Can't Install Thunderbolt Controller Driver

  

  • Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver Intel Thunderbolt Secure Connect Utility Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Intel Bluetooth Driver And all the other drivers. Uninstall current graphic driver and then install Intel HD Graphics 515. Dock and try.
  • The initial version of the Antelope Audio Windows Thunderbolt driver is now officially. Windows 10 PC supporting Thunderbolt™ 2 or Thunderbolt™ 3; Thunderbolt™ controller: either. Make sure you have “Thunderbolt™ Software” installed.
  • Update the Thunderbolt controller NVM firmware on your Thunderbolt 3 host device. Update the Thunderbolt controller drivers. Update your motherboard BIOS or UEFI. For more information about how to update the software, firmware, drivers, and BIOS or UEFI, refer to the website of the manufacturer of the Thunderbolt 3 host device.

FAQ & Answers

  • Try uninstalling Fixpack 1, and reinstalling it. If that does not work, try simply downloading the thunderbolt driver from here.
  • I have tried the same and I'm facing the same issue.
    When I download and install again it detects Part 1 installed and declares that its already there. Then when I try to install part 2, it doesn't saying install part 1 first but the Acer Care shows Part 1 already installed. I can't figure out how to remove it completely as there are no clickable buttons to remove Part 1 that has been installed.
    Somebody from Acer please!

  • Can anybody please help us here? I am still awaiting a solution and regularly checking back on this thread.
    To rephrase my query,
    How can I install the part 2 without it asking me to install the already installed part 1 Thunderbolt driver?
    I think this calls for an uninstall of Part 1 only to reinstall it again, but I can't figure out how to uninstall this part 1 as the Acer Care center does not show any such option nor could I find it in the device manager.
    Please let us know soon, Thanks!

  • Acer - please help us! I have been consistently waiting ever since I posted this, checking on it every time I see the Acer Care Center tell me '1 new update'.
    Please tell us how to install part 2 when it says part 1 not installed. (When in reality it is)
    Alternatively, how to remove part 1 and re-install part 1 such that part 2 detects it?

  • Posts: 910Administrator Community Administrator

    It may be possible that the update got corrupted, have you tried downloading the Thunderbolt Update Tool from our Downloads and Manuals page to perform the update?

  • Acer-Jose wrote:

    It may be possible that the update got corrupted, have you tried downloading the Thunderbolt Update Tool from our Downloads and Manuals page to perform the update?

    Yes, I have!
    I ran it as administrator and then I get failed to load Thunderbolt (TM) controllers through WMI. Initialize controller ...

    0
  • hi ive been having this problem ..... ive managed to update the thunderbolt controller but .. the nvm is still on 10 as u can see in the photos ..... please please please please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ive got a akitio node and i can run it as the nvm wont update

    and when i run the updater i get the atached

    0
  • sorry just to edit ... see picture of thunferbolt 3 detilas last one was a old image

    0
  • Posts: 910Administrator Community Administrator
    Haz100 ha escrito:

    sorry just to edit ... see picture of thunferbolt 3 detilas last one was a old image

    I'm sorry for the delay, I've been looking into this. @Shumayal, can you please post a screenshot of the version you currently have?

    Also, the setup.exe file shold have an uninstaller. Please try uninstalling and reinstalling with the setup.exe file.

  • I'm having the exact same problem. Please let me know if anyone has found the solution - I'm a music producer who can't afford ther risks of outdated thunderbolt technology. Reinstalling part 1 didn't work.

  • Hi,
    @Haz100@Acer-Jose
    My problem just got fixed. I contacted Ryan from Acer ME and they sent me a FWUpdate tool (We Transfer link expires March 28) and it worked. Yayy
    I was having NVM version 10 and the tool updated it to 15. I also updated BIOS from 1.10 to 1.12
    Can you confirm this is the latest?
    NVM Firmware Version updated from 10 to 15
    My problem seems to be solved on paper. Will let you know if I face problems when I connect Thunderbolt Device.
    Also the Acer Care Center no longer shows me any pending updates.
    ' />It's been a long time but finally fixed!

    0
  • hi Shumayal,

    glad you finally got it solved :-) , caould you possbily forward that wetransfer link tio myself???

    be very greatfull if u could ive been trying to update my nVM from 10 to 15 and would be over the moon to try ur link

    please send to *********@gmail.com

    thanks very much

    [Edited to remove personal information.]

  • sory i just realised u posted the link

    ill try and report back

  • Posts: 910Administrator Community Administrator
    Shumayal wrote:


    Can you confirm this is the latest?
    NVM Firmware Version updated from 10 to 15

    I'm gald that you were able to solve your issue This is indeed the latest firmware update for the VN7-592G.

  • HI Acer-Jose,

    please help i have amazling updated my nvm but my ***** Firmware version stays the same ????

    see above ...... i tried uninstallling and reinstalling but i cant get the ***** version to update ...

    plase help

    BIOS Version/Date Insyde Corp. V1.12, 06/10/2016 that is my BIOS version

    please please please help

    im so close

    0
  • Hi Haz100, I didn't check my ***** firmware before doing this but did you also install part 2 from the care center?
    Also please make sure you followed the SOP from the compressed folder I have linked. There are two prerequisite steps before flashing of running a file, Restarting and enabling. Only then you flash.
    Just refer to the SOP Readme file in it. ☺️
  • HI Shumayal,

    shoot , i just ran the update tool..... i dont have care centre as it says when i try and install it is no compatiable .. anyway

    i have not run the CFP_Install .. so when i right click and run as admin i get this ....(

    do you know how to fix this ...

    thanks again for replying

    0
  • ignore me .. ive fixed it and running it now again ... we will see how it goes

  • when i run the enable TBT i get this and it times out ....

    i need ti run this as administrator .... please help

    0
  • Yes, right click and run as administrator. Does it still come when you run as administrator?
    My local Acer support also advised about the update.

    With regard to your concern, yes you can share the drivers to other Acer customers having the same model and having the same driver difficulties. Make sure that they also update the BIOS to latest (and install the correct BIOS file for their laptop model to avoid MB damage).


How do you get a ThunderboltEX II Dual card working on a X99 motherboard?

Only concern, you're going to be fine even if you can't get the very latest firmware installed right away. I will keep an eye out for a thunderbolt controller driver update.

The instructions are worthless and only talk about Z87 motherboards.

Can
Joshua OlsonJoshua Olson

5 Answers

Thanks for the above great description - very helpful. I had no trouble routing the display port via thunderbolt card to an apple thunderbolt display (worked immediately in any PCI slot) however significant problems to get thunderbolt drives recognised.

I'll add a couple of more qualifiers to the above description that I found necessary to get the ThunderboltEX II running in Windows 10 (booting from Intel 1.2TB 750 PCIE NVME SSD) on an ASUS X99/USB 3.1 Deluxe (and then subsequently it worked almost immediately in a Clover UEFI boot Yosemite Hackintosh). Some of my slot experiences may result from the Intel NVME.

The ThunderboltEX remains well short of plug and play. Overall summary is repeat steps below in different combinations until it works and then DON't change anything :)

  1. CSM has to be off as described above (I also have Secure Boot and Fast Boot off too but this was part of running a hackintosh - obviously each OS needs to have UEFI boot for this to work)
  2. Always run system into OS after any other PCIE card slot changes without ThunderboltEX card in a PCI slot then repeat with card in desired PCI slot. Uninstall thunderbolt driver software from windows after each PCIE slot change.
  3. Bios>Advanced>Intel Thunderbolt>AIC Location defaults to SB PCIE x4_1 however I could not get the card to recognise TB drives in this slot (with either OS) only display routing. Change AIC Location Group to CPU0 NB PCIE Slot and AIC Location to NB PCIE X16_... your slot number (success for me is Thunderbolt in NB (north bridge) PCIE X16_2, fails in SB X4_1, NB X16_5; X16_4 not tested)
  4. Continued: Mismatching the slot number in bios with MB slot can result in boot failure / bios fail to load - remove ThunderboltEx Card & restart. if it persists put card back in SB PCIE x4_1 slot, restart and then move to a x16 slot
  5. Graphics card slot matters: ASUS lists slot x16_1 or x16_3 as optimal lanes for single graphics cards. My GPU is dual slot, I moved it to PCIE X16_3 to test thunderbolt card in the adjacent X4_1 PCIE that was obstructed. However I only have success with Thunderbolt Drives if GPU in PCIE X16_3 and Intel 750 NVME SSD in PCIE X16_1 (I came very close with GPU in slot 1 - TB drives recognised but then system hung)
  6. On first Start-Up with Thunderbolt Card in PCI slot, go to bios and temporarily Disable Bios>Advanced>Onboard Devices Config>ASM106SE Storage Controller(SATAEXPRESS_E1). Restart and boot into OS (but don't install driver software). Restart and then Enable ASM106SE Storage Controller(SATAEXPRESS_E1) again - I have no idea if these steps per se are actually important or just forces system to rebuild resource charts.
  7. Restart and then clean install thunderbolt drivers, then follow prompt and plug in a TB drive - if it works, device shows up and Device Manager lists Thunderbolt under System Devices.
  8. For initial set-up in windows use the default Bios>Advanced>Intel Thunderbolt>Security Level = Unique ID - after it is working in Windows change this to Legacy to allow thunderbolt access from OS X install - note hot swapping only works in Windows - OSX requires the thunderbolt drive to be plugged in at system on.
  9. Similarly initially use default Bios>Advanced>Intel Thunderbolt>Thunderbolt PCIe Cache-line Size = 32 - after it is working in Windows change this to 128 for Hackintosh

Summary of setup is ASUS X99-DELUXE BIOS Version 1901Intel Core i7 5930KEVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GBThunderboltEX II CardClover BootloaderWindows 10 / Hackintosh OSX 10.10 YosemitePCI X16_1: NVME Drive. X4_1 empty. X16_2 Thunderbolt Card. X16_3 GPU.

I hope this helps anyone else battling to get this working. I'd be interested if anyone has success with alternate configurations on similar device.

irenabyssirenabyss

Here are two succesful configurations i can confirm that they work (Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit and since release of Win 10 64-bit i'm using it insted 8.1; both windows installation were/are using UEFI mode) - the second configuration was configured using the process as described by irenabyss.

The first configuration:

1) Asus X99-Deluxe with BIOS versions 1203, ..., 2001; Jan 2015 to Nov 2015:

  • Slot PCIEX16_1: Adaptec 6805 Raid-Controller (last Bios i used was V5.2-0 Build 19147)
  • Slot PCIEX4_1: Asus ThunderboltEX II Dual
  • Slot PCIEX16_2: empty
  • Slot PCIEX16_3: MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G (​Bios 84.04.31.00.f6)
  • Slot PCIEX16_4: empty (covered by graphics card)
  • Slot PCIEX16_5: empty

My process after each X99-Deluxe BIOS update was: ​clear cmos, restart, enter uefi bios and edit only the following two settings in uefi bios of x99-deluxe:

  • Set date and time
  • AdvancedCPU Configuration: set Intel Virtualization Technology to Enabled (because of virtualization software i am using)

Please note that in my configuration CSM was active and i was using the southbridge slot PCIEX4_1 for the Asus Thunderbolt add in card!

I have been using the driver package TBT_Win7_32_64_Win8.1_64_2.0.4.250.zip directly from the Intel website for the ThunderboltEX II Dual in this configuration 1). I can't remember if the drivers from the Asus website (Intel_Thunderbolt_Win7-8-8-1_VER1511.zip) did work for me or not; but i guess there was a reason i used the more up to date drivers from the Intel website.

Can't Install Thunderbolt Controller Drivers

The second configuration uses two RAID-Controller Cards:

2) Asus X99-Deluxe with BIOS version 2001; Nov 2015:

  • Slot PCIEX16_1: ​Avago/LSI MegaRaid 9361-8i (Bios 6.28.04.0; Firmware: 4.600.00-4907)
  • Slot PCIEX4_1: Asus ThunderboltEX II Dual
  • Slot PCIEX16_2: Avago/LSI MegaRaid 9361-8i (Bios 6.28.04.0; Firmware: 4.600.00-4907)
  • Slot PCIEX16_3: MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G (​Bios 84.04.31.00.f6)
  • Slot PCIEX16_4: empty (covered by graphics card)
  • Slot PCIEX16_5: empty

The uefi bios settings are (after clear cmos, restart, enter uefi bios):

  • Set date and time if necessary
  • AdvancedCPU Configuration: set Intel Virtualization Technology to Enabled
  • BootCSM (Compatibility Support Module): set Launch CSM to Disabled
  • ​BootSecure Boot->OS Type: Windows UEFI mode

I have been using the driver package TBT_Win7_32_64_Win8.1_64_2.0.4.250.zip directly from the Intel website for the ThunderboltEX II Dual in this configuration 2) - but today i discovered that Dell offers a package M3800_Chipset_Driver_VFVJ6_WN_3.0.19.150_A00.EXE which contains version 3.0.19.150 of the Thunderbolt Software for Windows. I installed it and it works perfectly; note that i had no problems with version 2.0.4.250 but was only curoius to see if the version from Dell works as well.

PhiPhi

The horror of setting up thunderbolt on a PC.

TL;DR

  • ThunderboltEX card can interfer with GPUs in CSM mode (disable CSM if possible). My R9 295x2 needed to have UEFI enabled by installing a vbios update (not a windows driver update).

  • ThunderboltEX card can go in just about any slot, but it should probably go on the southbridge PCIe (the instructions that come with the card are useless here).

  • Rampage V Extreme needed a bios update to 0901 because using the southbridge PCIe slot meant you should disable SATAExpress (the ASM106SE chip).

  • Most of the Thunderbolt bios settings don't do anything useful (forthe typical end user) except setting the cache-line size as high asit'll go or if you have really old thunderbolt devices changing thesecurity level to 'Legacy'.

Some background. I was a MS user for many years from Dos 6.22 though Windows XP then I switched to mac about a decade ago and now use a Macbook Pro with Thunderbolt monitor. This past fall I wanted to get back into PC gaming and decided to build 'The Beast' an Asus Rampage V Extreme, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, i7-5930k with liquid cooling, VisionTek R9 295x2 8GB (the reference design not their OC design), a Samsung XP941 512 GB SSD, and to top it off a ThunderboltEX II Dual so I can use my Sweet Thunderbolt Monitor. Now I've built several computers for myself in the past and helped with building, debugging, maintaning, etc. for dozens more computer, but until this build I have never been so completely stumped and frustrated with hardware in my life.

There is almost ZERO (user level) documentation on Thunderbolt for PC (I hope to remedy some of this with this post). My problem began a few weeks after my basic build (early November 2014) when I got my ThunderboltEX card (also a pain in the ass, you can't find them in stock anywhere). So, I install the card and all of a sudden my bios start boot looping during hardware initialization (Q code 79, CSM initialization). This indicates it's an issue with hardware that doesn't have UEFI bios and CSM is the Compatiblity Support Module. After updating the BIOS to 0802 there were no changes. The other problem is that I had no idea what a working Thunderbolt card with no devices looked like on windows, since the OS drivers installed no problem and didn't complain about anything. This is what it's supposed to look like, mine was just empty no root thunderbolt port(s).

I quickly track it down (wrongly) to the ThunderboltEX card, if it's in it doesn't work, other it's fine. So, I begin researching this. The instructions are aimed at the Z87 chipset (my inital fear is that the X99 boards weren't supported, all of them are as long as they have the TB_HEADER pins) and always describe putting the card into the last PCIe slot (only other setting that seemed to make much difference was the cache-line size . This is wrong on the Rampage V Extreme, it can be place in almost an PCIe slot as long as you configure it properly, but the default slot is the southbridge (SB) controller slot (goodluck getting specifics on which PCIe lanes are northbridge (NB) or southbridge(SB) Hint: northbridge is your graphics cards usually and many mobos color code them, that narrows it down, but on my board that still left three mystery PCIe slots, only one of which was SB) which is the full length black slot on the Rampage.

This didn't help and after a stop at Fry's to get an X99 Deluxe to test the card with and still not being able to get it to work, ASUS (I was pretty impressed, it seems they have hardware benches there for the tech support to support you with) and I decide it must be an issue with the ThunderboltEX card (we were probablly wrong), so I return the ThunderboltEX card for a refund and order a new one from another Amazon vendor (because the vendor I bought from initially only had the single one in stock, which seems to be common as of December 2014).

In the mean time I happend to aquire some older ATI cards a 5xxx and a 7xxx. Plopping the new card in had the same problems (now early December). So I give up for now everything is great except I can't use my Thunderbolt monitor on it, plug in a 32' TV and we're good for now.

Fast forward to today (January 25 2015). I try again and end up in the same boot loop. I check for a bios update and they've released 0901, which causes cards in PCIe_x4_1 to not be detected if the ASM106SE (SATAEXPRESS) chip is disabled. 'Holy shit!,' I thought. That's the slot the thunderbolt card goes is (by default) and I disable sata express because I can't use it anyway with that card in there. Nope, not the problem (although it could have been a problem once I worked out the main issue). This time I also tried disabling my CSM to try and work around the Q code 79. Nope, video card 'drivers' don't support UEFI. 'The VGA card is not supported by UEFI driver'

Finally I contact ASUS again and my rep doesn't know, but there's a guy there that's pretty versed in either the bios or the Thunderbolt card because before they hang up (without a resolution) they says it's probably your bios on your video card; update that. 'WTF update my videocard bios?!?,' I think, 'I've never even heard of needing to do that. Drivers sure, but not the bios.' Well, that left me stumped for a bit and start doing forum searches on that and find a couple of references to UEFI GPU bios'. Finally, I connect the dots and swap my 295x2 with my 7xxx and BAM! Thunderbolt works like a charm!

I disable the Thunderbolt card pop my 295x2 back in and start search more. Turns out that many modern graphics cards (since late 2012) have the UEFI drivers (really bios, I guess) built in (and enabled), but not the 295x2. Something about having two chips on the same card, but the bios is there just not enabled this (this is a generic ATI bios, so should work with most reference cards) post had the same version of the drivers as my card, but has UEFI enabled. I just installed them with ATIWinFlash rebooted, disabled CSM again. This time it boots without and error, I enable Thunderbolt again. This time everything is working perfectly and I'm playing Dragon Age on my awsome Thunderbolt Display.

Joshua OlsonJoshua Olson

Go to Asus.com and search for the Asus Thunderbolt EX II card [or dual TH EX II card]-Download the latest driver and firmware update. If you have TH3 card do the same.

If the card is recognized it will be seen in the UEFI BIOS - There may be some settings there to alter but not many.

Compare the software version number of drivers online compared to the CD in the box.

ALWAYS ALWAYS check online for drivers etc....

There is a certain amount of trial and error if you've not done this before, SNAP - But I got Asus TH II EX DUAL card to work with UAD Apollo Twin TH on Windows 10 x64.

Hope this helps -

Dell Thunderbolt Controller Driver

user685346user685346

There is always a dedicated pci-e slot on asus motherboard for a thunderbolt card - read motherboard manual hard copy or pdf online. There is also a thunderbolt header on the motherboard around the edges that is rectangle in shape. One of the included cables goes into the header on motherboard and then this also connects into the thunderbolt card itself.

user685346user685346

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