Need help with the Type C Port

Hey there, as I understand the type C port should be usable for Data or alternative mode. Before reading on, am i correct?

Apart from that, I am running a ROCK 5 B with a 32gigabyte eMMC module for the OS, 4TB m.2 SSD as main storage. A while ago the main storage ran short so I added a 1TB sATA ssd using usb 3.0->s-ata converter. Now, before I had the m.2 SSD this used to be a no-brainer, it just worked. now I am getting resets on the usb port every now and then:

[18210.076928] scsi host0: uas_eh_device_reset_handler start
[18210.204697] usb 8-1: reset SuperSpeed Gen 1 USB device number 2 using xhci-hcd
[18210.226362] scsi host0: uas_eh_device_reset_handler success
[18261.258129] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3 uas_eh_abort_handler 0 uas-tag 1 inflight: CMD IN 
[18261.258158] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#3 CDB: opcode=0x28 28 00 20 34 f9 68 00 01 00 00
[18261.258691] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 uas_eh_abort_handler 0 uas-tag 2 inflight: CMD IN 
[18261.258712] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: opcode=0x28 28 00 20 34 fa 68 00 01 00 00
[18263.178165] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#10 uas_eh_abort_handler 0 uas-tag 3 inflight: CMD OUT 
[18263.178196] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#10 CDB: opcode=0x2a 2a 00 3a 06 37 60 00 00 18 00

I already suspected the SSD to be the culprit, so I changed that(despite being brand new) or the usb-case for the SSD, which I also tried two others. This leaves me to believe that its a power issue.

Since I couldnt find a suitable power supply for the rock 5 I am running the pi on a USB-Type C Dock intended for notebooks. This is arenkforce(I assume this is a store-brand for the supplier I have) type-C dock that takes input from a PD Power Supply and delivers power to the (its intended for notebooks) other USB - Type C Port while also extending out 5 USB 3.0 A Ports, a card reader, ethernet and HDMI. I can confirm this works as I used to use this thing for my notebook.

sensors on the rock 5 B confirms that we are running at 20V @ 2.88 A, so pretty close to the 60 Watts the input power supply(Asus Notebook Charger) delivers.

That means unless i missed something, in certain constellations the m.2 SSD + the USB SSD consume too much power. Considering that the resets occur a lot more frequent when writing to the USB SSD(Which should get close to its power budget) I am fairly confident that the rock is just unable to distribute the power in the needed quantities. Now 99.9% of the time the SSD just resets and then goes on as if nothing happened, but every now and then this aggrevates the jellyfin server running on the rock, so my idea was to plug the ssd in via one of the usb ports of the dock, and have the usb signal passed through along with the power. however no matter where i plug the ssd, its not even being recognized by hte ROCK 5.

Therefore my question: Can the Type C Port be used for data while powering the Rock 5 B?(as it can in maskrom mode)
Do I need to set something up specifically for this to work(kernel option etc)?

There were information that radxa tested and used rock5 with single usb-c cable to dell monitors (with usb hubs providing video, power and usb)
Try Your setup without nvme to see if problem with usb-ssd persists.
Also if You are not using m.2 E slot then it may be bit better to get native sata port there via cheap adapter (it;s really cheap, about $1.5 only) or maybe 2 ports via more expensive m.2 E card (still about $10) or even same thing via multipier with own power source.

you could try some usb quirks to see if that makes a difference
basically you run “lsusb” to find out the vendor and product id of the device you plugged in
then you insert the quirk to run into the kernel
THEN you unplug and plug the device back in

eg

lsusb
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 2109:0715 VIA Labs, Inc. VL817 SATA Adaptor
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

echo 2109:0715:t > /sys/module/usb_storage/parameters/quirks

Where the “:t” is, that is the quirk you are trying. This one helps with some seagate drives or VIA sata to usb controllers etc. You could also try disabling UAS if you like that is “:u”