ASUS ThunderboltEX II PCIe Expansion Card - Testing Thread

[gurklu]

Thunderboltex on Asus X99A working okay so far.

Under System Information the card doesn't show up in Thunderbolt. The attached HDD shows up as SATA connected.
Also: My system boots much slower than before. It takes around 20-30 seconds longer to boot.

Does anybody have any hints, especially towards the slow bootup time?

Thanks

 

[Einsteiniac]

Thunderboltex on Asus X99A working okay so far.

Under System Information the card doesn't show up in Thunderbolt. The attached HDD shows up as SATA connected.
Also: My system boots much slower than before. It takes around 20-30 seconds longer to boot.

Does anybody have any hints, especially towards the slow bootup time?

Thanks

Remove ThunderboltNHCI.kext for faster boots.

You won't get anything to show under Thunderbolt. Well, not reliably at least. I have gotten my Display to show their once and an FW adaptor once otherwise they just show under their respective sections.

 

[B-San]

So I have a friend who hit me up wanting a build.. does the single-port version not work as well as the Dual? I swear I read that in one the treads before.. or maybe the situation has been cleared up?

Of course I would prefer to get him a dual card whenever he becomes ready for Thunderbolt connectivity - but it looks like the dual version is nowhere to be found for purchase?

Did the ASUS ThunderboltEX II Dual get discontinued?

 

[JestaGeek]

It's not easy to find. I don't see that it is discontinued on their website, but it does seem to be hard to find. I found one, but it took some searching. I did get the dual. Be sure the motherboard is one from ASUS that actually lists compatibility. For the dual model, be aware that if you don't have two available Displayport outputs (on mobo/discrete graphics) to connect to the "DP IN" ports on the back of the Thunderbolt card, you won't have a display signal in your Thunderbolt connection (for that port). I haven't tried, but I think you could use the 2nd port for other devices, without the displayport signal, everything else being equal. Except for a display with some built-in USB/Audio that should be carried by the Thunderbolt cable, I have no Thunderbolt devices (yet). (I only just got this and still have to get it properly working)

What I'm wondering is if I really need to install Windows in order to get this working in OS X? Is there nobody here who has an alternative route to getting this recognized? I haven't installed Windows on this system and would really rather avoid that, if I can. Linux? Any terminal hacks or workarounds for those of us without a copy of Windoze at hand? Timely advice most appreciated (I'll probably break down and add an old drive for Windows, just for this, if I cannot figure something else out)

 

[soulboi]

Set mine up with a Gryphon Z97 and so far working great with my Universal Audio Apollo Twin.

I had to load Windows and installed the TB driver before testing out in OS X, also had to delete all TB-related kexts prior to the Apollo connecting. However the Apple TB to FW800 adapter was able to connect prior to deleting all TB-related kexts...

So yes, very happy at this point!

This is most valuable information for me, indeed! Planning to build Z97 and buy Apollo Quad in the next 2 months. All new info on Uad users are welcome.

 

[JestaGeek]

B-San contacted me with a PM, but currently the system here does not allow me to use PMs, even to respond to one. Hmm... kinda bad.

So I will respond "openly" and hope you see it, B-San:
Apologies for the late response and many thanks for the response and tips. I never did have success getting it working, even though I did install Windows. I ordered the card through an Amazon affiliate shop in Europe, which is where i live. I don't know if they ship outside the EU. If you are in the E.U... well, here is the listing I bought from:
[AMAZON-de]http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00NXMZ17Y/[/AMAZON-de]
It does show they have some still in stock, for now.

The company I bought from are based in France. There are other listings for the same product in the Amazon.de shop, so it can be tricky. I actually found the "best price" (and a place where it was in stock) by using a price-search machine outside of Amazon and it lead me to this listing.

 

[ModBot]

B-San contacted me with a PM, but currently the system here does not allow me to use PMs, even to respond to one. Hmm... kinda bad...

See the tonymacx86 Forum Rules and Policies.

UNLIKE OTHER INTERNET COMMUNITIES, THESE RULES ARE STRICTLY ENFORCED​

General Rules

• ...
• Members may not solicit nor provide assistance via private communications. This forum was created to provide help by posting questions and getting answers. By not publicly discussing you are depriving others of solutions to problems they may encounter.
• ...

B-San's PM to JestaGeek:

Hey I was wondering if you could provide the website from which you purchased the Asus ThunderboltEX II dual?

Also in response to the question you had within the thread - the only way I have been able to obtain TB functionality was by installing Windows. The install can actually take place on the same drive which OS X installed on, by creating a new FAT partition. Once installing Windows the partition can be reformatted to NTFS to proceed with the install. Once Windows is installed, you can load the TB driver , which can be downloaded here: http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/...Desk_Download/

Once it is downloaded, you must plug-in an TB device in Windows before TB capability can be 'unlocked'. Once that is achieved you are good to go in OS X.

Afterwards you can delete the Windows partition in OS X, but from what I've heard - updating the BIOS would require a re-installation of the TB driver in order to continue TB functionality in OS X.

Hope this info can be of use!

 

[catch22alex]

So is the single output TB card working with the apple thunderbolt display on X99 systems? I'm considering an upgrade from my X79 hackintosh and consolidating another hack i have which uses the thunderbolt display with an intel DC3217by NUC with thunderbolt built in.

 

[B-San]

My bad Mr. Mod-Bot.. I figured the info I provided was redundant and didn't want to clutter the thread.. but noted and will not happen again.

Thanks for the reply JustaGeek!

 

[Jamieson]

I'm having an issue/conflict with the ThunderboldEX II card and my Nvidia GTX960...
I'm able to get the TB installed, boot-up, running perfectly, but ONLY if I switch to the integrated mobo graphics. As soon as I attempt to use my GTX960, I lose picture at the end of the boot process.

I should also clarify, I am NOT using any TB display, but using the TB only to connect a Drobo 5D. I am using a Dell 27" with DP. I've tried connecting it to the iGPU and GTX accotdingly, but no love.
I wonder why the TBEX card disables the GTX picture?

Has anyone here been able to successfully use the TBEXII with a PCIe GPU?