[Solved] GC-Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 Card

[Bubuwee]

Hi guys i´ve been looking at this thread, and I´m about to install my alpine ridge v1 card, one thing I´m wondering if someone knows if the Alphine Ridge will work at all with a Asus z370 motherboard (it has the TB header), what I´m wondering if stuff from gigabyte and asus wil work together?

Many thanks.

 

[jsconiers]

I have personally not done it but other people have said it works. The cable requires modification.

Hi guys i´ve been looking at this thread, and I´m about to install my alpine ridge v1 card, one thing I´m wondering if someone knows if the Alphine Ridge will work at all with a Asus z370 motherboard (it has the TB header), what I´m wondering if stuff from gigabyte and asus wil work together?

Many thanks.

 

[luckyal]

I just got Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming (v1.0) and Alpine Ridge card. I've done this TB + Windows activation thing a few times before (Z170 Designaire board & built-in TB3, ASUS X99-A + ASUS ThunderboltEX II card). And now just did it with the Z370. I need to go check some UEFI/BIOS settings on the new board, as something's not working on the macOS system. At any rate - here's my suggestion & what has worked for me in the past:

1. Get a 16GB USB flash drive & use the Windows 10 USB/DVD download tool to build a USB key Win10 installer. You don't need an activation code - you get 30 days before you need to do anything. Build an installer key, and then get a spare HD (I have a couple old ones laying around pulled from other old systems). I install Win10 on that spare drive, and get Win10 fully functional (drivers, etc.). Now, power down.
2. Follow all instructions in the Alpine Ridge card's QuickStart guide (card goes in PCIEX4 slot, then connect jumper cable to card + mobo header).
3. Boot Win10, then pop in the driver CD (TB3 card's in-box driver CD) into a drive (I have a portable USB3 CD/DVD player that I keep for just such things). You can also go to the Support site for the Alpine Ridge card & download the Windows driver/mgmt. software installer from there. Either way, run the installer that installs the drivers and the Win10 Thunderbolt management software (runs as a tray icon once you plug in your first TB device).
4. (optional) On the CD (or from the card's support Web site) there is a TB card flash utility. This is a bit confusing. The installer from the CD (or from the download) installs a flashing program to check or flash the card. Running the installer from the CD or from the download will not flash your card's firmware! Once you install the firmware flasher, you then need to go to the Program menu - you should see the actually flasher program at the top of the Start menu in "Recents." NOW, launch THIS program - it will report to you current firmware version on the card, and the version that it's about to flash. I was lucky - my card's firmware was the same as what the latest FW flasher was going to flash.
5. Plug in a TB device. I have quite a few, but the first one that was handy was a CalDigit TB3 docking station. The second I plugged that in, the TB card "woke up" and you could see messages above the tray clock that new devices were being installed (USB audio, etc). Once that's done, you can right-click the TB icon in the dock and launch the TB management program. You'll see what device(s) are connected & working. I tested the docking station, a Seagate TB1 device (using Apple TB3 > 2/1 adapter). I also connected an Apple TB > Ethernet adapter. Note that Apple TB devices will show a message in the Win10 Thunderbolt manager as "not certified for use with Windows." Just ignore.

At this point, your Alpine Ridge TB3 card should be fully functional. For some reason, though, the card is not working in macOS yet for me. I think there's something I may have to tweak in the UEFI/BIOS yet. With the latest firmware on the Z370 board, there are a few settings that are different than what I saw in the Z170. While this has nothing to do with my TB issues, in the latest firmware for this Z370 board, there is no longer an option for the setting of what kind of OS you're using (Windows, Other OS used to be the 2 options).

BTW, unless you actually have the Alpine Ridge card plugged in, you won't see any settings options in the UEFI/BIOS for anything Thunderbolt. It's a dynamic menu option that is activated when BIOS sees the card.

I'll continue to play around & if I figure it out, I'll be sure to report back. If anyone else finds the secret sauce sooner, please share! THANKS!
--B

UPDATE (~30 min later): TB3 card is now working! The setting that still needed to be changed was not in the TB menu, but at the bottom of the BIOS menu. Make sure to set Other PCI Devices > Legacy. Now that I think about it, that's how my Z170 Designaire was set. I've now got USB audio working via my CalDigit TB3 docking station, as well as my Seagate GoFlex TB1 drive is also working fine.

Is this something that's also necessary with Asus ROG Maximus HERO 9? Also has a TB header, but don't know if it requires a "wake" from sleep using this method. Can't find anything on the forum.

 

[AaronDarklightAudio]

Sorry but I have a hard time finding if those two DisplayPort 1.2 (DP1 & 2) connectors are capable of running Thunderbolt 2 device, because I want to plug a "UA Apollo Twin mkII" sound card. Or should I buy TH3 to TH2 adapter? Do you have anything on this?
Thanks

I am trying to do the same thing and following this thread to learn if I can.

 

[AaronDarklightAudio]

For anyone that has been struggling with this issue. I am using the Z270X-Ultra Gaming. It comes with an USB 3-C but in order to use Thunderbolt you must purchase the add on Card. I am using the GC-Alpine Ridge. Make sure to connect it to the 4th PCIE slot which in this board is the last one in the bottom. Also in the Bios Settings under Thunderbolt set your Security settings to none not User Authorization. I activated and update the firmware in windows first. I then fully shut down the computer, I am using the starTech TBT3TBTADAP Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. Make sure all devices are on before rebooting into OS X. I can confirm it is working in 10.12.6 using an Apollo Twin Audio Interface. After doing this I deleted my windows hard drive because I will not be using windows in this computer all is working great.

Thanks for the info. Do I need to be able to boot into windows in order to get this working? If it's to update the firmware in the Apollo, I could just use a friends windows system I would think. Also, does it matter what firmware version you use and if so which did you use?

 

[AaronDarklightAudio]

Hi there bradley andrew, I have a ga-z170x-u3d ultra with gc-alpine ridge. I was able to do the updates on windows just fine and it was able to read my TB3 also had my apollo 8 hooked up to it and it worked fine. Also it has a onboard TH3 which also works. But when I switch to OS X it wasn't picking it up but the onboard was working fine with it. Idk if this could be an issue but I read on one of the threads that if you have a graphic card on slot 16 it won't read the lanes idk if thats whats making my TB3 not work or what but I tried everything I can think of and the TB3 is in the last slot PCIe x4. So if you or anyone can help me out with this problem cause I use my hack for music production and need a stable computer. Thanks in advance

Any Luck? I'm also a music producer and am seeing if I can start using TB3 with this Albine card for and Apollo Twin MKII Quad. My Mobo is GA-Z170X-Gaming 5, BIOS F21, OSX 10.12.6

 

[AaronDarklightAudio]

MODERATOR. I am not getting any response on this thread. It says "[SOLVED]" but there is no solution in the thread that is clear. Can I not post another thread? Thanks.

UPDATE: my concern was addressed promptly below. The thread is getting responses.

 

[P1LGRIM]

MODERATOR. I am not getting any response on this thread. It says "[SOLVED]" but there is no solution in the thread that is clear. Can I not post another thread? Thanks.

It was solved for the OP as per Post #2.

 

[AaronDarklightAudio]

It was solved for the OP as per Post #2.

thank you for responding. I have read the solution already and perhaps it's more descriptive than I thought. Not sure how to revert BIOS if needed. Thank you again, will update with how my own installation goes for others.

UPDATE: My Alpine ridge card (rev 2.0) installed successfully. Drivers installed. Works with windows.
IT IS NOT WORKING with mac OS Sierra. I have the z170x gaming 5 mobo. I am trying to get an Apollo Twin MkII Quad to work with it. Second port kind of sees the device but reads "Connection Error (-54)" and does not display any ins or outs. So I guess it's almost working on the Mac side. Suggestions?

 

[NorthAmTransAm]

Does anyone know if this card will work on an Asus z370a? I have the Ex3 card now but could desperately use the extra TB3 port for my session drive along side my Apollo.