[In progress] SSDT for Thunderbolt 3 Hotplug

[achooley]

Hello all. I have mobo Gigabyte Aorus z390 Pro (and using EFI folder from this link: tutorial) . I trying to install GC-TITAN RIDGE. I try to use SDT-Z390-DESIGNARE-TB3HP-V3.aml with SSDT-DTPG.aml but still to see any TB3 device(and at PCI devices i can see just RX580)
Maybe someone have some idea?

 

[crismac2013]

Hi Lele. I switched my GC Alpine Ridge Rev 1 for a AR Rev 2 which is not behaving as the former (it is 'lost' when I turn my rig off and I need to wake it up again by booting in windows before Mac OS - the Alpine R. R.1 did not needed it and it remained active). Is there any difference between the two revisions or is mine a defective card?

 

[LeleTuratti]

Hi Lele. I switched my GC Alpine Ridge Rev 1 for a AR Rev 2 which is not behaving as the former (it is 'lost' when I turn my rig off and I need to wake it up again by booting in windows before Mac OS - the Alpine R. R.1 did not needed it and it remained active). Is there any difference between the two revisions or is mine a defective card?

There are no differences, check that the firmware of your Rev 2 is updated.
Keep the THB_C header connected and eventually disable the ERP in the bios.

 

[crismac2013]

OK...maybe is the firmware then...
ERP already disabled. Gonna check. Thanks!

 

[Lumberjack88]

@LeleTuratti I have a Z390 Designare that uses native Thunderbolt 3 ports. The problem is, however, that Gigabyte has ****ed up the Z390 Titan Ridge code so that it simply doesn't recognize Thunderbolt 1 devices in conjunction with any Thunderbolt 1 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. This problem was acknowledged by Gigagbyte and they already stated that they won't address this, even though Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 was touted as being fully backward compatible with earlier Thunderbolt iterations.

My question is this: I know you found a method that doesn't need the THB-C header and since Alpine Ridge is the last controller that fully supports backward compatibility, I'm asking myself if it would be possible to install the GC Alpine Ridge Rev 2 card and make it work under Windows 10 or Mac OS X Mojave?

 

[JimSalabim]

@Lumberjack88 I am having exactly the same issue with the same board (Gigabyte Z390 Designare). It seems they won’t fix the missing Thunderbolt 1 support with a BIOS update, so I’m thinking about buying an Alpine Ridge card. Will I need an SSDT (which one then?) for hot plugging or will it work right out of the box?

Or will the SSDT that I use for the motherboard’s Thunderbolt hot plugging (Titan Ridge) work for the Alpine ridge as well?

 

[jiffyslot]

@Lumberjack88 I am having exactly the same issue with the same board (Gigabyte Z390 Designare). It seems they won’t fix the missing Thunderbolt 1 support with a BIOS update, so I’m thinking about buying an Alpine Ridge card. Will I need an SSDT (which one then?) for hot plugging or will it work right out of the box?

Or will the SSDT that I use for the motherboard’s Thunderbolt hot plugging (Titan Ridge) work for the Alpine ridge as well?

So, a question and an answer: Q: Is anyone getting a connection speed on a TB2-connected UAD Apollo 8 that is greater that 2.5 GT/s?

A: I found out why I can't use the Z390 board for the Thunderbolt-connected UAD Apollo 8 Quad unless you spend ~$500 on the Thunderbolt 3 Option Card for rackmount Apollo audio interfaces. Thankfully I saw this before I dropped the $. Apollo users here should specify if they are using a TB3 DAW device -or the "X" series of the UAD line, including the UAD Arrow.

This was a review from a poor soul who bought a GA Z390 Designare with built-in Thunderbolt 3 that should have Thunderbolt 1 and 2 backwards compatibility according to this:

" According to Gigabyte technical support:"It does not support thunderbolt 1-2 devices as they are Legacy and the thunderbolt controller on this board operates in Native mode. You will need to seek for a validated motherboard that can work with the thunderbolt device you wish to use. "

Even though: Q7: Is Thunderbolt 3 backwards compatible with Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2?

Update 8.02.2020:

With my (Z390) board, I am now using BIOS F9h: I've disabled CFG Lock via the BIOS screen. I am running OC 0.5.9 with native NVRAM and OS 10.14.6 (18G6020). Thunderbolt "hotplug" –driver re-connection when the UAD Apollo 8 (TB2) is power-cycled. Both Thunderbolt ports work and show a variety of connection speed conditions, depending on what is attached. I'm running the i9 at 4 GHz base and 4.8 GHz Turbo on all cores.

 

[jiffyslot]

That's the correct TB-SSDT you are using and your adaptation looks fine as well. Everything properly implemented, i.e. correct TB ACPI table in IOREG and correct device details and PCI drivers loaded in Section "PCI" of Apple's system report.

The original TB-SSDT from the iMacPro dump just has one PRW implementation under XHC5. The TB-SSDT attached below is in concordance with that, and that's also the version I am using myself.

Now you might adapt and add further system SSDTs from the Github library..

Just considered something that I can't read or find in the SSDT: on my Z370, it is required that the GC Alpine Ridge card goes into the last PCIe slot: Slot 4. Were you approving the SSDT knowing that? Also Legacy connection and only port 1 is working. Weird because both ports work in Windows. Thanking you, j.

 

[JimSalabim]

I have just ordered a used Alpine Ridge card (no idea whether it's Rev. 2.0 or 1). I will just try if it works with the method (without THB_C cable) described on page 1 of this thread.

I don’t have a UAD interface, I have the MOTU 8A. It works when connected to my OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock (no problems with the on-board Titane Ridge of the Z390 Designare board), but it’s not a good solution. I had tried this on my iMac (where I could compare it, because Thunderbolt 1 was just working, too) and it’s the same here: Always slight humming and sometimes other noises when it’s connected to the Thunderbolt 2 dock. There was no humming and no noises when connecting it directly to a Thunderbolt 1 port of my iMac.

 

[JimSalabim]

" According to Gigabyte technical support:"It does not support thunderbolt 1-2 devices as they are Legacy and the thunderbolt controller on this board operates in Native mode. You will need to seek for a validated motherboard that can work with the thunderbolt device you wish to use. "

… which is clearly wrong, because Thunderbolt 2 devices are working just fine on the Z390 Designare, and Thunderbolt 1 devices connected to Thunderbolt 2 docks are working as well.