ASUS ThunderboltEX 3 working with GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5

[mauroenass]

Hey! Asus TB works fine! Changed because i needed more inputs.

Anything special that needs to be done after the bios changes and windows firmware update? Does Asus TBex 3 gets recognized by the Mac OS? Any kext install or? Thank you for the reply!

 

[jaco]

Anything special that needs to be done after the bios changes and windows firmware update? Does Asus TBex 3 gets recognized by the Mac OS? Any kext install or? Thank you for the reply!

DSDT fixes and no security enabled in bios. Hot swap not working. Need to enable apollo before boot. I did not update firmware in Windows. It Just work

 

[mauroenass]

DSDT fixes and no security enabled in bios. Hot swap not working. Need to enable apollo before boot. I did not update firmware in Windows. It Just work

Really? No need for Windows? Because I got rid of my Win10 instalation on a drive to use it with Mac OS.
I'm all new at this, and sorry for asking and me being a total noob, but DSDT fixes are?

 

[jaco]

Really? No need for Windows? Because I got rid of my Win10 instalation on a drive to use it with Mac OS.
I'm all new at this, and sorry for asking and me being a total noob, but DSDT fixes are?

I did not used Windows to activate my TB3 card.
Read about DSDT here: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/DSDT

 

[mauroenass]

I did not used Windows to activate my TB3 card.
Read about DSDT here: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/DSDT

Just got my startech adapter and Asus Thunderbolt Ex 3. The cable connector for the Thunderbolt aic doesn't fit into Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard. I'm now in the proces of pulling the pins out from the plasctic bracket and plugging them one by one in the motherboard. This sucks. But will probably work. So the newer boards have newer aic connector? It's a bit smaller then the connector on the TBex 3 from Asus.

 

[mauroenass]

Yet after test@benchmarks Asus Thunderbolt EX3 on Gigabyte motherboard z170X ultra
. Yes pins in small connector are opposite than in large connector.

Large connector pins, first pin is from left side

1.black
2. green
3.brown
4. orange
5 yellow

Small connector pins, first pin is from right side

1.black
2. green
3.brown
4. orange
5 yellow

If You connect pins like on picture that Asus Thunderbolt EX3 works very well.
So we must do/buy proper plug or (not recommended) connect each pins and
be very careful not to abut pins.

I took out the pins without destroying the plastic. Isolated the pins with bits of tape and a lot of patients.
But nothing. Until I found this reply. So the pins need to go backwards then? Will try that.
One more thing. I don't have the green wire in my Asus TBex 3!
Mine goes (the large conector that came with Asus - from left to right):

1. Black
2. Brown
3. Red
4. Orange
5. Yellow

 

[mauroenass]

I took out the pins without destroying the plastic. Isolated the pins with bits of tape and a lot of patients.
But nothing. Until I found this reply. So the pins need to go backwards then? Will try that.
One more thing. I don't have the green wire in my Asus TBex 3!
Mine goes (the large conector that came with Asus - from left to right):

1. Black
2. Brown
3. Red
4. Orange
5. Yellow

NOPE!! The PC won't turn on in my case if I reverse the order! It has a protection. I finally took out all the pins from the plastic connector and placed it in the motherboard aic. Booted into Windows, installed the drivers and the firmware and it works!
It found my UAD Apollo Twin connected via StarTech TB3 to TB2 adapter and plluged in the Asus TBex 3.
I isolated the pins with the tape so they don't touch each other and this is the pins numbering:
(just a notice, this is the thunderbolt aic connector on the board when you look at the board directly)
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
1. Yellow
2. Orange
3. Red
4. Brown
5. Black

In Windows it works, tomorrow I'll try playing with High Sierra because it wasn't recognized before I did the firmware update.
Also need to research the bios settings for Thunderbolt a bit.
P
.S.
Keep in mind this was me troubleshooting the Gigabyte Aorus Z370 Gaming 7 motherboard because in this motherboard the Thunderbolt aic 5 pin connector is smaller and the Asus ThunderboltEx 3 has a bigger (wider) connector.
So no need to destroy the plastic connector that the pins are located in. Just push them out, isolate them and plug in pin by pin using some tweezers, folowing the coloring numbers above.

 

[workhorst]

I have a similar issue here: AS Rock AIC with Gigabyte MoBo. Do you have an idea where else to get this sort of adapter? It seems like the site is down and maybe you know a place in Europe or even better: Germany?
Or good search string would also be very nice.
Thanks!

 

[DangLe]

leeonthetrack I'm having a very similar settings compared to you, can you provide me the info of which BIOS you are using or additional drivers you need to install in order for the Apollo Twin MkII to work?
I'm having a Intel I7-7700, z170x Gaming 3, already bought the Thunderbolt EX 3, Apple thunderbolt3 -> thunderbolt 2 cable, and a Thunderbolt 2 cable to connect to the Apollo Twin.
Also, can someone explain to me why u couldn't plug the apple thunderbolt 3 -> thunderbolt 2 straight to the USB-C port, cause I saw a guy on youtube doing that.

 

[stevelarke]

Yep. Works perfect (ish) on my setup so far. Ga-zx170x gaming 3 , 6600k, thunderboltex 3 card , onboard graphics.
After several restarts haven't had the bios issue mentioned , but I am still on bios f7 and the m2 slots aren't being used.

So yes, I comfirm it works, Currently running an Apollo twin mkii via an Apple thunderbolt cable -> Apple thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter -> thunderboltex 3 card on a z170x gaming 3

View attachment 239081

I know this is an old post, and doubtful you'll even see this. But I have the exact same setup as you. I just acquired the Asus EX3 to go with my Z170x Gaming 3 board and 6600K, for use with a UAD Arrow. But no luck. I've tried everything. I had the card initially powering drives and my arrow, but then i thought i'd just upgrade my BIOS and now nothing. Tried downgrading quickly, and still nothing. No signs of life AT ALL.
The TB options don't seem to remain in the BIOS too (only once I select 'load optimized defaults'). So I've contacted Gigabyte but expect it'll be weeks before I get a reply. I'm not holding out much hope in honesty. However the fact you have this working gives me a glimmer of hope....!