.
It is also important to know that your USB-C accessories and cables will work with a Thunderbolt port. All Thunderbolt ports are also USB-C ports. However, not all USB-C ports are also Thunderbolt ports.
In state S5, or stop, the machine has no memory state and does not perform any calculation task.
The only difference between the S4 and S5 system power states is that the computer can reboot from the hibernate file in the S4 state, while rebooting from the S5 state requires a system restart.
The S5 state has the following characteristics:
- Energy consumption: Off except for leakage current to devices such as the power button.
- Resumption of software: Startup is required upon waking.
- Hardware latency: Long and undefined. Only a physical interaction, such as the user pressing the ON switch, returns the system to the operating state. The BIOS can also wake up from a recovery timer if the system is so configured.
- System hardware context: None retained.
Thunderbolt software doesn't work on Windows 10
On a Thunderbolt docking station, multiple devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, and USB encryption key, are connected. If you've enabled Quick Start on a Windows 10 computer and do the following:
- You repeatedly connect the Thunderbolt Dock to the computer. Thunderbolt Dock devices are listed.
- You press the power button to put the system in a Soft Off (S5) power state. A
- Once the screen is blank, you remove the Thunderbolt Dock and wait for the S5 process to finish and reconnect the Thunderbolt Dock
- You wait five seconds for the Thunderbolt Dock to become inactive.
- Then you turn on the computer and check if the mouse, keyboard and USB stick are working.
In this scenario, there is a five percent failure rate for all devices connected to the Thunderbolt docking station. In this situation, the devices stop working even if they are listed in the Device Manager.
When the failure occurs, the functionality of the devices cannot be restored by reattaching the Thunderbolt docking station.
To resolve this issue, Microsoft recommends that you restart the Windows 10 computer.
That's it!