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HydraDock — 11 Port USB-C Dock For Apple MacBook

Created by KickShark

Now you can plug anything into that USB-C port on the gorgeous new Apple MacBook!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Status Of Firmware Fix And Next Shipments
about 8 years ago – Thu, Mar 03, 2016 at 01:18:13 PM

Short version: From shipping 200 units to users, we learned that all HydraDocks have a firmware problem that is being fixed, and that has stopped all shipping and production for the time being. We “hope” to see a solution about the 15th, but can make no firm statement about timing right now.

Explanation

To recap, before the Chinese New Year (“CNY”) holiday break we shipped 200 HydraDocks, with another 1,300+ getting stranded at our China factory. We began to immediately receive contacts from you that some of your HydraDocks were not working correctly with your HDMI or DisplayPort monitors. We initially estimated this as effecting maybe 10% of those first 200 products.

After the first few reports, new reports continued to trickle in to us, including new ones about the HydraDocks not always correctly charging the MacBook. By the week after CNY we realized the issue was much deeper than a few bad units. And, as the factory people in Shenzhen began to slowly come back to work and engage, we realized we had a full scale problem on our hands. We asked Mike on our team to begin handling a growing list of owners of defective HydraDocks, and moving into last week that list continued to grow, now with over 70 names.

The Problem

After initial diagnosis we now know that the firmware in the Power Deliver and Configuration Channel (CC) controllers in the HydraDock is narrowly responding to the Apple MacBook as a host, and to “most” devices when connected, and is successfully negotiating the right voltages, timing, and other signaling factors. However, “some” MacBooks (7 as of now) have not negotiated a successful Power Delivery (PD) session, and charging to the MacBook has stalled, stopped, or failed to initialize.

The bigger issue is that “some” HDMI or DisplayPort monitors are asking for timing/voltage/signal configurations that the HydraDock’s current firmware fails to provide. This causes erratic video sessions of all sorts, from occasional flickering to complete failure to function.

Altogether, these two problems actually involve all of the video, PD, and CC silicon inside the product — 7 chips, plus a micro-controller. Together, the interactive firmware on these 4 different component types is failing to support anything requiring more than a tiny slice of PD and CC (and video) session values in the very middle of the compliance range.

In other words, the HydraDock is too picky about what range of values it will support, and decides not to connect to anything asking for values even slightly outside that range.

Moving Ahead

How did it happen? Not enough testing with real world third party products. This is a challenge for a small maker doing the first batch of a new product. We (and the factory and labs in China) did a LOT of testing, but mostly with test equipment, or with a half dozen representative displays we brought into our Nashville office for this purpose. We simply did not have the staff or resources to test the product under every imaginable use condition with every monitor and other peripheral in existence.

Since this isn't a minor firmware tweak on one of the chips, but is a major diagnosis, testing, and re-engineering process for the firmware on four different chip types in the HydraDock, this is an impossible process to predict. Different changes are being made, loaded, modeled, tested with the individual chips each day, with new FW versions regularly being pushed to the HydraDock for testing.

This is all happening between our factory, the engineering house that originally did the firmware integration, and with the chip suppliers. So, it takes a lot of behind the scenes chatter amongst all of the participants to get it done.

Trying to get our factory to nail down a firm target date for moving forward is impossible. We have tried the, “Is it months, weeks, or days?” technique, and have gotten, “Well it will certainly not be months.” Or, the “When COULD it be done?” question gets us a guess at “…maybe by the 15 or so.”

So, we have been replying to emails from you with a brief explanation and an optimistic  guess that we’ll have it all moving again by about the 15th.

The reality is that any date now is just a bald guess. And, we needed to get back here into the Updates and post the full information for all of you.

We have decided to add warning notes to our pre-order links, so new purchasers know the uncertainty on the shipping dates. And, we needed to let all of you know the uncertainty.

Summary

All HydraDocks have a firmware coding problem in four types of chips all not working together correctly to connect properly to an unknown set of displays and other devices, and to some MacBooks for charging. The problems are not absolute, and only appear under certain circumstance with certain things plugged into the HydraDocks. About 35% of users now have one or both of the two manifestations with video and/or charging problems. The other 65% of users have not hit the right combination of usages to see the problem — but the problem is there in all units.

We have to replace all 200 units already shipped, but can only do so from the 1,300 still in China, and only when the firmware fix is complete and loaded into those products. Then, we will have to recover the original 200 units, get them updated at the factory, and can send those units back out.

Obviously, the first run of our new Roadie pocket hub (using the same chipsets and firmware as the HydraDock), and the next run of the HydraDock are both on hold until the firmware upgrade is completed.

We, collectively as a team, feel like screaming. We know that you do, too. 

All we can do is what we’ve done all along: push through without losing energy and just make the next needed thing happen as quickly as possible — and share the process with you here in the updates.

So, bottom line seems to be somewhere between, “maybe about the 15th” and “days or weeks, certainly not months.” Obviously, as this becomes more specific, we’ll share here.

Sorry folks. We’ll let you know how it all works out.

And as always, we thank you very sincerely for your support!

The KickShark Team

Post Chinese New Year updates on HydraDock
about 8 years ago – Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 07:02:35 PM

Since the Chinese New Year holiday is technically ended (but not at all actually ended), we thought that an update was appropriate.

Briefly, it seems that about 15% of the initial 200 HydraDocks we shipped before Chinese New Year have either a video output defect or a charge voltage regulation defect. That means that the 1,300+ units still in Shenzhen will also have the same percentage defective, and need to have the firmware fixed and revised before being shipped.

At this time, of the first 200 units we have shipped, 24 have the video defect, 5 have a defect with no power or reduced charging power to the MacBook, and 3 of these 29 units have both defects. So, we have 29 bad units — about a 15% defect rate.

Both defects are firmware issues where the HydraDock is not correctly negotiating with an attached device and properly configuring its signal voltages. This means more time on the testing bench and a full look at the firmware in the power delivery chips is needed, with indicated corrections then made and loaded into all of the 1,300+ units waiting for shipping.

Our contacts at the factory finally reemerged from their CNY break today and contacted us. They say that they will pursue this with with all urgency, but for us to understand that all of their technical team have not yet returned to work. And, it will take a few days to determine the problem and the needed solution.

Frankly, we think that some of this situation is the result of us rushing the factory to ship product before the holiday break. So, we are not going to push them in a panic to rush the correction now. If it takes a few days or a week to get a firmware revision done that actually solves these issues, and installed into all of the already-built units, then that is how long it takes.

For shipping/fulfillment issues, please contact Sonya on our team directly at [email protected] 

For technical issues or problems with your HydraDock, please contact Mike on our team directly at [email protected]

Just watch your email for updates, as we push through this last issue and then get the final rewards/pre-orders shipped out, please.

As always, thanks to all of you for your support!

The KickShark Team

Video Problem With Some Units
about 8 years ago – Tue, Feb 09, 2016 at 10:11:40 AM

It seems that about 5% to 10% of this first batch of HydraDocks are showing the same problem with intermittent video operation, which is a significant problem. It also seems that about 90% of these first HydraDocks are fine, which is a good thing.

If you have video (HDMI or Mini DisplayPort) cycling on and off intermittently, please email [email protected] and he will work with you to to assess the issue, and get you a new HydraDock, as needed.

Replacements After CNY

As everyone knows, we have 1300+ HydraDocks stuck in Shenzhen until after the Chinese New Year holiday, and our factory getting staffed back up and operating. We held back 10 units here from the initial 210 we did receive before the break. But those are all now allocated, and we have no more replacement inventory here.

Obviously, we will replace any defective HydraDocks with good ones. But, we cannot do this until after the CNY break, when things get back up and running at our factory.

For safety, we think we need to have all of the units after CNY shipped to us at our office in Nashville, and hand test each unit with a variety of displays before shipping them to backers. Shipping a 5% to 10% defect rate product is simply not acceptable.

We will of course also dig into the assembly process to identify what is causing some units to have faulty video performance, and get that fixed for the next production run now scheduled for February 22nd.

We apologize to anyone getting a bad HydraDock, and promise to make it right!

As always, we thank all of you for your amazing support!

The KickShark Team

Using Your New HydraDock
about 8 years ago – Mon, Feb 08, 2016 at 10:33:39 PM

As backers begin to receive and hook up their HydraDocks, we thought a basic Quick Start Guide was needed. So, here are the basics:

1. First, the HydraDock has been engineered and promoted specifically as a tool for use with the 2015 12-inch Apple MacBook. How it works with other computers equipped with a USB Type C jack is completely unknown to us, other than saying that our product is 100% standards compliant, and should work fine with any computer with a 100% standards compliant USB Type C port, including video if the computer delivers a standards compliant DisplayPort Alt Mode signal. Many do not, such as the Dell XPS models that implement DisplayPort the same way it has been done for some time within USB 3.0. So, our instructions are ONLY for the 12-inch MacBook.

2. The HydraDock has been engineered and promoted specifically to perform a single set of tasks. Anything else it might do is not known. 

It runs a native HDMI display plugged directly into the HDMI jack. It runs a native DisplayPort display plugged directly into the Mini DisplayPort jack. It works fully and charges the MacBook when the MacBook’s AC adapter is plugged into the END LOCATED USB-C jack on the HydraDock.

What the HydraDock will not do, or that has not been verified, and that we never promoted it doing includes: running any other display configuration using adapters of any kind (other than the 30-inch Apple ACD using the Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI adapter, plugged directly into the HydraDock’s Mini DisplayPort jack). Native displays and that single adapter usage is all we have ever said will work, and all that we intended the product to support. If you try something else, it may or may not work. Let us know.

3. Again, the MacBook AC adapter cable with the male USB-C plug MUST be plugged into the END LOCATED USB-C female jack on the HydraDock for the product to fully function and to charge the MacBook. The rear USB-C ports cannot be connected to the MacBook AC adapter.

4. The HydraDock has some limited “low power mode” functionality without the MacBook AC adapter connected, so long as total power draw does not exceed 900mA. Any more power demand than this and the HydraDock will shut down.

5. Plugging odd arrangements of adapters or jumpers or such into the HydraDock is dangerous and most likely will damage your HydraDock — and any other upcoming USB-C peripherals form any maker. USB 3.1 and USB Type C are the most complex, intricate USB connectivity methods ever, and re brand new and have little real world testing out in "the wild." We cannot support or warranty any damage caused by uses outside the ones we promote and recommend!

These are the key points everyone must understand when first using their HydraDock. We will post any other information here that seems needed over time.

We support and guarantee the HydraDock for one year with a repair or replace warranty, within the usage we have stated. We cannot support uses not within the ones we have stated. We cannot support damage caused by experimentation outside the uses we have stated. We encourage everybody to use the HydraDock as advertised and enjoy the convenience it adds to your MacBook experience.

As always, thank you for your support!

Mike KickShark Team

Shipping!
about 8 years ago – Thu, Feb 04, 2016 at 11:02:44 PM

We got 116 HydraDocks shipped out today, using USPS Priority Mail (with tracking) for US destinations, and DHL for international destinations. We just started with the first Early Bird pledge and worked forward, and will continue in the morning until the 200 units we have here are all sent out.

If you have a HydraDock on the way, you will have received a tracking number email today. Otherwise, wait until tomorrow and look for that email. 

After these initial shipments, as previously explained, we will be idling until after the Chinese New Year holiday, when we will ship the remaining 1,200+ units from our pilot run.

Note that 22 units did get shipped from Shenzhen directly to Hong Kong backers today, as well.

As always, thanks to all of you for your support!

The KickShark Team