Troubleshooting Asus ThunderboltEX 3-TR with Asus TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS (WI-FI)

[CaseySJ]

@Elias64Fr,

If you look at post #25 above, it seems Asus BIOS 2401 for TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS is able to activate Thunderbolt Bus on Titan Ridge. But newer BIOS 2420 cannot do it.

This might mean that the Thunderbolt DXE driver in BIOS 2401 is a bit special and maybe someone in Asus made a mistake and later decided to undo the change in newer BIOS.

I wonder if it’s possible to extract the Thunderbolt DXE from Asus BIOS 2401 and inject it into Gigabyte Z390 BIOS? Might be an interesting experiment!

 

[Buttky]

A Thunderbolt card is best installed in a x4 slot coming from the chipset. Since there is only one such slot on your motherboard, there's no choice to make.

Yes, ok, I have it exactly on that slot

 

[Kentsoon]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

@Buttky
No, you don't do something wrong.

It just does not work. I tried 2 new ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR cards on each slot.

Under Windows10 it does not matter in which SLOT you install the card. Either slot should work.
For the Hackintosh it is best installed here:

This is the slot, that also serves as the PCI x4 Slot.

I wrote an email to ASUS support about the problem.

I still have warranty on the board and hope that they will swap it for a new one.
Then I will sell it and never look back.

Today I ordered an ASUS ProART Creator z490 . @Stork has a user build for ProArt Z490 Creator here on this Forum. Several users on the UADforum confirmed that it works plug and play.

I can only encourage you to write to ASUS support and describe what happened and that it is not working.
Maybe they show some goodwill if more users complain about the issue.

 

[Kentsoon]

This might mean that the Thunderbolt DXE driver in BIOS 2401 is a bit special and maybe someone in Asus made a mistake and later decided to undo the change in newer BIOS.

I wonder if it’s possible to extract the Thunderbolt DXE from Asus BIOS 2401 and inject it into Gigabyte Z390 BIOS? Might be an interesting experiment!

Generally it is good to speculate, to try new things and to break down boundaries in order to discover new things and finally gain knowledge.

However, let's not ignore the facts here:

There are 2 Users who have the exact same combination of Motherboard and Thunderbolt PCI card.
In both cases they can not get a simple Audio interface connected in "WINDOWS 10".

This combination of motherboard and PCI Card just doesn't work. And it should be plug and play in WIN10.

To me, It just seems to make no sens to invest more time into this rig.

 

[CaseySJ]

Generally it is good to speculate, to try new things and to break down boundaries in order to discover new things and finally gain knowledge.

However, let's not ignore the facts here:

There are 2 Users who have the exact same combination of Motherboard and Thunderbolt PCI card.
In both cases they can not get a simple Audio interface connected in "WINDOWS 10".

This combination of motherboard and PCI Card just doesn't work. And it should be plug and play in WIN10.

To me, It just seems to make no sens to invest more time into this rig.

Our goal is not to spend time on the Asus TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS, but to transfer its ThunderboltDXE into the Gigabyte Z390 Designare to see if Thunderbolt Bus can be activated without having to flash its on-board controller. This entails modifying the Designare's BIOS.

 

[Kentsoon]

@Buttky
I got rid of the ASUS TUF Gaming z490 Plus Wifi and the ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR Cards (I had two cards that didn't work). I swapped it for an ASUS ProART Creator z490 10G. With this new board, everything works flawless.

I am starting a poll here to see if other people had the same problems.

 

[etorix]

Good to know you solved your issues and have a working system!

 

[Elias64Fr]

@Elias64Fr,

If you look at post #25 above, it seems Asus BIOS 2401 for TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS is able to activate Thunderbolt Bus on Titan Ridge. But newer BIOS 2420 cannot do it.

This might mean that the Thunderbolt DXE driver in BIOS 2401 is a bit special and maybe someone in Asus made a mistake and later decided to undo the change in newer BIOS.

I wonder if it’s possible to extract the Thunderbolt DXE from Asus BIOS 2401 and inject it into Gigabyte Z390 BIOS? Might be an interesting experiment!

Hi @CaseySJ
after seeing this post, I can see that IOreg screenshots are about 2 different configurations : First, with BIOS 2420, thunderbolt device is on RP21 port (Chipset lanes). Second, with BIOS 2401, thunderbolt device is on PEG1 port (CPU lanes).
If we have to compare, we should do this on exact same configuration, then modify BIOS only, apply same BIOS settings and finally compare results.

I think that @Kentsoon should make this test like this.