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GC-ALPINE RIDGE in hands

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Could you share the exact BIOS version and configuration for this board? And also do you need to install the GPU and GC card in any specific slots?
BIOS version used here is latest: 3401.
Yes, GFX must sit in either slot1 if it is the only discrete gfx card.
And Gigabyte AlpineRidge card could reside in slots x16/2 and x16/4 (depends on Thunderbolt Settings within your BIOS, which is selectable: onboard TB3 or PCIe card in slot x16/3 or x16/4(they will then share lanes with GFX in slot 1!))
 
I have BIOS files to get this working perfectly on Z170-Designare and X99-Designare-EX.
Contact me if you have these boards and need GC-AR support.
g\
something for GA Z170X Ultra Gaming?
 
I have BIOS files to get this working perfectly on Z170-Designare and X99-Designare-EX.
Contact me if you have these boards and need GC-AR support.
g\
Hi genzai, I have the X99-Designaire-EX and have been struggling to get the Alpine Ridge add-in card to register on either Win10 or OS X Sierra.

I have been connecting a UAD Apollo Thunderbolt interface to the USB C port on the motherboard with no problems in both Win and OSX, I just installed drivers and ran TBT Flash, shutdown, removed power, reboot and all good. I have other TB2 devices which I cant connect to the same port through the Startech TB3 to TB2 adaptor, so I got the Alpine Ridge card.

I've tried booting into Windows and reinstalling drivers and flashing the TBT chip etc. I was running BIOS F4d and tried Gigabyte support, they sent me F4b which was apparently an earlier BIOS version, so no help.

It seems that the correct thunderbolt driver is installed, but the card just isn't being recognised. In Windows 'Thunderbolt(TM) Software' I can't see the Alpine Ridge card ports. The AR Card is in PCIEX4, header cable connected, as it states in the instructions. The THB C header is in line with PCIEX16_1 which is where I have my Graphics card, and I cant help wondering whether I need to move things about - the question is whether my GPU will work in any other slots?

When I saw your post about BIOS files I was wondering whether you can shine a light on any of this. I really hope its just a setting I've missed! many thanks
 

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Hi genzai, I have the X99-Designaire-EX and have been struggling to get the Alpine Ridge add-in card to register on either Win10 or OS X Sierra.

Because the public BIOS don't support the card at all despite what the update page says. Gigabyte made me a custom BIOS and now it works great. The card MUST be installed in the last PCIe slot (PCIE_8).
 
Thanks Genzai, I managed to get the card to register in Win10 using the last PCIE_8 and BIOS F4.

Now, I can see both Thunderbolt controllers in Windows. Woop!

However, I'm now struggling to boot into Sierra when the AR card is installed. I'm getting a hang at PCI configuration begin- tried loads of clover boot flags but no success.

When I pull the PCI card out, I can boot straight into OS X no problem. Is this something to do with PCIe lane allocation numbers changing when I add an additional PCIe device? Is there anyway that I can manually change this in Clover?

I've been trawling for a while, and it seems like I need to read about SSDT...! Am I going in the right direction?! Thanks again
 
Thanks Genzai, I managed to get the card to register in Win10 using the last PCIE_8 and BIOS F4.

Now, I can see both Thunderbolt controllers in Windows. Woop!

However, I'm now struggling to boot into Sierra when the AR card is installed. I'm getting a hang at PCI configuration begin- tried loads of clover boot flags but no success.

When I pull the PCI card out, I can boot straight into OS X no problem. Is this something to do with PCIe lane allocation numbers changing when I add an additional PCIe device? Is there anyway that I can manually change this in Clover?

I've been trawling for a while, and it seems like I need to read about SSDT...! Am I going in the right direction?! Thanks again
Probably not PCIe lane allocation. Maybe PCIe addresses not being able to be spread? Are there any BIOS settings that can be changed regarding Thunderbolt memory?

https://developer.apple.com/library...PCIDrivers/pci_controller/pci_controller.html
https://developer.apple.com/library...rboltDrivers/DebuggingThunderboltDrivers.html
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6779500?start=0&tstart=0

Maybe try googling "PCI configuration begin".

Source code for "PCI configuration begin" is available on opensource.apple.com
https://opensource.apple.com/source/IOPCIFamily/IOPCIFamily-306.50.1/IOPCIConfigurator.cpp.auto.html

There's a lot of mention of hotplug in there, especially in regards to Thunderbolt. Maybe we can get hotplug to work by looking into that.
 
Probably not PCIe lane allocation. Maybe PCIe addresses not being able to be spread? Are there any BIOS settings that can be changed regarding Thunderbolt memory?

https://developer.apple.com/library...PCIDrivers/pci_controller/pci_controller.html
https://developer.apple.com/library...rboltDrivers/DebuggingThunderboltDrivers.html
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6779500?start=0&tstart=0

Maybe try googling "PCI configuration begin".

Source code for "PCI configuration begin" is available on opensource.apple.com
https://opensource.apple.com/source/IOPCIFamily/IOPCIFamily-306.50.1/IOPCIConfigurator.cpp.auto.html

There's a lot of mention of hotplug in there, especially in regards to Thunderbolt. Maybe we can get hotplug to work by looking into that.

Thanks for the links, im away from the infernal machine for a week on holiday but will get stuck in again when i get back. The section on debugging thunderbolt drivers looks promising for my pcie problem with the alpine ridge card. Google brings back a gazillion possible reasons and fixes for different systems when i search for pci configuration begin, seems like it rears its ugly head regularly for various reasons.

I have VT-x disabled in BIOS and there are a number of thunderbolt options. I have 'Thunderbolt PCIe Cache line-size = 32' but can increase this up to 128, though i remember setting that higher when initially trying to enable thunderbolt in the first place and the USBc port on the mobo wouldnt show any devices. Other settings are 'Reserved Memory =256' and 'Prefetchable Memory = 32' - these settings dont seem to be changeable.

The current settings work fine with the mobo USBc/thunderbolt port so im wondering if anyone who has succesfully got the Alpine Ridge card to work with Sierra on the x99 designaire could share their BIOS settings?

As for hotplug, I think the source code is a bit beyond my understanding at the moment- though id be happy to help someone who knows what theyre doing by testing etc. What i lack in skill i make up for with enthusiasm... errm....
Reading through the code i think i see where my hang is occuring- kConfigOpRealloc: More reading needed for me- a little knowledge is proving to be a very dangerous thing... ! Thanks again for all the help
 
Because the public BIOS don't support the card at all despite what the update page says. Gigabyte made me a custom BIOS and now it works great. The card MUST be installed in the last PCIe slot (PCIE_8).
Thanks genzai- AR card now registers in win10 but not osx so far- i posted a longer reply in the thread but didnt reply directly by mistake- to avoid me sucking up loads of space please read up a few posts..
 
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