GC-ALPINE RIDGE in hands

[zebrum]

Thanks so much for the excellent clarification, sad to hear it's a complete dead end. Strange anyone would want to use USB-C DisplayPort alt mode if they already had a DP. And putting an existing DP over Thunderbolt 3 is possibly nice to have one cable up to your desk but introduces some other limitations, e.g. the graphics taking up lanes that could be better used for other protocols like USB3.

 

[joevt]

Thanks so much for the excellent clarification, sad to hear it's a complete dead end.

What's a dead end? You haven't described your problem at all. I am guessing you have a motherboard with integrated graphics that doesn't output DisplayPort? Maybe it's like the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 5 which only has HDMI/DVI that only goes up to 4K @ 30Hz. I don't know why a manufacturer would cripple their motherboard by providing less capable outputs. There are DisplayPort to HDMI adapters that can do HDMI 2.0 at 4K @ 60 Hz. There are DisplayPort to DVI adapters that also do Dual Link DVI. There is no HDMI 2.0 to DisplayPort adapter. There is a Dual Link DVI to DisplayPort adapter (by Gefen) but it's a bit expensive, and Dual Link DVI is not as good as DisplayPort to begin with.

Strange anyone would want to use USB-C DisplayPort alt mode if they already had a DP.

The situation that requires a solution is when someone has a display or display adapter that requires USB-C.

And putting an existing DP over Thunderbolt 3 is possibly nice to have one cable up to your desk but introduces some other limitations, e.g. the graphics taking up lanes that could be better used for other protocols like USB3.

What limitation is being introduced? Before, you have DisplayPort. After, you have a choice: DisplayPort or USB-C DisplayPort alt mode or DisplayPort over Thunderbolt 3. If you want a 4K display to have USB 3.0, then you would not choose a display that requires USB-C DisplayPort alt mode.

 

[joevt]

I bought a couple GC-ALPINE RIDGE cards. As has already been alluded to in this thread and others, they can convert DisplayPort inputs to USB-C DisplayPort 1.2 alt mode or single/dual stream DisplayPort over Thunderbolt 3, even without appearing as a PCIe device. #211

So it probably could allow an LG UltraFine 5K display to be used with any computer with a PCIe slot (even an old 2008 Mac Pro), or no PCIe slot if you power the card externally with a PCIe slot power adapter (haven't tried that, but I have tried the PCIEX4 slot of my Gaming 7 which is disconnected from the system since both NVMe slots are occupied).

But without a PCIe connection, or a Thunderbolt add-in card header connection, USB or PCIe devices cannot be used (which includes the USB ports, speakers, webcam, and USB brightness controls of the LG UltraFine 5K display).

Update: see #73
I was able to get two GC-ALPINE RIDGE working without connecting them to a computer's PCIe slot. This allows a computer with no PCIe slots to work with up to four of any combination of the following:
a) Thunderbolt display or Thunderbolt display adapter or Thunderbolt dock display output
b) USB-C display or USB-C display adapter

A Thunderbolt display, display adapter, or Thunderbolt dock may count as two of the above if it uses two DisplayPort inputs. Examples are the LG UltraFine 5K display at 5K, or a Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort (or HDMI 2.0) adapter, or a dock with two display outputs connected.

 

[typewriter]

Can somebody tell me if the Alpine Ridge Card does also work with with the X99 UD4 mainboard?

 

[joevt]

Can somebody tell me if the Alpine Ridge Card does also work with with the X99 UD4 mainboard?

The product page for GC-ALPINE RIDGE says that motherboard is supported in one of the CPU slots.
http://www.gigabyte.in/Motherboard/GC-ALPINE-RIDGE-rev-10#ov

 

[typewriter]

The product page for GC-ALPINE RIDGE says that motherboard is supported in one of the CPU slots.
http://www.gigabyte.in/Motherboard/GC-ALPINE-RIDGE-rev-10#ov

Thank you! I've read this page but must have overlooked that information. I'll grab one of the cards and try my luck with a thunderbolt audio interface.

 

[philter]

Does anyone have a problem with GC-ALPINE RIDGE flashing? Every time when I try to flash it I got an error No controller found. Do I have to connect the thunderbolt device to able to flash the card? I just connected TH3>>TH2 adapter

I Flashed the GA-Z270X-Gaming 5 motherboard BIOS to laters one. But I had left only with windows 10 partition.
I didn't test the card on Sierra.
Bios settings:
Thunderbolt enable
Security: none.
View attachment 272395

I Also can't even get this card to work in Windows 10... I have X299 Ud4 - listed as supported but really doesn't seem to be.

Shows in BIOS and have tried a bunch of settings but no dice.

On Sierra I'm getting some error that just keeps repeating... (should have took a photo... dont remember what it was)

did you have any luck getting it going?

 

[marcuscwchan]

Back to the original question: I am using a Z270 Gaming 5 and finally got Alpine Ridge to work in macOS (I have a Thunderbolt 2 portable drive that loads up and I can use it in macOS) when I changed "Other PCI devices" in BIOS (under the BIOS tab) back to "Legacy" instead "UEFI" ("UEFI" is what all the Hackintosh guides ask us to set it to), but when I do that I encounter the problem of the display not waking up from sleep. Have you guys tried this? It looks like that means whenever I need to use a Thunderbolt drive (which is not often), I will just not let my computer to go to sleep (or do that and wake it up with a hard boot). It's a bit of a compromise but right now I don't think I have come up with an alternative. Hope this helps, and do share your experience if you have found a way to get around it!

UPDATE: actually I think the drive works no matter which setting ("UEFI" or "Legacy") I put in -- I was just rebooting too many times I got confused. I think previously the drive was a little wonky because it was a LACIE drive and apparently you need to format it using the utility that comes with it instead of using Disk Utility and even earlier I thought the drive wasn't picked up by macOS simply because I kept plugging it into the Thunderbolt 2 ports on the card, which is purely for connecting with the DisplayPort on the card (the Thunderbolt 2 ports actually says "DP in" on closer look). In no time does the drive appear on the desktop though like other hard drives do, and in "About My Mac" under the Thunderbolt section it still says "No drivers are loaded" but I guess I am happy as long as I can use the drive.

 

[Stork]

marcuscwchan, please complete your Profile's System Information per the forum Rules. By completing your Profile and signature block, you help us help you better.

• Profiles need to contain at least your primary system to assist others with helping you.

 

[joevt]

I thought the drive wasn't picked up by macOS simply because I kept plugging it into the Thunderbolt 2 ports on the card, which is purely for connecting with the DisplayPort on the card (the Thunderbolt 2 ports actually says "DP in" on closer look).

The Thunderbolt 2 ports on the card are actually Mini DisplayPort ports. You shouldn't call them Thunderbolt 2 if they don't do Thunderbolt 2 for the same reason you shouldn't call a USB-C port a Thunderbolt 3 port unless it does Thunderbolt 3.

In no time does the drive appear on the desktop though like other hard drives do

Change the Finder preferences:
Finder -> Preferences -> General -> Show these items on the desktop: Hard disks, External disks.

and in "About My Mac" under the Thunderbolt section it still says "No drivers are loaded" but I guess I am happy as long as I can use the drive.

No one's figured out how to get that to work yet.